The second night in the Wild Grid was colder.
The kind of cold that didn't belong in a place with two suns.
Rynn sat near the dying fire, rubbing his hands together.
The faint blue glow that had crawled under his skin earlier had faded, but his palms still felt… alive.
Lyra snored softly beside a pile of scrap metal she called a "relic detector."
Jun mumbled something about "steak and pillows" in his sleep.
Rynn smiled. "Dream big, buddy."
He leaned back against a stone, watching the sky ripple. The stars here weren't steady—they twitched, like reflections in disturbed water.
He wondered if his father had seen this same sky before disappearing beyond the walls.
---
Footsteps
A sound cut through the quiet—light, measured, deliberate.
Rynn froze. He reached for the half-broken pipe Lyra used to call a "weapon."
A figure stepped out of the shadows, the silver light from the fire catching his eyes—too calm, too cold.
> "You survived," Verrin said.
Rynn's heart tripped over itself.
It was the same man from the registration hall.
The one who didn't feel human.
"Barely," Rynn said, voice cracking. "You stalking me now, or is this your idea of mentoring?"
Verrin tilted his head, a faint smile on his lips. "Mentoring requires a student who listens."
He walked closer. No sound. Not even gravel crunching under his boots.
Lyra stirred, eyes half-open. "Rynn?"
He waved her off silently.
---
The Test
Verrin stopped a few feet away, studying him like a specimen.
"You touched a relic yesterday."
Rynn blinked. "Yeah. It almost turned me into ash."
"Yet it didn't." Verrin's tone was flat. "Do you know why?"
Rynn shook his head.
Verrin's hand flicked.
The campfire exploded upward into blue-white flame.
Rynn stumbled back, shielding his face. The fire bent—literally bent—shaping itself into a spiral of glowing symbols before fading out completely.
Jun woke up with a yell. "WHAT THE ACTUAL—who killed the campfire?!"
Lyra sat up, eyes wide. "That wasn't fire… that was—"
"Mirra," Verrin said simply. "The reflection of will."
The words meant nothing to them yet, but they would later.
He crouched slightly, silver eyes fixed on Rynn.
> "You have it. Raw. Untamed. Dangerous."
Rynn's chest tightened. "I don't even know what it is."
Verrin's expression softened, almost pitying. "Good. Keep it that way for now."
Then—faster than thought—he moved.
A flicker of silver light, and Rynn found himself slammed against a tree, breath gone.
Lyra shouted, grabbing her gauntlet. Jun tried to throw a rock.
Both were stopped mid-motion as the air itself shimmered around them—thin threads of mirrored energy holding them still.
Verrin's voice was calm. "The Grid is full of monsters, boy. Some are beasts. Some are people. Learn which you are before the world does it for you."
He stepped back.
The energy vanished. Lyra and Jun collapsed, gasping.
Rynn slid down the tree, trembling—not from fear, but from something electric running under his skin.
Verrin looked at him one last time.
> "Live, Relic Boy. I have plans for you."
And just like that—he was gone.
---
Silence
Only the dying crackle of ash remained.
Jun groaned. "Okay. I know I was asleep, but did we just get threatened by a shampoo commercial?"
Lyra glared at him. "You threw a rock at a man who just set fire to the air."
"I panicked!" Jun said. "My combat strategy is instinct-based chaos!"
Despite everything, Rynn laughed weakly. The sound cracked in his throat.
He didn't know what that man had done to him—or why he'd spared them—but something had changed inside.
He looked at his hand again. The faint blue glow was back, pulsing with his heartbeat.
---
End of Chapter 4
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