The training chamber echoed with silence.Four companions stood—bruised, exhausted, yet sharper than they'd ever been.
Cerys, Eluin, Lysira, and Primira had trained relentlessly for four more days. Their spells now bent with instinct, their control reaching into aspects they hadn't known existed. But even in their growth, one thing remained constant—
Ari was missing.
He had vanished after the final day of instruction, saying nothing. Not even Eluin could track him through the dreamweave—his signature simply vanished, like a glitch in the fabric of the System itself.
And then, on the fifth day, he returned.
The sacred chamber's door pulsed with deep golden glyphs, vibrating with ancestral resonance. A wind of mana poured inward as Ari Solen stepped through the portal. But he was different.
Gone was the boy cloaked in dark training garb. Now, he wore a robe of silver-black woven thread, embroidered with glimmering runes that shimmered as if alive, wrapped in layered sashes of Compiler code. His hair was windswept, his eyes darker and deeper—like someone who had walked through memories long-buried in the roots of time itself.
In his arms were four artifacts, wrapped in memoryweave cloth and sealed with ancestral glyphs.
They all stared.
Ari simply smiled.
"I found the crypts," he said, his voice steady. "Of the first heirs of your lineages. These aren't just relics… they're lost keys. And they chose you."
Cerys Aetherrose – The Veilring of Lucentaria
Ari approached her first. From the cloth, he unraveled a silver circlet, thin and adorned with three glimmering crystals suspended in aether threads.
"Worn by Lady Lucentaria Aetherrose—the one who first spoke to the System using pure logic."
As Cerys took it, the crystals flared violet, syncing instantly with her mana.
"It amplifies your ability to hold multiple glyphs in sequence. Up to nine simultaneous spell layers."
Cerys, usually composed, trembled slightly.
"This… was my ancestor?"
"The one who taught nobles to think before they burned."
Her eyes flicked up to him. There was wonder in them now.
Eluin Velastra – The Dreamlace Mantle
Next, he unwrapped a dark teal cloak speckled with tiny flecks that shimmered like stars in water. Threads of faded gold stitched into its edges pulsed with dreamweave logic.
"Once worn by Vaelith the Seer, the first Veilbound walker of overlapping time loops. A founder of the Vault's principles."
The moment Eluin's hands touched the mantle, the stars shimmered in rhythm with her breath.
"It lets you access three dream-layers ahead without psychic feedback. And… it anchors you even in fragmented futures."
Her eyes softened with awe.
"Even the Echo Vault thought this mantle a myth…"
"It wasn't," Ari said. "They just forgot where they buried it."
Lysira Cindergale – The Embergauntlets of Solfirra
From another cloth, he drew a pair of red-silver gauntlets, inscribed with volcanic etchings that glowed faintly even without mana. The metal wasn't metal—it looked like solidified flame.
"Once wielded by Solfirra Cindergale, a war-duelist who turned back an army alone. They say her flames could remember pain."
Lysira blinked. Her fingers trembled as she slid them on—and immediately, heat surged around her in a ring, but didn't burn.
"These let you store damage taken and convert it into your next Pyreththread cast. She called it the Ember Memory."
Lysira's jaw clenched.
"That's… insane."
"So are you, sometimes. It fits."
"You think this is funny?"
"A little," he smirked. She blushed violently, hiding behind a punch aimed at his shoulder.
Primira Vastelune – The Halo of Final Judgment
The last item made the air still.
Ari opened the cloth to reveal a thin, luminous ring of light and crystal—not physical, but hovering just above the fabric as if reality itself couldn't fully hold it.
"This was once worn by Serith Vastelune—the first Queen who judged both angels and demons. The only one who argued with the Embodiment and lived."
As Primira stepped forward, the halo spun and shifted—compressing into a corona of light behind her head, fitting as though it had waited centuries just to be hers.
"This doesn't amplify. It tests. It will only reveal its true power when you judge yourself without bias… and still act."
Primira's lips parted slightly.
"She was said to be… beyond morality."
"Because morality bends under pressure. Truth doesn't."
Her hands curled at her sides, but her expression had changed. Humbled. Empowered.
Ari – The Weight of Legacy
As they stood in silence, awe-struck by the heirlooms they never knew belonged to them, Ari sat quietly on the floating dias.
"These were sealed away because the System feared what they represented. The first heirs weren't just founders… they were rebels."
He looked at each of them, gaze steady.
"You've trained like warriors. Now you stand as heirs. These aren't just weapons. They are memories—encoded in soulcraft."
The room vibrated faintly. A ripple in the sacred wall glimmered as their power signatures shifted.
All four girls looked at each other—and then at Ari, whose presence seemed less like a companion and more like a keystone.
He smiled, quiet.
"Ready for the next phase?"
They didn't answer.
They just nodded.