I don't dream.I don't sleep.But when the boy touched me—when our souls collided for the first time—something forced its way into my consciousness.
A memory.A fragment.A punishment I thought was forgotten.
It began with light.
Not warm, gentle sunlight—but blinding divine radiance, merciless and cold, melting flesh and bone.
I relived it again.
The day I stood before a goddess.
THE GODDESS
Her throne wasn't made of gold.It was made of bones—pale, polished, arranged like they once belonged to angels.A reminder of what she ruled:
Death.Judgment.Finality.
The Goddess of Final Dawn, Aeloria.
Even now, as a sword, the memory of her presence made my core tremble.
I'd been human then—arrogant enough to challenge her.
"You killed my brother," I'd said, pointing a blade at her.One that felt pitifully tiny compared to her power.
She had smiled.
"I do not kill mortals. I return them."
She flicked her wrist.
My weapon shattered like glass.
I lunged.She didn't even move.Her gaze alone stopped me mid-air—not physically, but spiritually, like my soul had been seized by a hand larger than reality.
"Ambition without understanding is a sin."
Her voice echoed, gentle yet terrifying.
"You loved your swords so much… let them return your affection."
A sphere of white light swallowed me whole.
My body disintegrated first.Then my memories.Then my emotions.
And when the light vanished—
I was metal.
Bound.Voiceless.Powerless.
A weapon.
A cursed punishment for defying a goddess.
She held the newborn blade—me—in both hands and whispered:
"Go ruin something else, mortal. You ruin everything you touch."
Then she cast me out—not into hell, not into oblivion—but into another world entirely.
A lower realm.A place where gods rarely looked.
A realm where her curse would fester quietly.
Until someone awakened me.
The memory faded.
The cave returned.Dark. Silent. Cold.
The boy still lay there.
Small.Fragile.Pathetic.
Yet…
The moment our bond formed, he hadn't run.He hadn't screamed again.He just lay there, clinging to me like his life depended on it.
Which it probably did.
His breathing was uneven—shaky with exhaustion—but steadying slowly.
The resonance was stabilizing too.
[SOUL LINK: 47% SYNCHRONIZED]
Unexpected.
A 47% sync rate on first contact?With a child this weak?
Strange.Unnatural.
Or maybe…
Fated.
THE BOY
He stirred slightly.
Up close, his face looked younger than I thought—maybe twelve or thirteen—but life had already carved fear into him.
His hair was messy and dark, like it hadn't seen water in weeks.Fresh welts covered his back and arms.
Whips?Sticks?People?
I didn't know.
But the wounds weren't old.Some still bled faintly.
What was a child doing alone, half-dead, in a sealed dungeon?
I reached into the bond, gently, instinctively—
—and felt it.
His emotions.
Hunger.Fear.Loneliness.But beneath all of it…a small, stubborn ember.
Something fierce.Something dangerous.
Not yet awakened, but there.
This child has potential.
The world outside had probably rejected him.Used him.Thrown him away.
But a broken vessel—that was exactly the kind of soul a cursed weapon like me could grow with.
If he lived.
If.
His breathing grew weaker.
I felt his pulse through the bond.
Shallow.Slowing.
He didn't have long.
Not minutes—seconds.
He turned his face slightly toward my hilt, eyes barely open.
"…warm…?"His voice was barely a breath.
Warm?
I wasn't warm.I was metal.Dead steel.
But—
His small fingers curled tighter around me.
Hope.
He was clinging to something he didn't understand.
THE WORLD SYSTEM AWAKENS
When his consciousness drifted toward unconsciousness, the link flared.
Lines of ancient runes spread across my blade like veins.
[RUIN CORE ACTIVATED][SYSTEM UNLOCKED]
A wave of information flooded me.
Not a "game system."Not floating windows.Not stats.
This was organic.Instinctual.The world's natural law.
A three-tier system tied to me:
⭐ 1. SOUL DEVOURING
I evolve by consuming:
monster souls
corrupted spirits
the intent of defeated enemies
divine fragments
Each soul adds to:
Ruin Strength
Awakening Memory
Blade Functions
Passive Auras
The more I consume, the more abilities I unlock.
But there's a downside:
Corruption.
If the boy absorbs too much of what I feed him, he'll fracture mentally.
Break.
Shatter.
Become a puppet.
That can't happen.
