The flames had long faded from Sun-Ho's body, but the heat hadn't.
He sat with his knees folded beneath a stone arch, head bowed, palms trembling faintly over the bare ground. Ashes from the battlefield still clung to his sleeves. His breath was calm—but wrong.
Hhhh…
Too warm.
Too deep.
He opened his eyes. The pupils glowed faintly amber before flickering back to black.
> It hasn't settled yet.
---
Watching Him Burn
From a few paces away, Yeon So-Ri sat in silence, watching him—not like a warrior watches a threat, but like a friend stares at something she can't explain.
She hadn't spoken since the duel. Not during the march down the ridge. Not while they passed the silent envoys.
Now, under the eaves of a stony outcropping, she finally broke the silence.
"You haven't slept."
"I don't think I can," he murmured.
He raised his hand, and a small flame flickered to life on his fingertip—bright, beautiful, and utterly still.
Fssssh.
"It's not just heat. It listens. It thinks."
---
The Fire of the Five Elements
Jang Cheol-Oh hadn't returned yet.
Sun-Ho had waited for guidance, but none came.
Now, the fire twisted between his fingers of its own accord, tracing symbols in the air—ancient Murim sigils he didn't remember learning.
Whirr.
"I used this before," he said softly. "In my past life. This fire wasn't just a weapon. It was a language."
So-Ri tilted her head. "Then why does it look like it wants to eat you?"
He glanced over, surprised.
She pointed to the flame's reflection in the water pool beside them.
It flickered like a snake coiled around his wrist.
"Because I haven't remembered how to speak back to it," he said.
---
Flames and Ghosts
He exhaled.
"Last time I held this fire, I used it to destroy something... or someone. I don't know what."
She didn't press. Instead, she stepped closer and knelt across from him, keeping her eyes on the firelight dancing on the cave walls.
"I had a technique once," she said suddenly, "passed down from my mother. A hidden blade art only taught to daughters of the Moonveil Sect."
Sun-Ho's eyes widened slightly.
"Moonveil?"
She nodded.
"They were erased. Buried under the ashes of 'unification.' My mother… died before she could teach me more than the first form."
Her voice was flat. Matter-of-fact. But her hands had curled into fists in her lap.
Sun-Ho let the flame die out.
Fsshhh…
Prrrk.
The air felt cooler instantly.
"…I'm sorry," he said.
"I don't want sorry," she replied, shaking her head. "I want it remembered."
---
A Simple Gesture
He hesitated.
Then quietly drew a line in the dirt between them with his finger.
"That's the first stance of Ember Lotus," he said. "From my past life. It uses movement through uncertainty—like shifting through smoke."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're… teaching me a technique?"
"It's only a line. You'll have to earn the rest."
So-Ri smiled, small and genuine. "Fair."
---
First Test of Control
That night, while So-Ri slept beneath a thin blanket, Sun-Ho moved to a grove nearby. The moon cast long shadows through the mist-laced trees.
He opened his palm.
Whoosh.
The fire responded instantly.
It curled, coiled, flared—unpredictable. A heartbeat too fast, a thought too loud, and it lashed out.
He breathed deeply and pushed it down, not by force… but by guidance.
Like a teacher handling a stubborn student.
The fire twitched.
He bowed his head and whispered, "I'm not trying to bind you. Just to understand you."
It stilled.
For the first time since his awakening, the fire obeyed.
---
Unseen Eyes
Far above the cliff trail, a small creature flitted through the shadows—bat-like wings, red eyes glinting.
A scout-beast. Used by sect spies.
It hovered for a moment, watching the fire curl around Sun-Ho's form, then turned and vanished into the dark.
---
The Fire Sleeps
When Sun-Ho returned, he sat beside the still-sleeping So-Ri. The fire had disappeared completely. Not dead—just resting.
He looked at her fingers, still curled in sleep, and the tiny Moonveil Sect crest sewn into her satchel's lining.
> I'll remember. For both of us.
The wind blew gently.
Wheeee…
He laid back on the cold stone and, for the first time since his awakening, closed his eyes.
---
[End of Chapter 12]