They left Bellenridge the following morning, and by the fifth day, their journey had carried them into the southern reaches of Sarynthil. The cobbled roads had faded behind them, replaced by winding paths and moss-choked trails that hinted at the wildness ahead. The wetlands loomed heavy with mist, each step drawing them deeper into the heart of the Blighted Marsh.
The Blighted Marsh stank of death and old magic.
Rei pushed aside low hanging moss, his boots starting to squelch in the mud with every step. The trees here weren't trees anymore—just half-rotted husks, twisted and hollow, their bark soft like bruised fruit. Somewhere in the distance, something croaked, or maybe screamed.
Behind him, Myra muttered, "We really couldn't have taken the long way around?"
"This is the long way," Callis said, tugging his robe up to avoid another pool of green water. "Unless you'd prefer the Wyrm-Scar Pass. Rumors say the last party through there came out as ash."
"Oh good," Myra said dryly. "We picked the safe hellhole."
Rei grinned in spite of the gloom. "Glad we're all in high spirits."
They trudged deeper into the swamps, silence falling as the marsh swallowed even the sound of their footsteps. Fog coiled between the trees. Eno, ever the energetic one, kept sprinting ahead through the ankle deep waters and back again like a kid on too much sugar.
"This place is weird," he said, twirling a dagger through his fingers. "I saw a frog with four eyes and it winked at me."
"That's not the weird part," Callis muttered. "I think it cast a spell. Low-grade curse magic, if I'm not mistaken."
Rei paused mid-step. "A frog that can do curses?"
Eno shrugged. "Better than the eel I saw with what looked like a tigers teeth."
They laughed—tired, uneasy laughter—but laughter all the same.
The Rot Grove
By midday, they reached what remained of a druidic grove: ancient stones blackened with rot, twisted vines choking once-sacred trees. Rei knelt beside a central altar cracked down the middle. It pulsed faintly with red light.
"Wow this is an old grove," Callis whispered, brushing away the dirt to reveal glyphs. "Pre-church? This was a purification site. Used to contain wild magic outbreaks."
"So why does it reek of corruption now?" Myra asked, nose wrinkling.
"Because this world has turned it inside out."
Then—
Screeching.
Figures erupted from the mist. Distorted figures—once men, perhaps, now warped by blight. Skin dripping off their bones. Eyes glowing with the same sickly green as the trees.
As the twisted figures emerged from the mist, Rei's breath caught—among them, a fleeting glimpse of a silhouette that chilled him to the bone. For a heartbeat, he thought he saw Vel Kareth himself—the face from the faded, grainy photo he'd uncovered during his research—before the figure dissolved like smoke into the fog.
"Rei." He heard as if whispered right into his ear.
There were too many.
Eno was already moving, daggers drawn. Callis raised a shield of light. Myra cursed under her breath and began channeling a ward.
Rei raised his hand and instinctively reached inward.
As he moved, they seemed to flinch.
"No!" Myra snapped, stepping in front of him. "Not here!"
He clenched his fists, feeling that dreadful power coil in his chest.
But before he could act—something moved faster.
A black blur crashed through the trees, trailing smoke and violet embers.
A panther, or something like it.
Its fur was like a dark shadow, each step bending the air around it. Glowing stripes along its back pulsed with eerie light, and its tail split like a whip. It moved with a predator's grace—elegant, with purpose.
It tore through the blighted attackers. Claws shimmering. Fangs snapping. Its presence was… frightening. But not hostile.
The battle was over before they truly processed what happened.
The beast stood there, surrounded by twitching, broken husks, its glowing eyes locked on Rei.
Everyone tensed.
"What the hell is that?" Eno said, half-lifting a dagger.
Callis steps forward and it growls.
Myra, breath steadying, says "Just wait a second. It saved us."
The lynx padded closer to Rei. Then it sat, tail curling around its body. Watching him.
Rei took a slow step forward.
It didn't move.
"Why isn't it growling at me too?" he asked softly.
