Kai pulled himself up onto the smooth stone platform with a grunt, water dripping from his arms and hair in steady rivulets. He stood up with a slight shiver, soaked through, his feet leaving wet footprints across the surface of the rock. Before he could speak, Saphielle raised one slender hand and gave a gentle flick of her wrist. Instantly, a warm breeze swept over him, not from the world around them, but from her. It was as though reality had sighed in his direction. The water clinging to him evaporated in an instant, replaced by dry comfort and the faint scent of lavender and starlight.
Even his clothes shimmered as they returned to their prior state, crisp and whole. Kai blinked, running a hand through his now-dry hair as he exhaled. "Okay..... gonna be honest, I really feel like there might have been better ways for me to get here than to swim. But don't get me wrong, the water felt amazing." Saphielle turned slightly, her expression impassive. "You are correct to conclude that there were other ways for me to bring you to this platform," she said smoothly, "but having you swim from there was a rather effective way to warm you up." He gave her a look that said Seriously? but didn't press the point. "Next time," he muttered, shaking his head, "remind me to bring a boat. Or Lorith. At least he'd make a bridge....or something."
Saphielle raised a brow at that, a flicker of amusement crossing her features. But then her gaze sharpened. "Kai," she said, her tone shifting to something more instructive. "Before we begin, I want you to observe where you're standing." He looked around the platform, still catching his breath. "What, the giant ancient rock in the middle of a magical lake?" "Look down," she said, gently but firmly. Kai raised an eyebrow, but obeyed, crouching down. As his fingers brushed against the smooth surface, he blinked.
The stone beneath them was covered in etchings: intricate, interlocking patterns that stretched from one end of the platform to the other. Circles nested within circles, jagged lines woven through spirals, sigils arranged in a way that felt almost familiar but still foreign enough to unsettle. The grooves shimmered faintly with residual energy, as though they had been carved by time itself. When his hand pressed fully down, he could feel them through his gloves, not just physically, but energetically, like something ancient vibrating beneath his skin. "What is this?" he asked softly. "Some kind of ritual circle?"
"Not quite," Saphielle said, her voice calm as she stepped to his side. "It's a conduit. A map. A mirror." She looked down with him, her expression serene, reverent. "This entire valley was created long before any of us were born. It responds to temporal energy. To intention." Kai stood slowly, glancing from the designs to her. "And you brought me here to... do what, exactly?" Her eyes met his with a quiet intensity. "Summon your weapon." He stiffened slightly. "Wait, what are you planning to do?"
"I'm planning," she said with practiced patience, "to help you begin the process of unlocking something that slumbers within you. But if you continue to waste time with unnecessary questions....." She let the sentence hang for a moment, then added with a faint smirk, "I may reconsider my patience. And trust me, Kai; you do not want to test my creativity when I'm irritated." Kai opened his mouth, clearly ready to fire back with some quip.....but then thought better of it. He exhaled through his nose, rolled his shoulders, and let the tension bleed out of him.
"Alright, alright," he muttered, lifting his right hand. "No sass. Weapon summoning. Got it." A pulse of temporal energy surged from his palm, and with a flash of black and azure light, Umbra appeared in his grasp. The broadsword's jet-black surface gleamed with swirling blue lines, and as always, he felt that familiar flicker of connection: the pulse of a voice not-quite-heard, whispering at the edge of his thoughts. Saphielle's expression shifted, her gaze lingering on the blade for just a moment longer than necessary. "Good," she said. "Now place your weapon on the ground. Do you see the big circular area over there?" she asked, pointing towards a slightly elevated circular area on the rock.
Kai nodded, and proceeded to place his sword where Saphielle had pointed, and when he did, he noticed something strange: the platform glowed a deep azure, pulsing out a few times before the circle lit up with a gentle azure light, outlining Umbra. Saphielle walked a slow circle around Kai, her wings trailing faint wind in her wake. "You asked how a Time-Keeper can land a clean hit against a Sovereign. The answer is that you don't.... not as you are now." She paused behind him. "But with what I'm about to teach you....you won't be the same."
Saphielle's eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze still fixed on the soft glow pulsing around Umbra as if it were speaking a language only she could understand. Then she looked back at Kai, her voice taking on a gentler tone, one that still held its commanding edge. "Sit," she said simply. Kai hesitated only for a second before lowering himself to the stone floor, legs crossed, hands resting on his knees. The surface beneath him was warm, humming ever so slightly, like the ancient power within it had just now started to stir. A breeze rippled across the lake around them, but the air here felt still, like the eye of a storm.
Saphielle walked toward him, her every step precise, as though even the way her feet met the stone mattered. She stopped just in front of him, her wings folding in slowly behind her back. When she spoke again, her tone was more measured: less instructor, more oracle. "The way a Time-Keeper surpasses their limits," she began, "is by awakening the dormant powers of their HEX. These weapons are not mere tools that are forged.....they are grown, shaped by your soul, your energy, your evolution. And like anything alive, they can change."
