Clayton stood in the Rootsite's chamber, the Veil of Verdant Shroud cloaking his 100 square kilometer domain, Verdant Bastion's thorned turrets and venom-sap pits spectral under Earthcore Nexus's pulse.
He looked into the distance, dazed.
His humanoid form was scarred, his Flame-Resistant evolved trait active, Heartseed Core all steady, thrumming with Architect rank Aspect power, divine-like but strained, his Genesis Embers at 4 after Revival's cost.
The incomplete System message from moments ago lingered, its glitch recording his death as self-inflicted, unraveling a new Artifact, his first since Regalia of the Verdant Warden.
And it left him stunned.
His new Artifact was Shedskin, born from his fall to Vex's Null Blade.
Clayton was still confused. 'What the actual f*ck?!'
~----~
[System Notification: Artifact Acquired – Shedskin]
[Artifact Type: Armor]
[Rank: Initiate Ember]
[Origin: Host termination mis-recorded as self-inflicted due to Revival.]
