The stars that once guided the world had begun to flicker.
Each night, the sky seemed dimmer constellations fading one by one.
The beasts howled uneasily at the heavens, sensing something ancient stirring beyond mortal reach.
Arka stood on the northern cliff, overlooking the great valley of luminescent mist.
The world felt heavier, as though the earth itself held its breath.
The silver rune on his arm pulsed without command a rhythm that matched the heartbeat of something vast… and awake.
"It's calling," said Liora, voice barely above a whisper.
"The same resonance echoes from the deep ley lines. Something beneath the continent stirs."
Arka's gaze hardened.
"The First Beast."
The wolf spirit beside him growled low, its eyes glinting with unease.
"That name should never have been spoken. It predates all seals, all tribes… even the gods themselves feared it."
✦ The Forgotten Record
In the fortress's archive, Liora unearthed an ancient tablet sealed within crystal.
The carvings were written in Primordial Beastscript, a language older than humanity.
When Arka touched it, the symbols ignited not with light, but with memory.
A vision flooded his mind.
He saw a world bathed in endless starlight, before time had names.
From the heart of the first constellation descended a colossal being
a creature neither flesh nor spirit, its body formed from cosmic flame and celestial bone.
It walked the void, shaping stars and beasts alike with every breath.
But when creation turned against itself, it fell shattering into Nine Celestial Seals, each containing a fragment of its power.
The final echo was a voice like thunder across eternity:
"When the child of man and beast bears my mark, the cycle shall turn anew."
The vision ended, leaving Arka gasping, hand trembling.
The mark on his arm blazed not in silver, but golden flame, for the first time.
"So… I wasn't chosen by fate," he whispered.
"I was made by it."
✦ The Stirring Beneath the Earth
That night, earthquakes shook the land.
Mountains trembled, rivers reversed flow, and beasts across the continent howled in unison.
From beneath the valley, light erupted
not pure, but fractured, shimmering like the heartbeat of a dying star.
Garran and Helar raced into the hall.
"The ley lines are destabilizing!" Helar shouted.
"Energy output's off the scale it's tearing through our barriers!"
Liora's eyes widened as runes across the fortress began to crack.
"It's not random… it's searching for something."
Arka clenched his fists.
"It's searching for me."
The wolf spirit howled, merging briefly with Arka's aura.
Silver flames erupted around him, shielding the fortress from the tremor.
"Then I'll go to it," he said, voice calm amid chaos.
"If the origin awakens, I must face it before it faces the world."
✦ Descent into the Abyss
Guided by the pulsing of his rune, Arka and his companions ventured deep into the Abyssal Valley, a forbidden chasm believed to pierce the world's heart.
The walls glowed faintly with inscriptions of beast sigils each marking an extinct creature that once served the First Beast.
As they descended, the air grew colder, heavier.
Even Liora's magic dimmed.
At the chasm's core, they found it
a colossal heart of stone, half-buried in crystal and bone, still beating.
Each pulse sent waves of power rippling through the abyss.
And from the cracks, molten gold light spilled the same hue that now burned beneath Arka's skin.
Liora stepped back, awe and terror mixing in her eyes.
"That's not a relic… it's alive."
The wolf spirit's tone was grim.
"That is the heart of the First Beast the origin of all life and destruction.
Every Seal you've unlocked… was once part of that."
✦ The Voice from the Core
A deep, resonant voice filled the cavern neither male nor female, but eternal.
It echoed through Arka's mind, reverberating in his bones.
"Child of twilight… bearer of my chain…"
"Why do you wear my mark?"
Arka stood firm, though his body trembled.
"Because your fragments chose me. Because the world still needs balance."
The ground shook, laughter rolling through the abyss.
"Balance? There is no balance. Only hunger. Only the return of the source."
From the glowing heart, shapes began to emerge
phantoms of ancient beasts, their roars shaking the cavern.
"You think you wield my power, mortal?" the voice thundered.
"You merely borrow it. And the debt comes due."
The rune on Arka's arm flared uncontrollably, burning his flesh.
Liora reached for him, but he raised a hand to stop her.
"If you are my creator," he growled,
"Then watch what your creation has become."
He unleashed his full aura the Star Wolf Ascendant Form and silver light clashed with golden flame in an explosion that split the abyss.
✦ The First Pulse
When the dust settled, silence ruled the chasm once more.
The heart still pulsed slower, quieter but not dead.
Its power now resonated with Arka's own.
Liora knelt beside him, eyes wide.
"You linked with it, didn't you?"
Arka nodded weakly.
"It's awake… but not whole. The rest of its body lies scattered across the world.
And now, it will begin calling them back."
The wolf's voice was grave.
"Then the hunt is no longer for power… it's for the pieces of a god."
✦ The Omen
As they climbed out of the valley, the night sky bled red
and from the heavens, nine constellations ignited once more, each burning brighter than before.
Liora whispered in awe,
"Those are the Nine Seals… reborn."
Arka looked up, feeling the mark on his arm pulse in rhythm with the stars.
"No," he said softly.
"Those aren't Seals anymore."
He turned, eyes blazing silver-gold.
"They're invitations."