The trail wasn't visible.
But she felt it.
That subtle tug in the pit of her stomach—like her darkness affinity was whispering, guiding her toward something ancient. The forest had changed since she first entered it. She had changed.
Each step Serena took seemed to fall in rhythm with the shadows. Leaves barely rustled under her bare feet. Her breathing remained steady. Her presence—concealed.
> [Passive Skill: Silent Core has reduced your ambient aura.] [Affinity Boost: Darkness Resonance enabled within active domain.]
The residue of darkness energy pulled her further away from Duskriver Gorge, deeper into uncharted parts of the forest. A place no beast dared enter.
She stopped.
Before her stood a blackened tree. No rot. No decay. Just… silence.
The roots shimmered faintly with dark essence, pulsing like veins beneath the earth. Serena knelt and pressed her palm to the ground.
> [System Notification: Residual Artifact Essence Detected.] [Origin: Fragmented Darkness Relic – Age: Unknown.] [Status: Dormant.] [Mission Triggered – Optional:] [Cleanse the roots to awaken the relic. Warning: Unknown outcome.]
Serena narrowed her eyes.
"Cleanse darkness… with darkness?" she muttered, puzzled.
But the answer came naturally. She channeled her affinity into her hand. It wasn't brute force—it was connection. Darkness speaking to darkness.
The ground trembled.
Roots twisted back, revealing a shard-like stone buried within the soil. It pulsed faintly, almost alive.
As her fingers closed around it, her system pulsed in response:
> [Darkness Fragment Absorbed.] [Affinity Mastery Increased.] [Hidden Trait Revealed: Shadow Sync (Dormant)] [Note: This relic fragment is one of many. Full awakening requires further fragments.]
Serena stood slowly, heart steady.
She felt... clearer. Stronger. Yet this was only the beginning.
I need more.
But her thoughts were interrupted by distant noise—too far to be immediate danger, but unmistakably… human.
And familiar.
—
Meanwhile, within the inner chamber of House Valen.
"She's gone," Verena the fourth elder muttered bitterly, pacing across the war room, her crimson robes dragging behind her. "Two weeks and not a single sign. And now the other houses are circling like vultures."
"Let them circle," Caelan Valen replied, arms folded behind his back. His Core Bloom Stage 3 cultivation aura seeped into the room, chilling the very air. "Valen will not bow."
But the pressure was mounting.
Of the four influential houses within the city of Valeria, three had already hinted at severing trade agreements. They spoke of Serena's 'disgrace' and used the envoy's disappearance as pretext. But it was political maneuvering—nothing more.
House Ravenhart, under Aldric's command, was the most vocal. But behind his words, everyone knew, lay darker ambitions.
And now, whispers said he'd begun working in secret with House Ilvarin, led by the cold and pragmatic Lysandre Ilvarin, and House Sorellyn, ruled by the unpredictable matriarch Elira Sorellyn.
Only Drakemir remained cautious, their young heir having refused to sign any declaration without proof of Serena's death.
"Arvendale has stayed silent," Elias seventh elder added, eyes narrowing. "No move from the neighboring city."
"They're watching," Eleanor murmured. "Waiting. If we fracture here, the entire Valen line may fall."
Silence settled over them.
Verena's fingers tightened into a fist. "If she's alive… she must return soon."
Caelan turned toward the open balcony, looking out at the distant horizon.
"She will," he said.
"She must."
—
Back in the forest, Serena's eyes flashed in the dark.
"I don't plan to return weak," she whispered, touching her dantian where the relic fragment laid .
With nightfall cloaking her like a veil, she vanished into the woods.
But her journey had only just begun.
---