The ashes that slowly settled on the ground covered Ikai's shoulders like a silent witness to his inner struggle.
He sat hunched over, his head resting on his knees, as if trying to hide from a world that seemed to have left him behind.
His chest continued to smolder, not with physical pain but with a sense of heaviness, as if a cold iron were scraping against his exposed bone. I felt a tiny, awkward, but luminous presence. It was alive.
For the first time, he heard a voice. It wasn't the world around him that whispered to him, but something that came from within. It was strange and alien, as if it didn't belong to human nature.
The voice was devoid of any emotion, like a cold and clear echo in the void.
[STAR EXPANSION SYSTEM ACTIVATED]
[ 1st LIMB: AWAKENED ]
[ Form: [Ash Memory] activated. ]
[ Congratulations. Your progress has reached Level 1. ]
[ Ability unlocked: All-Seeing Eye. ]
[ Attention: possible perception instability. Memory overload probability is 7.4%. ]
[New tool: Star Compass is active. Current distance to the nearest node [Alenarak]: 2.1 kilometers.]
"The star inside me, you started talking differently, are you okay?"
But at that moment, nothing was saying in my chest, I could only hear Hiccup's breathing. The world around him seemed to expand, becoming both familiar and alien. Every word sounded like a hammer blow to the forged foundation of his being.
Uncertainty gave way to new colors, and the destination was now just a few steps away.
The words flashed through his mind, not spoken with a voice, not written with letters, but left as a hideous imprint of pure feeling.
It was like a red-hot brand burning deep into his nerves. Ikai let out a sharp breath, clutched his chest, and swayed as if his body was failing him.
Yellow flashes filled his vision, and a thin ringing sound, like the sound of wind chimes on a windy day, echoed in his ears. "What's happening to me…" he asked hoarsely, catching his breath. "What the hell is this?"
[Star Awakening System. ]
[Stage One. ]
[ You are the vessel.
You are the legacy.
You are the next.]
"Shut up!"
He cut him off, spitting the words out with hatred, along with the sand that suddenly grated on his teeth. His body shuddered, his breath heavy and labored.
His mind didn't confuse it with delirium, and it certainly wasn't a dream. Ikai felt it with every fiber of his being - no, he already knew: a star had spoken to him.
Her voice no longer warmed him as it had that first night.
At this moment in time, there was an order, unchanging and cruel. It was not just a command, it was a sign.
As if a dead technology, forgotten for its uselessness, and an ancient god, whose name had been erased from memory, had met in a single incarnation and locked themselves in his chest.
It was more than just a command. It was a call that could not be ignored.
A yellow light flashed across his eyes, as if someone had turned on a neon lamp in a dark room.
Ikai Liu instinctively closed his eyes, but it was too late. The transparent veil between reality and the other world was torn, and a blur appeared before him, a vision that left no room for calmness.
The ragged silhouette, the image of a masked man, was engulfed in chaos. His clothes were nothing more than tattered rags, gradually consumed by the moths that had been born around him, like a flock of crows hiding the terror that reigned.
His gaze was fixed on the sky, on the stars, which seemed to be watching him with cold indifference.
In his eyes, there was a madness that reflected the suffering and loss that could not be expressed in words.
He embodied fear and hope, two opposing forces that had merged into one image.
The ruins around him spoke of a bygone grandeur. The destroyed buildings and debris reminded one that life once raged here, but now only shadows remained.
This man, with a piece of iron for a hand, stood as a symbol of the struggle.
He was not just a witness, he was a participant who had experienced something terrible.
Every element of this vision was filled with meaning.
He wasn't just looking at the stars; he was searching for answers that could explain what had happened. In his madness, there was a truth that only those who were willing to look into the abyss could see.
It wasn't just a face in the crowd; it was a cry from the depths of his soul, piercing through the silence and resonating with the hearts of everyone who dared to look into his eyes.
Another second, and the vision disappeared.
"No…"
Ikai breathed out, his voice trembling with panic.
"No, no, no, I haven't finished the vision yet!"
Every word he spoke seemed to be filled with despair. He tried to reject everything: the voice, the compass, the heat inside.
But his body wouldn't listen. It was already moving. Forward, towards the yellow light in his head. This light beckoned him like a lighthouse in a stormy sea, and he was irresistibly drawn to it.
"2.1 kilometers."
He felt precise, as if he had become an arrow pointing to a target. His steps were confident, yet filled with anxiety.
Every movement reminded him that he could lose more than he could imagine. His emotions were raging inside, but he remained calm on the outside.
