The morning sun beat down on the training yard, offering no respite under its golden light.
Rady stood barefoot in the center of the field, his eyes closed. Small stones fluttered around him, suspended in the air by an invisible force. This was not levitation, but resonance. The energy of the earth responded to his call.
Ten days ago, establishing this connection took minutes, and it could be broken by any noise or distraction. Now, three deep breaths were enough. The soil was no longer foreign beneath his feet, but an extension of himself.
"Better," said Aldric. "But you still see the ground as separate from the soles of your feet. There is no 'you' and 'the earth.' As long as that division exists in your mind, your strength will always be borrowed, never truly yours."
Rady opened his eyes, sweat dripping from his brow. "I feel... as if there's something beyond the earth. Something lighter."
The elder did not reply. He simply held the boy's gaze for a long moment, weighing the meaning of those words, before finally lowering his staff.
Across the yard, Konstant moved with a fluidity impossible for someone blind. His staff traced precise arcs in the air, blocking Daven's phantom blows with an ease that bordered on the supernatural.
In the darkness behind his sealed eyelids, the world lit up. He didn't need to see. The mental map forming in his mind was clearer than any vision. Every move Daven made caused a disturbance in the air: a shift in heat, a vibration in the ground. The entire world revealed the guard's position.
And now, he could maintain that perception for half an hour at a time.
"You're getting scary, kid," Daven muttered, rubbing his arm where Konstant's staff had struck him. "I swear, sometimes you see better than I do."
A faint smile touched Konstant's lips. "I don't see. I feel."
The difference was subtle, but absolute. He didn't see shapes or colors. He saw intentions. He saw the heat of bodies, the displacement of air. In that mode of perception, the world ceased to be a dark, empty place. It became an ocean of information.
Even for walking through the village, he preferred using that "sight" over his cane. The people around him were pulses of heat and movement. The houses were solid blocks of wood and stone. The wind carried scents that traced invisible maps.
He was still blind. Yet, in a way, he saw more than most people.
Those maps guided him to places where the village breathed more slowly. Where the sound changed. Where the air grew heavy with memory.
The shade of the ancient tree was one such place.
Under its wide branches, the heat dissipated, the light softened, and the scents mingled differently. Earth, sap, clean glass, something metallic.
Keiko was sitting there.
Before her lay a row of glass bottles, carefully lined up. Liquids of varying colors rested silently inside. Some were clear; others were as dark as coagulated blood, capturing the light that slipped between the leaves and reflecting strange hues.
"This is the antidote for Shadow Belladonna," she murmured, holding a light green bottle up to the light. "Three drops of Moon Willow sap mixed with Lily of the Valley pollen. The proportion has to be exact, or the cure becomes poison."
Aldric, supervising from beside her, nodded in approval. "Correct. The plant doesn't care if it saves or kills, Keiko. You decide. The same hand that stops the bleeding must know how to stop the heart."
The praise seemed to weigh more than any criticism. Keiko bit her lip, hesitating as if gauging whether to share a dangerous secret.
Keiko put the bottle back on the table and sighed. "I've learned so much in so little time... but something strange is happening to me."
"Strange how?"
She hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "Sometimes, when I feel a very strong emotion, like fear, anger, or relief, I feel something. It's like a force awakens. Suddenly, I get stronger and think much faster. Everything becomes clear and easy, as if my limits simply vanish."
Aldric furrowed his brow, thoughtful. "Interesting. Emotion usually hinders reason. But in your case, it seems to fuel your potential. It's a dangerous, but powerful fuel."
Keiko didn't answer. She just looked at her own hands, feeling the faint pulse of green energy. A sudden breeze stirred her hair, sweeping across the yard to find Rady, who was already walking away.
The sun was high when he took the path to Tomos and Lira's house. He expected to feel the usual weight of exhaustion on his shoulders, but something had changed. The air around him no longer felt indifferent; it pushed him gently forward like a helping hand.
He felt... light.
It wasn't the lightness of weakness. It was the lightness of something that had come undone. As if invisible chains had been broken.
Since his conversation with Tomos and Lira that night, since deciding to go instead of stay, something inside him had come loose. The fear that had kept him rooted to the ground and made him want to bury himself in the safety of the farm had vanished.
And in its place, something new was being born.
He climbed the hill behind the house, where the wind blew stronger, and closed his eyes. He concentrated as Aldric had taught him. He sought the earth beneath his feet, the familiar resonance of the soil.
But this time, he didn't stop there.
He reached higher.
He felt the air.
It was different from the earth. The earth was solid, heavy, constant. The air was free, changeable, impossible to grasp. But it was there. It always had been. He'd just never tried to hear it before.
The wind touched his face, and Rady smiled.
"Maybe I don't have to be just the rock," he murmured to himself. "Maybe I can be the storm, too."
The next day, silence reigned in the forest north of Thornhaven.
Gareth advanced with his bow ready, his eyes alert to every movement among the leaves. Luna followed his lead.
Behind them, Konstant moved with a strange confidence. He didn't need to open his eyes or feel his way. The world around him pulsed in his mind, and he navigated those waves of information better than anyone there.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Luna asked in a low voice, looking around nervously.
