The Archives didn't feel like part of the academy.
The air was too still, too heavy. Even their footsteps seemed to echo longer than they should.
Kael walked ahead with a lantern crystal in hand. The light rippled through the rows of containers, each holding faintly glowing shards. Some pulsed slow, others not at all.
Lucen muttered, "You sure these things aren't going to start talking again?"
Kael shrugged. "Only one way to find out."
Ryn trailed behind, holding her spear more like a lucky charm. "I hate places where the air sounds alive."
They reached the central aisle. At the end stood a pedestal holding a larger crystal — nearly the size of Kael's head. Its glow wasn't steady like the others; it flickered, like a heartbeat out of rhythm.
Ryn nodded toward it. "That one looks like it's thinking."
Kael stepped closer. The Crest on his arm reacted again — faint pulse, then another.
> System prompt: Sync link possible.
Proceed?
He hesitated. Last time he accepted, he nearly passed out. But curiosity was louder than sense.
"Yeah. Proceed."
The light jumped. His surroundings blurred, replaced by another space — somewhere deeper, darker.
He stood in a training field. Broken weapons lay scattered. A young man with the same Crest mark was kneeling, clutching his chest.
Kael stepped closer, but his voice didn't carry. The memory played on its own.
> "We were told we'd be heroes," the man said to someone unseen. "They didn't tell us it meant dying twice."
Kael froze. The ground cracked under the man, the Crest on his arm glowing out of control. Then everything went white.
He gasped back into reality. Ryn's voice came first. "You okay?"
"Yeah." He rubbed his temples. "Saw one of them again. The first batch of Mimics. They were forced into this."
Lucen frowned. "Forced?"
"They didn't volunteer. Someone used them to build the Crest network."
Ryn's tone turned dry. "Great. We're standing in a room full of angry ghosts with job regrets."
Kael half-laughed. "Basically."
He glanced back at the big crystal. The glow dimmed, almost like it had gone quiet after being heard.
They spent hours searching the other aisles. Kael noted that not all crystals were linked to Mimics — some held instructor data, others were experiment logs. The deeper they went, the older the records looked.
Halfway through, Lucen called out, "Found something weird."
Kael joined him. On one shelf sat a black folder sealed with wax. The seal bore the same crest — but inverted.
He opened it. Inside were pages of coded script, and a stamped signature: Director Naris Valeor.
Lucen went still. "That's my family name."
Kael looked up at him. "Your father's?"
Lucen shook his head. "Grandfather. He disappeared during the war."
Ryn leaned in. "Looks like he didn't disappear. He got buried in here."
Kael flipped another page. The words made no sense at first — fragments of experiments, numbers, and orders. But one line stood out, underlined twice:
Subject DRV-01 — crest potential exceeds containment. Relocate to neutral site before activation.
He read it again. "DRV-01."
Lucen frowned. "That code looks close to—"
Kael finished quietly, "Draven."
The three stared at each other. The silence stretched until Ryn finally muttered, "Okay. That's… not comforting."
Kael closed the file slowly. "If they had something with my name coded in, it means this was planned long before I was born."
Lucen rubbed his face. "I don't like where that's going."
Neither did Kael.
They locked the folder away and headed back. The corridors seemed longer this time, like the place itself didn't want to let them leave.
When they reached the exit, Headmaster Varrin was waiting. "You've been down there long enough."
Kael straightened. "We found… files. About the early Mimics. And something under my name."
Varrin's eyes didn't flicker, but Kael saw a tiny pause before he spoke. "Then it's true."
"What is?"
"The founder of the Crest system used your bloodline as the first template."
Kael felt his pulse spike. "My— what?"
"Your family wasn't chosen by accident, Kael. They were made for this."
Lucen stepped forward. "Made?"
Varrin looked at him. "Engineered to resonate with any mana pattern. That's why Kael's Crest adapts beyond the limits of mimicry."
Ryn crossed her arms. "So he's basically a walking experiment with feelings."
Varrin gave a dry hum. "Crude, but accurate."
Kael clenched his jaw. "So the whole 'Blank' label was just a cover?"
"Yes. If the truth spread, every noble house would try to harvest that potential. Hiding you was the only way to keep you alive."
Kael's laugh came out hollow. "That's comforting."
Varrin turned toward the hall. "There's more you need to see, but not tonight. The Archives awaken memories best in fragments. Go rest. Tomorrow, we test what you can do when you stop pretending to be normal."
He left them standing there.
Lucen broke the silence first. "Congratulations. You're officially a conspiracy."
Ryn sighed. "And I still haven't eaten breakfast."
Kael stared at the faint silver glow on his palm.
A part of him wanted to tear the Crest off. Another part — the part that had felt the hum of all those lost voices — wanted to know everything.
> Mimic Soul
— Deep Sync Path unlocked.
Sub-Mode: Memory Extraction available.
He closed his hand. "Then let's see what else they buried."