The village of Briar Hollow sat quietly in a valley forgotten by time. Encircled by moss-cloaked hills and whispering trees, it was a place where nothing exciting ever happened—unless you counted the occasional storm, the seasonal crop fire, or the annual arguments over chicken ownership.
To most, it was peaceful.
To Lioran, it was suffocating.
He stood alone in the abandoned shrine just beyond the eastern glade, the morning mist curling around his boots. The shrine was crumbling, overtaken by roots and silence. A cracked statue loomed in its center—its face erased by time, its name long forgotten.
And yet… something about it pulled him.
He reached out, brushing his fingers along the stone, and the world seemed to breathe.
Suddenly—
thrum.
A pulse, subtle as a heartbeat, echoed through his fingertips. The cracked statue shimmered faintly, then the moss at its base peeled back like turning pages. Beneath it, half-buried in the soil, lay a book.
No… not a book.
A Codex.
---
It was unlike anything he'd seen—bound in obsidian leather, inscribed with shifting silver symbols that rearranged every time he blinked. His hands moved without thought. As he touched it, cold surged into his veins.
> "Soul Resonance detected," whispered a voice—clear yet emotionless, like ink speaking.
"Flawed world… suitable host located. Codex of Eternal Insight—reactivating."
The Codex opened itself.
Dozens of pages fluttered, blank and shining faintly, before settling. Then, without warning, words began to appear—line after line of radiant script, forming not with ink, but truth.
Lioran stumbled back, dizzy. The Codex hovered mid-air for a breath, then fell into his outstretched hands like it had always belonged there.
---
🎴 [Codex Entry 001: "Shrine of the Forgotten Scribe"]
> Structure integrity: 17%
Spiritual echoes: muted
Flaws: Misaligned leyline. Symbolic distortion. Forgotten name.
Potential correction: Minor structural ritual + spoken remembrance.
> Recommendation: Speak the lost name. Begin the path anew.
---
He stared at the page, heart pounding.
It was… analyzing the world?
"No," he muttered. "Not just analyzing. Correcting."
It showed him what was broken. And how to fix it.
His heart raced. This wasn't a tool. This was something alive.
---
> "Would you like to register your name in the Codex?" the voice asked.
"Warning: Once inscribed, you begin the Flawless Path. There is no return."
He hesitated. He was just a boy from nowhere. No bloodline. No spirit root. Not even a single martial technique to his name.
But in that moment, he felt seen—not by eyes, but by the very fabric of truth.
"…Lioran," he said softly. "Lioran Vale."
The Codex shimmered, then sealed shut. On the cover, a new symbol appeared: two mirrored eyes within a circle of runes.
---
⌛ Hours Later – At the Village Forge
The clang of hammers echoed. Lioran returned to the forge where he worked under old Master Grell, a blacksmith too grumpy to die and too stubborn to retire.
"You're late," the man barked, not looking up. "That sword's not going to sharpen itself."
Lioran nodded quickly, placing the Codex safely in his satchel. As he approached the dull blade on the table, something new happened.
The Codex... opened on its own.
---
🎴 [Codex Entry 002: "Iron Fang Saber"]
> Balance: flawed by 2.3%
Forging marks misaligned
Hilt-core loose by 0.2mm
Result: Mid-grade spirit conduction impaired
Suggested correction: Heat realignment, regrind spine edge, etch binding rune of Balance (₯).
---
"Binding rune of what?" Lioran whispered.
He stared at the blade. Everything the Codex said… made sense. It was as if he'd trained for a hundred years.
Ignoring Grell's glare, Lioran began correcting the blade—adjusting the angle, reforging the hilt, then scratching the unknown rune instinctively.
When he handed it back, Grell blinked.
"This isn't the same blade," he muttered, testing the swing. "Did you… learn this from some master?"
"No," Lioran replied, "Just corrected a few flaws."
Grell looked at him strangely but said nothing.
---
🌙 That Night
Lioran sat alone, Codex in his lap, staring at the glowing pages.
What was this thing? Where had it come from?
Suddenly, new words scrawled across the page.
---
🎴 [Codex Entry 003: "You"]
> Soul Core: Unawakened
Bloodline: Dormant
Path: Undefined
Destiny: Interference detected (⚠️)
Threats: 3 hidden, 1 approaching
Gift: Clarity
Curse: Isolation
---
He froze. What did it mean—"interference detected"? And what approaching threat?
Before he could think further, the Codex turned a page on its own, displaying a warning symbol.
Then a whisper brushed the edge of his consciousness.
> "You've awakened me," it said.
"Now the others will awaken too."
---
⚠️ Far Away... In the Whispering Wastes
In a place where nothing lived, a rusted stone door split open for the first time in 1000 years.
A cold hand reached out, and a voice rasped:
> "The Insight Codex has awakened.
Let truth tremble.
Let fate bleed."
---
To be continued…