I stared at the Exclusive Karma slot and felt the game quietly dare me. The card was one click away from being mine, but the materials sat behind a mode I hadn’t reached yet. I remember thinking: this is going to cost time.
You and I both know how a single missing resource can stall a build. Below I break down where the Fragments of Afterimage and Fragments of Memory come from, why one is tied to a gacha-like loop, and the fastest ways I’ve seen players stack what they need without burning the whole week.
Most RPG towns have an alchemist; in Orbis Royal Castle she stands by the cathedral.
If you want Fragments of Afterimage in DragonSword: Awakening, go see Shanoa the Alchemist at Orbis Royal Castle. You trade 1 Whirling Thoughts, 100 Fragments of Memory, and 100,000 gold to transmute a single Fragment of Afterimage. Her shop is highlighted on the map, so you won’t miss her.
Brute facts: to acquire and max out all Exclusive Karma cards you will need a total of 128 Fragments of Afterimage and over 10,000 Fragments of Memory. Each Exclusive Karma card typically requires either 7/700 pieces or 6/600 for those obtainable via Hero Quests. That scale is why players on Steam community guides and Reddit threads are already planning what to prioritize.
How do I get Fragments of Afterimage?
You get them by using Shanoa’s transmute recipe described above. Since Whirling Thoughts are the gating item, your clear path is to farm those first, then convert Memory fragments into Afterimage. Treat Whirling Thoughts like the bottleneck they are.
The Tower of Trials feels like every timed mode you’ve ever rushed through in other games.
You unlock the Tower of Trials by talking to Cerese and completing her Bond Quest during the third main chapter. Only the Tower awards Whirling Thoughts, so if you haven’t met Cerese’s requirements, that’s the real blocker between you and any meaningful transmute runs.
The Tower has three variants: Tower of Gale, Tower of Amplitude, and Tower of Crushing. If you clear every floor across those three, you can net over 160 Whirling Thoughts total. Each variant also hands out more than 2,600 Fragments of Memory in the late game — which is why high-ranked players race the clock.
Be warned: you must complete each run within 90 seconds to receive the full rewards. Climbing the Tower is like running on a treadmill while juggling; speed matters as much as control.
Where can I farm Fragments of Memory fast?
The fastest consistent source is the Tower variants mentioned above. Secondary sources include treasure chests of all rarities, Mercenary Corps level rewards, first-time stage clears, and special stage challenges. Community tools such as Steam guides, Game8 articles, and Reddit route posts will show optimized floor routes for shaving seconds off each run.
If you’re planning the grind, do the math: every Afterimage costs Memory and a Whirling Thoughts, so factor how many Whirling Thoughts you can reliably pull per hour. The transmute feels like pulling a single thread from a sweater—small action, big change.
For build planning, consult the game’s recipe list and the character tier threads on Steam or Discord. Moyens I/O’s screenshots and guides highlight where Shanoa sits in Orbis, and IGN-style guides often list rotation paths for the Tower.
Now that you know where the bottlenecks are, will you grind the Tower for Whirling Thoughts, or save your Memory fragments for another priority?