The following day, Kaede Mizuno called for a field study in the southern ruins—an old site where the original Wielders fought during the first emergence of the Fracture Beasts. It was a controlled zone, but whispers said it still pulsed with leftover energy.
Kael, Tetsu, and Ryuu were assigned the same scouting squad.
"Don't slow us down," Ryuu muttered as they entered the shattered temple, moss and runes covering the stone.
Kael ignored him. His focus was elsewhere.
The moment they crossed the threshold, something pulled at Kael's core. A whisper again, louder: You are not alone in this place.
Kael paused, fingers brushing over the etchings on the wall—a symbol he'd seen in his dreams. A ring of fractured circles with a jagged eye in the center.
The others moved ahead. Kael lingered, heart pounding.
Tetsu glanced back. "You okay?"
"Yeah... just got a weird feeling."
None of them noticed the shadows behind the altar begin to twist.