Barzo swore the trees had eyes, the dead reaching through their bark. The wind carried voices to his ears, a rush of names, pleading to be remembered, as if he were their executioner. To steady himself against the unease, he kept his eyes on Yosen and Volena seated opposite him in the Kiancle. The ride was anything but easy. It jolted over rocky trails, the kinetic engines hissing as a mechanical wheel pulled them along the forest path.
"I don't get it," Lovena said. "You control metal, just pull off their Vexon armor."
"If I could," Yosen said, "we wouldn't be having this conversation."
The jagged corners of the mountains loomed as the Kiancle neared. Barzo quietly pulled out his notebook.
Yosen noticed. "You keep a book?"
"Yeah," Barzo said. "Everything we've learned so far."
Yosen smirked. "May I?"
Barzo hesitated, then handed it over.
Yosen's eyes glimmered as each page stirred a new emotion. He stopped at one. "So not just the lessons. Places too?"
"Some days," Barzo sighed, "I dream of travelling beyond Tophora. But I know I may never get the chance. So everywhere I go, I cherish, and in these pages, I keep each place as beautiful as the first time I saw it."
Yosen nodded, but the following pages turned his smile into a frown. "Hmm."
"What?"
Yosen flipped the notebook around, revealing a drawing of Reilord Paxon with notes on his weapons, skills, and abilities.
"Oh." Barzo snatched the notebook back, looking away. "That's nothing."
"You saw the mission."
Barzo swallowed, glancing at Lovena. Her eyes slid away, as if hiding that she knew too.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done it," he said.
"You're lucky Ascension is soon." Yosen studied the notebook again. "But what concerns me more are the Agents you drew."
"I mean… the Kizen does it. I thought I'd do the same."
"They do it to find the strongest among us." Yosen tilted the notebook, noticing Barzo's cheeks flush. "Unless you're doing that too."
He chuckled. "Who in mind is the next Elexant?"
"I don't know." Barzo shrugged. "You're pretty hard to replace."
"It might be you," Lovena said. "If you can catch up to me."
Silence followed, heavy enough to make Barzo sigh.
"Traxa," he said at last.
"What?"
"That's why Leader Sift can't pull off the Vexon armour. It's made of Traxa Steel. Looks like metal, but it's actually a stone, or so they say."
Yosen burst out laughing.
"You've been learning, Vieldem," he said.
Barzo smirked, giving his notebook a playful wave.
Lovena scoffed, shaking her head. "Show-off."
The Kiancle slowed.
They arrived at the Londro Mountains.
Stepping out, they made their way toward the entrance. Barzo counted ten guards on station. By the time they stopped, fifty armoured sentinels surrounded them. Their armour was different, a golden glow that was not of the Kizen.
The Royal Guards.
They stood rigid, stares sharp and unyielding.
Barzo and Lovena stood behind Yosen as he spoke.
"Take us to the artefact."
Barzo smirked. It was time. His notebook was ready to witness true legacy.
#
For the next minute, the light of the twin suns would be gone. Barzo looked over his shoulder as each step into the dark sanctuary was lit only by flickering candles. The hair on his arms rose as wind howled overhead. For years he had waited to reach this point, where all before him would witness the artefact that made the Agent life important, beyond revenge, loss, and war.
It all began here.
He saw the guards halt, stepping aside to allow passage into a vast cavern with no ceiling, where the twin suns returned through the hole above, shimmering and giving the birds light to sing and circle. Yet nothing living crossed the threshold near where he stood. Barzo's eyes followed the light to an extra-tall stone gate, and he gasped, the artefact lay beyond.
The Echo Amplifier.
A myth given form. Crystals twinkled, layers of rainbows dancing within. Glass sealed its mouth, splitting every reflection into light. Barzo's heart drummed faster, as if the Expansional whispered to him.
"Take a good look at the Echo Amplifier," Yosen said. He swept his gaze over the Freshgents, letting the silence stretch. "The Kizen's rule is absolute. No Expansional is to be touched."
Barzo knew the rules, every Agent did. But seeing it, standing this close to something that could control minds, tightened the secrecy. He opened to the page titled Expansionals and ticked the Echo Amplifier. Five others remained crossed out. They existed across the Lands of Tophora, yet their locations, names, or abilities were absent. It was information he longed for as the notes on Iconoricals, individuals gifted with Expansional powers, itched at his curiosity. Of all the Artefacts, four were under the Kizen's dominion. One day, he hoped, he'd learn more about them, and perhaps that would explain the Vexo Wielders' need to seize them.
"If the Domeinus Union ever get their hands on the power to command souls," Yosen paused. "Their Vexo Wielders won't just win battles. They'll own them."
