The camp was quiet.
Not peaceful—contained.
Professor Kaelthar's wards pressed faintly against the marsh, suppressing movement, dampening hostile resonance. The fog thinned just enough to breathe. The ground no longer shifted beneath their weight.
Alex sat against frost-stiffened reeds, Orionis Sagitta resting beside him. Around him, students settled in silence. No laughter. No relief. Just stillness stretched thin.
Exhaustion pulled at him.
His eyes closed.
Sleep took him without permission.
— — —
The room folded inward.
Walls bent like softened paper. Shadows gathered where corners should have been. Pale yellow vines crept across the floor, glowing faintly, pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
"Alex."
The voice was familiar.
Too familiar.
His chest tightened. "Mom?"
"Yes," it said gently. "You always knew."
The vines brushed his wrists. Not painful. Not yet. Warm. Coaxing.
"No one comes for you," the voice continued. "No one ever does. Trust is a liability."
"I don't understand," Alex said.
"You don't need to," it replied. "You survived before. You will again. Alone."
A vine brushed his cheek.
For a moment, her eyes were wrong—metallic, molten.
Alex recoiled. "This isn't right."
The voice shifted, barely. "I must prepare you. Protection ruins the lesson. You must feel the absence first."
The vines tightened.
"Good," the voice whispered. "Remember. I am all you have left."
The room pulsed.
Alex woke gasping.
— — —
He sat upright, breath sharp, skin cold with sweat.
The fog was unchanged. The camp still. No one else stirred.
Something had remained.
— — —
[ SYSTEM WINDOW ]
Username: Lumen of the Void
Age: 16
Revolution: Awakening
Class: Starkindred
Alignment: Neutral / Wretch
Status:
Shattered PsycheMadness (Tentative)Cursed FateYellow Blight
Attributes:
Basic Awareness — 124 / 1000Combat Fundamentals II — 58 / 400Ascension — 1 / 100
Magic:
Star Magic — 43 / 2000Orionis Sagitta — 54 / 500
Battle Arts:
Starspear Arts — 82 / 1000
Equipment:
Weapon: Archaeon Warspear — 813 / 1000Shield: Manasteel Kite Shield — 324 / 500Armor: Reinforced Bronze Armor — 143 / 200Boots: Grip-Enhanced — 45 / 60
Runes:
Tempus (V) ×1Chaos (III) ×2Chaos (I) ×1Lux (I) ×1Tenebris (I) ×1
Artifacts:
None
Items:
None
— — —
Alex stared at one line longer than the rest.
Madness (Tentative)
Not active.
Not cured.
Waiting.
A whisper brushed the edge of his hearing.
"I exist because you allowed me to."
Alex closed the window.
The glow faded.
The pressure did not.
— — —
Dawn came sickly and green.
Mist clung to their legs as they formed up. The marsh released them reluctantly, air warping as they crossed into the Twilight Glade.
Alex's head throbbed—not pain, pressure. Every sound arrived a fraction too sharp.
"Do not stray," the instructor said. "Your senses will lie."
They moved.
The trees rose black and skeletal. Gold-threaded bark glimmered faintly. Shadows bent the wrong way.
Alex's vision flickered.
Yellow lines crept at the edge of sight.
"I am here," something whispered.
Sera touched his shoulder. "You steady?"
"I will be."
It wasn't a lie.
Just incomplete.
— — —
Small shapes emerged.
Numbered in the dozens.
[ ENEMY DETECTED ]
Horned Rabbits
Threat: 0
Existence: 0
Karma: 0
They charged anyway.
Alex struck cleanly. Too cleanly. The pressure in his skull held steady, watching. Measuring.
The instructor stepped in only once—no strike, just presence. The creatures scattered.
"You learn," he said. "But you do not rely."
— — —
Later, teams were formed.
Four to a group.
The Glade closed in as they moved.
Plants reacted to attention. Vines leaned closer when watched. Gold pulsed faintly beneath bark.
Alex felt the weight again.
Not worsening.
Not retreating.
Patient.
— — —
The Glade did not test strength.
It tested endurance.
And something inside Alex was already listening.
— — —