The forest beyond the mountain was no longer silent.
The winds carried whispers—names of lost sects, rumors of a returned force, and a single, haunting title repeated like a drumbeat in the distance:
> "Heaven-Breaker."
Kai moved through the dense undergrowth, the token Ashen had left now glowing faintly in his grip. Each pulse matched the rhythm of something ancient calling from afar.
Ren walked beside him, unusually quiet. Ayaka trailed behind, one hand resting on her blade. Even the birds seemed to be holding their breath.
Ahead, nestled between cliffs of black stone, was a small shrine—forgotten, overgrown, yet untouched by time.
Kai stopped. "This is it."
They stepped inside, and as they crossed the threshold, the air shifted. Time bent. A new presence settled around them.
The shrine lit up from within—no flame, no magic circle… but memory.
An echoing voice filled the space.
> "If you hold the root, you must bury it, feed it, protect it… and when needed—burn with it."
A vision burst into Kai's mind—three moons aligning in the sky, casting their glow over a cracked spire that pierced the heavens. Battle cries. Fallen beasts. Celestial flames.
Kai staggered. Ayaka caught him.
"What did you see?"
He turned to her, eyes still flickering with memory. "Shardspire… is more than a battlefield. It's where this power was born. And where it might die."
Ren clenched his fists. "Then we train. We prepare. We don't walk in half-alive."
Kai nodded slowly. "No. We walk in… ready to rewrite the heavens again."