The memories they had seen had answered many of Lian’s questions about this world, but at the same time, they had created even more questions, both about this world and beyond.
And it was clear that he was not going to find more answers here.
But there was something that bothered him the most.
’How did the map’s creator know about this place? And what happened to them? Did they die? Were they killed? Did they manage to reach here?’ The map he had was too complete.
It had even marked the location of this dungeon, and that could only mean one thing: the map’s creator knew about this dungeon. But then why hadn’t they entered it?
Or had they entered and failed to obtain the inheritance? Or maybe they had been killed on the way here?
But if they were killed, how did they manage to create a complete map of this world? How exactly was that possible? Did they have a special skill or artifact for this?
Or is there another reason behind it?
’I guess I first need to find out how old this map is. That might help me reason more information.’
Anyway, for now, there were more pressing matters to deal with.
This place was the remains of a living, wounded entity, and The Black Silence, whatever it was, might not have been completely destroyed yet.
Seraphina raised her palm, and the white mark was shining inside her skin.
"So this dungeon was looking for someone with a Dual Class from the beginning?"
The Mirror Curator appeared in front of her.
"A Dual Class is not a sufficient condition."
"What is the main condition?" Seris asked.
"Carrying two truths without destroying one of them." The Mirror Curator raised its hand.
Four pillars of light formed before them.
"The final evaluation begins."
The first pillar moved toward Seris. The light scanned her body from head to toe.
A panel appeared before everyone.
[Candidate Evaluation: Seris Pendragon]
[Identity Stability: Exceptional]
[Sword Intent: Exceptional]
[Archive Compatibility: Low]
[Succession Compatibility: Rejected]
Seris only looked at the panel for a few seconds.
"Natural." There was no discomfort or objection in her tone.
She had not entered the Mirror Vault to obtain the inheritance. The rejection was only a result that did not align with her power structure.
The second pillar covered Liana.
Shadow Wolf stood beside her foot, carefully looking at the light.
[Candidate Evaluation: Liana]
[Spiritual Bond Compatibility: Exceptional]
[Identity Stability: High]
[Archive Capacity: Insufficient]
[Succession Compatibility: Rejected]
"At least I got Exceptional." Liana pointed at the first phrase, even though she didn’t even know what it meant.
"In a part that had nothing to do with the inheritance." Seraphina said.
"It’s still Exceptional."
The third light came toward Lian.
Mirror Anchor reacted in his mind.
For a moment, he felt that the Mirror Vault was not only examining his Mana or Class level.
Something deeper inside him was being touched.
The white light turned gray for a moment.
Then a panel appeared.
[Candidate Evaluation: Lian Vorhelm]
[Identity Stability: Exceptional]
[Memory Interpretation: Exceptional]
[Host Adaptability: Abnormal]
[Warning: Predatory Assimilation Detected.]
[Archive Preservation Probability: 17%]
[Archive Consumption Probability: 83%]
[Succession Compatibility: Rejected]
Lian was not surprised by the result. His body and soul were too adaptable for accepting external powers.
But this adaptability differed from the Mirror Vault’s purpose. The dungeon was not looking for a vessel that could turn the inheritance into personal power.
It was looking for someone who would preserve the memories as they were and rebuild the destroyed civilization.
It wanted someone who would act in line with this purpose and dedicate themselves to it.
Lian was not such a person. If there was no benefit for him, he would not waste his time, let alone the fact that this could be very difficult and time-consuming.
Liana stared at the panel.
"Archive Consumption means what?"
"It means it doesn’t trust me." Lian answered.
The last pillar focused on Seraphina.
The white light activated the mark on her palm. The suspended crystals around them turned toward her one after another.
[Candidate Evaluation: Seraphina]
[Identity Stability: High]
[Dual-Path Compatibility: Exceptional]
[Memory and Combat Synchronization: Exceptional]
[Emotional Fracture: Stabilized]
[Succession Compatibility: 96%]
[Worthy Heir Detected.]
No one was surprised. Everyone had understood to some extent that she had already been chosen as the heir.
Thousands of strands came out from the crystals, but none had yet entered Seraphina’s body.
The Mirror Curator stood in front of her.
"Do you accept the inheritance?"
Seraphina looked at the mark on her palm and, instead of answering immediately, asked.
"What is the cost?"
"The memories of the dead will remain within you." Vague images of thousands of Mirrath appeared inside the crystals.
"If your identity weakens, they will replace your voice with their own."
The strands wrapped around her hand, but did not reach her skin.
