The air was thick with tension. After the violent encounter with Fragment 1, Arlen's body still bore faint traces of frost and lightning along his veins, pulsating like living circuits beneath his skin. Every movement felt different — as if the very energy around him obeyed his thoughts before he consciously willed them.
He and Lira moved cautiously through the remnants of the ancient battlefield, the ground littered with shattered stones, broken constructs, and arcane glyphs long faded into the soil. The forest beyond seemed quieter than before, almost waiting, as if it too had sensed the awakening within him.
"Arlen… your veins… they're glowing again," Lira observed, her voice low and uneasy. "Are you… okay?"
He didn't answer immediately. He could feel it — the fragment inside him pulsing with raw authority, hungry and uncontrolled. He tried to suppress it, tried to push it down, but it moved on its own, bending reality subtly with every step he took. A branch snapped nearby, but before anyone touched it, it lifted and twisted in the air as if drawn by an invisible hand.
"I… I don't know," he admitted, running a hand across his glowing forearm. "Something… reacted. I didn't mean it."
Before Lira could respond, the ground beneath them trembled. A band of hostile mana beasts — jagged, shadowed creatures that fed on raw mana — emerged from the treeline, drawn by the fragment's power. Their red eyes burned with hunger, claws digging into the mossy ground as they lunged at the two of them.
Arlen's pulse quickened. He clenched his fists instinctively, and in that instant, the very air seemed to twist around his movements. Frost erupted along his boots and arms, crystallizing midair, while arcs of lightning traced violent patterns across the battlefield. The beasts skidded to a halt, their aggression faltering as if the forest itself had imposed a barrier.
What… did I do? Arlen thought, alarmed.
One of the beasts leapt at him, claws extended. Arlen's mind reacted faster than he could comprehend. He moved his hand, and in a motion that felt both alien and natural, a surge of mana burst forth. The creature froze mid-air, its claws suspended as if reality itself obeyed the fragment within him. Frost crept along its limbs, while tiny bolts of lightning sparked around its eyes. The creature screamed, then crumbled to the ground in icy shards.
Lira's eyes widened. "Arlen… what just happened?!"
He shook his head, equally astonished. "I… I didn't do anything. It just… reacted!"
The next few minutes became a blur. Every time a creature attacked, it was stopped, frozen, or redirected by an unseen force. Space itself seemed to bend subtly, energy twisting unnaturally around Arlen, following his instincts rather than his conscious commands.
It's not me… it's the fragment. It's… alive.
By the time the last creature fell, the ground around them was a fractured mosaic of frost, scorched earth, and twisted roots. Arlen sank to his knees, breathing heavily. His veins glowed faintly, then dimmed as the fragment withdrew, leaving him trembling and exhausted.
Lira knelt beside him, her hands gently gripping his shoulders. "That… was incredible. But it… it scared me. Arlen… you… you did all that without trying?"
He nodded slowly, still catching his breath. "Yes… but I didn't will it. It moved on its own. I… don't even know how to control it."
As if in response, the fragment pulsed faintly within him, a reminder that it was not dormant — it was active, seeking influence, testing its boundaries through him. Arlen could feel the weight of its presence, a mix of authority and awareness that went beyond mortal comprehension.
I'm… borrowing existence, he realized, recalling the whispers and echoes from the previous fragment encounter.
Suddenly, a figure emerged from the forest edge — an observer, cloaked in simple robes, yet radiating an aura of quiet dread. Their eyes widened at the sight of the frost-and-lightning-laced battlefield, and they stepped back instinctively.
"Impossible…" the figure muttered.
Arlen looked up, heart still racing. "Who… who are you?"
The figure did not answer immediately. Instead, they studied him with wide-eyed caution, noting the unnatural patterns of frost, the residual mana distortions, and the faint glow pulsing through his veins.
"You… are not what you appear to be," the figure finally said, voice trembling slightly. "This… authority… it's forbidden. Unnatural."
Arlen's stomach twisted. "Forbidden? Authority? I don't understand…"
The figure took a hesitant step closer, examining him further. "You wield power that you have not earned, that the world was not meant for. Even among the ancients, such command is unheard of… yet it flows through you as though you were born for it."
Arlen swallowed hard. The fragment pulsed again, as though affirming the stranger's words, and he felt an unnatural surge in his chest. A tree nearby bent involuntarily, frost forming across its leaves without anyone touching it.
"It's… reacting again," he whispered, voice strained.
Lira placed a steadying hand on his arm. "Arlen… you have to stay calm. You can control it… I know you can."
He nodded, focusing on his breathing, yet the fragment continued to assert itself subtly, bending space and mana around him. A bolt of lightning arced from a nearby stone to a moss-covered tree without his conscious will. He watched in awe and fear.
Authority without permission… he muttered. "It's not me. It's the fragment. It… it moves by itself."
The observer stepped back further, eyes wide with both fear and fascination. "This… this is extraordinary. Dangerous… and rare. Do you even comprehend what has just happened?"
Arlen shook his head. He didn't fully understand it — he only knew that he had barely survived controlling the fragment's impulses, that the power was alive, intelligent, and possibly more aware than he was.
The tension in the forest slowly eased as the observer vanished into the shadows, leaving Arlen and Lira alone once more. The forest exhaled, as if acknowledging the presence of the fragment that had acted independently.
Arlen sank to his knees again, exhaustion taking hold. He touched the frost-crusted ground, feeling the faint pulse of the fragment lingering under his skin.
"I… I don't know if I can do this," he murmured, voice trembling. "It's too much… too powerful. And it's not even my own will."
Lira knelt beside him, placing her hands over his. "Arlen… you've survived every impossible thing thrown at you so far. You can survive this. We'll learn it together."
He met her gaze, grateful but conflicted. The fragment inside him was alive, aware, and beyond comprehension. It obeyed his instincts, yet not his will. He realized then that his journey was no longer just about survival — it was about understanding, about mastering a power that could reshape reality itself.
This is only the beginning, he thought, veins still faintly glowing. "If this… fragment is active, I need to understand it. I need to know what it wants… and what it is."
As they rose to continue their path, the forest seemed quieter, yet the faint traces of mana and frost left by the fragment shimmered in the corners of their vision. The power was alive, and it had made its presence known.