The city had fully awakened.
Morning light spilled across stone streets, merchants shouting prices while adventurers gathered near guild boards, scanning for work. Life moved on with careless confidence, ignorant of forgotten magic rotting beneath its feet.
I walked among them like a ghost.
Every few steps, my mind returned to the same empty space.
My name.
I tried again—quietly, carefully—reaching for it like a word on the tip of my tongue.
Nothing.
No pain. No resistance.
Just absence.
[Notice.]
[Personal Identifier loss stabilized.]
Stabilized.
As if losing your name was something that could simply… settle.
I stopped near a fountain, watching mana-infused water spiral endlessly upward before cascading back down. Children laughed nearby, chasing floating droplets shaped like glowing fish.
They know who they are, I thought.
I looked down at my reflection in the water.
Silver-gray hair. Violet eyes. A stranger staring back.
"If I forget my name," I murmured, "what else can I forget?"
The Authority Fragment pulsed faintly, almost in response.
I straightened.
Worrying wouldn't fix this. Information might.
The foreign memories surfaced again, guiding me toward a building near the central square—large, lively, and loud.
The Adventurers' Guild.
If forgotten magic was resurfacing, the guild would know. Or at least, they'd be dealing with the consequences.
The guild hall was packed. Steel clashed, laughter roared, and the scent of ale mixed with sweat and oil. A massive board dominated the far wall, covered in quest notices.
I scanned them quickly.
[Missing Persons — Western District]
[Mana Disturbance Investigation]
[Ruins Clearance: Eldermere Area — High Risk]
I frowned.
The library incident had already left ripples.
I approached the counter, where a woman with short red hair was sorting papers at an alarming speed.
"Registration?" she asked without looking up.
"Yes," I replied. "Temporary."
She slid a form toward me. "Name?"
I froze.
The pen hovered over the paper.
"…I don't have one."
She looked up sharply.
I met her gaze steadily. "Lost it in a magical backlash."
Her expression shifted from suspicion to understanding in a heartbeat.
"Mage," she said flatly.
"Something like that."
She sighed. "Happens more than you'd think. Pick a working name. You can change it later."
A working name.
Temporary.
I stared at the blank line.
Guardian.
Watcher.
None of them felt right.
My eyes drifted to the quest board behind her.
Echoes.
The word surfaced unbidden.
"…Echo," I said.
She shrugged and wrote it down. "Echo it is."
Just like that, I existed again—on paper, at least.
[Notice.]
[Temporary Identifier registered.]
I didn't know whether to laugh or scream.
She slid a bronze badge across the counter. "Low rank. Don't take anything stupid."
"I'll try," I said honestly.
As I turned away, a familiar tug brushed my consciousness—faint, distant, but unmistakable.
Another resonance.
Not as sharp as a fragment.
Older.
Deeper.
I paused.
[Forgotten spell echo detected.]
[Source: Mobile.]
Mobile?
My gaze swept the hall.
Adventurers. Mages. Mercenaries.
Then I felt it—passing right behind me.
I turned.
A man in dark robes was leaving the guild, his presence almost nonexistent. Not concealed—erased.
For a split second, our eyes met.
His were empty.
Not soulless.
Hollow.
The Authority Fragment throbbed violently.
[Warning.]
[Another Guardian-adjacent entity detected.]
My blood ran cold.
I'm not alone.
The man disappeared into the crowd, swallowed by noise and movement.
I stood there, heart pounding.
Another existence tied to forgotten magic.
Not a fragment.
Not a construct.
Someone like me.
I clenched my fist.
This world hadn't just forgotten its spells.
It had forgotten its Guardians.
And now—
We were beginning to remember each other.