One piece: Without a system, I have to survive!

A cold wind swept across the desolate ruins, carrying whispers of the past. We stood at the edge of a silent shore, gazing at the land shrouded in thick mist. This island… felt different.

The ground beneath our feet was hard and cracked, as if it had endured the weight of countless battles. In the distance, the towering silhouettes of ruined fortresses loomed, remnants of an era long gone. Faint traces of inscriptions could still be seen on the weathered stone walls, their meanings lost to time. It was as if the island itself had been forgotten, buried beneath the tides of history.

I stepped forward, sensing an unusual energy lingering in the air. The closer we got to the ruins, the more I could feel a strange heaviness pressing against my chest, as if unseen eyes were watching our every move.

"This is… the Isle of Forgotten Kings?" I asked, breaking the silence.

Vex nodded with a smirk, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "This island is the graveyard of rulers who failed to conquer the seas. They were all once legends—but now, only their names remain."

Shira shivered slightly, her hand tightening around the hilt of her weapon. "Then why does it feel like they're still watching us?"

A heavy stillness settled over us. The air smelled of salt and damp earth, mixed with something else—something ancient and decayed. The mist swirled unnaturally, shifting like ghostly figures in the dim light.

As we advanced further into the ruins, we found massive stone statues scattered across the landscape. Each one depicted a warrior or a king, their faces frozen in expressions of triumph… or despair. Some statues were shattered, their torsos and limbs lying in pieces on the ground. Others were defaced, their eyes gouged out or their crowns broken in half.

"These were once the greatest rulers of the seas," Vex muttered, running his fingers over the engravings on one of the statues. "Pirate kings, warlords, conquerors… all of them believed they would rule forever. But in the end, the sea rejects all who grow too arrogant."

I swallowed hard. There was something eerie about the way these statues stood—almost as if they had been petrified mid-battle, their ambitions frozen in stone.

Then, without warning—

A distant roar echoed through the ruins.

It was deep, guttural, and filled with something primal. It wasn't the roar of an animal, nor was it the sound of the wind. It was something else entirely.

The ground beneath us trembled. Stones shifted, and dust rose from the cracks between the ruins. A sense of foreboding crept into my bones.

"What… was that?" Shira whispered.

I didn't have an answer.

But one thing was certain—something had awakened.