---
The forest groaned beneath the weight of unseen things.
Kael walked alone under the shrouded canopy of Wyrmveil, where light died on the leaves and time seemed to flow sideways. His steps were heavy. His breath shallow. The wind no longer felt cold—just empty.
The Onyx Armor clung to him like a second skin — matte black plates fused with subtle veins of glowing obsidian. The armor moved with him, silent and cold, forged from the same energy that had awakened the moment Elenore died.
His red-glowing eyes dimmed slightly as he reached a clearing. The fog shifted uneasily, parting to reveal a half-rotted beast crouched among the stones.
Tier II. A Shatterbeast.
Its twin maws split wide as it rose — each breath exhaling black smoke that curled like fingers.
Kael said nothing. He moved like instinct.
His Ashen Sigil pulsed in his eye, distorting the world — slowing time, highlighting the weak point just under its left flank. The dagger — still Elenore's — gleamed faintly in his hand.
The beast lunged.
Kael ducked beneath the strike, rolled, and plunged the blade deep into its ribs. It screeched, flailing in panic, but Kael was already behind it. With a vicious twist, he severed a tendon at the base of its spine.
The beast crumpled.
Its death released a putrid mist — corrupted and saturated with negative essence.
Kael fell to one knee, panting, watching as the vapor slithered toward him.
> "Feed it to me," Ashuru murmured from within.
A black tendril coiled out from Kael's chest, invisible to any normal eye. It drank from the corpse, absorbing the rot and despair.
> [Negative Energy Absorbed. Nexis Sync: 19%]
Kael didn't flinch. He simply stared at the bloodied dagger in his palm.
> "It never stops hurting," he muttered.
> "And yet you keep going," Ashuru replied. "That pain... it's the only honest part of you now."
Kael exhaled, stood, and moved forward, deeper into the woods. He didn't know where he was going — only that he had to stay moving. If he stopped, he'd see her again. And that was a pain he wasn't ready to face.
---
Duskmoor – The Village of Outcasts
Four black carriages lined the outskirts of the weather-worn village. Each bore a different sigil — one from the Obsidian Spire Academy, and others belonging to three of the Five Great Noble Houses.
The wind carried whispers. The villagers had seen nothing like this in decades.
Leading the procession was Cassien Virellian, a silver-haired noble youth with eyes like ice, and Lady Nyra of House Cindrel, a flame-eyed warrior bearing a sword forged from sunsteel. Behind them were three Academy mages, all cloaked in deep azure robes.
> "The readings point here," murmured one mage, scanning a glowing stone. "The surge originated somewhere in this region."
They were led to the hut of the village head, an old man with sunken eyes and a hunched back.
> "You... you came about the girl?" he asked nervously.
Cassien nodded.
> "And the one who caused the rift," he said. "The one who made the sky bleed."
The head's fingers trembled as he poured tea, untouched by his guests.
> "It began the day she died. The maid... Elenore. Sweet girl. Quiet. But after she fell, the world... cracked."
Nyra stepped forward.
> "She was protecting someone, wasn't she?"
The old man's face twisted. His lips quivered.
> "Yes. A boy. But... I can't... remember him."
The investigators leaned forward.
> "What do you mean?" asked one.
> "I remember her screams. His rage. The earth shaking. But every time I try to think of his name, or his face... it slips away. Like trying to hold mist."
The mage scanned him with a sensor. Readings spiked erratically.
> "His memory's fractured. But not from magic. This is deeper — spiritual interference?"
Nyra frowned. "Or a reaction to something unnatural. Something beyond mana "
Cassien stood.
> "Where did you bury the girl?"
The old man pointed weakly. "By the river. Simple grave."
---
They arrived at the burial site minutes later.
It was nothing special — just a mound of earth, a wooden marker, and some scattered wildflowers already beginning to wilt. But as the investigators approached, the wind shifted. The mana around the grave twisted. Distorted.
Cassien knelt beside it and placed his hand gently on the earth.
> "It's here," he whispered. "The energy broke from this point."
One of the mages traced a glyph in the air — revealing faint red pulses beneath the grave.
> "Residual signature detected. It's decaying... but still tainted. Violent. Like a soul screaming."
Nyra's gaze narrowed.
> "Whoever this boy was... he triggered something disaster-tier with her death."
Cassien said nothing. His eyes studied the dirt.
> "We need to learn who she was."
---
Wyrmveil – Veiled Hollow
Kael wandered deeper into the Veiled Hollow, where the forest grew silent and sound itself seemed wary.
He walked past a blackened stone pillar — old and half-sunk into the moss. The air was colder here, more aware. The trees curled in unnatural ways.
Kael stumbled.
A flash of memory — Elenore lying in his arms, her blood spilling on the soil. The assassins' bodies. The silence that followed.
He fell to his knees.
> "Why did she have to die?" he rasped.
Ashuru didn't answer at first. Then, softly:
> "Because this world breaks those who dare to love you."
Kael pressed his hand against his chest. The Ashen Sigil throbbed.
> "I want to forget," he whispered.
> "Then you must keep walking. Because if you stay here, you'll drown in her."
Suddenly, a screech echoed from above.
Kael looked up — and saw something move across the high boughs.
Not a bird. Not a beast.
It had no wings, yet glided. Its body was long, humanoid and skeletal, with limbs too thin and eyes glowing blue in a face made of bone.
It didn't attack. It watched.
Then it whispered in a tongue Kael didn't know and vanished into the mist.
Ashuru stirred in alarm.
> "That... was not born of this forest. It responded to you."
Kael stood, unsettled.
His hand gripped Elenore's dagger tighter.
---
Duskmoor – A Decision Made
Back in the village, the investigators gathered near their carriages.
> "No one remembers his name," one mage repeated. "No face. No trail."
> "But the energy remains," Nyra said. "That means he's still alive. Somewhere."
Cassien looked out toward the edge of the forest, where Wyrmveil stood like a wall of thorns and secrets.
> "And he's only begun to awaken."
They climbed into their carriages.
The Academy would want answers. The Noble Houses would want control.
But none of them — not even Cassien — truly understood what had been unleashed.
Not yet.
---
Far in the forest, Kael moved on.
His armor cold. His soul colder.
And somewhere beyond the trees, fate watched... and waited.
---
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