The obsidian staircase gave way to a land so cold, and there was no door and no end to it; that was just the outside. Suddenly, without any incident as Sora descended each step, he found himself in a certain place in a very short amount of time, like a teleportation he was never aware of, a change so swift.

  In that place, Sora saw a fog so thick it obscured the view before him, and the air there was very calm, as if there was no gust of wind at all in that place, as if something was holding the wind back so it could not blow in the area.

  Sora tried to step into that place, passing through the fog in front of him with a slight sense of apprehension about his current location. The tower behind him sank like a shipwreck in the middle of the sea, into something that sucked it from below like quicksand, disappearing into the ground without leaving a trace, as if the tower and its ruins which Sora saw from a distance were never built but only remembered by those who could overcome a challenge from the echoes of their past.

  And there stood a figure across a vast, open field in that place.

  That figure was the First Being, creator of the memory world and the one who had given Sora the previous challenge. The First Being had no face like a human, and its face itself, when Sora first saw it as he slowly approached, was impossible for him to describe in form and appearance.

  The First Being wore a crown with horns like a deer, with roots wrapped around the horns like thorns from a rose, and the Being wore a multi-layered robe the color of the setting sun, its robe appearing as if torn by time and the ages from all corners of any universe. The Being did not move and just sat silently on its chair as if it were a throne until Sora walked slowly toward it.

  Then the First Being raised its hand, not to greet Sora who was approaching, but to pull something out of thin air. A weapon emerged from a hole it created, like a distortion between space and time that served as its storage space within that portal-like hole when its hand made such a gesture, like summoning magic.

  Not summoned, not forged, but a sword to be remembered, like a memory. A sword. It had a very neat curve, as if the metal was made not from materials of the world, but from someone's memory. Its blade was not as sharp as any other sword, but it pulsed faintly with a light like a dim ember that refused to die, as if the sword was not meant to cut flesh, bone, or even take a soul, but was meant to voice a long-hidden truth.

  The Being spoke without a sound leaving its mouth, and for some reason, Sora could understand what the First Being was saying without hearing any sound.

  "This sword has no name or title. If you give this sword a name, it will have a special bond between the owner and the sword to share the fate that an owner has gone through with his weapon. But you are not destined to have a bond with this sword. Instead, you are destined to bear it with every step, requiring you to carry this sword throughout your journey so that you may remember the truth that many in your broken world have forgotten."

  The Being released the nameless sword, and for some reason, the sword floated in the air, moved slowly toward Sora, and embedded itself in the ground near his feet, as if the sword was waiting for its owner to grasp it, ready to accompany him on every journey it would take him on. Sora looked at the sword given to him by the First Being and tried to take it, his hand reaching for the hilt. When Sora touched it, the fog around him seemed to tremble.

  The pulse of the sword. It was like the heartbeat of an underworld buried deep in the earth. The sword felt light when held, but its purpose felt limitless. The sword did not shine like a light; it did not hum as if speaking to the one who held it, but the sword remembered everyone who held it and the holder's memories too.

  Behind the fog, faint echoes swirled, shadows of long-destroyed villages and whispers of long-drowned gods because no servants remained who had faith in them, and a new path opened before Sora. It was a path not illuminated by destiny or fate, but a path chosen by silence itself for those who could traverse it. The First Being stood from its throne and walked toward its back, about to leave Sora who was still there.

  Its form began to fade into the fog, about to disappear because the First Being had completed its task of passing on the nameless sword to the rightful owner to carry it, after the Being had waited so long for the right person to become the temporary owner of the sword. But before disappearing, a single echo was spoken by the First Being into the air: "To move forward silent one, you must first teach the world to listen to you before the world gives you an answer from the one who bears the unspoken and unknown burden."

  Hearing the First Being's words before it vanished from Sora's sight, disappearing among the fogs, indicated that Sora's journey had now begun. Not to seek revenge, not even to conquer his broken world on the brink of destruction, but to remember a buried truth, to witness it, and to carry it with him on every journey. And in his hand now was a nameless sword given by the First Being.

  A sword that would cut more than just the lies hiding behind the shadow of truth. The sword would cut through things unspoken by anyone, a silence that had kept the world from waking from its slumber.

