The silence in the garden was heavy with everything left unsaid. Kaelen looked at Elara, really looked at her. The lines on her face weren't just from age; they were from twenty years of fear and hiding. The kindness in her eyes was real, but it was a mask for a deep, enduring pain. She wasn't just the gentle artisan. She was a survivor, just like him. She had just chosen a different way to fight.
The weight of her secret didn't feel lighter now that he knew. It felt different. Sharper. More his to carry.
"I have to go," he said, his voice quiet but firm.
Elara nodded, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. She didn't try to stop him or ask where. She understood. Some truths needed to be walked off. Some realizations needed space to breathe.
He left the garden and walked without a destination. The Citadel's halls, once a maze of unknown dangers, now felt like a map with hidden markings only he could see. Every soldier, every official—he saw them differently. Were they ignorant? Or were they part of the machine that had destroyed his family?
His feet carried him upward, toward the one place that offered a view of the whole board. The Astral Observatory's door was open. Lyra was inside, as expected, her back to him as she studied new data.
"You told him." Her statement wasn't a question. She had known he would go straight to Elara.
"Yes," Kaelen said, stepping into the room. The holograms around her showed energy readings from the Breach battle, but overlaid on them now were older, fading patterns—records he guessed were twenty years old. She was comparing his power to his father's.
"And?" she asked, still not turning around.
"And now I know the game I'm really playing." His voice was colder than he intended. "It's not about ranking up. It's about uncovering a lie that built this city."
Finally, Lyra turned. Her sharp eyes held no apology, only intense interest. "A lie, or a necessary story to maintain order? The truth is often a disruptive force. The question is, what will you do with it?"
"I need to know more," Kaelen said, his gaze sweeping over the ancient data. "Everything you have on him. On what he was trying to do."
"Knowledge requires exchange," Lyra replied, her tone turning clinical. "My research has a new focus: you. Your unique reaction to the Lumina crystal. Your ability to contain opposing energies. Your father's records suggest he was researching similar synergies before his... disappearance." She paused, letting the word hang. "I will give you access to everything I find. In return, you will submit to further testing. You will help me complete his work."
It was no longer just a request. It was a pact. She was offering him the keys to his past in exchange for becoming her partner in unlocking the future.
Kaelen didn't hesitate. He had no other choice. "Deal."
A faint smile touched Lyra's lips. "Good. Then your first lesson begins now. The energy you contain is not just 'Umbral'. It is pure potential. Your father's notes call it 'Null Energy'. It is the substance of the Veil itself, neutral and unformed. Your will shapes it. Your emotions give it purpose. Your fear makes it a shield. Your anger makes it a weapon."
She pointed to a complex equation on the screen. "He believed this neutral energy could be the key to balancing the other Aspects. To creating stability where now there is only conflict."
The pieces clicked into place. His father hadn't been a heretic trying to break the world. He had been a visionary trying to save it. And he had been silenced for it.
The door to the observatory chimed softly. Lyra's smile vanished. "That will be the Commander. She monitors my access to classified files. Our collaboration must remain... undisclosed."
Kaelen understood. He had already learned the value of secrets. He gave a curt nod and turned to leave.
As he passed Valeria in the doorway, she stopped him with a look. Her eyes, always assessing, scanned him. She saw the new resolve in his posture, the cold clarity in his gaze.
"You look different," she stated.
"Knowledge changes a person," Kaelen replied, echoing Lyra's words from their first meeting.
Valeria's gaze sharpened. She knew something had shifted. "See that it changes you into a sharper weapon, not a brittle one. The city needs strength, not more secrets."
She walked into the observatory to speak with Lyra, leaving him alone in the hall.
Kaelen stood there for a moment, the Commander's warning ringing in his ears. She wasn't wrong. The city did need strength. But he was no longer sure his strength was hers to command.
He had a new purpose now. A secret of his own.
He wasn't just fighting for his life anymore. He was fighting for his name. He was fighting for the truth.
And for the first time, he knew exactly what his next move would be. He needed to get stronger, faster. Not just to survive the monsters, but to face the people who had created them.
The player had finally learned the rules of the game. Now, it was time to start winning.