Where blood answers before reason, and the future whispers in dreams.
Two moons had passed since Ethan was accepted as a guest in the village of Zharr-Kael—a name that, according to the elder who had found him, meant "Sanctuary in the Ash." Though some still watched him with suspicion, most villagers had begun to tolerate his presence, especially after the healing incident. A few even greeted him with a nod of respect as he passed.
But something strange had begun to happen.Not to the village.To him.
The system remained mostly silent during the day, hovering at the edge of his awareness like a persistent whisper. Yet for the past three dawns, a name had begun appearing intermittently, without explanation:
Indra Kaelun.Genetic compatibility: 97.6%Lineage potential: SuperiorCorruption risk: MinimalEstimated result: Accelerated System Activation
The first time Ethan saw the name, he thought it was a glitch. But on the second day, when he met Indra in person, he knew it was not.
Indra Kaelun was the daughter of the village's weapons master—a young woman with an intense gaze and dark hair braided with fine wire. She was tall, even for a woman of the clan, with a firm stance and a confident voice. She had returned from a hunting expedition with a group of warriors, hauling the carcass of a beast with spiked armor and bluish flesh. Ethan saw her from a distance at first. A wave of heat surged through his body. It wasn't lust, nor mere attraction—it was... activation.
The system responded instantly:
Compatible presence detected.Imminent energy fluctuations.Link possibility: High.
"What does this mean?" Ethan muttered through clenched teeth, closing his eyes as the interface flared brightly before him. But there was no answer. Only a pulsing in his chest, as if his soul were being drawn toward something he didn't yet understand.
Indra noticed it too.
That night, during the communal dinner where everyone gathered to share the spoils of the hunt, Ethan was invited to sit with the hunters. Indra sat across from him, eating in silence. She didn't speak at first. She only observed him with curiosity, not hostility. Then, with a faint smile, she broke the silence.
"You don't have the hands of a warrior," she said, "but you've got the eyes of one. Are you a shaman? An exile?"
Ethan improvised, as always.
"Just someone who forgot where he came from. And who's searching for a new place to belong."
She chuckled softly, and the system activated again:
Conception probability: High.Estimated psychic activation time: 36 hours post-fusion.Vision available. View now?
By reflex, he accepted.
And the vision struck him.
It wasn't a dream. It was a projection. A child—with dark brown hair and golden eyes like his—ran through trees with a makeshift spear. At his side, Indra smiled, marking the child's growth on a stone tablet. Later, the boy screamed in the midst of battle, his aura blazing like a golden beacon, while Ethan watched from above, enveloped in energy, as if their souls were entwined.
The vision vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving him sweating and trembling.
"Are you alright?" Indra asked, frowning slightly.
"Just… the heat. My body's still adjusting."
He lied. But she seemed to accept it. Still, from that moment on, something changed between them. Where there had been distance, now there was tension. Not of enmity—but of shared curiosity. Each time Indra approached, the power within Ethan fluctuated, like an ancient machine responding to the right key.
Even his psychic ability became erratic. Sometimes he heard scattered thoughts from villagers without meaning to. Other times, he saw faint auras around specific people—emotional fluctuations revealing raw states: anger, fear, affection, desire.
But with Indra… everything was different.Her presence both centered him—and overwhelmed him.
That night, sleep came like a soft blow.
It wasn't a memory. Nor an induced vision.
It was a voice.
"Father…""Father? Where are you?"
Ethan spun in place within a white, endless space, small cheerful voices calling to him from every direction.
"Will you come soon?""Will you protect us?"
And then, an image: ten small figures running through ancient ruins, their eyes glowing with golden light. Some were children. Others, adolescents. All looked at him with affection, with hope. But behind them… something stirred. A formless shadow, with multiple eyes and tendrils of black mist. One of the children fell—taken by the darkness.
Ethan woke with his heart pounding like a war drum. Night still surrounded him, and outside his hut, the mist shifted—as if something unseen walked between the trees.
The system glowed with a single line:
Your child does not yet exist—but already needs you.Choose.
And within his chest, where his energy pulsed,the unborn bloodlinehad begun to awaken.
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