  Night had slowly swallowed the road with darkness, accompanied by stars in the sky that accompanied the moonlight's glow.... Sora walked under a sky that no longer showed a sun, but instead had a crack in the sky filled with stars hanging like candlelight with only a little light but refusing to go out, and a moon that looked like a torch whose wood could barely support its flame, burning slowly but reluctant to be extinguished, just like the stars beside it. Sora had crossed a river not far from the Cave of Memory, and after crossing a bridge that connected the river with the area around the Cave of Memory, he walked through towering hills and a road filled with many weeds and nearly dead trees.

  And Sora had walked for three days without speaking to anyone after the previous incident and had not eaten anything, which made his stomach keep rumbling with hunger, as if only silence could sustain him to stay alive. Currently, he was treading a quiet hill path, its road not fully visible because of the many remnants of stone chunks from a ruin that once stood on the hill. The hilltop seemed to hold a crown of crooked trees that were partly bald, tall, some slanted, and they whispered as the wind blew through them.

  There, Sora stopped for a moment. Not to pray for his hunger to disappear, but to take a breath as a moment of rest because his body had been forced to keep walking and had now reached its limit.

  Sora looked around and gathered some twigs and enough wood to make a campfire to warm himself as he wanted to rest for the night, and the fire was enough to cast shadows. After a long time, he made the campfire before leaning his body against an old tree for support. The wind blew beneath his boots, trying to give him fresh air as he rested from the world he had passed through during his journey. Sora slowly closed his eyes and tried to rest peacefully.

  Sora sat on the edge of an open field where the hills met a dead forest as a boundary. The sound of the wind crept through the branches like a whispered warning. Sora sensed the presence of another figure and wondered in his mind if he was alone or not.

  That's what he thought in his mind with his eyes still closed. Then, not long after, he heard the sound of a tree branch snapping, which sounded intentional, and the sound of heavy footsteps heading towards Sora as he rested there. Sora did not flinch at all at the disturbance. He thought it might be an animal passing by. But the longer it went on, the closer the sound became.

  Sora decided to slowly reach for the hilt of his sword, which he had placed beside him. The sound of gravel, very soft footsteps, and a silhouette that looked like a... woman?.

  "Don't move!"

  Sora slowly turned his head towards the source of the voice and saw the figure of a woman standing near a tree, hiding her appearance in the shadows within the forest and out of reach of the campfire, making it difficult for Sora to see the person speaking to him.

  From her faint shadow in the forest, the woman appeared tall, seemed to be wearing a hooded cloak, her hair had a slightly golden color and was tied back like a ponytail, her boots muffled the sound of her footsteps in the forest as she aimed with her weapon, and an arrowhead was visible from outside the shadows. An arrow aimed at Sora, not at his chest, but at his throat.

  "I asked once before, who are you?" she said, although the woman had not asked at all.

  The bowstring creaked tighter as the woman felt Sora was a threat she had just encountered. Sora did not act rashly to worsen the current situation, especially after walking for so long and finding someone still alive in this shattered world, and his current condition was unimaginable if it continued like this. Sora remained seated where he was and tried to reassure the woman who had her arrow aimed at him as he was resting, looking at her with eyes that only showed exhaustion after walking from one place to another.

  "Hah, what are you doing? Hey! Are you deaf or mute for not answering the question of someone in front of you pointing an arrow at you, stupid? Say something before this arrow pierces your throat!" the woman said with an emotional tone, seeing something she couldn't believe.

  Although her target showed no suspicious signs, she remained wary of the person she had just met and tried to determine if he was dangerous or not. Sora did nothing and just remained silent while still looking at the woman who was still aiming her arrow at him, and of course, this made the woman's patience run out until she snapped and released her arrow.

  WHOOSH

  The arrow shot out quickly and landed in the ground a few inches from Sora's resting feet, sending leaves flying around from the swift gust of wind from the female archer. Sora still did not move at all from his place, even though the woman had shot her arrow as a warning and demanded an answer from the mute Sora.

  Sora didn't even flinch at her threat of shooting an arrow, which showed how serious Sora's condition would be if he couldn't answer her question before his life was taken because he couldn't answer the woman's question. Sora tried not to exhale in a way that showed worry or fear about it; there was only silence between them at that moment. Seeing this, the woman's breath became irregular when she saw Sora's reaction, feeling her threat had failed to intimidate him.

  Knowing this, a second arrow was nocked on her bowstring, and this time, the woman aimed it at Sora again, but not at his chest or throat, but right at his head, preparing for an unexpected threat from the person's movement.