He nodded, eyes hardening. "And that's why we protect it."
Almost like the trees with eyes, the artefact echoed in hushed voices, louder than Yosen, enough to distort Barzo's mind and lift his hands toward it. Slowly, he approached, the cave dimming to shadows until only he and the Expansional remained. The trance faded as Yosen caught his arm, and Barzo came back, shaking his head.
"Hey," Yosen said. "You trying to become an Iconorical?"
Barzo swallowed. "No. My apologies, Leader Sift."
"Stay focused, Vieldem." Yosen took out a pocket-knife and walked to the cave wall, cutting beneath the surface until a pink root shimmered into view.
"I saw that during the mission," Barzo said. "What is it?"
Yosen tapped it with his blade. Electrical currents sparked along the metal. "It's the reason storms arrive where a Vexon stands. Expansionals wield power we'll never fully grasp. That much energy eventually bleeds into pink roots across Tophora." He turned, eyes narrowing. "We call them Raxtens, meant to remain in this form, but the Vexo Wielders would rather break that nature to power their weapons. To weaken them, we target their armoury rooms, where their creations lie. Without them, the war tilts in our favour."
The weight of the truth settled in the air.
The silence wasn't just heavy anymore. It was sacred.
From the mountains to the Lyriax Flight's interior, Barzo's mind stayed fixed on the Echo Amplifier and the Raxtens, sketching them in his notebook. Rough lines slowly aligned, perfectly. But he paused as a thought took over, one he was nervous to voice. Mustering courage, he raised his head to Yosen, seated and watching the view outside.
"Leader Sift," Barzo said.
"Hmm?" Yosen turned to him.
"I know this never happens, but… could you also teach us to awaken a Kayza?"
Lovena side-eyed him, almost a warning.
A pause gathered before Yosen spoke.
"I'll think about it."
Barzo nodded, facing the windows as the Lyriax ascended into the clouds.
All he could do now was wait.
#
Barzo caught the subtle scrape of Lovena's fingers on the seat's edge. The skies of Planet Qaden were never a smooth flight. All because of the Cloudway, where air-riders travelled the world, a passage larger than the oceans, grand enough to hold entire floating cities.
He turned to the window, taking in the bright view. This would be the last of its kind for the Freshgents. After Ascension, the only skies they'd know would be the storms of the Vexo Wielders.
"We have arrived at New Plagon," the Operation Guild announced.
The Lyriax touched down smoothly, its hatch opening to the glare of the twin suns. Barzo squinted at the wilderness spreading before them.
"Stay close," Yosen said, leading them into the abandoned landmark.
Time had worn this land down. Buildings stood in ruins, their walls scarred with ancient wounds, sword slashes from battles long past. Signs of life were lost here.
"Leader Sift," Barzo said.
"Yes?" Yosen said.
"Is it true that Reilord Paxon's Kayza is of the Shadow Instincts?"
"I wouldn't know," Yosen said, his steps echoing. "Never seen it."
Barzo nodded. "And yours?"
Yosen stopped. So did the Freshgents. They watched as he slowly turned.
"Did someone say that it was?"
"No," Barzo swallowed. "I was just asking. Thought it would be okay since you're thinking about teaching us."
Yosen tilted his head, smirking. "Mine is of the Light… And I'm not going teach it."
He resumed walking. Barzo lingered, and Lovena shot him an annoyed look.
"Drop it," she hissed.
Barzo sighed. "I don't get it."
"You don't need to, so stop."
"No. I want him to tell me. Why are you doing this? I've done everything right as a Freshgent… I just want to be stronger. Why won't you let me?"
Yosen froze, then turned. "Is that so?"
Barzo nodded.
Yosen scoffed, raising both hands. "Okay… listen carefully. This—" he lifted his left, "—is the Light. To call upon it, you train under the guise of meditation, mingling with patience, faith, clarity, everything you'd expect from a thief begging the gods for forgiveness. What comes out is stable and under your control. Then we have the Shadows—" he raised his right, "—this one is dark. Not evil, but a place of no return. Only answers to grief, despair, torture, madness. You gather all that raging power, and it clashes in you like a disease eating the planet's core."
He leaned in close to Barzo, almost whispering. "Then you have yourself a Kayza Finale. But there's a catch. With each use, you're one step closer to the doors of death. Is that what you want, to gamble your life away?" He shook his head. "You can be strong without it. You don't… need it."
Barzo gulped. "My father did."
Yosen straightened. "Your father sacrificed his life. That's strength a kayza can never match." He turned and walked. "Now, hurry. Your final lesson awaits."
Barzo exhaled slowly. Lovena stared at him, urging him on. He followed.
