The walk back from the Ember Wastes should have taken less than an hour.
For Kael, it felt endless.
Each step sent waves of pain through his body, as if something inside him had been torn apart and stitched back together incorrectly. His arms trembled, his legs felt heavy, and his breathing was uneven—but none of that compared to what lingered beneath the surface.
A faint, unstable sensation.
Like something inside him was still… moving.
By the time the village came into view, the sky had begun to lighten.
Dawn.
Kael paused at the edge of the settlement, his eyes scanning the familiar huts, the dirt paths, the quiet stillness of a place that had never known power.
Everything looked the same.
And yet—
It didn't feel the same anymore.
He stepped forward.
The moment his foot touched the ground within the village boundary—
Crack.
Kael froze.
He slowly looked down.
A thin fracture had formed beneath his foot, spreading across the dry earth like a spiderweb before stopping abruptly.
His breath caught.
"…What?"
He stepped back.
The crack didn't disappear.
For a long moment, he simply stared at it.
Then, without another word, he pulled his hood lower and walked quickly toward the hut.
Inside, the air was still.
Too still.
"Old man?"
No response.
Kael's chest tightened.
He moved forward, faster this time, until he reached the bed.
The old man lay exactly where Kael had left him the night before.
Eyes closed.
Breathing… gone.
Silence.
Kael didn't speak.
Didn't move.
Didn't react.
He just stood there.
The realization settled slowly.
Not like a sudden blow—but like something inevitable finally arriving.
"…I see."
His voice was quiet.
Calm.
The old man had been weak for a long time.
Kael had known this day would come.
Still…
He reached out and gently pulled the worn blanket over the old man's body.
"You lasted longer than anyone else here," Kael murmured. "That's… something."
No tears came.
No outburst.
Just silence.
After a while, Kael turned and stepped outside.
The village was beginning to wake.
People moved through the narrow paths, carrying tools, preparing for another ordinary day.
No one noticed him.
No one noticed the crack in the ground.
That was fine.
Kael walked to the edge of the village again.
His gaze drifted toward the distant horizon, where the Ember Wastes lay hidden beyond sight.
Something had changed.
He knew it.
He could feel it.
"…Let's test it."
He crouched slightly, focusing.
For years, he had tried to sense Aether and failed.
Now—
It was impossible to ignore.
But it wasn't like before.
Instead of a smooth, flowing presence, what he sensed was chaotic.
Fragments.
Broken pieces of energy scattered through the air.
Kael raised his hand slowly.
The moment he focused—
Pain.
His fingers twitched as a faint distortion appeared around them.
It wasn't visible in the normal sense.
But the air itself seemed to bend, like something invisible was pressing against it.
A flicker.
Then—
A sharp crack echoed.
Kael staggered back, clutching his arm.
"…Too fast…"
The energy vanished instantly.
His breathing grew heavy.
"That's not control," he muttered. "That's… forcing it."
Still—
It worked.
He looked at his hand.
For a brief moment, he had felt it again.
That same broken power from the Ember Wastes.
But here…
It was weaker.
"…So location matters."
That made sense.
The Ember Wastes were filled with unstable Aether.
This village…
Was not.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"Again."
He raised his hand once more.
This time, he didn't reach out blindly.
He observed.
Waited.
Watched the fragments.
They were there.
Faint.
Scattered.
Instead of grabbing them—
He guided them.
Slowly.
Carefully.
A small distortion formed near his palm.
Weaker than before.
But steadier.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"…Better."
Then—
Pain surged again.
The distortion shattered, sending a sharp backlash through his arm.
Kael gritted his teeth, dropping to one knee.
"…Still unstable."
But this time—
He didn't lose control immediately.
That was progress.
Hours passed.
The sun rose higher, casting harsh light across the dry land.
Most of the villagers had gone about their day, unaware of what was happening just beyond their sight.
Kael didn't stop.
Again and again, he tried.
Failed.
Adjusted.
Tried again.
Each attempt brought the same result:
Pain.
Instability.
Collapse.