  "You think you can trick me by not answering my question to give you mercy and forgiveness?! You walk like the living dead but breathe like a human, what kind of person are you? A Doppelganger? Humanoid? Vampire?" the woman said as she stepped closer to him to ascertain who he was. With a high level of alertness, the woman crossed into the campfire light, making her face more visible now, half-shadowed by her black hood protecting her head, with a small scratch on her left cheek and blue eyes that did not sparkle, as she continued to glare at the person.

  But the firelight also revealed Sora's face for the woman to see as she slowly approached, still aiming her bow at him. A young man tired from his non-stop journey of several days, and the woman saw the look of someone who had forgotten something every human possesses: fear. And in Sora's brown eyes, the woman saw no resistance from him and no plea for release, as if Sora's eyes were saying,

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  'do it, if you want to do it'.

  Only silence reflected Sora, who had undergone a relentless life journey experiencing things that a human should not experience. There was no hatred implied in Sora's expression, but rather a face tired of life but simply refusing to die, and there was no judgment that would make the woman stop her actions towards Sora (communicated through sign language).

  The woman's arm lowered slowly when it became clear that the person she was threatening was not a threat to her, but a figure tired of everything. Her voice slowly softened but she was still hesitant and tried to ask the person.

  "You... really can't speak?"

  Sora nodded his head as a sign to explain to the woman. The woman looked away and shook her head in shame for her previous action of forcing the person to speak by aiming and shooting an arrow at him as a threat.

  The woman spoke again with a different tone than before, more relieved and mixed with shame for her actions that might have made the person feel scared or threatened.

  "This world turns voices into corpses. And maybe, your voice was the first to be stolen by the dead."

  There was a moment of silence as the woman expected an answer from the person, but then she realized again that he was mute, so she turned her face away a second time to hide her shame again. Then... Sora extended his hand towards the woman as a gesture between fellow humans still alive in this shattered world who had forgotten the hope of living in this world. Sora's palm was right in front of the woman as a sign of friendship for him and the woman.

  The woman looked at the person with confusion mixed with the shame from before in her expression. In the end, the woman tried to remain calm and act as usual with a tone as soft and cold as the wind.

  "Are you... a fool... or the only sane person left in this world?"

  The woman stepped forward slowly and her fingers touched Sora's fingers to shake his hand as an indirect apology, and she had no trust to exchange with the person. Only the first thread of an un-woven understanding and the woman's misunderstanding.

  "My name is Kaelith. You don't have to tell me yours. Silence has a name, too." she murmured.

  Hearing this, Sora began to look for a wooden twig around him to write something. Kaelith watched Sora's action of holding the twig and writing something on the ground. She saw Sora's writing on the ground, and the person tried to say with sign language that he was introducing himself as Sora. Kaelith could only look at Sora and finally understood his meaning.

  "Are you a fool or what? If you still insist on introducing yourself like that, then fine." Kaelith replied to Sora's introduction with a flat and cold tone.

  Kaelith turned away from Sora and looked around their area.

  "Sora, where are you actually going? From the looks of you, you're on a journey, right?" Kaelith asked as she slowly sat across from Sora at the campfire to keep her distance, her expression puzzled after observing her surroundings for a long time.

  Sora again wrote something on the ground with the twig he was holding,

  "I don't know where I want to go, but I'm just walking to survive for now."

  Seeing Sora's writing on the ground, Kaelith became even more confused by his rather strange statement, because in this world, even if you wander from one place to another or stay in one place, you would still die because this world was not fit for Kaelith to continue living in its current condition.

  "You are the only very strange person with a reason that is impossible for most people, and I am not surprised if, seeing your current condition, you can survive the many things happened but... you know, this world is full of things that cannot be explained by any common sense." Kaelith said with a soft tone.

  But She has a feeling of confusion when looking at Sora, a normal human, who could survive in this long-broken and shattered world.

  "So, where are you going if you are wandering from one place to another to... survive?" Kaelith asked with a soft tone but with a sense of wonder and curiosity towards Sora.

  Hearing that, Sora wrote something on the ground again.

  "I don't know, I don't have a clear destination for now, and I wander how far and of course, to survive the threats of this world."

  Seeing the writing, Kaelith did not understand Sora's meaning. Maybe she read the writing correctly, but what did Sora mean by not having a destination for wandering other than to survive? Kaelith decided to invite Sora to the next place, even though she couldn't fully trust Sora whom she had just met, but what else could she do if she was left alone, and moreover, Sora was one of the sane humans with a mind that was still gray to Kaelith.

