đŻ CLANS OF AETHROS REALM
đ©ž Vohar Clan (Raen's Clan)
Status: Once a noble sword clan, now weakened due to internal betrayal and corruption.
Known For: The Mirror Fang Sword Art, a precise, counter-based sword style that reflects an opponent's strike against them.
Downfall: The loss of the war heroâRaen's fatherâand betrayal by the inner elders left them dishonored.
Key Members:
Raen Vohar â The outcast with a broken body and awakened soul.
Kael Vohar â Raen's cousin; the one who crippled him. Talented and cruel.
Elder Tyran â Current patriarch, secretly afraid of Raen's potential.
---
đ Major Sword Clans in Aethros
1. Serath Clan
Technique: Dragon Coil Edge, a heavy-force sword technique that mimics a dragon's rising power.
Nature: Arrogant and elite; consider themselves pure-blooded cultivators.
2. Irene Clan
Technique: Petal Storm Dance, a graceful yet deadly sword art using lightweight curved blades.
Nature: Matriarchal clan. Known for combining swordplay with illusions.
3. Mor'kai Clan
Technique: Void Rend Slash, a mysterious, dark sword technique that cuts through both matter and spirit.
Nature: Secretive. Feared. Possibly tied to forbidden arts from Lorran Depths.
Raen hadn't spoken in hours.
They camped beneath a broken sky treeâroots suspended in the air like veins of glass. Talin slept lightly, one eye half open, while Nira scribbled in a fresh journal beside a flickering ward torch.
Raen sat apart, cross-legged, the Veinblade across his knees.
The wind had died.
But inside his mindâŠ
> "Why did you hesitate today?"
The voice had returned.
But it wasn't Kavran's whisper. It wasn't even the blade's ancient growl.
It was his voice.
Raen's voice.
Accurate down to the pauses. The rhythm. The exact way he cursed under his breath when annoyed.
> "You had a clean opening against Seyra. You let her go."
Raen clenched his fists. "You're not me."
> "Not yet."
He wrapped the Veinblade againâbut the voice didn't stop.
> "The more you wield me, the more I reflect you. Every choice, every fear, every doubtâetched into steel."
Raen stood, pacing. "You're just a fragment. An echo."
> "Then why do you keep listening?"
Silence.
ThenâŠ
Nira approached quietly, her face unreadable. "You're hearing it again, aren't you?"
Raen looked away. "Yes. But it's changed."
Talin, now fully awake, tossed a pebble at him. "Changed how? Is it singing lullabies now?"
"It's⊠talking like me."
Talin sat up. "Like, exactly like you?"
Raen nodded slowly.
Nira's eyes narrowed. "That's new. That's dangerous."
Raen agreed.
Because if the blade could mirror his thoughtsâhis willâwhat happened when their intentions stopped aligning?
What happened when it spoke first?
---
đ Vohar Clan â War Room Projection (Far Away)
In a sealed chamber, Elder Maenor stood before a glowing map of the Jyothra Realm. A red flare pulsed on its southern edge.
A projection scroll buzzed.
"This is Vohar command. State your report."
A scout's voice answered:
> "We've identified the third shard site. Beneath Ghostlake Delta. Submerged city ruins. Unstable aura. Something is stirring beneath the water."
Maenor's voice sharpened. "And the boy?"
> "Alive. Changed. The Veinblade is resonating."
Maenor turned to his advisors.
"Send the Deepcasters. And issue the order."
> "What order, sir?"
Maenor's eyes glinted.
"If he draws that sword again⊠sink the lake."
---
đ Return to Raen â Preparing to Move
The next morning, Nira unrolled a faded old scroll showing the Ghostlake Deltaâonce a thriving temple city, now flooded and buried in whisper fog.
"This place used to house a Whisper God's shrine," she said. "If there's a shard down there, it could be dormant⊠or waiting."
Raen fastened his travel cloak, eyeing the map.
"We go."
Talin groaned. "No land, cursed water, and possibly a sword ghost in the lake?"
He grinned.
"Finally, a real vacation."
Raen gave a rare smile.
But deep inside, the voice echoed again.
> **"Let me breathe down there, Raen.
I remember drowning."**