The light from the relic enveloped Alex, growing brighter and more intense, until the chamber around him disappeared completely. The cold stone walls, the faint hum of the relic's energy—all of it faded into nothingness. For a moment, Alex was suspended in a void, weightless, his mind adrift in the vastness of the relic's power.
Then, the vision began.
The void around him rippled, shifting into something more tangible. A landscape stretched out before him, vast and alien. Dark, swirling clouds loomed overhead, casting long shadows over a ruined city, its buildings crumbling and broken. The sky was a deep, unnatural shade of purple, streaked with lightning that cracked the horizon with violent bursts of light. The air was heavy with an oppressive energy, thick with the residue of some ancient catastrophe.
Alex stood at the edge of the city, his feet planted on cracked, barren earth. In the distance, towering figures moved through the ruins—dark, indistinct shapes, their forms shrouded in shadow. He recognized them instantly. They were the same figures he had glimpsed in his previous vision, the ones that had appeared when he activated the first relic.
The Forgotten.
Their presence was overwhelming, their sheer size and power making Alex feel small and insignificant. They moved slowly, deliberately, as if bound by some ancient purpose. Their voices whispered through the air, low and distorted, speaking in a language Alex couldn't understand but felt deep in his bones. The words weren't for him—they were echoes of something long past, a warning, or perhaps a lament.
As Alex stared at the figures, a sharp pain stabbed through his mind, a sudden burst of energy that forced him to his knees. His vision blurred, and for a moment, he thought he might black out. But the pain passed as quickly as it had come, replaced by a strange, humming sensation deep within his chest—a connection to something vast and ancient.
He stood, his heart pounding, and took a step forward. The landscape seemed to shift and warp around him as he moved, the ruins of the city flickering in and out of focus. He felt like he was walking through a memory, a place that no longer existed but still held immense power.
Ahead of him, the towering figures continued their slow march through the ruins, their voices growing louder, more insistent. Alex strained to make sense of the words, but they remained just out of reach, like a dream slipping through his fingers.
Then, suddenly, one of the figures stopped.
It turned toward Alex, its massive form looming over him like a living mountain. The shadows around it swirled and shifted, obscuring its features, but Alex could feel its gaze locked on him—piercing, searching. He froze, his breath catching in his throat, his heart pounding in his chest.
For a long moment, the figure said nothing. Then, in a voice that echoed through the air like thunder, it spoke.
"You have awakened the power, but you do not understand it."
The words reverberated through Alex's mind, their weight heavy and suffocating. He wanted to speak, to ask what it meant, but his voice was lost in the vastness of the vision.
The figure's shadowed form moved closer, its presence oppressive and overwhelming. "The power of the Forgotten is not yours to wield freely. It is a burden, a responsibility. And with it comes a price."
A cold chill ran down Alex's spine. A price? He had suspected from the beginning that the power he was unlocking wasn't without consequences, but hearing it confirmed by one of the Forgotten themselves filled him with a deep sense of dread.
"What… what price?" Alex managed to whisper, his voice barely audible.
The figure didn't answer immediately. Instead, it raised a massive hand, pointing toward the ruined city behind it. "This is the world as it was before the balance was broken. The Forgotten were the guardians of that balance, but we failed. Our power was corrupted, twisted by those who sought to control it. And now, that same power rests in your hands."
Alex's pulse quickened. The balance. Selene had mentioned it before, the delicate equilibrium between worlds that had been shattered. The relics, the power of the Forgotten—it was all connected to that balance, and now it was up to him to restore it.
"But how?" Alex asked, his voice shaking. "How am I supposed to restore the balance?"
The figure's glowing eyes narrowed. "You cannot do it alone. The relics are the key, but they are also a danger. The more you unlock, the more the power will consume you. And if you fall, those who seek to control the power will take it for themselves."
Alex's chest tightened. The ancient order—the very enemies he had been fighting—they wanted the relics for their own ends. They wanted to control the power of the Forgotten, just like the ones who had corrupted it before.
The figure's voice grew softer, almost mournful. "The burden is great, and the path is fraught with danger. But if you fail, the world will fall into darkness once more."
Before Alex could respond, the vision shifted again, the landscape warping and dissolving around him. The towering figures faded into shadow, their voices growing faint and distant.
And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the vision ended.
Alex gasped, his eyes snapping open. He was back in the cave, his hand still resting on the glowing crystal of the relic. His body trembled, his heart racing, the weight of the vision pressing down on him like a physical force.
The system chimed softly in his mind, the cold, mechanical voice cutting through the haze of the vision.
Quest Completed: Discover the Secrets of the Forgotten.
New Ability Unlocked: Temporal Recall (Level 1).
New Quest Activated: Restore the Balance.
Alex staggered back from the relic, his mind reeling. Temporal Recall? He didn't fully understand what that ability meant, but it felt… different. More dangerous, somehow. But the system didn't offer explanations, only tasks, pushing him forward on a path he barely understood.
The cold realization of what he had seen in the vision settled over him like a heavy cloak. The power he had unlocked wasn't just a tool—it was a burden, a responsibility tied to a long-forgotten history of destruction. And now, that power was his to wield.
But there was a price.
The weight of that knowledge filled Alex with a sense of dread, but also with determination. He couldn't afford to fail. Too much was at stake—not just for him, but for the world itself.
He turned toward the cave entrance, the faint sounds of battle echoing from outside. Selene was still fighting the order's members, holding them off while he had claimed the relic. He had to get back to her, to tell her what he had seen.
But as he moved toward the entrance, something stopped him—a low, guttural growl that echoed through the chamber.
Alex froze, his heart skipping a beat.
From the shadows at the far end of the cave, another creature emerged. Smaller than the guardian, but no less dangerous. Its eyes glowed faintly, and its form shifted and twisted in the darkness like a living shadow.
Alex's breath caught in his throat. He wasn't finished yet.