⏳ Chapter 29
"Time bends not for kings, but it shatters for the ones marked by the Folded Clock."— Ancient Crosnic Verse Inscription
📍 Location: Sinjai Academy – Hidden Archive Wing
The room was cold. Dust settled over scrolls that hadn't been touched in decades.
Instructor Varik stood with the head librarian, an old Seeker named Master Relken — one of the few Diamond-ranked historians left in the region.
Relken unfurled an ancient parchment, its ink glowing faintly.
"This sigil appeared on the boy, didn't it?"Varik nodded grimly.
The parchment told of an ancient entity:
The Folded Clock — a forgotten deity of time, dreams, and memory.
A being so powerful that even the Primordial Monsters bowed to it.
"And the sigils?" Varik asked."They are Seals," Relken said. "There are seven. When all awaken, the Folded Clock will return — not as a god, but as a vessel."
Varik's eyes widened.
"And what happens to the vessel?""It stops being human."
🧠 Aeren's Awakening Continues
Aeren sat alone beneath the academy's Moonshade tree — his sketchbook open.He wasn't drawing... he was writing symbols. Ones he'd never seen before — but his hands moved on their own.
Aeren's mind felt like it split between three layers now:
What he sees
What he knows
And what is being shown to him from the void.
Suddenly, his vision blinked — and he saw another sigil glowing faintly on his neck in the reflection of a water bottle.
"Four now…" he whispered."Three more, and I'm not me anymore."
🧅 In the Shadows: A Spy Among Them
Meanwhile, unknown to the students and staff, someone inside Sinjai Academy was reporting to a mysterious organization — the same one the Mark Collector belonged to.
A message was sent from a forbidden chamber using forbidden code:
"Fourth sigil awakened. The vessel is stabilizing faster than expected.""Proceed to phase two. Begin the Bloodline Trials."
⚔️ The Next Test: Bloodline Trials
Back on campus, the students were shocked to hear a new announcement:
"Due to rising threat levels, all students must participate in the upcoming Bloodline Trials — a test of ancestry and hidden potential."
The test would be brutal — a dungeon where the rooms change based on the Seeker's bloodline fears.
Each student will be thrown into a solo trial — only their lineage, courage, and hidden power could get them through.
"If I don't even know my bloodline," Aeren muttered, "how can I pass a trial based on it?"
🌀 The Dream Realm — Aeren's Night Vision
That night, Aeren dreamed again.
This time, he was floating in a timeless space.
Before him stood a man wrapped in layers of clocks, scrolls, and shifting mirrors. His face was veiled.
All around him, monsters knelt — including level 10 creatures and ancient serpents of the underworld.
"Who are you?" Aeren asked.
The Clocked Man tilted his head.
"I am the one you are becoming. But not yet.""Why me?""Because even the gods envy what you can do.""What can I do?""Bend fate. Shatter time. Rewrite minds. Wake dreams."
The figure pointed to the sky — and a glowing, ancient dial appeared with seven spinning sigils.
Four were already lit.
"Three more," he said, "and the world you know will end."
💥 End Scene: Another Death
At dawn, a scream echoed through the academy grounds.
Another first-year student — Rank: Iron Seeker — was found dead. His body, pale white. Markless. Soul drained.
On the wall behind him: a painted sigil in his blood.
"The Collector wasn't alone," whispered Instructor Varik."The hunt has begun again."
⚠️ Chapter 30 Preview:
"Bloodline Trials — Entering the Dungeon of Self"As students are forced into the Bloodline Trial, Aeren is met with an impossible truth inside his trial chamber: a vision of a future… where he becomes the destroyer of Crosnic Verse.