My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy
Chapter 87: Forged Fire

Chapter 87: Forged Fire

The Doctor exhaled through his nose, rolling his shoulders slightly as he finally spoke.

"A fine question, I suppose." His voice carried a note of amusement, but something else lingered beneath it. "Though, I would have thought you’d ask something... different."

He shrugged, shifting in his chair before resettling into place, his hands folding over his knee. "You may think that your shard being inside your lower rib cage makes you something special."

Elias’s fingers twitched at his side, waiting for the catch.

"I would say you’re one in a million... but the truth is, the shard took pity on you."

Elias’s breath stalled.

"In your time of dying, it made a choice—to save your life, it performed a complete bond with the Ikona for a short time."

A slow chill crawled over Elias’s skin. He opened his mouth, but the words stuck.

Dying?

The Doctor leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, studying him like a curious experiment. "I bet you have more questions now. Like—how does the shard even make decisions if it’s just a shard?" His lips twitched at the corner. "Well, maybe another time you’ll figure that one out."

Elias’s heartbeat thudded in his ears, thoughts spiraling through every moment he had ever interacted with his shard. The way it had never fully materialized like the others. The way Dot’s felt... different.

The Doctor straightened, brushing a speck of dust from his sleeve. "But for now, your priority should be your growth."

Elias blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. "Growth?"

A window of text flashed in the air above the Doctor’s hand.

"I’ll simplify things for you. Can’t have you bogged down by complex numbers while you’re still figuring everything out." The screen adjusted itself, streamlining a numeric display in front of Elias.

Soul Energy: 500

Accumulated through battle, survival, and shard integration.

The Doctor tapped the screen, and it flickered in place.

"This is what your shard has stored since you came in contact with it. This energy is what you’ll be using to refine yourself."

Elias ran a hand over his face, still trying to keep up. "Why numbers? Why a skill tree?"

The Doctor tapped the side of his head. "It’s no different from working out. Reading a book. Studying war." He gestured at Elias. "Your body has become something new—a thing you can stretch and train. And that’s your soul affinity ability."

Elias clenched his fists, his thumb brushing against his palm.

Live long enough and secure your spot in the top 90.

The Doctor suddenly glanced at his wrist, despite not wearing a watch, then let out a small chuckle. "Well, that’s about all the time we have today."

Elias tilted his head slightly. "That’s it? Just like that?"

The Doctor smirked, leaning back. "All things considered, your archetype is one of my favorites to watch."

With a snap of his fingers, a glowing window materialized in front of Elias’s face.

You may not speak about the answer to your question in any capacity for (2) weeks.

Pass: Mystery Gift / +200 Soul Energy

Fail: Instant Death

Elias’s breath hitched. "You’re kidding—"

The Doctor winked.

Before Elias could protest further, everything warped.

The beeping of machines filled his ears.

A rhythmic tick, tick, tick echoed somewhere near his bedside.

A faint glow illuminated the room—a large window to his right, revealing the night sky.

Elias exhaled slowly, his fingers pressing against his chest as the lingering sting of the battle with Vincent settled into his nerves.

His body ached, fresh bandages wrapped tightly around his torso and limbs. As his breath steadied, he turned his head—two other beds sat beside him, each occupied.

Had he been asleep long enough for the daily meeting with the Doctor to trigger in his sleep?

His brows furrowed. "Weird... Dot’s wasn’t there during the meeting."

He swung his legs over the bedside, his bare feet hitting the cold floor, the shock grounding him in the present moment. His vision flickered.

A panel materialized before him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

🐞 Creationist: Skill Tree 🐞

A skill path that enhances Dot’s ability to create, amplify, and refine her constructs.

🐞 Core Skills 🐞 (Base Branch)

🛠 Conjure Object (1/5) ) 200 Soul Energy->

→ Dot’s ability to create physical objects using energy. Higher levels increase complexity, durability, and size.

📖 Knowledge Recall (1/5) 200 Soul Energy->

→ ??? (System Error: Locked data. Higher levels may restore lost memories or increase access to stored knowledge.)

⚡ Energy Amplification (1/5) 200 Soul Energy ->

→ ??? (Enhances the output and effectiveness of constructs. Might be tied to external energy sources.)

🏗 Construct Stability (1/5) 200 Soul Energy ->

→ ??? (Strengthens Dot’s creations, reducing the chance of failure, increasing durability, and allowing longer-lasting constructs.)

