The wind at Mount Halcon was strong.
It howled through the trees and bent the grass along the mountain trail. Clouds hung low, hugging the steep ridges like ghostly blankets.
Rin adjusted her backpack and looked up at the dark peak.
"This is it?" she asked.
Eon, walking beside her, nodded. "Yes. The third Rift Gate."
Her team followed close behind—Kai, smiling despite the heavy climb; Mila, quiet and focused; and Theo, ever alert.
They had traveled for a day by train and another by foot.
Now they stood at the base of something ancient and strange.
From a distance, Mount Halcon looked normal.
But as they neared the summit…
They felt it.
A pulse.
Like a heartbeat in the air.
At the top of the ridge, a large crater had formed. Inside it, like a wound in the world, was a new Rift Gate.
It was larger than the others.
Twice as wide.
Three times as dark.
It didn't shimmer like the last gates—it rippled, like a heavy sheet of glass holding something back.
Eon's eyes narrowed.
"This one leads to a high-level zone," he said. "Only awakened users above Rank D should enter."
Kai raised a hand. "What rank are we?"
"Low C," Rin said. "After our second dungeon."
Theo asked, "Are we going in?"
Eon shook his head.
"Not yet. First, we observe. Watch who arrives."
"Others will come?" Mila asked.
"Yes," he said. "The world is changing. People from around the country—and beyond—will be drawn to this place."
Rin felt the wind on her face.
She wasn't afraid.
She was ready.
---
Meanwhile, in Kenya…
Ayo walked along a dirt road, his backpack slung over one shoulder. His feet were tired, but his steps were strong.
Ever since the storm two nights ago, he had felt different.
The System spoke to him often now.
[NEW REGION ENTERED: SOUTHWESTERN TRAIL][ENERGY LEVEL: LOW][POTENTIAL SPARK DETECTED – 2.3 KM AHEAD]
The numbers didn't always make sense.
But the feeling did.
His body felt full of lightning. It hummed when danger was near. He could see tiny sparks dance between his fingers when he thought too hard.
He passed a village and waved to some kids.
One of them stared at him.
Then ran away.
Fear?
Or something else?
Ayo stopped to rest under a tree.
He opened a packet of dried fruit.
As he ate, a man approached from the road.
Tall.
Wearing worn leather armor.
Holding a curved blade.
"Are you the boy who burned a demon with lightning?" the man asked.
Ayo looked up, cautious.
"Who wants to know?"
The man smiled. "Name's Mwangi. I hunt monsters."
He sat down beside Ayo.
"Things are changing. You've seen it."
Ayo nodded slowly.
"I don't know what I am now," he said.
Mwangi's eyes twinkled. "You're one of us."
"One of who?"
"The Awakened."
Mwangi explained everything.
The dungeons.
The Rift Gates.
The System.
"The whole world is waking up," he said. "And people like us? We're going to decide how that world looks."
Ayo looked at his hands.
Sparks danced gently.
"I want to help," he said.
Mwangi smiled.
"Then come with me. There's a camp of Awakened near Lake Victoria. You'll find others like you there."
Ayo stood.
He didn't know what his journey would hold.
But he was ready.
---
Far away, in the mountains of Bolivia…
A girl named Selene sat alone in a cave, painting on the walls.
She was seventeen.
Her family believed she was cursed.
But in truth, she just saw things others couldn't.
Shapes in the sky.
Lights under the ground.
Voices in the wind.
Her cave paintings were more than art.
They were visions.
And tonight, her brush froze mid-stroke.
Her chest felt tight.
Her eyes widened.
She dropped her paint.
And then—
[SYSTEM ONLINE: USER - SELENE][SPARK TYPE: COSMIC FLARE][CLASS CANDIDATE: STARCALLER]
Her whole body lit up with starlight.
She screamed—but not in pain.
In freedom.
She saw a map in her mind.
A place far away.
A peak with a black gate.
"Mount Halcon," she whispered.
Then, without a second thought, she packed her bag.
And began her journey.
---
Back at Mount Halcon…
Night fell quickly on the mountain.
Rin's team made camp near the edge of the crater.
Other teams had begun to arrive—groups from distant cities, some in uniform, others looking like wandering adventurers.
Eon stayed silent, watching.
Then he frowned.
"What is it?" Rin asked.
"Something's wrong."
The Rift Gate began to change.
It pulsed faster.
And then—a shockwave burst from it.
The mountain shook.
People screamed.
From the gate, something stepped through.
A creature made of ash and black iron.
Twice the size of a man.
Its face was hidden behind a mask of stone.
Its eyes burned red.
Rin stood up, fists ready.
"Is that a dungeon boss?"
Eon shook his head.
"No."
"It's a Herald."
The creature raised its arms.
The sky above the crater opened into fire.
The Rift grew wider.
The wind screamed.
Eon moved first.
He leapt forward, punching the air.
Fire tore through the space, hitting the Herald in the chest.
But it didn't fall.
Rin and her team moved to help—but Eon shouted:
"Stay back! This thing is beyond your current rank!"
The Herald swung its arm.
A wave of pressure slammed into the cliff wall, shattering it.
People scattered.
Eon stood tall.
Then summoned his true flame.
His body lit up.
His hair shimmered like golden fire.
"I am the Origin Flame," he said.
And charged.
Rin watched in awe.
The battle between Eon and the Herald was not like anything she had seen before.
Each hit shook the earth.
Flame clashed with darkness.
But even as they fought…
Rin felt something.
A presence.
A thread in the air.
A new flame, far away, flickering gently toward them.
Someone else was coming.
Someone strong.
Someone like her.
And far across the ocean, both Ayo and Selene felt it too.
They didn't know each other yet.
But the System had already marked their fates.
Soon, their paths would cross.
And the world would never be the same.