The forest shifted violently. Crooked trees dissolved into nothingness, replaced by endless black void, and across it, words scrawled in jagged, glitching fonts:

[Hidden Quest Unlocked: Shards of Tomorrow]
Objective: Discover the origin of the Prototype Shards.
Reward: ???
Warning: Quest is mandatory. Failure = Termination.

Kaelith's voice was ice. "Mandatory?"

Erevan laughed weakly. "Well, I always wanted job security."

The sky cracked, and through it, a massive eye blinked down, iris fractal, infinite layers spiraling inward. Its gaze pinned Erevan in place. Every muscle in his body froze; his mind screamed static and warnings, overlaid with his own heartbeat pounding like drums of doom.

Then it spoke—not aloud, but through the glitches in the air itself.

"You… are… anomaly."

Erevan's system flickered:

[System Notice: Unregistered Entity Detected]
[Observation in Progress]

Kaelith grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Erevan. Don't look at it!"

But he couldn't. The eye was everywhere—reflected in broken tree trunks, warped rivers, even the shards of the Prototype floating around him. His stats burned across his vision, scanned, measured, judged:

Erevan Arclight – Lv. 5
HP: 240/240
MP: 180/180
Strength: 21
Agility: 19
Intelligence: 20
Luck: ERROR

The system hesitated.

[Error: Unable to quantify anomaly. Recommendation: Eradicate.]

Erevan shouted at the sky, voice raw with frustration. "Oh, come on! I haven't even done anything yet!"

The ground ruptured beneath them, jagged polygons snapping apart. From the void emerged a colossal figure—metallic, skeletal, dripping with corrupted code. Its roar wasn't sound—it was pure feedback, vibrating through his teeth and bones.

Kaelith raised her bow, fingers trembling. "That's not a monster… that's a system guardian."

The shard pulsed harder, almost urging Erevan forward.

[Prototype Shard Integration: 18%]

Erevan clenched the shard, feeling its chaotic pulse merge with his own heartbeat. He had a choice: flee and hope for survival, or gamble everything on the shard's unstable power.

"Alright," he muttered, jaw tight. "Let's see how broken I can really get."

The colossal system guardian towered over Erevan like a living nightmare. Its skeletal frame glistened with corrupted code, every joint sparking with unstable energy. The shards of Prototype energy floating around him pulsed in resonance, feeding his adrenaline and fear.

Erevan's pulse hammered in his ears. "Alright, big guy," he muttered, twirling the shard in his hand. "Let's see who glitches harder."

Kaelith's voice was tense, barely audible over the roaring feedback of the guardian. "Erevan, careful! That thing isn't just powerful—it reads you. Your moves, your reflexes… it learns faster than any player we've faced."

He gave a bitter laugh. "Perfect. A sparring partner who wants to kill me. Exactly what I needed today."

The guardian's massive hands slammed into the fractured ground, sending jagged polygons leaping into the air. Erevan felt the shockwave in his chest. Each pulse of energy made the shard vibrate violently, its colors spinning wildly: blue, red, static white, then green for a split second before correcting.

[Prototype Shard Integration: 25%]

Erevan clenched it tighter, letting the pulse sync with his heartbeat. "Come on, old friend… let's see what you can really do."

He activated his Echo trait. Every pulse of the guardian's strike was copied into his reflexes. His body blurred as he phased around the giant's swings, his fists striking at its exposed joints—not with strength, but by mimicking the guardian's own corrupted rhythm. Sparks of glitch-light flew, illuminating the fractured battlefield in harsh, flickering bursts.

The guardian staggered slightly, as if surprised by its own movements being turned against it. But it adapted instantly, swinging both massive arms, forcing Erevan to twist, duck, and glitch-step across the fragmented terrain.

Kaelith ran alongside him, firing arrows imbued with digital fire. Each shot pierced the guardian's surface, exploding in bursts of glitch-light, but the armor reformed almost instantly. "It's regenerating! Stop—don't overextend yourself!"

Erevan grinned through gritted teeth. "Relax, Kaelith! I think I'm getting the hang of this." His body shimmered, one foot phasing inside the shard itself, flickering across space as he struck the guardian's arm. Static arcs raced up his limbs, burning like liquid fire.

[Echo Effect: Random Mutation Triggered]

A secondary arm of light materialized from his shoulder mid-strike, swinging with him before snapping back into place. Pain flared, but so did exhilaration. "Ow… but yes. Loving the upgrades!"

The guardian let out a noise like a thousand corrupted alerts colliding. Its head, an enormous eyeless void, scanned him again, feeding him information in raw code. Erevan felt it inside his mind, analyzing, predicting, trying to overwrite his movements.

"Okay," he muttered, teeth clenched, "guess it doesn't like being outsmarted by its own pattern."

Kaelith shouted from behind him. "Erevan! Focus on the shard! Let it help you!"

The Prototype Shard responded immediately, its glow intensifying, pulsing in tandem with Erevan's heartbeat. He felt it merge with his senses, integrating more of the system's erratic code into his body. Every strike, every dodge, every glitch-step became faster, sharper, almost instinctive.

[Prototype Shard Integration: 40%]