  "If you want to wander but don't know your next destination, I suggest you head to the ruins of the Borreal kingdom... for that, I will accompany you during the journey as my apology for a while before." Kaelith said with a flat tone and an invitation for Sora.

  Sora finally stood up from his seat and nodded to Kaelith, a sign that he agreed to wander with her towards the ruins of the Borreal kingdom that Kaelith mentioned. Kaelith's arrow was still stuck in the ground near Sora's feet, and Sora picked up the arrow, which made Kaelith reflexively stand on guard.

  However, Sora took the arrow to return it to Kaelith, and Kaelith accepted the arrow after observing Sora's action for a long time.

  Together, they walked through the dark of the night. The nameless sword hung at Sora's hip, and Kaelith was behind him, watching the surrounding trees to stay vigilant of her surroundings and also wary of Sora, who could betray her at any time.

  The road before them led to the forgotten ruined kingdom, which had left behind its golden age of knowledge and technological development, now vanished as if swallowed by the earth. Their actual journey had just begun with a sense of suspicion and caution that ended in a temporary alliance.

  The moon cast a very pale light over the peaks of the tall, old trees. Kaelith walked behind Sora, her eyes always observing the surrounding area for any suspicious movements or threats coming towards them, and Sora followed behind her, silent as usual, and his steps were also deliberate as he saw Kaelith being very vigilant of her surroundings.

  Then—

  GrrrrrrRRRMM

  An unknown sound gurgled awkwardly in the night air, making Kaelith freeze instantly. She immediately and nimbly nocked an arrow to her bow midway down the path, and Sora stopped his steps when he saw her reaction because Kaelith felt a very strange sound was approaching them. The sound was heard again a few moments later.

  GrmmMMrrrrkkk

  The sound was not from the forest, rather the source of the sound was from Sora's direction. Kaelith immediately turned around, and her eyes couldn't believe it when she heard the sound coming from Sora, so much so that Kaelith blinked once to make sure.

  "...Is that your stomach?" Kaelith asked Sora with bewilderment about the sound, which was very familiar when someone was hungry.

  Perhaps out of embarrassment, Sora looked away and did not move at all from his place with a sense of shame that seemed to hang on his shoulders like a cloak, but heavier than the one he was wearing. Kaelith sighed, not knowing what else to say to the hungry Sora, pulling back her hood.

  "Oh God... How long has it been since you've eaten?"

  Sora did not answer her question directly because he could not remember the last time he ate. But the look in Sora's eyes was enough to answer Kaelith's question, who had run out of words for him. Sora showed her three fingers, indicating that perhaps he hadn't eaten for 3 days or maybe more, and had only drunk water during his journey.

  Kaelith's hand moved to her belt pouch to look for something to eat to give to Sora, but there was nothing but her hunting knife, some medicine she had, and a broken flint for sharpening her arrows and making a campfire.

  "I've had enough already of this. Alright, I'll find something for us to eat tonight, and you find a place for us to rest later."

  Kaelith looked towards the line of forest trees to find prey for their dinner, but Sora shook his head and followed Kaelith who was about to hunt.

  He stepped forward to follow Kaelith from behind. Kaelith, realizing someone was following her from behind, immediately turned around and saw Sora following her, and it seemed he wanted to help her hunt.

  "You're not the only ghost with a sword you're carrying right now, and I understand you want to help me, but thanks for offering your services. I'm fine on my own, just find a resting place for us!" Kaelith muttered.

  A little annoyed and feeling that someone cared about her, but Kaelith flatly refused because only she could hunt at the moment. But Sora insisted on following her from behind until Kaelith let out a breath of frustration and finally gave in to Sora's stubbornness to join her in hunting.

  "Alright... alright, I want you to just be quiet and follow my directions carefully without troubling me, okay?" Kaelith said with a forced and annoyed tone towards Sora.

  And finally, they ventured into the forests to find their prey for dinner.

  They observed the forest from every corner like eagles looking for their prey from above. The tree branches under their boots barely rustled beneath their steps and made no sound at all. Kaelith moved with the grace of an expert hunter who had lived in the forest for too long, and Sora watched and studied everything Kaelith did as she looked for something to hunt. Then a rustling sound was heard in front of them from behind the bushes. In front of them now was a wild boar with gray horns and a snout like the root of a dead oak tree.

  The boar's tusks were as long as Kaelith's forearm. Its eyes were clouded with anger; it seemed the boar was hungry or had just been in a fight, as there was still bloodstain on its body. Kaelith tried to calm her hands as she prepared her arrow on her bow to shoot at the boar that was standing still, her lips slightly parted to focus as she exhaled slowly to hit her target.

