š³ļø Chapter 24
"Some monsters wear skins. Some wear masks. And someā¦ wear emblems."
š«ļø The Maze Shift
Aeren's team, now ranked among the top 10, was teleported into the newly unlocked "Obsidian Fog Biome" ā an error zone the academy AI systems had never shown before.
"This... isn't part of the arena design," muttered Mersha.
Anshi, from her terminal on the sideline (after her injury), jumped up in panic.
"That place is forbiddenāit's not in any academy records!"
The barrier sensors began glitching.
Cameras failed.
šļø Whispers in the Dark
Inside the Obsidian Maze, Aeren kept hearing strange whispers:
"You are one of the Seeds...""Find the Sigil. Before they do."
Suddenly, a symbol appeared burned into one of the maze walls:
A black serpent coiled around a clock.
"Aeren," Kaith said, "your neckāit's glowing."
š·ļø Plot Twist: The Emergence of a Secret Organization
From here, introduce a dark organization:
š„ Name: Eclipse Fang
ā ļø About:
An underground cult-like organization believed to have been extinct since the "Space Crack Era" of 2014.Believes in controlling all awakened bloodlines and rewriting the structure of Crosnic Verse.Collects rare Seekers who have awakened ancient mythical powers.Their goal: awaken the Primordial Beast sealed beneath the continent to start a new world order.Their symbol: A Serpent Wrapped Around a Clock ā representing control over time and bloodlines.
š Members of Eclipse Fang:
The Cloaked Man Aeren sees in his dreams is not a hallucination ā he is the Watcher, one of Eclipse Fang's oldest surviving founders.Shadow Seekers have been infiltrating academies under disguise.Even some elite seekers in the higher government secretly belong to the Fang.
š Back to the Maze...
While Aeren's team explores, they stumble upon a sealed door deep in the maze. It opens not to another room ā but to an ancient underground chamber.
There, they see something they shouldn't:
A stasis pod with a young seeker inside.That seeker has the same serpent-clock mark as Aeren.
A voice booms from the shadows:
"He has finally reached the door... The Time Seed has begun to sprout."
The room begins to collapse.
āļø Outside the Maze...
High-level teachers and Seekers watching the match begin to panic. The energy levels are spiking off the charts.
Director Valor, the platinum-tier headmaster, whispers:
"Eclipse Fang... after all these years, they've returned."
The academy immediately initiates a code black ā sealing all exit gates.
But Aeren's team is still inside.
š End of Chapter 24