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> [Location: Hollow Archives – Layer One]
Soul Link: Active
Status: Companion Unit "Silna Farros" – Verified
Anchor Class Development: Delayed – Observing Host Response
Internal Threat Level: Dormant
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Kael moved like the silence itself had taught him how to walk.
Each step through the Hollow Archives echoed softly against the ancient stone, but it was not his boots that made the noise. It was the world reacting to his presence—like the system itself was adjusting, learning from him.
Silna followed a few paces behind, sharp-eyed and quiet. She wasn't trying to hide her tension. If anything, she wore it openly, like armor. The deeper they went, the more her instincts screamed.
Not from fear. From recognition.
Something was different now.
Kael hadn't spoken much since the trial chamber. He hadn't needed to. His body spoke in rhythm. His breath was precise. His gaze never wandered. Everything about him was measured—like he was in constant dialogue with an enemy only he could see.
Silna glanced at the corridor around them. Glyphs floated gently in the air, shedding pale blue light that danced across the carvings. Everything felt… suspended. Between time and memory.
"Say something," she said, breaking the silence.
Kael glanced over his shoulder.
"You've been watching me since the trial," he said. "You have questions."
"I have eyes," Silna replied. "And I trust what they see."
A pause.
"Mostly."
Kael stopped. He faced her fully now, standing in a small circular chamber. The glyphs here didn't glow—they shimmered like dying stars. A stone pedestal rested in the center, cracked but still pulsing faintly.
"You want an answer," he said, "but not the truth."
"Try me."
Kael stepped toward the pedestal, brushing his fingers along its surface. Cold. But familiar.
"I wasn't supposed to inherit anything," he said softly. "The system rejected me once. Not because I lacked talent. But because I refused to be shaped by it."
He turned to her again, the faint blue of the glyphs reflecting in his eyes.
"But now it adapts to me."
Silna didn't reply.
What was there to say?
Kael hadn't drawn his sword once since they met, but somehow, she knew exactly how it would feel if he did. She could picture it—not because she'd seen his technique, but because his presence carried the intention of steel. That rare aura only true martial masters held: when even stillness felt dangerous.
She stepped closer.
"You don't fight like a swordsman," she said. "You move like a story trying not to be told."
Kael smiled faintly.
"And you're the kind of person who listens for what others don't say."
Another silence passed between them. But this one wasn't tense. It was aware. Two professionals. Two paths. And one future neither fully understood yet.
> [System Notice: Companion Sync Reaching Threshold]
Partial Interlink Enabled – Tactical Layer Only
Synchronization: 34% (Stable)
They moved on, neither speaking for a time.
Words were unnecessary now.
When steel was present—even sheathed—it didn't need to speak.
And when the system started to listen?
Even silence had weight.
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> [System: Host Profile Updated]
Trait Unlocked: Echoborn Will – Resistance to psychic intrusions
Companion Trait Activated: Battle Intuition (Farros)
Anchor Class Selection Window: Active – Delayed by Host
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