Kael collapsed onto solid ground, gasping, his knees slamming into something that looked like stone, but shimmered like glass. The air was thick with dust and the scent of forgotten things.
He was in a new place.
Not quite a dream. Not quite a nightmare.
A space of echoing cliffs, floating text, and a sky with grey like colour. Words hovered in the air like living banners, written in the rune like language of the Narrative Weave:
[Welcome, Arcborne.]
[Your story begins here.]
[Arctrial type: Survival]
[Objective: Survive the Trial]
Kael looked up, sweat dripping down his face. His hands trembled.
This wasn't a hallucination.
This was his calling. Something that appeared after the day the sun blinked.
And behind the silent cliffs, something moved slow but deliberate to catch his attention… like a story waiting for its next page to be turned.
He whispered the words under his breath, not knowing why:
"Prepare for your first arc…arcborne"
And the Weave listened.
A chime sounded — deep, resonant, like a bell tolling in the bones of the world.
A screen flared to life, not quite the same as the previous, something the felt as his own yet not.
[WEAVE PROFILE]
Name: Kael Aduro
Role: N/A
Rank:Unranked (Arc trial Pending)
Affinity:Ashfire (Rare)
Imaginara Level: Dormant
Weapon:N/A
Kael's eyes widened.
None of it made sense yet all of it felt true. Like reading a memory you forgot you had.
"Ashfire?" he whispered to himself.
As if in response, a faint warmth pulsed from his chest — and a glowing rune like symbol flared over his heart, just for a moment. A flame, not orange or red, but the color of forgotten embers, more like grey, flickered into life and vanished.
[Affinity Unveiled: Residual Flame]
[Affinity Class: Emotional Manifestation (Elemental Subtype)]
[Description: A flame born not from heat, but from longing. Burns hotter the more you've lost. Hard to control. Harder to kill.]
[Current Control Level: Dormant]
Kael blinked as the warmth faded. The ground beneath him simmered faintly where his hand had touched it.
Then the Weave continued.
The screen dimmed for a moment… and then shimmered disappearing like it wasn't there.
Kael stood slowly. The information floated in front of him, waiting no, inviting him to accept it.
He wasn't just some laborer anymore. Not just another survivor. He had a Role to fullfill. A Flame. And a Thread to follow.