The scent of ash and wet soil filled Kael's lungs as he staggered down the ancient tower's final steps.
He hadn't noticed the climb before—but now, every step down felt heavier, as though the world resisted his return.
He emerged into dim sunlight.
The village below had changed.
Not in shape, but in sensation.
The colors seemed duller. The air thicker. And the people—Kael frowned.
There were no people.
The paths were empty, market stalls abandoned. The temple bell, usually echoing across the valley at midday, was silent.
And then he noticed it.
Smoke.
A thin column rose from the far ridge, curling black against the silver-blue sky.
Kael rushed forward, mana flickering under his boots. His Echo Body responded faster now, more refined—less like a shadow, more like a second skin.
He reached the ridge, and the world below it stole his breath.
The lower quarter of the village was on fire.
Not engulfed—just smoldering in perfect rings, as if something had scorched the ground in deliberate patterns. Circles within circles, spirals of blackened earth and fading flame.
And at the center stood a figure.
Cloaked.
Motionless.
Watching him.
The Cloaked One
Kael approached slowly. His fingers curled around the hilt of his training blade, the mana in his core pulsing with unease.
The figure spoke without turning.
"You saw him, didn't you?"
The voice was… female. Soft, laced with power. Yet detached, like a recorder playing something it didn't understand.
Kael didn't answer.
"He shouldn't have reached you first," she continued. "That wasn't… in the script."
"Who are you?" Kael asked.
The woman turned.
Her face was hidden behind a mask—not ornate like Theron's, but cracked, as though something had clawed at it from the inside.
"I am a Seer of the Threads. We watch. We whisper. And when needed, we burn."
Kael's Echo Core tensed. "You did this?"
She nodded once. "They were tainted. Already touched by Him."
"The One?"
She didn't reply.
Instead, she stepped back into the charred ring. "You're awakening too quickly. Even your second body… it's forming without balance. It will tear you apart."
Kael's breath caught.
"I haven't even begun it," he said.
The woman tilted her head.
"Then who is this?"
She raised a hand.
A ripple passed through the air beside her.
And from nothing—a shape emerged.
A boy.
Younger than Kael. Half-formed. Hollow-eyed. Surrounded by flickers of unstable mana. Floating—almost asleep.
A second Kael.
Kael's world turned sideways.
"I didn't create this," he whispered.
"No," she said. "But someone did."
She stepped back. "You're being manipulated. Just like before."
Before?
The word echoed in his mind like thunder behind stone.
"Wait—what do you mean—?"
But she was already gone.
The Echo Core Awakens
That night, Kael sat beside the temple ruins, the second body flickering quietly beside him in the air.
It wasn't whole. Just an outline. A vessel.
But it pulsed with life.
His Echo Core churned, spiraling with energy—mana rising into new constellations within.
Three Aspects—that was the law.
Body.
Core.
Mind.
Each must be built with intent.
Each tier must be earned.
But this new body… it had been forced into being.
As if someone else had pulled the thread before him.
Kael clenched his fists.
"If I'm just a pawn…"
He looked up at the stars.
"Then I'll break the board."
And somewhere in the darkness of the world—beyond the veil of time and space—
A figure smiled.
And whispered:
"As planned."