Not yet.
Not until I understand the curse.
⭐ 2. WIELDER RESONANCE
If the wielder's emotions sync with mine, we unlock:
Ruin Arts (combined abilities)
Shared senses
Bonded strength
Memory Echo (I share my past)
Resonance is dangerous.
The more he syncs, the more of me he feels.
My hunger.My anger.My memories.
If he bonds too deeply, he might inherit the goddess's curse.
Or worse—
He might become like I once was.
⭐ 3. RUIN GAUGE
The most important—and terrifying—part.
A hidden value.
Every soul I devour increases it.Every fight.Every kill.Every moment of strong emotion.
Too low → I'm weak.Too high → I lose control.
If it maxes out, I stop being a weapon…
…and become a calamity.
A Ruin Entity.
A beast that even gods fear.
It had happened once before.In another world.Another timeline.
That's why the goddess sealed me here.
I was too dangerous.
Even she feared what I might become.
The boy shifted again, jolting me from the knowledge wave.
He tried to sit up, but his body betrayed him.
He collapsed again, coughing weakly.
"...someone… help me…"
His voice cracked.
Faint.Hopeless.Yet still reaching.
He didn't know what I was.Didn't know what danger he was holding.Didn't know what the link meant.
But he held on anyway.
Why?
Why cling to a weapon that radiated malice?
Why place hope in something so dark?
I reached deeper into the bond—
—and saw a glimpse of his past.
THE BOY'S MEMORY
Snow.Dark roofs.A village on a mountain ridge.
The boy was being dragged.
Two men shouting.
Throwing him outside.Beating him.Calling him cursed.An omen.
A child born during a blood moon.One who brought misfortune.Their crops failed.Their coins vanished.Their livestock died.
Someone had to be blamed.
He was the easiest target.
So they banished him.Beat him.Left him in the wilderness.
The vision faded.
The boy shivered once and clutched my hilt closer, whispering:
"…don't leave…"
A child abandoned by the world…
holding a sword abandoned by a goddess.
Fitting.
Too fitting.
THE DECISION
I had two choices.
Let him die—and wait decades for another wielder.
Or…
Accept him.
Not as a master.Not as a partner.
But as a temporary anchor—a soul I could shape, mold, strengthen…
and use.
His body was weak, yes.His spirit fragile, yes.But his determination—that flicker of defiance—
It matched mine.
And that was enough.
I made my choice.
The runes along my blade pulsed.
[INITIATING RESTORATION PROTOCOL]
A thin stream of energy flowed from my core into his body.
Warm.Pure.Stolen from the memories of better times.
It wasn't healing magic.It wasn't a miracle.
It was stabilization.A temporary patch on a dying flame.
His breathing steadied.His pulse strengthened.His half-closed eyes flickered open.
He stared at me—more aware now.
"…you… saved me…?"
Save?No.
But I didn't correct him.
Let him believe it for now.
Let him trust me.
A wielder's loyalty was a weapon of its own.
He slowly pushed himself up, still trembling, and held my hilt with both hands.
For a second, I felt something strange.
Not pain.
Not hunger.
Something softer.
Warm.
Like a memory of being human.
He looked at me with a weak smile.
"…thank you…"
No one had thanked me in centuries.
The cave's silence felt… different now.
Less empty.
He took a deep breath and whispered:
"I'll… come back tomorrow… if I'm alive…"A shaky laugh.More bitter than hopeful."But if it's okay… can I stay? Just for tonight…?"
Stay?
He thought he needed permission.
He didn't.
He needed survival.
The cave was cold, but safer than the world outside.
And I needed him alive.
So I answered the only way a sword could:I pulsed faintly, a warm glow along my blade.
He smiled again.
And slowly…slowly…
He fell asleep beside me.
Small.Broken.But no longer alone.
THE WORLD OUTSIDE
Night descended.
Snow fell outside the cave entrance.Wolves howled in the distance.The world was unforgiving.
But inside—in the darkness—
a cursed blade and a forgotten boy slept side by side.
One abandoned by gods.One abandoned by mortals.
Both chained by fate.
Both destined to destroy something.
Together.
The Ruin Gauge flickered.
[RUIN GAUGE: 1%][WIELDER LINK: ACTIVE][NEXT EVOLUTION: PENDING]
A storm was coming.
And we would be at its center.