Chapter 3: The Path of the Five Roots
The morning after the ceremony, Riven sat cross-legged beneath the fireglass tree in the outer garden. His fingers trembled slightly, but not from fear. From power. From something ancient stirring inside him.
The awakening had changed him.
The five elemental trees now pulsed inside his dantian—each not as a phantom image, but as real spiritual cores, locked into formation around his soul. Most cultivators dreamed of awakening one elemental affinity.
He had awakened all five.
Yet with it came instability. The trees were unbalanced, raw, still growing.
He needed guidance. But no manual could explain what he was. No technique scroll covered this.
Only one person might.
"Come with me," said his mother, Lady Caelira, as she appeared at the edge of the garden. She wore a storm-gray robe embroidered with black fire sigils. Her silver hair was bound tight, and her expression as sharp as her blades.
They walked in silence through the misted corridors of the estate until they reached the sealed chamber beneath the eastern wing.
A door made of obsidian metal stood before them. On it, ancient script glowed faintly: "Only the Rootless May Pass."
With a flick of her finger, Caelira pressed a seal into the lock. It hissed open, revealing a staircase descending into lightless depths.
"Where are we going?" Riven asked.
"To the Flame Vaults, where our clan stores ancient cultivation techniques," she said. "Even your brothers aren't allowed here yet."
Riven followed her down. The vault was lined with jade shelves and sealed scrolls, each humming with residual qi.
At the center sat a pedestal—on it, a stone book hovered, suspended in energy.
"Fivefold Root Scripture," Caelira said. "I was given this by your grandfather when I reached Spirit Master level. I was never able to cultivate it. It requires five balanced cores. You're the only one who ever could."
Riven approached the book.
It opened by itself.
Pages turned—written not in ink, but elemental light.
Each page was a diagram of breath techniques, qi pathways, and harmonization forms for fire, water, earth, air, and lightning—each demanding perfect control.
"Train with this," she said. "But remember… if even one root overpowers the others, the others will collapse. You're not a cultivator. You're a living formation. Treat yourself like one."
She left him there.
For the next week, Riven trained in silence.
He meditated beneath the flame tree for fire.
He soaked in the cold lake for water.
He buried himself in stone for earth.
He climbed the storm towers for air.
He meditated under a live lightning crystal for thunder.
Each day, his control grew.
And then came the first visitor.
Her name was Elysia Rae.
She arrived in a silver airship that bore the crest of the Astral Sword Sect—a symbol of pristine steel and burning stars.
Elysia was tall, calm, with hair like moonlight and eyes as pale as snow. She wore her sword at her hip, and her presence caused the wind itself to still.
Lady Caelira greeted her personally.
"We did not summon the Astral Sect."
Elysia bowed. "We felt the anomaly. I came on behalf of our Grand Elder."
She turned to Riven. "You're the one who awakened the Five Roots?"
"I am."
She stared at him for a moment, then drew her sword—and stabbed it into the ground.
"I challenge you to a duel."
Riven blinked. "...What?"
"Nothing fatal. Just a test. I need to see if you're worth training."
"I already have teachers," he said.
"Not like me."
Caelira said nothing. But a faint smile crossed her lips. "Accept. It'll be good for you."
The courtyard was cleared. Elysia stood ten paces away, sword drawn, its blade humming with sword qi.
Riven formed a defensive stance. He didn't know swordplay—but he knew qi control now.
Elysia's blade flashed.
In a blink, she was in front of him.
He raised a hand—and fire burst from his palm, forcing her back. She slid across the stones, impressed.
He shifted stances, channeling earth. The stone beneath her feet rose into jagged spikes. She danced away with grace, slicing them apart midair.
Then he gathered wind, lifting himself above the ground. Lightning crackled across his fingertips.
She smiled.
Their auras clashed in a burst of elemental energy and swordlight.
Finally, she lowered her sword.
"Good enough," she said.
"Good enough for what?"
"To follow me."
"Where?"
"To the Starforged Academy. Where monsters are trained to slay gods."
Back in the estate, Caelira watched from afar with her husband.
"You're letting her take him?" Daren asked.
"She's the calm one," Caelira said. "She'll shape him."
"And what about the other one?"
Caelira frowned. "The… unpredictable one?"
"Kara Vynn."
Caelira shuddered. "If she finds him, she'll break him."
Daren smiled. "Or she'll teach him how to live."