  But before Kaelith could release her arrow—

  WHOOSH!

  A boar came from another direction and charged from the bushes where Sora and Kaelith were hiding. The boar shot straight towards Sora, who was not far from Kaelith who was trying to release her arrow, causing the first boar they encountered to run away in fear that the other boar was about to attack it. There was no time to warn and no time to call for someone who could help them as they had to face their prey now.

  Kaelith spun around and deliberately dropped to the ground to give herself enough time to shoot her arrow at the boar attacking Sora.

  THWIP—

  An arrow hit the fiercely raging boar, but its movement could not be stopped. It was a large beast, having survived predator threats, and was too wild to be subdued. Sora didn't have time to grasp his sword, which caused him to be pushed back with unimaginable force for an angry animal, as the boar gored Sora when he was not ready and its movement was unpredictable. Kaelith shouted with a rather loud voice, the first time Sora heard a voice from her that was not bitter or restrained.

  "GET DOWN, YOU FOOL!!"

  The boar that was goring Sora was hit by another arrow from Kaelith, the arrow lodging in its body for the second time, which made the boar stop goring Sora, and Sora was thrown quite far.

  The boar, finding itself severely injured, spun around from the pain of Kaelith's arrow, which caused it great pain, snorting irregularly from the pain, and saliva mixed with blood dripped from its mouth. Sora's eyes stared at the boar that had lost its concentration, and slowly, Sora stood up and drew his sword towards the boar.

  The moonlight flickered along the blade of his sword, making it shine in the darkness of the night and as silent as Sora himself. The boar turned its gaze back to Sora, having ignored its pain, and charged at Sora again for the second time. Sora waited for the right moment to attack, even though the boar was running towards him quickly, and Sora still waited as the boar approached his attack range. When the boar entered his attack range, Sora moved not with great force but with high focus and concentration to find an opening in the boar's attack.

  The sword seemed to sing in the night air, in accordance with the melody it desired. The arc of the slash was very clean, even neat for any sword slash. The boar finally fell in the middle of its failed attack, sliding on the ground and leaves from Sora's final blow. The boar ended with a shivering breath, waiting for the moment death would claim it.

  The forest became silent again after the incident. Sora staunched the bleeding on his arm from being gored by the boar's tusk, with blood slowly dripping from his arm.

  Kaelith approached them, her bow lowered. "You really can't talk, it seems." Kaelith said, who previously still doubted Sora's inability to speak, or muteness, as a lie.

  But under the previous conditions, Kaelith was sure that Sora really couldn't speak at all. Sora did not answer Kaelith's statement about him and was still holding his arm with his other hand. He just stared at the lifeless creature lying before them now. Kaelith took out her hunting knife and knelt beside the motionless boar.

  "Alright. While I skin this one, I'll also cook it. And you, light the campfire. Sounds good?" Kaelith asked with a flat tone, focused on separating the meat from the boar's skin.

  Sora blinked once with a faint nod of his head for the task Kaelith gave him, who was now processing the boar meat with a trained hand, cutting each piece of meat carefully.

  "You move like someone who has died before.". Kaelith's question made Sora, who was about to leave, freeze upon hearing it. Sora turned to her as she was skinning and sorting the meat of their prey. "Not many can endure hunger like that and still have the energy to think," Kaelith continued, still cutting some meat.

  Sora left Kaelith there and looked for firewood to make a campfire near their hunting spot after Kaelith finished speaking.

  When Sora had gathered the firewood, he placed rather large stones in a circle and arranged the firewood neatly. After finishing, the campfire was lit soon after. Then, near the crackling campfire and the aroma of roasting meat being cooked.

  Kaelith sat across from him, still keeping her distance from Sora, and opened their conversation that had been silent, staring at the fire burning before them while waiting for the boar meat they were cooking to be done.

  "This world preys on the weak," Kaelith said, giving a piece of cooked meat speared on a stick to Sora.

  "but you... you don't seem so weak to me, just... unfinished, to me."

  They did not speak after that and tried to enjoy the fruits of their hunt.

  Just sharing a fire for warmth in the cold night and a meal to fill their stomachs for energy the next day. A bow and a sword were journeying together.

  Two ghosts at the edge of a shattered and broken world, they did not know that dawn would bring their journey towards the ruined kingdom of Borreal.

  But tonight, they remembered what it truly felt like to survive.