The artifact did not glow.
That was the first thing Noel noticed.
He had expected light—mana reactions, runic activation, something dramatic.
Instead, what lay within the parted pedestal felt deliberately muted, as though the dungeon itself refused to draw attention to it.
He pulled the cloth free.
The object beneath was… difficult to define.
It resembled a small astrolabe, no larger than his palm, forged from layered metals that should not have coexisted. One ring was dark and matte, absorbing light completely. Another shimmered faintly, reflecting not the chamber—but moments that were not happening.
Within the rings floated a suspended core.
Not a crystal.
Not energy.
A fractured second.
It looked like a sliver of time caught mid-collapse—thin, translucent, its edges trembling as if reality struggled to agree on its shape. When Noel tilted the artifact, the core did not move with gravity.
It lagged behind, then snapped into place a breath later.
Localized.
Controlled.
Noel's fingers tightened.
Aahh my head is hurting again noel grabbed his head in pain
His headache returned—not sharp, but deep. The kind that settled behind the eyes and refused to be ignored.
"This isn't what i expected but it still works . he murmured.
He lay forward his hand to touch the artifact.
Oouuu it's too cold ,Noel felt the cold .
The artifact was cold against his skin, but not dead. There was some slight resistance to it—not rejection, not acceptance. Something closer to displeasure
" I don't think that it could feel emotions
He focused.
The chamber reacted subtly. The ticking sound slowed, each beat stretching longer than the last. Dust motes in the air drifted unevenly, some hanging motionless while others fell too fast.
Noel inhaled and exhaled then
He blinked.
The felt artifact felt heavier in his hands .Not physically.
But holding it felt like pressing his hands against a decision that already has been made.
The system flickered faintly.
[Temporal Relic – Classification Incomplete]
[Designation Pending Synchronization]
[Warning: Object Exists Outside Standard Flow]
Noel looking at the interface wore a strange expression as he couldn't understand the words.
"What does it even to be outside the standard flow .Noel whispered to himself .
Then He wrapped the artifact back in its cloth and secured it against his chest. The ticking faded further, until only silence remained.
The chamber walls began to shift—not moving, but something worse . Stone darkened, grooves deepened, layers of time stacking atop one another like pages pressed together.
The dungeon was expelling him.
Or perhaps—
It had decided it had enough.
Then suddenly the floor dissolved beneath his feet.And the world tilted.
"Fuck Man why these things starts happening to me and why is my luck so rotten for some days .
Noel cursed loudly seeing the situation as .
Things started suddenly twisting in which place Noel was there . A lamp which was at the table vanished from there and came in front of shelves all the things present in the room be it stones or the floor everything was flickering and appearing as they were here but also existing outside of this place .
"It's all so strange man but why is these things happening what strange button have i pressed here .
He then looked towards the artifact which was still glowing and the longer the time was passing it's weight was feeling heavier.
"He paused and said .
Or all these phenomenas are happening because of this artifact .
.......
Far away from where Noel was being played by the dungeon in the residence of arvind family .
"Meera Arvind sat alone in a house that had not yet realized it was missing someone.
The lights adjusted automatically as she moved through the living room, responding to her presence with gentle warmth.
The house was immaculate—cleaned daily by automated systems, organized according to preferences she no longer remembered setting.
She stood up and started walking she paused near the window to look at the view of the city that was same but still felt different to her .
Outside, the city glowed.
Normal.
Indifferent.
She pressed her fingers lightly against the glass.
Sigh.she sighed in expasation and thought .
"Noel should have been here, without him the house feels empty somehow .
That thought came unbidden, sharp and unwelcome.
"Hah why am I thinking about that .
She then smiled which lit up her face and showed how beautiful she was .
"Looks like I still care about him hah .
"But still he won't forgive me for abandoning him just for my other son .
"What a sad life is i can't even love my son's properly . Their worth is just decided by these numbers she said looking at her wrist where A+ her rank was also.showing .
She then dismissed her assistant interface, ignoring the pending invitations and status updates. Tonight, she did not want distraction. Tonight, the silence was punishment enough.
Her gaze drifted to the corner of the room.
Noel's books were still there.
She had not moved them.
Old physical copies—pre-apocalypse texts, theories no one taught anymore. Relativity. Quantum uncertainty. Time dilation without mana.
Useless knowledge, the council had called it.
Meera closed her eyes suddenly.
Ting ting ting
She woke apart by the sound of
Her communicator chiming .
"She looked at the interface and what she saw made her face ashen
[Emergency Alert – Lower District Disturbance Detected]
She stiffened.
The alert expanded automatically.
[Unregistered Dungeon Emergence – Status: Active]
Her heart skipped.
Location data scrolled across the display.
Too close.
Far too close.
"No…" she whispered.
She accessed restricted feeds, bypassing protocols she had helped design years ago.
Visuals loaded slowly—flickering images of a sealed zone, warning lights, no official responders dispatched.
Because Rank F entries were not considered recoverable.
Her hands trembled.
She thought of Noel's calm voice.
If I'm to fall, I'll do it on my own terms.
Meera sank into the chair beside the window, fingers clenched tightly in her lap.
"I should have stopped you," she said to the empty room.
Outside, the city continued to breathe.
Inside, a mother waited—uncertain whether time would ever give her son back.