Kai's brows furrowed, lips parting as if to ask a question, but before he could speak, Saphielle raised a hand. "Do not interrupt me. I shall answer any questions you have after I have finished the explanation." Her voice was firm, almost cutting, and it silenced him immediately. There was no room for casual remarks here, not when the air itself seemed to listen. She continued, the light from the runes casting shifting patterns across her serene features. "Once a Time-Keeper manifests their HEX, that is only the beginning. Each HEX possesses the potential to evolve three more times. These are not transformations you can force. They have to be earned."
Saphielle extended a single finger, tracing a glowing sigil in the air that shimmered like stardust. "The first evolution is known as Primus Gradus. It unlocks the weapon's latent core....its essence. It grants the wielder access to a new ability, unique only to them. This ability can range from anything such as a mere boost to their preexisting skills, to a completely new ability unlike anything ever witnessed before."
She took a deep breath before continuing on. "The second evolution, is referred to as Secundus Gradus. This evolution strengthens the weapon's and the wielder's existing abilities while forging new ones from the user's own growth. This evolution can often times take the power granted by the first evolution and take them to a whole new level, effectively boosting them in every possible way."
She locked eyes with Kai before proceeding. "The final stage.... is known as the Ultima Gradus. It is far more than an evolution. More accurately it is essentially the rebirth of a Time-Keeper into a god-like being." The glow of her magic faded as she lowered her hand, her gaze steady. "Ultima Gradus is the convergence point. The final shape your HEX will take: a form forged from the sum of your trials, your choices, your soul's resonance. What makes it different from the other two....is the fact that no amount of hard-work or talent can help you achieve this form. In order to access this stage of evolution, a Time-Keeper has to fuse himself with his weapon. Their physical forms as well as their Temporal Energy has to align perfectly."
Saphielle crossed her arms and began pacing in front of Kai. "It has even been said that achieving the Ultima Gradus is not possible if the Time-Keepers fate or destiny denies it. Individuals who are not destined to wield such power can never achieve it, even after centuries of trying they shall always remain defeated." Kai leaned forward slightly, lips pressed tight in thought.
Saphielle's voice softened slightly now, becoming almost reverent. "To access any of these evolutions, you must invoke them aloud.....and speak the true name of your HEX. Not the name you gave it, but the name it knows within itself. The one written into the fabric of its existence." His eyes widened slightly. "But," she continued, "if your HEX does not deem you ready: if it finds you unworthy or incomplete.....it will remain silent. No power. No response. You cannot deceive it, Kai. You must become the version of yourself that your HEX already knows you can be."
For a long moment, the only sound was the faint hum of energy in the air. Then Saphielle stepped back, her expression unreadable. "Now," she said quietly, "are you ready to learn how to ask your weapon if it will listen?" Kai inhaled deeply, then let the breath out slow and steady, his voice low but firm. "I'm ready." Saphielle gave the faintest nod, her wings folding in tighter as she stepped around him. Without a sound, she moved to stand behind him. "Close your eyes," she instructed softly, and Kai obeyed, the world dimming to black behind his lids.
A moment passed. Then he felt it: her hand, light and composed, settling gently against the center of his back. The warmth wasn't just physical. It was smooth, flowing, like being submerged in still water under moonlight. There was an unmistakable grace to it, but also power, dense and ancient. "I can help accelerate the process," Saphielle murmured. "But only if you trust me." Kai gave a small nod, and she continued, her tone becoming smoother, like a guiding current.
"Picture our surroundings melting away. The lake around us, the sky above our heads, the platform atop which you sit. Let them dissolve into nothingness. No sound. No weight. Just the void." And he did. He let go. Piece by piece, the world around him slowly went silent as it unraveled, its colors bleeding away, the hum of the lake silenced, the warmth of the platform replaced by cool emptiness. Darkness surrounded him, but it wasn't frightening. It felt.....strangely familiar, clean. Still. Infinite. "Now," she said, "fill the void."
Kai didn't need to ask how. The moment she said it, something at the back of his mind ignited, almost as if this wasn't the first time he has done it. He reached inward, into the place where his Temporal Energy coiled like a hidden star, and let it expand outward. It surged from him, not violent or uncontrolled, but steady and radiant, like rings echoing through space. The void responded, pulsing with his energy. It was as if he were painting this emptiness with the color of his soul.
At his back, Saphielle's hand remained steady, a silent anchor as the energy flowed. The connection between them hummed in resonance, his power feeding into the void, her presence keeping it centered, refined. Kai didn't know how he understood the steps, only that he did. Like the instructions were already written into him. And deep in the void, something stirred. Something ancient. Waiting.