Chapter 15: The Dawn Council
On the chessboard of fate... we often focus only on the movement of a single 'pawn'...
forgetting... that there are unseen 'players'...
always watching and planning the next move from outside the board.
— From "The Shadow King's Stratagems"
(Scene opens in Vulcan's workshop at the Craftsman's Guild, late at night)
The light from a magical lamp illuminated a workbench covered in blueprints and mechanical devices. Vulcan was staring at a piece of parchment in his hand... it was the latest report from Kaen, sent by special means.
"...Faelix's condition is more dangerous than we assessed... His mental power is directly linked to his physical body..."
Vulcan sighed... He wasn't particularly surprised by the report's contents.
From the first moment he saw Faelix fix the Astrometer Compass... he had sensed an abnormal "talent"... the power to "see structure" that even he himself did not possess. But he had seen it merely as a rare "gift."
But what Kaen described... the pitch-black, chilling aura... the vitality loss state amplified to the point where conventional healing was ineffective...
This was no longer just a "gift"... It was a terrifying "curse"... a curse he had never been able to sense before... as if it had been hiding in the shadow of that talent all along.
Vulcan picked up a "Communication Stone"... a milky white stone inscribed with complex runes. He slowly channeled mana into it... and the runes on the stone began to glow.
Before long... holographic images of eight other individuals appeared around his workshop. They included an old man in a sage's robe, a young woman in a high priestess's vestments, an elf in an archer's garb, and a dwarf in heavy armor... They were the "Dawn Council"... a secret group working from the shadows to maintain the balance of the world.
- The Council Convenes -
"What is the urgent matter... Vulcan?"
— The voice of the old sage was the first to speak.
Vulcan didn't answer... but sent a copy of Kaen's report to all members through the communication stone.
Silence fell... broken only by stunned gasps.
"A curse directly linked to 'mental power'... amplified by 'the void'..."
— The priestess murmured. "...This is... exactly like the 'spiritual plague' that occurred during the Age of Darkness."
"But what's more interesting is the girl."
— The elven archer spoke up. "Princess Lunaria... her 'Ancestors of the Night' bloodline... it can 'suppress' the physical effects of the curse... It's as if they are opposite sides of the same equation."
Vulcan nodded. "That is my concern... Kaen reported that the princess had to use nearly all her mana to stop the curse-enhanced bleeding, when normally the 'Night's Touch' skill should use almost no mana at all... It seems she possesses only a 'fragment' of that bloodline, forcing her to use many times more energy than normal... If the boy has episodes like this often... the princess herself could be in danger."
"So what's your next move?"
— The dwarf asked gruffly.
"I have already assigned him a 'mission'... to build a protective ward around his own home... I want to see... whether he can control his talent and his curse when placed under pressure," Vulcan replied.
It was then... that Kaen... who was also a member of the Council... spoke through his own communication stone.
"I, too, am worried about this... My attempts to stop him from pushing past his limits... were because I have seen it happen before."
An image flashed through Kaen's mind...
A scene from a past war... his closest friend... a genius mage... forcing herself to use her own life force in place of her depleted mana to cast one final defensive spell... protecting their unit... before her body disintegrated into dust before his very eyes...
"...When mana runs out... and the energy turns back to consume one's HP... that is the desperate decision of a mage," Kaen continued. "But for Faelix... it seems to be an 'automatic mechanism' of his body... which is far more terrifying."
"This boy... is the variable that 'Fate' has sent us," the old sage concluded. "He is our only hope to fight against 'The Corrosion'... but at the same time... he could also be a 'ticking time bomb' that could destroy everything."
Vulcan looked out the window... The moonlight shone down on the sleeping town of Ashwood.
"Our duty, for now... is to watch... and to guide..."
"...Hoping... that the light within him... is strong enough to overcome the darkest of shadows."
The secret meeting of the world's guardians concluded... while the boy at the center of it all... was sleeping soundly, completely unaware... and dreaming of the first "homework assignment"... that he truly wanted to complete.