But his fists clenched as worries surged back, Paxon flashing behind his eyes. He took long breaths between each step, calming as the soft air brushed his ear, letting his confidence rise. One way or another, with or without Yosen, he'd learn to summon his Kayza. No matter how long it took.
The path ahead was tangled with overgrown trees, nature reclaiming what once belonged to man. Somehow, they emerged into a wide field. At first glance, it looked like a garden.
The Freshgents watched in silence as Yosen stepped to the centre.
"This is where it began," he said. "The civil war of 5956. I know we've had this lesson before, but this time will be different. You don't have to listen. You just have to feel."
He pulled a holo-drive from his pocket, its metallic surface gleaming beneath the blazing suns. With his other hand, he took out something small, a glass prism filled with shifting colours.
Barzo squinted, instantly recognizing the item.
A Vron.
Recalling his notes, he knew it as an art made possible by Kevilans, who were loyal to the craft of history, creating Vrons by coding the visual life of chronicles written in stone. Once merged with a holo-drive, it became a vessel that could reveal either the darkest secrets or the brightest truths.
Yosen set the holo-drive on the ground. A low hum rose as it activated, and the world around them shimmered. "They use to call it Old Plagon."
The field vanished. Shadows curled across the space, replaced by a glow not of the suns, but of memory. Holographic ruins gave way to glory. A black castle rose before their eyes, towering spires clawing at the sky, crowned by a fluttering red star.
Barzo blinked. The detail was overwhelming.
This wasn't a story anymore.
This was real.
"Belonging to the seat of the Rarnin Supreme. Respected. Trusted. Feared. And for many centuries, it was well."
Projected warriors clashed, sparring with one another. Swords flew through the air as they laughed, carrying giant boulders on their backs, then crushing them with a single punch. A strength Barzo had never seen.
"But for every attempt at peace, a dark force rises to challenge it."
The castle faded. A throne room took shape, rich with velvet and maroon. At its centre sat a man, broad shoulders, sharp features, eyes without mercy.
Hucava Rarnin.
Barzo tensed, a chill sent down his spine.
"Once an ally, yet greed made Hucava Rarnin a tyrant."
Hucava took the hand of a figure cloaked in green. Another symbol appeared, foreign, stamped with the seal of the Domeinus Union. Before him, Vexo Wielders bowed.
The sky darkened. War erupted. Screams echoed as flames devoured crops, soldiers fell, children scattered.
"And for forty-four years, Tophora suffered."
Lovena watched havoc evolve. Her chest tightened. She reached for a lone child, desperate to pull them to safety, but her hand passed through. A glitch. She exhaled, grounding herself. She'd forgotten these were only holographic projections of the past.
"The worst of them… wasn't Hucava."
A new figure emerged in the hologram, a hooded warrior, blade soaked in storm-light.
"Demonus Drade. Former Tophoran commander. His oath never bound him."
Demonus swung his blade, cutting through soldiers with unnatural speed.
Then Barzo saw her, a woman on her knees, bloodied yet defiant, brown eyes locked on her attacker. A similar scar behind her ear.
"Ureya didn't just survive…"
From seeing only her statue to now watching the moving record of her legacy. The rawness in her eyes, Barzo felt it. A connection stronger than before. She towered over Demonus' unconscious body, victory at her will.
"She saved Tophora."
The final image appeared, six brave warriors, blades touching.
"But she was not alone."
The holo-drive shut off. Reality returned, along with the twin suns. They stood in awe at the edge of a cliff. Below, the Kizen Palace teemed with life, its glowing rooftops swirled with enchanted clouds, and its walls curved in white stone.
"Then, from the ashes, came the Kizen Institution and its five Associations."
Yosen turned to them, staring into their souls, sensing the grief they now felt. "What you're experiencing now is the same as all agents… rage." He gazed at the skies. "Hucava never knew restraint. That is a trait we warrior suffer from, especially when reaching victory turns desperate."
He looked to Barzo, letting the wind make space for the moment to swell. "The only way we can control ourselves is through an oath. You must promise to never kill a Tophoran. The guilty as well."
"What if it's hard to…" Barzo said quietly. "What if some are too far gone?"
"We're not executioners of our people," Yosen said. "We're protectors. If we justify chaos among them, we'll fall into the trap of hurting everyone."
He sighed. "That we cannot do, or we'll be no different from our historical failure... and the Vexo Wielders. So swear it. Swear to never kill a Tophoran."
Barzo and Lovena exchanged glances, the weight of the promise settling between them.
"We swear it," they said.
Barzo turned back toward the Kizen. He had found an oath larger than his rage. He would protect the people of Tophora, every single one of them.
Maybe this was the way he'd awaken his Kayza.
Only time would tell.