News traveled like wildfire.
By nightfall, every tavern and crooked alley in the surrounding regions buzzed with whispers of what happened in the village. Fifty men reduced to silence. An S-Rank adventurer humiliated, crushed in open daylight. No witnesses could describe the attack clearly—they only spoke of shadows, pressure, and red eyes glowing like curses from the underworld.
The Adventurer's Guild responded swiftly.
A high-level scout arrived under orders of containment. Not to capture Kieran—no one was foolish enough for that—but to report, assess, and delay further chaos.
Kieran, meanwhile, had returned to Gareth's quiet home on the village edge. He sat by the hearth, legs stretched out, a mug of untouched tea growing cold in his hands.
Gareth studied him from across the room, arms crossed. The old man's voice was low, but heavy with meaning."You didn't hold back."
Kieran stared at the flames. "I gave a warning."
"That's not what I meant." Gareth walked over, placing a hand on the windowsill. "You used that intent again. Let them feel what it means to be prey. And now they know... and others will come."
"I'm tired of being the hunted." Kieran's voice cracked slightly, and the mug in his hand tightened. "I'm not hiding anymore."
Gareth's expression softened. "I know, boy. But the world... it doesn't change just because you do. And now that shadow's been cast, you'll have to walk through what it brings."
Outside, the winds carried movement. More footsteps. Travelers. Spies. Opportunists. The village was no longer quiet. Peace had shattered.
Later that night, a sealed letter arrived at the tavern, addressed not to a name—but to "The Voidborne who spilled the sky."
Kieran opened it alone.
"You are marked now. Your name will not be whispered—it will be feared. We, the Scales of Balance, have taken notice.Step further down this path, and you will face what even gods flinch from.Or... come to us. We know of your grandfather."– Vexar, Hand of the Scales
He crushed the letter in his fist.
The next morning, he stood by Gareth's door once more. "I'll be leaving soon," he said. "This village can't take what's coming."
Gareth nodded, then paused. "And where will you go?"
Kieran didn't answer immediately. He looked toward the mountains in the east—toward the rumored temple ruins where the third fragment was said to be hidden.
"Forward," he said at last.