🔒 Locked Skill Paths (2/5) ???/??? ->

→ Unknown abilities waiting to be unlocked through mastery or unique conditions. All skills must be leveled up to at least (2/5)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Elias stared at it, his fingers instinctively twitching as his mind processed the options. He had enough Soul Energy to upgrade two skills.

But Dot’s was silent.

"I should probably talk to her first..."

A ruffled, irritated voice broke through his thoughts.

"Hey, could you shut it? It’s probably the best time to be getting some damn sleep, you know?"

Elias’s head snapped toward the sound. His heart jumped.

For a brief moment, he had thought he was the only one awake.

His hands reached for the curtain beside him, pulling it aside.

Yui lay in the next bed, his body encased in a half-cast exo-frame that extended from his left shoulder down to his hip, wrapping tightly over his torso. Thin metallic plates ran along the structure, interlocking like flexible armor, while soft pulses of blue light coursed through embedded circuit lines, flickering in sync with his heartbeat.

At his wrist, a transparent interface hovered, cycling through biometric readings—oxygen levels, muscular response, nerve conductivity. Small micro-drones hovered near the frame’s open joints, occasionally releasing thin streams of mist-like nanogel onto exposed areas of his skin.

Even through the stabilizing tech, Yui’s face remained tight with discomfort, beads of sweat forming at his temple.

Elias immediately put his hands together, a reflexive apology. "I’m sorry—I thought I was alone."

"Nope," Yui muttered, shifting slightly in his bed, his eyes barely open. "They wanted high-level officers to keep an eye on you."

Another voice chimed in. "That’s right."

Elias turned his head as another curtain slid open.

A man stood there, leaning casually against the wall.

Elias’s eyes narrowed slightly. He recognized him.

A moment of silence stretched between them before Elias finally spoke. "You’re...?"

"Yusuke." He stated

Elias gave a small nod, arms crossing over his chest as he leaned slightly against the bed frame.

"It’s okay. We haven’t actually had a conversation before, and let’s be honest—I was the textbook definition of useless during the last battle."

Yusuke smirked, but there was no real humor in it.

Elias exhaled, shifting his weight. "I suppose... but what do you mean by ’watch over me’?"

Yusuke rolled one shoulder, the stiffness in his posture barely easing. "Standard protocol... well, not really standard. Nothing is standard anymore. But after what happened to the white-haired young man, the higher-ups decided all shard users need to be monitored."

A sharp pulse shot through Elias’s chest, his breath hitching.

"White-haired man?" His voice came out tight. "You mean—Colby? What happened to him and his Ikona?!"

Yusuke let out a heavy sigh, bringing a hand to his temple. "Please, don’t yell. It’s already late."

From the other bed, Yui turned his head slightly, eyes barely open. "I’m going back to sleep," he muttered, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. "I can’t recover if I don’t rest."

His body shifted slightly in the exo-frame, the soft hum of the nanogel stabilizers adjusting with his movements.

"You still have broken ribs, Elias." His tone was flat, almost annoyed. "You shouldn’t be jumping around, either."

Elias hesitated, his fingers tightening against his forearm.

Yusuke watched the interaction, then turned back toward him. "Don’t mind him. He’s just upset he didn’t do enough."

His voice dropped slightly. "But if the white-haired man you’re talking about is Colby... then all I know is that he lost his shard."

The words hit like a hammer.

"To who?" Elias forced out.

Yusuke ran a hand through his hair, expression unreadable. "A man named Silas. And a red-haired woman. Can’t say I caught her name in the debrief."

Elias’s breath came slower now, his fingers pressing into his palm.

Silas.

The same name Vincent mentioned before he—

His jaw clenched.

Yusuke exhaled, stretching his arms slightly before shifting back against the bed. "Anyway. Get some sleep. They’ll probably come for you early—5:00 AM, maybe 6:00 AM. No clue what they’ll have planned, but you’ll want the rest."

He turned slightly, his voice softening. "I don’t know if we’ll meet again, but if we do... I’ll try to be more useful next time."

A pause.

"Goodnight, Elias Kael."

Elias sat there for a moment, the weight in his chest settling like a stone.

He wanted to ask more. He wanted to know what happened to the others. But...

His fingers curled slightly over his blanket. He could only focus on what was in his control.

His breath steadied.

Time passed in fleeting stretches of exhaustion and uneasy sleep.

Then—

The double doors swung open at exactly 5:00 AM.