The transport ship cut through the morning mist like a silent blade. Powered by core crystals and guided by high-ranking mages, the sleek vessel carried Kaen's team swiftly across the sea. Clouds loomed overhead, and the waves churned as if warning them to turn back.
No one on board spoke much.
Kaen stood at the bow, coat rippling in the wind, crimson eyes locked on the shifting horizon. He could feel it. The disturbance wasn't just a gate—it was older. Woven into the fabric beneath the world.
Behind him, Lirien leaned against the rail, arms folded. "The Headmaster didn't want to send anyone at first. Said it wasn't our concern."
Kaen didn't look back. "He was right. It's not their concern. It's mine."
Zian approached, brushing wind-tangled hair behind her ear. Her golden eyes flickered toward the waves. "We're getting close. The mana is dense here—unmoving."
Mira came up beside them, activating her scouter. "Readings are all over the place. It's like the ocean's holding its breath."
Selene and Rin studied the ritual glyph etched into the ship's deck—a teleport fail-safe in case things went south.
Leon muttered, "This feels worse than the simulation."
Rayden shrugged. "Well, we're not dead yet."
As the ship approached the target coordinates, a small, weathered isle emerged from the fog. Covered in jagged rocks and ancient coral, it didn't look like much—until they saw the crater in the center.
An abyssal tear floated above the island, shimmering like shattered glass held together by pressure alone. The space around it vibrated, wrong and raw.
Kaen stepped onto the shore first. The moment his boots touched the cracked stone, a low hum echoed through the air—like recognition.
"This place knows me," he whispered.
Zian turned sharply. "What do you mean?"
Kaen didn't answer. Not fully. "It's not a gate. It's a remnant. Of something older."
Suddenly, the tear pulsed—once, twice—then stabilized. A voice echoed faintly, one only Kaen could hear.
"You've returned."
Kaen's expression darkened.
The others readied for battle.
But Kaen just stepped forward.
"I was never gone."
And beneath the isle, in chambers long buried beneath memory, something opened its eyes.
Something that once served him.