The night stretched silent and cold over the eastern city. The air hung still, heavy with something unseen, something wrong. Streetlamps burned faintly, casting halos of pale light over the cobblestones. Even from afar, the city felt lifeless—its people moved with mechanical rhythm, their eyes dull, their steps too precise to belong to the living.
From the spire's shadow, a lone figure watched. Cloaked in darkness, his presence merged with it until even the moonlight refused to touch him. Shadow's eyes glimmered faintly beneath his hood as he studied the garrison below. Nothing about this place breathed of normal life. Even the guards on patrol marched with unnatural calm, their formation eerily perfect.
"They move like puppets," he whispered to himself.
With a silent motion, he vanished from the spire, reappearing within the garrison walls. The interior reeked faintly of metal, chemicals, and something sharper—the smell of burnt mana. His boots pressed softly against the cold stone, stirring faint blue dust scattered along the corridor. It shimmered weakly beneath the flickering torches.
Kneeling, he brushed his fingers against it. The dust clung faintly to his glove, glowing like fragments of fallen stars.
"This again…" he muttered under his breath.
He activated his Appraisal. A faint ripple of mana traced the shape of his eyes, revealing faint words invisible to the ordinary.
---
[Appraisal Result]
Name: Azure Veil Residue
Type: Artificial Mana Compound
Effect: Temporarily enhances mana sensitivity and control.
Side Effects: Neural dulling, memory erosion, emotional suppression.
Origin: Unknown – traces of alchemical refinement detected.
---
His expression hardened. "So this is what's keeping them docile."
He followed the faint trail of dust deeper into the fortress. The further he went, the quieter it became. Soldiers stood motionless along the walls, faces blank and pale. Even their breathing seemed rehearsed. When Shadow expanded his perception field, their heartbeats came to him all at once—steady, identical, like the ticking of synchronized clocks.
Not natural.
He slipped past them, moving soundlessly through corridors lined with ancient stone and fresh scars of mana burns. At the end of one hall stood a reinforced door engraved with a strange mark—a cross intertwined with serpentine lines, faintly glowing in blue.
He froze. He had seen that symbol before.
A memory flashed behind his eyes: the hidden facility beneath the southern ruins, the experiments, the blood, the same mark carved into cold steel walls as he fled with his life. He did not know what it represented, but its presence here sent an old shiver crawling down his spine.
"So you're connected after all," he murmured.
The gauntlet on his right arm pulsed faintly, responding to the dense mana seeping through the door. Cracks along its surface glowed like veins under strain. It was as if it, too, recognized the energy beyond.
"You feel it too," he said quietly.
He laid his hand against the lock. Mana flowed like liquid through his fingers, threading into the mechanism. A faint click echoed, soft and final. The door released a breath of cold air and swung inward.
A spiral stairwell descended beneath the garrison, lit only by an eerie blue light that pulsed like a heartbeat. Shadow stepped inside without hesitation. The air grew heavier as he descended, the faint hum of machinery vibrating through the stone. The walls were slick with condensation, and a metallic tang filled his lungs with each breath.
At the base of the stairwell, the light grew stronger. The blue dust here glowed almost white. He crouched again, brushing his fingers across the floor. It was purer—finer in texture, potent enough to sting his senses. His Appraisal triggered on instinct.
---
[Appraisal Result Updated]
Origin Confirmed: Refinement chamber beneath eastern garrison.
Process: Mana cores fused with human essence.
Purpose: Amplification and behavioral suppression.
---
For a moment, everything went still. His breath caught, and his pulse thudded once, sharply. Then he straightened, the light in his eyes hardening to tempered steel.
"Human essence… so that's your secret."
The gauntlet's faint hum deepened, resonating with his anger.
He took a long breath, then stepped forward into the unseen. Shadows wrapped around him like armor. Whatever awaited below, he knew only one thing—it would not be human.
And he would see it with his own eyes.