Two days later;
Somewhere deep in the mountains of the Helenus Range, a vast icy region, the horse carriage came to a stop.
Dawn stepped out first, followed by Avia and Aspen of the Scorpion Clan. The cold hit her instantly, biting through her clothes, but her face remained calm. A few steps away, two middle-aged men were already waiting, dressed in dark robes that fluttered slightly in the mountain wind.
One of them glanced at Dawn, then turned to Avia. "Is this her?"
Avia gave a short nod. Without hesitation, both men lowered their heads and bowed toward the girl. "Welcome home, Young Miss."
Dawn didn't respond with surprise. She simply nodded, as if she had been expecting those words all along. The explanation on the way here had already filled in enough blanks. Still, knowing the truth didn't stop the pain from settling somewhere deep in her chest, quiet but heavy.
Truthfully, Leandor was not her real grandUncle
He was only a caretaker entrusted by parents whom Dawn never remembered, parents who had walked into the Cursed Forest of Death and never walked out again.
According to what she heard, monsters had ended their lives, and the clan had let their child remain hidden in a small town until the day her soul spirit awakened.
Dawn had asked questions during the journey.
Why would her parents leave a newborn behind?
Why would they trust an exile instead of the clan itself?
Why did nobody come for her until now, when the clan-head was still alive?
But Avia and Aspen had gone silent every time.
Dawn learned quickly that clever questions meant nothing if the people around her had decided not to answer.
So she stopped asking and focused instead on the golden storage pouch Leandor had given him, the only proof that someone had truly cared.
Now, standing on the frozen mountain ground, Dawn looked around. There was no village. No walls. No buildings. There is just ice everywhere.
"If this is a clan village," Dawn muttered, "it's a very empty one."
Avia didn't react. She simply spoke with her usual icy tone. "Let's go."
The two elders led them forward, walking past rocks and frost until they reached the edge of the lake. Dawn stared at the water and narrowed her eyes.
"Is the village under the lake or something?" she whispered.
Aspen heard her clearly and replied without smiling. "No, Young Miss. Our clan does not exist in this world."
Dawn turned her head sharply. "Huh?"
Before Aspen could explain further, one of the elders stepped forward and pulled out a strange dagger and thrust it into the air as if stabbing an invisible target.
The air trembled.
Then, as if reality itself had been sliced open, a massive door appeared out of nowhere. Ancient runes covered its surface, glowing faintly like sleeping stars.
Dawn's eyes widened in surprise as behind the doorway was not a lake, not a mountain, not a hidden cave.
It was an entire world.
Buildings stretched far into the distance, lakes shimmered under a different sky, and forests spread like endless green carpets.
Aspen glanced at him. "Surprised, Young Miss?"
Dawn stepped forward slightly, staring into the vast space. "When people say village… I didn't expect this."
Sliya had once looked big to her. But this place was monstrous. It looked a hundred times larger than her town, perhaps more. Calling it a village felt ridiculous. It looked like a province, a kingdom hidden behind a single door.
Dawn's mind tried to connect the impossible pieces. A place this huge couldn't exist in the Helenus Range without someone noticing. The mountains should not be able to hold something like this.
She looked at Avia. "Ms. Avia… is this like a bigger version of a storage pouch?"
The question sounded rude, but nobody laughed. They understood she simply lacked better words.
Avia answered calmly, though her voice remained cold. "Not exactly. This is a different dimension, where hidden clans reside. However, this place requires a key like that special dagger where the spatial runes were inscribed to enter."
Dawn nodded once. She didn't ask further. She could feel that explanations would come slowly, piece by piece, and only when the clan allowed it.
They soon boarded a flying carpet, wide enough to carry dozens of people. The carpet glided smoothly above forests and lakes. From above, Dawn could see just how massive this hidden world truly was.
As they approached the center, a grand compound came into view. It was built like an ancient fortress palace, with tall walls, wide courtyards, and long stone roads leading inward. The Flying carpet descended slowly, and Dawn noticed groups of children standing with their parents, watching her with curious eyes.
Four old men stood at the front, waiting.
The moment Dawn stepped down, all four bowed deeply. "Greetings, Young Miss."
Dawn returned their greeting with a simple nod. One of the elders extended his arm toward the main road. "Follow us. The clan-head awaits your presence."
The two elders who met them at the lake joined the group, and together they began walking toward the inner halls. Dawn's footsteps echoed softly against the stone path, and her gaze remained sharp, taking in everything.
Aspen leaned closer and whispered, "Those four are the elders of Indigo, Green, Blue, and Orange clinic."
Aspen then added, pointing at Avia, "She is, by the way, the elder of Violet clinic, which is considered the strongest clinic."
Dawn halted for half a second, staring at her back. "Ms. Avia is the Elder of Violet clinic?"
Aspen nodded quickly. "Shh. Here, you address her as Elder. She is also the head of the Discipline Hall with the power to even arrest other elders. Everyone fears her."
Avia's eyebrows twitched, clearly hearing every word.
Dawn's expression didn't change much, but inwardly she felt a small spark of amazement. Elder of the strongest clinic. Discipline Hall head. No wonder her presence felt like a blade pressed against the throat.
She looked at Aspen again. "Then what about you, Mr. Aspen?"
Before Aspen could answer, Avia spoke without even turning her head. "He is not important. No need to care."
Aspen's face darkened instantly. A small growl escaped his throat. "I'm the next head of the Scorpion Clan, sister."
Dawn blinked.
That was the first time she had seen real emotion from Aspen. Frustration. Rage. Pride. It wasn't that these people were emotionless; they were simply trained to bury it.
That realization strangely comforted Dawn.
Because ever since her awakening, she had been feeling the same problem. She could feel sadness, yet tears wouldn't come. She could feel happiness, yet her lips refused to smile. It was as if something inside her was slowly turning cold.
Seeing Aspen crack for a moment gave Dawn hope that she wasn't becoming a hollow creature.
"We are here," Avia said.
They stopped before a massive building that looked like a palace. Its pillars were tall, its walls carved with ancient patterns, and its entrance doors were wide enough for giants. The air itself felt heavier near it, as if power had soaked into the stones for millennia.
They entered.
Inside, the hall was dimly lit, the shadows deep and long. At the far end, a throne stood elevated, but the figure sitting there was hidden in darkness.
Everyone except Dawn knelt down on one knee.
"Clan-head," they said in unison.
Dawn remained standing. She simply observed this person.
Then the silence broke.
Thud… thud…
Footsteps then echoed from the darkness.
A thin old man walked forward slowly, his beard so long it dragged across the floor like a white river. His eyes were barely open, and his body looked frail, like a candle about to burn out.
He seemed like a sickly elder on the verge of death.
Yet Dawn could feel it.
The pressure.
The terrifying weight in the air.
This man was not weak. He was the clan-head of the Death Clan, a peak nine-star Spirit Warrior with mana so vast it could crush mountains. A being who had nearly stepped into the Demigod realm, only lacking one final push.
When the old man stopped a meter in front of her, Dawn finally bowed, polite but distant. "Greetings, Ancestor."
She didn't call him clan-head. She didn't acknowledge the clan as her own. Atleast, Not yet.
The old man stared down at her with half-closed eyes, expression unreadable. There was no warmth, no welcome, no grandUnclely kindness.
Only a command.
"Show me the Death Scythe and the hourglass, Dawn."