Kealix stared at Dying Star, breath caught in his chest. The relic pulsed with vivid color violet, orange, and indigo swirling together like molten metal beneath glass. The glow was sharper now, brighter, alive with power that hadn't been there before. Visually, it still resembled the same segmented construct he'd grown familiar with, but he knew deep in his bones that something fundamental had changed.
He exhaled slowly, letting his arm fall to his side. As he glanced around, he noticed the forest had already begun to reset itself. The massive corpse of the queen was gone completely. Even the blood-soaked, ash-laced grass had returned to its natural state. No lingering gore, no trace of the destruction, just the faint scent of ozone and iron hanging in the air.
A proud sigh slipped from his lips.
Then a voice came, soft and even as always.
"A relic that absorbs Aetheric Beasts to grow stronger, huh? Quite impressive, I must say. You might be the most talented relic maker of all time."
Thalia's voice. Close, too close.
Kealix flinched and instinctively stepped back, startled.
How did she get so close without a sound?
He hadn't heard the grass shift. Hadn't felt her approach. She was just… there, standing beside him, eyes narrowed with cool curiosity as she examined Dying Star.
Kealix's pulse took a moment to settle.
Thalia tilted her head slightly, gaze focused. Then, without asking, she reached out and touched the metallic arm. Normally, Kealix wouldn't have cared, he felt nothing through Dying Star. The nerves there had long since gone silent, replaced with artificial precision.
But this time, he felt it.
A strange sensation traveled up his arm soft, calloused fingers tracing along metal plates. It wasn't pain. It wasn't exactly pressure, either. But it was there, as if the metal had nerves of its own now. As if Thalia was touching him, not just the relic.
Kealix's breath hitched. His eyes darted to her face, searching for some sign of recognition. Did she feel it too? Did she know?
She didn't seem surprised. Calm as ever, she traced one last line along the etched edge near his elbow before pulling her hand back.
Is that part of the evolution?
He clenched and flexed the fingers of his left hand. They moved effortlessly, each motion smooth, intuitive. The resistance he'd grown used to the mechanical lag was gone. It felt right. Natural. Maybe even better than his real arm.
It's like Dying Star… finally belongs to me. Fully integrated.
Thalia straightened, her focus shifting back toward the trees. She didn't comment further. Just gave a short nod toward the camp and said, "We should get back to sleep. The night's still young, and we need to rest while we can. I'll take the next watch."
Kealix nodded absently, his mind still spinning from what he'd just felt what had just changed.
He dropped back onto the grass, staring up at the fractured moonlight filtering through the leaves. Dying Star still glowed faintly at his side, its core quiet now, like a heartbeat just beneath the skin.
He flexed his fingers again.
I need to test it soon. Really test it. See what it can do now… what I can do now.
The thought settled into him as his eyes drifted shut, the hum of the forest returning like a distant lullaby.
Sleep pulled at him, but excitement stirred beneath the surface, a quiet spark waiting for morning.
Kealix had been thinking too much to realize when sleep took him. One moment, his thoughts spun around the newly evolved Dying Star its strength, its potential, its strange new sensations and the next, there was only darkness.
Not the gentle kind that came with rest.
This was different.
He stood in a vast, surreal plane, where the ground beneath his feet was like polished glass, impossibly smooth. A thin layer of water rested over it, unmoving and cold, perfectly reflecting the world above.
The sky glowed a deep violet, rich and endless, as if twilight had been frozen in place forever. The stillness here wasn't peaceful it was hollow. There was no wind, no sound, no scent. Just Kealix, and the eerie sensation of being completely, utterly alone.
He tried to speak but nothing came.
He tried to move but his feet barely stirred the mirrored water.
Where am I?
Then, without warning, a voice echoed across the silence.
"You are not supposed to be here… yet."
It wasn't aggressive. It wasn't even angry. It was something worse knowing. It rang out like thunder through the stillness, carrying the weight of something ancient. Something watching.
Kealix's eyes darted upward, instinctively searching the violet sky. But there was nothing. No figure. No source.
Only that voice again.
"Leave now, child."
The world beneath his feet cracked without sound fissures racing outward in all directions across the clear floor. Then, with a violent snap, the ground gave way.
And Kealix fell.
Not down in the ordinary sense but through. Through the very fabric of the dream, through a pitch-black abyss that stretched into forever. The wind didn't rush past him. Gravity didn't tug. It was like falling in silence, endlessly.
Then
He hit bottom.
And yet… he didn't.
His body jolted upright with a gasp, drenched in cold sweat. His heart pounded like a war drum in his chest, breath ragged and fast as if he'd run for miles.
It took a moment to realize he was awake.
Back in the forest. Back on the ashen grass. The sky above was no longer violet, but tinged with the pale orange of early dawn.
What a shitty nightmare, he thought, dragging a trembling hand across his forehead, wiping away sweat.
His fingers shook slightly. That voice it still echoed somewhere in the back of his mind. Not loud now, but present, like a shadow lurking behind a curtain.
Not supposed to be here yet…? What the hell did that mean?
A shout cut through his thoughts.
"Hey, Keal! You alright?"
