The beast Nyru lay coiled near the sanctum gate, flame flickering through its translucent ribs. It had not moved since the battle ended. It watched.
Kaien stood beneath the ruined arch of the outer wall, staring beyond the trees, into the wild hush of dawn. He had not slept. His blade rested on his shoulder, not sheathed—never sheathed, not here.
Inside the Hollow's great hall, Seren trained. Her movements were slow, measured, flame flickering across her arms in curling shapes, like script not yet written. She had no sword yet. She didn't need one.
"Your fire's internal," Kaien had told her. "It's not meant to cut. It's meant to become."
"Become what?"
"That's up to you."
By midmorning, the wind changed.
Kaien turned before the sound reached him.
Bootsteps. Labored. Unsteady.
He was already at the gate when the figure stumbled into view—a boy no older than eighteen, one eye swollen shut, robes torn in half, blood streaking down his arm in smears. A jagged black mark pulsed across his collarbone.
A cursebrand.
He saw Kaien and collapsed to his knees.
"Don't kill me," he gasped. "I didn't ask for it. I didn't—just… please. I smelled fire. I followed it."
Kaien stepped forward.
The boy flinched.
But Kaien didn't draw his blade.
Not yet.
"Name?" Kaien asked.
"Rin."
"Where are you from?"
"…Dead sect. Don't remember the name. They burned the banners. Said we were traitors. Said the brand meant I'd made a pact with something below."
"And did you?"
Rin raised his head, pain clear in his face.
"I don't remember."
Kaien watched him. Then turned to the firelit hall.
"You can stay," he said. "But the Hollow decides if you belong."
Sect Core Response: New Soul Detected
Candidate: RinStatus: BrandedElemental Affinity: Shadow, SmokeBeastlink: UnknownMemory Core: IncompleteThreat Level: Low-Mid Risk
Trial Recommendation: Shadow Initiation — Ash Pool of Truth
Kaien read the system glyphs silently.
Seren emerged from within, wiping ash from her arms, hair tied back in a braid. She eyed the boy warily.
"Another one?"
"He asked for fire."
"That doesn't make him one of us."
Kaien nodded. "That's why we test him."
Beneath the Hollow, Kaien led Rin to the Ash Pool—a ritual circle half-carved from a subterranean chamber, its waters gray and motionless. This had once been the mirror for inner disciples to confront their path. Now, it would judge whether Rin's flame could stand.
Kaien stepped back.
"You enter. You do not lie. If your soul wants to burn, the fire will carry it forward. If not—"
"I understand," Rin said, voice low. "I'd rather die trying than crawl another day."
He stepped into the pool.
It rippled.
Then ignited.
Not flame that devoured—flame that revealed.
Kaien and Seren stood silent as light twisted through the chamber, projecting Rin's soul-shadows onto the stone.
They saw fragments:
A hand reaching down from a cliff's edge. A sword pushed into it instead.
A chained ritual, voice chanting in a forgotten tongue. Rin screaming. The cursebrand flaring.
A broken oath, spoken through tears. "If I remember, they'll find me again."
The flame dimmed.
Rin fell to his knees in the shallow water, breathing hard.
The brand no longer glowed.
Instead, it had been replaced by a mark of ash—spiral-shaped, the Hollow's own emblem.
Trial Passed
New Disciple Accepted: Rin of the Smoked VeilElemental Path: Smoke, Hidden FlameInner Flame Status: DormantBeastlink: Sealed — Must be drawn out through fear
Kaien extended his hand.
Rin stared at it. Then took it.
Seren watched from the edge of the pool, arms crossed.
"What if he turns on us?"
Kaien didn't look back.
"Then the Hollow burns him out."
That night, they sat around the flame.
Three souls.One ruin.One rising sect.
Rin stared into the fire.
"I heard stories," he whispered. "Of sects like this… built in forgotten places. They said the first disciples always died. That the fire was too wild. Too young to know mercy."
Kaien tossed another log onto the flame.
It hissed.
"Then we'll teach it. Together."
Far beyond the Withering Wilds, on a skyship of polished obsidian, three cultivators in black-and-gold robes gazed down through a crystal mirror.
"The Hollow has three now."
"The beast is bound."
"And the founder… still unknown to the heavens."
"We report to the Inquisition?"
"Not yet," their leader said, coldly.
"Let them grow. Let the fire believe it's safe."