It began with a whisper.
Not from the stone. Not from beyond the veil.
But from within Alaric.
He stood at the edge of the Mirrored Garden, a secret grove behind the Academy's main tower, where sky-trees grew upside down from the sky itself, reflecting their roots into the lake below. It was a place of quiet meditation, used only by high-ranking guardians—or initiates burdened with things the academy didn't understand.
He felt the stone pulse.
But more than that—he felt his own heart beat in rhythm with something deeper. The embryo had entered a new stage. He knew it instinctively.
And then...
System Alert: "Divine Resonance Detected.""Initiating Ancestral Memory Sync…"Progress: 6%... 19%... 54%... Complete.
New Trait Acquired: Celestial Bloodline Fragment – Vanara AspectA latent spark of a mythic warrior has imprinted upon the embryo.
Core Attributes Locked: Devotion, Strength, Agility, Purity, Unyielding Spirit.
*Phase I Form: "Simian Sentinel" unlocked. (Dormant until hatch)
Alaric dropped to one knee.
He could feel it—something ancient stirring within. Not dark. Not chaotic. But not gentle either. It was fierce, disciplined, righteous—a power not meant to conquer, but to protect.
"Alaric!"
Clem's voice pierced the trance. She ran across the waterlike glass of the garden floor, her boots making no sound.
"They're calling for you," she said, breathless. "Another breach. South wall. But this time it's not just a beast. There's... something else."
Alaric stood.
The air around him shimmered faintly—like heat waves or distant chants. He felt taller. Grounded. His steps were heavy with purpose, as if a titan's shadow walked with him.
Together, they sprinted toward the breach.
The academy's southern perimeter wall, once untouched for centuries, had been torn open by a fissure—not just in stone, but in space. From within it, shadow-beasts poured, but they weren't the same twisted spawn as before. These were more primal. Older.
And behind them stood a single figure: cloaked in ash-gray robes, a horned helm concealing most of its face.
Its voice boomed like thunder cracking across stormy skies.
"Send out the vessel. The time has come to measure its soul."
Kael stood at the front line, sword glowing with layers of dark and holy runes. "You'll get no audience with the boy."
But Alaric was already stepping forward.
He could feel the embryo awaken in his chest, light flowing through his veins like molten gold.
"I'm done running," Alaric said quietly. "Let them come."
System Notification: "Embryo Stabilized.""Partial Integration Approved. Phase I Unlocked."
A radiant column of light exploded around him.
Everyone shielded their eyes—even the enemy.
And when it faded—
Alaric stood transformed.
His body glowed with divine etchings along his arms and chest, a faint golden tail flickering behind him, and his eyes burned with primal fire. His frame had grown leaner, sharper, his aura no longer mortal—but something akin to a guardian beast in human form.
He didn't need a weapon.
He was the weapon.
He leapt forward, breaking the sound barrier in the first step.
The battle began.
The horned entity raised a hand to command its beasts—but Alaric was already among them. With hands glowing like miniature suns, he struck down the first wave with a devastating spinning strike. His tail wrapped around another and slammed it into the earth. The sheer force of his movement caused wind shockwaves to ripple across the field.
He was fast—too fast.
Clem stood stunned. "That's not... normal."
"No," Kael whispered, watching with narrowed eyes. "That's divine."
After the last of the creatures dissolved into mist and the rift sealed, only the horned figure remained. It looked at Alaric—and smiled beneath its helm.
"The Hanuman spark lives in you. The path has begun. But the true hunt lies not in battle...""...It lies in choice."
It vanished in a burst of dark starlight.
And in its place, something dropped to the ground.
A scroll.
Alaric picked it up.
Its seal bore an insignia he had never seen—but felt drawn to: a golden palm, open and facing forward, ringed by fire and stars.
As he held it, the embryo pulsed once again.
And deep within his soul, a chant rose—a voice not his own, but one that felt like home.
RAM....