"No," Gareth replied with brutal honesty, "but we can't stay locked up forever. The village needs game. It needs firewood. Things need to keep running. If we wait until it's safe, we'll starve to death before the Abyssals come back."
He glanced at Konstant. "Besides, the elder said it would be good for the boy. Said the forest has 'good vitality.' Whatever that means."
Konstant didn't answer. He was... distracted.
From the moment he stepped into the forest, something had changed.
It was as if he had awakened to a new reality.
Each tree was a living presence in his mind. Not shapes or colors, but essences. He felt the sap running through the roots and the slow, patient movement of growth. He could feel the insects crawling over the bark and the birds nesting in the high branches.
It wasn't like sensing Daven on the training ground. That was movement, intention, threat. This was different.
"Konstant?" Luna called, touching his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
He blinked, returning to reality. "I'm fine. It's just... different here."
"Different how?"
He hesitated. How could he explain? How could he put into words something he didn't fully understand himself?
"It's like I can hear the forest," he said slowly. "It's not the same as how I hear you guys. It's like I'm receiving the information directly."
Gareth frowned but said nothing. He just exchanged a look with Luna and kept walking.
They continued in silence for a few more minutes. Konstant was getting used to the sensation. It wasn't just about the life around him; it was about communication. The plants weren't conscious, not in the human sense. But they had something to say.
The ancient roots whispered about water flowing deep in the soil. The leaves sang of wind and sunlight. The mosses told stories of shadow and moisture.
And then, Konstant understood.
Not completely. Not everything. But something fundamental clicked in his mind, like a gear finding its place.
His power wasn't just about perceiving the world. It was about connecting to it.
He wasn't just an observer. He was part of the web.
But before he could fully process that revelation, something changed.
The air grew heavy.
The trees... fell silent.
Konstant stopped walking. His face paled.
"What is it?" Luna asked, concerned.
He didn't answer. He couldn't. Because now, he heard something that shouldn't be there.
A scream.
It wasn't a physical sound. It was something deeper, more visceral. It was the forest screaming.
Konstant slowly turned his head to the left, toward where the trees grew denser. In a place far from there, where sunlight barely penetrated, everything was dark. Not just physically. It was a darkness in the very essence of the place.
Something was consuming the forest.
And because he was connected to it, he felt every bite.
The pain hit him like a hammer.
Konstant doubled over, clutching his head. The sensation was unbearable, as if his own roots were being torn out, his own sap drained. The forest was dying, and he was dying with it.
"Konstant!" Luna shouted, running to hold him.
But before she could reach him, Konstant vomited. The contents of his stomach spilled onto the forest floor, mixing with the dead leaves.
"Back," he gasped, his voice hoarse and trembling. "We have to go back. Now."
Gareth asked no questions. He grabbed Konstant by the arm, threw him over his shoulder like a sack of flour, and started to run.
Luna followed, bow in hand, glancing back every few steps.
But nothing was following them.
Aldric was in his study, sitting in his worn wooden chair, his fingers slowly tapping on the table. Before him, ancient maps were spread, marked with notes in a language few could still read.
He was lost in thought when the door burst open.
Gareth entered, carrying Konstant, who was still shaking and gasping. Luna came in right behind him, slamming the door shut.
"Aldric!" Gareth called, depositing Konstant in a chair. "Something happened in the forest."
The elder rose slowly, his gaze fixed on the boy. "What did you feel?"
Konstant raised his head, his sealed eyelids turned toward the void. His voice trembled with nausea but was filled with certainty.
"The forest is dying," he said. "There's something there. Something dark. It's consuming everything. I... I could feel it. As if my own body were being torn apart. My own blood being drained."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "This isn't natural. It's something alive. Something is devouring it."
Aldric didn't respond immediately. His face was serious, but not surprised. As if he already knew.
And then, a voice echoed from behind him.
"That's why I'm here."
Everyone turned.
A woman stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the room, as if she had always been there, just waiting for the right moment to reveal herself.
She was tall, almost Gareth's height, with broad shoulders and a posture that exuded authority. Her blonde hair was tightly braided back, a few rebellious strands escaping to frame a face marked by fine scars, stories of ancient battles etched into her skin. Her eyes were an icy blue, sharp as blades.
She wore layers of thick fabric and hardened leather. A wolfskin cloak hung from her shoulders, and her forearms were protected by metal bracelets engraved with ancient symbols. At her waist, hanging from a worn sheath, was a broadsword. The blade was only partially exposed, but even so, Luna felt a chill upon seeing it. There was something wrong with that weapon. It resembled nothing they had ever seen before.
The woman took a step forward, her eyes fixed on Konstant.
"My name is Brenna," she said, her voice deep and laden with a foreign accent. "I have come from Aethérion to investigate the Abyssal Contamination spreading through this region."
She crossed her arms, her gaze sweeping over each person in the room before returning to Aldric.
"It seems I haven't arrived too soon."
The silence in the room was heavy as stone.
And then, Aldric sighed.
"No," he said, his tone hoarse, devoid of energy for any emotion. "I think you're a little late."