The day began with silence.
Not the kind of silence that came from still air or distant waves, but the kind that came before a revelation. Before a world changed its shape.
Kael sat alone at the highest platform of the Learner Vault. Around him, a globe of light formed from hundreds of glyph fragments — swirling, circling, harmonizing. The result of weeks of decoding. Of sleepless nights and maddening theories.
At the center of the globe was a symbol he had seen only once before — etched into the stone beneath the oldest university ruins on Earth.
A fractured diamond, intersected by four rays.
It wasn't just an emblem.
It was a signature.
The mark of the First Scholar.
---
"Kael," Lia called softly from behind, her voice wrapped in awe. "Are you okay?"
He didn't respond immediately. His eyes were lost in the cipher — glyphs stacked upon glyphs, weaving language with logic.
Then he said, almost in disbelief, "He built this vault."
"Who?" Lia stepped closer.
Kael looked up, voice hushed. "The man who created the Learner caste. Before it was a caste. When it was just… people trying to understand power."
She stepped beside him, staring into the luminous structure. "So… the First Scholar was real?"
Kael nodded. "Not a myth. Not a metaphor. A person."
"And what's this?"
Kael smiled faintly, tapping the core glyph.
"It's his final work. The Null Bind."
---
The Null Bind
Seren joined them shortly after, expression unreadable. "What is it?"
Kael explained, voice even. "A theoretical override glyph. Not just for spells or artifacts — for bloodline bonds. If I'm reading this correctly… it can sever the divine tether that empowers Talents."
"You want to break their birthright," Seren said flatly.
Kael didn't deny it. "I want to prove it was never deserved."
There was a long pause.
Then Seren stepped forward and placed a folded parchment in his hand.
It was a glyph-map — handwritten.
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"I intercepted a spy from the Third Branch last night," Seren said. "They've been watching you. One of them made a proposal."
Lia looked tense. "A trap?"
"No," Seren said. "A gift. They want Kael to succeed — to burn the system."
Kael unfolded the parchment. It was a transit key — to a forgotten Scholar citadel buried beneath the capital.
"They call it the Heart of Thought," Seren said. "It's where the First Scholar vanished. And where the Null Bind was first theorized."
Kael looked up, eyes steeled.
"Then that's where we go."
---
Meanwhile… in the Capital
The royal palace was in chaos.
News had leaked: the boy who survived the trial had disappeared into Learner territory — and rumors were spreading. That he had survived a Talent's assassination. That he had bested Ardyn. That he bore the mark of an ancient line.
Whispers turned into fear.
And in fear, the royals acted.
A young Talent — Cressa of the Flame-Touched Veil — stood before the throne, flame wrapped around her hands like cloth.
"I'll find him," she said. "I'll bring back his head. Or what's left of it."
The High Talent studied her. "No. You'll bring back his name. And proof."
Cressa blinked. "Proof?"
The High Talent's voice echoed through the chamber.
"If he bears the First Scholar's Mark, we must not kill him."
There was a beat of silence.
"Yet," she added.
---
The Journey Begins
Kael, Lia, and Seren packed lightly.
They would leave that night — across the jagged path of the lowlands, through relic fields and hidden tunnels. They would journey toward the Heart of Thought, where no one had returned in centuries.
As they stepped out of Drift Hollow, the sea behind them fell into shadow.
Seren touched the entrance stone, sealing the vault behind them.
"No turning back," Lia whispered.
Kael adjusted the satchel across his shoulder.
"We're not going back."
And then, quietly — almost to himself:
"We're going to change everything."