Dew clung to every blade of grass, and the valley shimmered beneath the soft gray of morning. The river murmured below the ridge, swollen from the night's rain.
Rin stood at the doorway, watching mist curl through the trees. The air smelled of wet earth and smoke from Elden's hearth.
Elden was already outside, coat drawn close, eyes fixed toward the distant crater. When he noticed Rin, he gave a faint nod."Come here, boy."
Rin walked over, barefoot in the cold grass. His steps made no sound.
They stood side by side, listening to the earth's slow breath.
After a while, Elden spoke."You felt something last night, didn't you? The hum inside you."
Rin's eyes lowered. "Light… here."He pressed a hand to his chest, searching for words. "It moved. Hurt. But… alive."
Elden's brow furrowed half concern, half awe. "Then it's begun."
He reached into his satchel and drew out a small crystal smooth, clear, veined with faint blue light that pulsed like something dreaming.It glowed faintly in the mist, reflecting on Rin's face.
"This," Elden said softly, "is a Resonant Flux Crystal. It remembers the rhythm of the world. Everything living moves to that rhythm trees, rivers, even thought itself. But most of us have forgotten how to hear it."
Rin tilted his head, eyes wide. "Hear… light?"
Elden smiled faintly. "In a way, yes."
He placed the crystal in Rin's hand. It was cold, but the boy didn't flinch. The light within it brightened just a pulse, faint but real.
Elden crouched and began to draw on the damp ground with a small stick.Three circles, nested together, each with lines connecting through the center.
"This is you," he said. "The innermost circle your Root Seal. It rests beneath the heart. It's the bridge between body and world."
Rin knelt beside him, tracing one of the circles with his finger."No… seal," he murmured. "I… empty."
Elden paused, then nodded slowly. "Maybe so. But emptiness can hold more than anything else."
He pointed to the lines radiating outward."These are your Flux Points. The places where the world's current flows through your body. The first three lie here" He touched his chest, his stomach, and the base of his spine."When these awaken, you begin to feel the current move. That is the first stage the Initiate of Embers."
He looked up at Rin to make sure he was following. The boy nodded, slowly, eyes intent.
"The energy must move in a cycle," Elden continued. "You breathe it in through your navel. Let it rise to your heart that is where warmth forms. Then you guide it down your spine, to anchor it in the body again. Around and around. Like water in a wheel."
He drew the pattern in the mud, a looping path between the three points."This cycle feeds the Root Seal. The flow must never break or the energy scatters."
Rin frowned in concentration, tracing the path again with one trembling finger."In… heart… down… again," he whispered.
"Yes. That's it," Elden said softly. "Each breath guides the current. Each thought shapes it."
He sat back and brushed the dirt from his hands. "When you can feel that current clearly, your Flux begins to grow. Then you reach the Vessel of Flow. At that stage, twelve points awaken in your arms, your legs, your spine, your head. The current becomes a circle that never ends. The body becomes a river."
Rin blinked, thinking hard. "More light… more hurt?"
Elden smiled faintly. "More light. Less hurt if done gently."
He lifted the crystal again, holding it so that it caught the pale sunlight. "When your points are open, the Flux inside and the Flux outside will recognize each other. Then the crystal will respond. That's when you begin the third stage the Lumen Ascendant."
The light of the crystal pulsed softly, in time with Rin's heartbeat.
"What happens… after?" Rin asked.
"After?" Elden's gaze turned distant. "The world begins to answer. You hear it in wind, in water. That is the Echobound Sage the fourth stage. Beyond that lies the Traveler of Veins, who walks where no path exists. But those who reach that far are no longer quite… human."
He hesitated, then added quietly, "And beyond them, the Phasewalkers. The ones who tried to leave their bodies behind. But their voices… were lost."
The wind stirred, carrying a faint scent of iron from the crater beyond. Rin looked toward it, then down at the crystal in his hand.
"Light… inside," he said softly. "Like me."
Elden nodded. "Perhaps that's why it called to you."
He placed his hand gently over Rin's, closing his fingers around the crystal."When you're ready, we'll try to awaken the first flow. For now, listen to the world. The rhythm is everywhere in the rain, the breath, the space between words."
Rin looked at him, eyes bright with confusion and wonder."World… breathes," he said slowly.
"It does," Elden said with a smile. "And one day, you will breathe with it."
The morning light broke through the thinning mist. The crystal's glow reflected in Rin's eyes steady, alive, and faintly trembling as though something inside him had begun to remember its own name.