But also—
Improvement.
The distortions lasted longer.
The backlash came slower.
The control, though fragile, was growing.
By midday, Kael was drenched in sweat, his body pushed to its limits.
"…One more."
He raised his hand again.
This time, his movements were slower.
More deliberate.
He focused not on power—
But on structure.
The fragments responded.
They gathered, hesitantly, forming a faint, flickering mass of unstable energy.
Kael's breathing steadied.
"…Hold…"
For a brief moment—
It worked.
The energy didn't explode.
Didn't collapse.
It stayed.
Then—
It cracked.
A small burst shot forward, striking the ground a few feet away.
Boom.
A shallow crater formed, dust rising into the air.
Kael stared at it.
"…So that's what it does."
Not just destruction.
But release.
He slowly stood up, his body shaking.
This power—
It wasn't meant to be contained.
It was meant to break things.
"…Including me," he muttered dryly.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
For the first time in his life—
He wasn't powerless.
That alone was enough.
A voice suddenly cut through the air.
"Well… that's interesting."
Kael's head snapped up.
A man stood a short distance away, leaning casually against a wooden post.
He wore a dark coat, marked with a faint ember-like symbol on the shoulder.
An academy emblem.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
The man pushed himself off the post and walked closer, his gaze fixed on the small crater in the ground.
"That wasn't normal Aether," he said.
Kael didn't respond.
The man stopped a few steps away, studying him carefully.
"…You're from this village?"
"Yes."
"And that," the man gestured toward the crater, "was your doing?"
Kael hesitated.
Just for a moment.
"…Yes."
The man's expression didn't change.
But something in his eyes sharpened.
"Name."
"…Kael."
"Family?"
"…None."
A brief pause.
"…I see."
The man crossed his arms.
"Do you know what the Southvale Ember Academy is?"
Kael nodded slightly.
"An academy."
The man chuckled.
"Not just an academy. The academy of this continent."
Kael remained silent.
The man tilted his head slightly.
"…You've been tested before, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"And you failed."
"…Yes."
Another pause.
Then the man smiled faintly.
"Good."
Kael frowned.
"Because whatever you just did…" the man said, glancing again at the crater, "…isn't something our tests measure."
Silence hung between them.
"Listen carefully," the man continued. "The Ember Academy trials begin in three days."
Kael's eyes flickered slightly.
"Normally, someone like you wouldn't even qualify," the man said. "No Aether affinity, no background, no training."
He stepped closer.
"But I'm curious."
His gaze locked onto Kael's.
"And curiosity is rare where I come from."
Kael didn't look away.
"So here's your chance," the man said. "Show up at the trials."
"And if I don't?" Kael asked.
The man shrugged.
"Then you stay here. Live your life. Die unknown."
Simple.
Direct.
Kael looked down at his hand.
A faint distortion flickered for just a moment before disappearing.
Unstable.
Painful.
Dangerous.
But real.
"…Where?" he asked.
The man smiled.
"Southvale Ember Academy."
He turned, beginning to walk away.
"Three days," he said without looking back. "Don't be late."
Then he was gone.
Kael stood there in silence.
The village was still the same.
Dry.
Quiet.
Forgotten.
But for him—
Everything had changed.
He turned his gaze once more toward the distant horizon.
Toward the unseen Ember Wastes.
Toward something far greater than this place.
"…An academy."
For years, it had been impossible.
Out of reach.
Now—
It wasn't.
Not because he had talent.
Not because he fit the system.
But because he didn't.
Kael clenched his fist.
A faint, unstable flicker of fractured Aether appeared—then vanished.
Pain shot through his arm.
He didn't flinch.
"…Three days."
That was enough.
He turned and began walking back toward the hut.
There were things to prepare.
Things to leave behind.
Because the moment he stepped into that academy—
Nothing would ever be the same again.
And somewhere far beyond Southvale…
Beyond the reach of ordinary understanding…
Something was watching.
Waiting.
For the one who walked a path that should not exist.
The Lost Path of Heaven had begun.