Layer Ten had no gates.
Just forgetting.
Raen didn't realize he had crossed the threshold. At one point, echoes and embers illuminated the trail behind him. A blank mist rolled over his memories like waves on brittle sand, and then it was gone.
He blinked.
What did he want to find?
He pivoted.
For whom was he searching?
The Ember Vow. Wyrm the Jester. Hollowfang. Despair Maw.
Lost.
With his hands out and his breath erratic, he stumbled forward. It was neither warm nor cold in the mist. It just *wasn't*. It was tasteless and odorless. Not a sound.
No name.
[Warning: Cognitive Threat Identified — Layer Ten Initiated]
[Identity Core Under Siege: System Lockdown]
Raen tightened his jaw.
"I am... I am Raen Tiberis."
Even his voice sounded off, though. Empty. similar to someone saying a name they had just heard.
The fog grew heavier.
A figure appeared.
He appeared to be there.
but younger.
wide-eyed. harmless. An armored boy with too much hope in his eyes and too much fear in his chest.
Raen gazed.
"You're not real."
The boy cocked his head.
"Am I not? You were me. Prior to the blades. prior to the fire. prior to you beginning to let go."
Raen took a step back.
However, there was no ground. Only mist. Only recollection.
[Identified Memory Leak; 82% Core Stability]
The boy moved forward. Scenes rippled through the fog with every step:
At a grave, a man is kneeling. While his soldiers are being eaten, a general screams.
- A teenager with blood on his hands, trembling in front of a mirror.
Raen went to his knees.
"Stop..."
The boy said, "You forgot why you fight." "Before the System, you forgot *who* you were. prior to the power.
Raen's fists clenched. "I still remember. I remain myself.
It was only a whisper, though.
The *real* Beast then showed up.
It didn't move. It unfolded.
A form of moving bones, hundreds of mouths, and ink-weeping eyes.
[Entity Found: Namedeath]
[Class: Identity Eater]
[Impossible: Bondable]
It didn't roar.
It *talked*.
"Tiberis... Raen... Do you no longer even understand the meaning of those names?
Raen got up. faltering.
But he had to face it.
"They mean *I chose* who I became."
Namedeath sprang forward.
Raen did not duck.
Rather, he shut his eyes.
and recalled.
Not conflicts. Not animals. Not upgrades to the system.
However, Kael shared his laughter beneath broken moons.
While cooking, his mother hummed to herself.
His badly carved old wooden sword was too tight.
"I am aware of who I am."
The fog cried out.
With it, Raen screamed.
[Stability 82% → 100%; Core Surge Triggered]
[Unlocked New Trait: Memory Anchor]
Blue-gold, burning light burst from his chest. Namedeath was hit squarely by it. Bones clattering like falling truths, the beast wailed and unraveled.
The fog dissipated.
Raen got up.
complete.
Just beyond the veil, his beasts watched. Awaiting. Recalling.
He approached them on foot.
"Let's go."
Layer Ten was finished.
However, its query would reverberate indefinitely:
When no one can recall your name, who are you?