The morning sun filtered through Gravehold's cracked ceiling, casting soft gold across ancient stone. For once, silence wasn't the aftermath of death—but of peace.
Adexander stood at the highest spire, arms folded as he gazed across the ruined landscape. His cloak stirred in the breeze, the scent of scorched soil mingling with new air.
Below, the others stirred.
Kaien snored atop a roof beam, one boot missing, the words "King of Leisure" scrawled across his chest in charcoal. Raik was passed out near the hearth, hugging a crude plush version of Igris he had apparently sewn overnight.
Velessia walked silently into the chamber. She didn't speak. She didn't need to. Her presence felt like a steady bell—constant, resonant.
> "You didn't sleep."
Adexander's voice was low, but not cold.
> "Did you?"
> "Barely," she said, stepping beside him. "The wind carries more than dust now. Something stirs out there."
He nodded.
> "I know."
She turned to look at him, studying the faint tension in his jaw.
> "You always know."
---
War Room – An Hour Later
The map sprawled across the table pulsed faintly—an artifact Raik had repaired using ancient core fragments. Adexander stood before it, the others now gathered.
Igris spoke first.
> "The outer zones are quiet. Too quiet. Dungeons that should be overflowing are empty. Either someone's purging them... or they're gathering for something worse."
Kaien raised a hand lazily.
> "Option C: They're scared. You killed a Sealed One. Word might've spread."
> "Something else is spreading," Velessia added. "I feel echoes through the leylines. A resonance. As if something beneath the world is waking up."
Raik's voice was unusually serious.
> "Then we need to move. Fast. Before whatever's coming gets here."
Adexander leaned forward.
His finger tapped a red-blinking marker on the map: The Shattered Crucible.
> "This... is where we go next."
Igris frowned.
> "It's a trial ground. Forbidden. Even in your era."
> "Exactly."
> "You're not strong enough yet," Velessia warned. "The System's still stabilizing. Your bloodforce isn't complete."
Adexander's eyes flashed crimson for a moment.
> "That's why I'll go."
He looked at each of them—Kaien, Igris, Velessia, Raik.
> "But not alone."
---
That Night – Before Departure
Velessia sat beneath a broken arch, humming an old celestial lullaby. Kaien sharpened his daggers. Igris inspected their gear. Raik, oddly focused, placed a folded note into his armor.
Adexander approached quietly. He looked at them, then up at the darkening sky.
> "We leave at dawn."
> "What if the Crucible kills us?" Kaien asked, only half-joking.
> "Then we die stronger than we were," Adexander said simply.
The fire crackled. For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then Raik lifted his mug.
> "To dawn."
> "To whatever waits beyond it," Velessia added.
They clinked.
Adexander didn't raise his cup.
He placed his hand over his chest—where the crimson sigil still pulsed quietly.
> "To what I must become."