"The inheritance gives power; but power is the smallest part of it." This meant she would gain the identity of thousands of people, including their memories.
Seraphina was silent for a few moments. Lian looked at her face. He did not know her thoughts, but he could see the weight of the decision in her pause and the pressure of her fingers.
This was not a normal Skill that could be discarded if unsuitable. When the Archive entered her soul, a part of her being would change forever.
The act she was about to perform was so great that it could cause her soul to collapse.
"If you’re only accepting it for power, don’t."
Seraphina turned her head toward Lian, and he continued.
"We don’t yet know exactly what effect carrying this Archive will have on your mind and soul. Whatever decision you make, you should think about it carefully. If you can’t handle it, your soul might shatter."
His gaze moved over the surrounding crystals for a moment.
"This is not a decision that can be taken back later." Liana was not joking this time. Her smile had faded, and she was silently looking at Seraphina.
Seris didn’t care enough to offer any advice.
Seraphina looked at the mark on her hand again. A few seconds passed, then she closed her fingers.
"My mother died because of a rift that no one was prepared to stop."
Her voice neither trembled nor rose.
"If this inheritance can really help prevent something similar from happening again, I will accept it."
"Even knowing that your own memories might one day be lost among the memories of the dead?" The Mirror Curator asked.
"Then I have to stay strong enough not to get lost."
A panel opened before her.
[Succession Accepted.]
At that same moment, the entire Archive space lit up. The memory crystals began to move.
At first slowly, then faster.
Thousands of crystals rotated in complex orbits around Seraphina. Each orbit formed part of a very large Magic Circle.
A white mark appeared beneath her feet. Her sword came out of its sheath without being touched and floated in front of her body.
Two flows of Mana left her body. The first flow was in the form of a silver blade, compressed, sharp, and direct.
The Swordswoman path.
The second flow made a ring of multi-colored Mana, with fire and ice moving inside it.
The Mage path.
Until now, those two flows had only been synchronized within Seraphina’s body.
But the Mirror Vault now pulled them out and placed their structures against each other.
The silver blade entered the Mana ring. For a moment, both flows resisted.
The lights were thrown around, and the suspended sword trembled.
But then Twin-Core Resonance activated. The rhythm of the two powers became one. The Mana ring compressed around the blade and penetrated its structure.
The inheritance panels appeared one after another.
[Heir Selected: Seraphina]
[Legacy: The Last Mirror Archivist]
[Succession Authority Granted.]
[Evolution Path Unlocked.]
She would still remain a Warrior and Mage, but upon reaching Evolution, a new path would become available to her.
A path that would probably turn the two Classes into something unified.
[Twin-Core Resonance has evolved.]
[Twin-Core Convergence — Incomplete]
[Legacy Skill Acquired: Prismatic Spellblade]
[Authority Acquired: Mirror Archive — First Layer]
[Title Acquired: Heir of the Last Reflection]
The white mark moved from Seraphina’s palm to her arm and then to her chest, but just before reaching her heart, a few crystals in the farthest part of the Archive turned black.
Their blackness did not resemble The Black Silence, but it conveyed the same feeling of loss and void.
The Mirror Curator suddenly turned toward them. For the first time, its movement was outside its usual calm.
A frown appeared on its flat face, so clearly that it was obvious.
[Archive Contamination Detected.]
[Rejected Reflections Awakening.]
The black crystals cracked. Dark smoke came out from within them and gathered at one point.
First a hand... then a shoulder, torso, and head.
A human-like body formed from the darkness, but it had no fixed face.
For a moment, it was Lian’s face, then Seris’s, Seraphina’s, Liana’s.
And then unknown faces, probably belonging to people who, over the years, had found this dungeon and challenged its trials, faces of people whose memories existed in the archive.
The same archive that Seraphina was about to obtain, along with all its memories and information.
A panel appeared.
[The Nameless Fifth]
"The reflections of rejected challengers were preserved over the centuries." The Mirror Curator said.
"They were not supposed to gain awareness, but memories are like that. If they become too obsessive, they can take shape and will."
"It seems that because someone has obtained the inheritance, the anger that had accumulated in them over all this time over their failures has erupted and caused the formation of what you see."
The Nameless Fifth’s body stretched. Several mouths opened on its different faces, and multiple voices came out of them simultaneously.
"Heir..."
"Body..."
"Escape..."
The creature moved toward Seraphina. The inheritance transfer process had not yet been completed.
Seraphina was standing in the center of the Magic Circle and could not leave it.
If she was attacked, she might lose everything!