I ran my hand over the Memory Core embedded in my arm. The lines of golden code spiraled faintly around my wrist, pulsing to the rhythm of a system that wasn’t supposed to be awake.
[Relic Synced: Memory Core - 68% Integration][System Alert: Data Pillar Ascent Available][EXP Balance: 112,600][Crafting Threshold Upgrade UNLOCKED]
I felt it. A shift in the interface.
Crafting… had evolved.
[Advanced Crafting Tier I Available] Crafting Slots: 2 Active Traits: Elemental Fusion, Reactive Bind, Chain Trigger
I stopped walking. Breathed in the cold, glitched wind.
“Let’s see what you can do now,” I murmured.
Skill Crafting Interface: OPEN
Combine: Echo Fire + Null Thread Result: Ashbind Pulse
- Effect: A burst of dark flame that roots mobs in place and applies burn over time.
Combine: Destructive Beam + Infinite Mass Result: Gravity Core Shatter
- Effect: Fires a concentrated sphere of dense destructive matter that collapses terrain and stuns nearby mobs.
Fusion Attempt: Null Thread + Destructive Beam + Echo Fire Result: ERROR: Recipe Overload. System Strain Detected.
I smirked. Not yet, huh?
Still, these two new skills were more than enough for what came next.
The Data Pillar rose in the far north, beyond a basin of fractured plateaus and suspended rocks. A column of shimmering light extended into the glitch-clouded sky, wrapped in strands of script like a divine modem piercing the heavens.
Mobs littered the zone.
But not like before.
These ones were worse.
Name: Byteborn Drones
Type: Semi-Autonomous Security Fragments
Traits: Flight, Short-Range Code Cannons, Swarm Logic
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
They hovered in silent clusters—each with wings made of translucent code sheets, eyes flickering like unstable server logs. I crouched behind a flickering boulder and assessed the timing.
I didn’t want to use my new skills so soon.
But subtlety was out the window when a Drone spotted me.
The air warped. Cannons fired.
I rolled, activated Ashbind Pulse.
A wave of black flame surged from my palm, snaring the Drones mid-air. They jittered, code-crackling, then detonated in a chain reaction.
[EXP Gained: +6,400][Mob Class: Controlled Fragment]
But the sound attracted others.
No more stealth.
I climbed.
Upward across broken stairs that tried to rewrite themselves under my feet. Some steps dissolved the moment I touched them. Others blinked into existence just long enough to let me leap.
The Pillar pulsed.
I was getting closer.
Midway through the climb, I reached a Data Gate.
[Terminal Locked: Input Required] [Interface: Emotion Recognition Module - BETA]
“Emotion?” I muttered.
Suddenly, a memory flooded me. Not mine. Someone else’s.
A boy crying as his avatar disintegrated. A voice shouting: “We’re losing them—rollback the node!”
I clenched my fists.
The terminal blinked.
[Emotion Recognized: Resolve][Gate Opening]
Another twenty floors up.
At the apex, a new figure awaited me.
Name: Null Warden A0 Class: Obsolete Guardian Frame Power Level: Moderate (Code-Locked) Status: Corrupted, Seeking Repair
It wasn’t hostile. Not immediately. It scanned me, mechanical eyes flickering.
“You are… anomaly Kai. Accepting override protocol. Query: Do you wish to restore corrupted Frame Memory?”
I hesitated.
Then nodded.
The Warden offered its core.
[Core Fragment Received: Data Spiral Alpha][EXP Boosted: +12,000][New Passive Skill Unlocked: Frame Recall]
- Grants limited access to memories of old system guardians. Reveals hidden data paths and enemy patterns.
I breathed in.
The top of the Pillar was near.
I climbed.
And finally, I stood at the summit.
The world below looked like broken glass floating in a digital sea.
The Pillar activated.
[System Update: World Layer 2 Now Accessible][New Objective: Investigate the Signal Echo at Sector Beta-Fault][Note: Travel Requires Stability Beacon - Not Yet Acquired]
I collapsed into a kneel.
I had barely scratched the surface.
Yet somehow… I felt like I’d just crossed a line that couldn’t be undone.
As night fell across the corrupted sky, I crafted one final thing before rest.
A skill that was mine. Entirely.
Not a fusion. Not a copy.
Just me.
[Custom Skill Crafted: Echo Drive]
- Effect: Temporarily splits into afterimage copies that replicate basic movements and redirect minor enemy attacks.
- Cooldown: 300 seconds
The system flickered, as if unsure whether to approve it.
Then:
[Custom Skill Accepted: Echo Drive Installed]
I smiled.
Let the world throw whatever it wanted.
I was Kai.
The glitch that learned to code himself.
END OF CHAPTER 8