The lynx tilted its head.
Callis muttered, "Is it a summon? A spirit?"
"No," Myra said. "This doesn't feel like either of those."
Eno scowled. "We're not keeping it."
The creature blinked slowly, then turned its head—as if to gesture toward the path ahead.
Rei gave a small, stunned laugh. "I think it's coming with us."
"Oh can we call it Binx! There was a cat I loved back in my village with that name!" Myra says.
"It's been decided." Says Rei.
Eno scoffs.
The lynx—Binx—made no noise, but it followed.
Campfire Truths
That night, huddled around a struggling campfire, the party shared a quiet meal. Eno was the first to break the silence.
"So, Rei. One of those… things said your name. Wanna explain?"
Rei hesitated. "I think they were once people. Twisted by the Vault's energy. Maybe someone who tried to reach it… and failed."
Myra's voice was a whisper, but it pierced more sharply than a blade. "That wasn't an answer."
The others turned. The question hadn't gone away.
They were worn thin by the marsh's decay. They were mud-caked, sweat-drenched, and tired to the bone but their eyes still fixed on Rei, waiting for a clear answer he hadn't yet given. He sighed, shoulders slumping under the weight of it. "I think… I think I may be Worldbreaker. At the very least I know there is something wrong with me. Something I may not be able to contain forever."
Silence.
Even the insects in the Marsh seemed to stop croaking.
Callis was the first to speak, his voice carefully neutral. "You think or you are?"
"I've felt different since I was a kid," Rei said. "My powers… they don't match anything in the Class Codex. And the way the Archons reacted. The vault. The whispers. The Appraiser. It's all connected."
Eno paced in a small circle, kicking mud. "And you waited until now to drop that?"
"I didn't want to believe it either."
Myra's gaze didn't waver. "I'm not mad you didn't tell us. I'm mad you keep acting like I won't stand beside you."
Callis looks up. "You should've told us sooner… but I've seen enough to know you're not some walking catastrophe. If the Vault's ahead, I'd rather face it with you than without."
Eno adds "I don't like it Rei but something about you always felt… bigger. Dangerous or not, I think you're meant to be part of this."
Rei looked at them, guilt swelling in his chest. "I'm sorry."
The Truth Matters
Callis knelt, tracing his finger over the moss-covered stones where the runes had glowed before. "Whether you're a Worldbreaker or not, we still have a problem. We're trapped in a living swamp that reacts to your name."
Rei joined him, kneeling next to the glyphs. "It didn't just speak my name. It responded to my fear. My presence."
He reached out and pressed his hand to the largest rune, focusing. He didn't draw power, just listening.
For a moment, nothing.
Then, a click. A deep shift beneath the ground. The waters around them rippled outward in perfect circles.
The fog ahead thinned, revealing a dry path lined with glowing reeds. A way forward.
Callis blinked. "You just… opened it?"
"Not me," Rei said.
"It's like the marsh was waiting for the truth," Myra murmured, eyes flicking to Rei. "You admitted what you are… and it let us go."
Binx trotted to Rei's side.
Rei stood, the path ahead now clear. Lined with glowing reeds and humming softly in the damp air. The Blighted Marsh had tested them, but it had finally yielded.
Callis exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Well, that was… enlightening. And frankly, more than a little unsettling."
Eno cracked a grin. "Guess those cursed swamps don't mess around."
Binx padded close to Rei, pressing his head against his leg. The creature's eyes gleamed with quiet intelligence, as if sensing the weight of what lay ahead.
Myra tightened her cloak, her gaze sharp. "The Caverns won't be easier. But at least now we move forward."
Rei met their eyes. "Whatever happens next… we face it together."
A breeze stirred the marsh grasses, carrying away the lingering fog — and with it, some of the uncertainty that had shadowed their steps.
They stepped onto the new path, shadows lengthening behind them as the Marsh sealed shut once more.
The journey was far from over, but with the first test completed, the team felt better than ever.