With each step, the voice returned. It was cold, formal, and devoid of empathy. It sounded like a verdict, an echo from the past.
"You cannot escape your De×stקino."
It whispered intermittently, as if the connection was sometimes lost, penetrating Ikai's consciousness. It was like a reminder of something he couldn't change.
[The All-Seeing Eye] can be used.]
[Warning: Repeated use increases the risk of personality fragmentation.]
[Recommended direction: northwest, 312°. Alenarak node.]
Ikai neither asked nor agreed. He simply walked.
And behind him, the sand began to darken, as if something were awakening in the footprints.
The sand no longer sang. It whispered.
Under Ikai's soles, the ground became firmer, as if listening to his footsteps. The star compass in his field of vision was transparent and glowing like a drop of molten amber, shaking in time with his heartbeat.
[COMPASS IS ACTIVE]
Target Distance: 1.4 km
Direction: North-West
Ikai blinked. The inscription disappeared, but the inner vector remained. He knew where to go without even looking. It was as if someone had tied a thread from his chest to a distant point beyond the horizon.
"How the hell does this even work?"
He muttered under his breath.
The star inside was silent. But it was there. Not as a voice, but as a structure. Static, almost cold, like a mechanism embedded in his flesh.
He could feel it in his sternum, a pulsation foreign to the rhythm of his heart.
[Status Updated]
First Limb: Ash Memory active
Skill: All-Seeing Eye (I)
Constellation Level: 0.1 (Core Formation)
The silhouette of an eye flashed by. Yellow, like an old letter thrown into the fire.
"Oh, I don't like this…"
He hissed, looking at the smooth, combed-out horizon.
As he got closer to his destination, the landscape began to change. The sand receded. The rocks became more frequent. In the distance, he heard a… chirping sound? No, more like a grinding sound. Wheels?
"Civilization? ironic… Or an illusion from thirst."
He continued to walk. Every step echoed in his temples. Dust rose in clouds, settling on his eyelashes.
The compass began to blink again.
[Remaining: 0.7 km]
Warning: Type I Object (local origin) is approaching
"Object? What kind of object is this?"
Ikai frowned.
" Is this a joke?"
Something moved at the edge of his vision. A tall, hunched silhouette. But not human. Too thin. Too quiet.
[Skill Activation: All-Seeing Eye]
[CAUTION: USE FOR MORE THAN 15 SECONDS MAY CAUSE PERCEPTUAL DISORDER]
He blinked, and the world around him swung as if he were in a whirlpool. This moment was not just a temporary glitch; it was the beginning of a strange vision. In his mind's eye, he saw a broken gate surrounded by the remnants of an ancient architecture. It seemed like a symbol of lost hope.
Against this backdrop, a woman in white appeared. Her image radiated both light and cold, evoking a sense of something unattainable.
As her figure slowly faded into the air, the laughter of children reached Ikai's ears. They were playing, oblivious to the worries of the adult world, gulping down sand and reveling in the simple joys of life.
The contrast between the carefree nature of childhood and the somber atmosphere surrounding him left him in awe. Suddenly, someone covered the woman's face with a mask, as if cutting off the connection between her world and his own.
Ikai recoiled, feeling a cold sweat break out on his back. The vision vanished, as if someone had torn the image from his memory.
The starry eye, the source of his visions, dimmed, leaving him in a state of confusion.
Nausea rose in his throat, growing stronger with each passing moment. He realized that this was not just a figment of his imagination; it could be a harbinger of something more significant.
"W-what was that…"
He spat.
"Filth."
[Only 0.3 km left.]
The fog began to thicken a few hundred meters before the city. The sand disappeared beneath their feet, replaced by gray, hard soil that seemed to have been petrified for a long time. The air had a strange taste, not dusty or rotten, but... empty.
It wasn't felt by the chest, nor by the skin. As if the air itself had forgotten what it should be.
Ikai stopped at the border of an invisible line, where the Desert of Gretal ended. Ahead, behind a veil of smoke and ashen light, the outlines of the city of Alenarak began.
Old, silent, as if immersed in a forgotten time. No noise. No movement. Only the soft hum of the star compass hanging next to his heart, which no longer pointed the way, but vibrated softly like a second heart.
Ikai touched the holographic compass, but it remained silent. It had already led him to where he needed to be.
There was no movement. But Ikai could feel that someone was there.
"Here you are…"
Ikai muttered.
The compass went out.
And the star spoke again.
[Welcome to the Transition Point.]
[Prepare your Mind.]
"Transition?.."
Ikai clenched his teeth.
"What are you up to, star?"
He stepped into the shadow of the gate.
And the world has changed....