The chamber buzzed with elemental tension. Surya stood still, the black Flame Shard warm in his palm. His breath caught as faint red wisps danced around it, drawn toward the spiral mark on his chest.
The old man watched him in silence, arms folded across his chest, his flaming aura slowly dimming to a warm glow.
"You feel it now," he said.
Surya nodded. "It's like it knows me. Like it's... alive."
"It is. The Flame remembers. And now, it remembers you."
Surya opened his mouth to ask more, but the old man raised a hand. "Questions come later. The Order is not far behind, and this sanctuary won't shield you forever."
"Then tell me what I need to know. Who are you? Why help me?"
The man exhaled, stepping toward a carved wall covered in shifting runes. "My name is Kaelen. Once, I was a Warden of the Fifth Circle. Now, I'm a fugitive. Like you."
"Why are they chasing you?"
"For knowing too much. For refusing to look away when the world began to rot from within."
Kaelen tapped one of the runes. The stone shimmered, revealing a map—five realms spiraling around a glowing core.
"The Order calls it heresy, but I call it truth: the elements are dying. Corrupted. Tainted by something... ancient."
Surya stared at the map. Each realm flickered with unstable light. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Aether.
"And you think I'm connected to it?"
Kaelen looked at him, eyes burning. "You're not just connected. You're the spark. The elements react to you—not just the flame. All of them."
A cold weight settled in Surya's stomach. "I didn't ask for this."
"No one asks for destiny, boy. It comes uninvited."
Kaelen stepped back. "Now, we begin your initiation. If you survive, the Flame Shard will awaken your Core. If you fail—well, at least the Order won't have to kill you."
Surya took a deep breath. The chamber darkened. The shard in his hand pulsed.
"Sit," Kaelen commanded.
Surya lowered himself into a meditative posture. The moment he closed his eyes, the world shifted.
He was no longer in the chamber.
He floated in a void of crimson light. Waves of heat and pressure crashed against him, testing him. Trying to break him.
A voice whispered from the void.
"What are you?"
"I… I don't know," Surya muttered.
"Then burn until you do."
Flames erupted around him. Not ordinary fire—this was elemental essence, pure and wild. It clawed at his body, threatening to rip him apart.
Surya screamed—but even as he did, the spiral mark on his chest flared.
The fire bent around it.
He reached deep within, past fear, past pain—and found something. A tiny ember. His essence.
The mark absorbed the flames, growing brighter with each surge. The pain faded. Power flooded him.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the chamber.
Kaelen looked surprised.
"You came back faster than expected."
Surya's voice was steady. "It showed me… something. A burning city. A sky filled with black fire."
Kaelen frowned. "Visions of ruin. It's starting already."
He handed Surya a piece of cloth. "Wrap the shard and keep it close. It will continue feeding your Core."
"What now?" Surya asked.
"We move. There's a place you must go—an old ruin deep in the Obsidian Wilds. There's someone there who can help you understand what's coming."
Surya stood. The fire in his limbs hadn't faded. It whispered promises. Of power. Of purpose.
He looked at Kaelen. "Will they keep hunting me?"
"Always," Kaelen said. "You've seen the flame. The world won't let you walk away now."
Surya clenched his fists. For the first time, he didn't feel like a helpless child caught in a storm. He felt like the storm.
"Then let them come."
Kaelen smiled. "Good. You'll need that fire."
The two of them walked toward a stone archway that shimmered with ancient glyphs. A portal.
As Surya stepped through, the warmth of the chamber vanished. Cold wind howled against his face.
He stood on a cliff overlooking an endless blackened forest. Lightning danced across the sky. Shadows moved among the trees below.
Kaelen stepped beside him. "Welcome to the Wilds."
Surya tightened the cloth around the Flame Shard.
The Path had begun.