Kealix turned sharply.
Leo was jogging over, hair messy, armor only half-clipped together. His tone was bright, a little too loud for how early it was, and he gave Kealix a lazy wave.
The sun hadn't fully risen yet. The horizon still bled orange and gold, casting long shadows through the trees. The world was waking and apparently, so were they.
Kealix nodded once, still catching his breath.
"Yeah," he said quietly, though his voice was hoarse. "Just… a weird dream."
Leo raised an eyebrow but didn't push. "Well, pack up anyway. Thalia wants to move early says we've got a lot of ground to cover."
As Leo walked off, Kealix remained seated for a moment longer, letting the morning breeze dry the sweat on his skin. He flexed his fingers again, this time on instinct Dying Star still felt alive at his side.
But that dream, that place lingered in the corners of his mind.
Not supposed to be here… yet.
Kealix shoved the remnants of the dream into the farthest recess of his mind, burying the unease before it could take root. He wouldn't let it rattle him. Nightmares were just echoes nothing more. Whatever that place was, whatever that voice had been… it didn't belong here. Not now. Not with eyes on him and expectations weighing heavy.
He wasn't about to let fear make him fragile.
"Hey," Leo called, his voice cutting through the morning haze with a sharp, easy confidence. "Heard your relic leveled up. That's pretty damn impressive, y'know."
Kealix didn't look at him right away. His gaze lingered on his left arm Dying Star. The violet-tinted metal shimmered faintly beneath the early light, hues shifting with every slight movement like oil over steel. It was quiet now, but not dormant. He could feel that. A tension beneath the surface. Like something breathing just under his skin.
Thalia's touch still echoed there soft but deliberate, like she'd seen something he hadn't yet. Her fingers had felt real. Too real. Not cold, not deadened like before.
And that was the strange part. He wasn't supposed to feel anything through this arm. Not warmth. Not pressure. Certainly not the distinct shape of someone's hand tracing over him like it still mattered what he was made of.
"I guess so, huh," he said after a pause, voice muted. Detached. His eyes remained fixed on the relic. He didn't want to admit it, but part of him was afraid that if he looked away, it might change again. Or vanish.
A beat passed between them—too long, too quiet. Leo shifted, clearing his throat with forced nonchalance.
"Well, we're heading out to hunt today, perfect chance to test out your new toy," he said, slapping a hand to his own chest as if to punctuate the excitement.
Kealix blinked, then looked up. Something stirred in his chest—not quite joy, but something close. A tight spark of adrenaline, of need. He stood, brushing dust from his coat with mechanical precision, movements stiff with focus.
Finally. A chance to see what this thing could really do.
Before they moved out, Kealix paused. Slowly, he reached up and tugged the collar of his shirt down just far enough to check his shoulder.
The mark was still there same shape, same depth, same color.
But he wasn't the same.
He couldn't explain it, but something inside him felt… stretched. Tensed, like a bowstring pulled back too far, waiting to snap or strike.
The Scarlet Forest greeted them like a cathedral of blood and bone.
Red petals drifted through the air in slow spirals, weightless and silent as falling ash. They gathered on pale, bark-white roots that twisted through the ground like veins. The canopy above swayed with eerie grace, branches whispering against each other as if the forest itself were murmuring secrets.
Kealix walked beside Leo, his senses heightened sight, sound, even smell. He swore he could hear the wind brushing across Dying Star's surface. He could almost taste the change on the air.
They talked as they moved Leo carrying the conversation with stories and questions, most of which Kealix answered with short, dry remarks. But the camaraderie was... nice. Unexpected. And grounding.
For the first time in a long time, Kealix didn't feel like a foreign piece jammed into someone else's war. For a moment, he almost felt like he belonged.
But Thalia never spoke.
She moved ahead of them, fluid and silent, steps so light they barely made sound even on the crackling underbrush. Her blade hung on her back like a promise, ready but restrained. Her posture was calm, but there was a tension in it, like she was listening to something they couldn't hear.
Kealix watched her, puzzled.
She hadn't so much as glanced at Leo the entire trip. Not even a sideways smirk. And he was her brother.
Was she angry? Distracted? Or was it something else something deeper, older, that they weren't allowed to know yet?
He shoved the thought away.
They had other things to worry about.
Hours passed beneath the crimson canopy, time melting into a rhythm of footsteps and silence. The sunlight that made it through was fractured and scattered, painting their path in shifting patterns of blood and gold.
Then, without warning, Thalia raised a hand, a signal to stop.
Kealix froze, instincts already kicking in.
"We've arrived," she whispered, barely louder than the breeze.
Her voice was soft. Almost reverent. As if speaking louder might wake something sleeping beneath the dirt.
Kealix and Leo both nodded, bodies lowering into a ready stance. Leo drew his blade in a single, seamless motion, its edge catching a flash of light.
Kealix rested his hand on Dying Star. The relic felt warm beneath his touch warmer than before. Like it was aware. Waiting.
His breath caught.
His pulse quickened.
The hum of adrenaline beneath his skin rose with every second. This was it. The moment he'd been waiting for.
Whatever this relic had become, whatever he had become…
He was about to find out.