The sun was beginning to fall on the horizon, dyeing the sky in orange hues as Kael decided to explore deeper into the village. Now, understanding the local language, he could finally interact with the people – and each conversation seemed to open a new window into buried secrets.
It was a child who warned him first. A barefoot boy with light eyes who darted between stalls.
"You came from the forest…" the boy said, suddenly stopping in front of Kael. "I heard the 'Man Without Shadows' lives there."
"Who is he?" Kael asked, kneeling to the boy's height.
The boy hesitated, then whispered:
"A spirit that appears when something terrible is about to happen."
That night, Kael returned to the base and consulted the LIGA archives. The name "Man Without Shadows" appeared in ancient records, linked to temporal disturbances and dimensional rupture events.
Mission Updated: INVESTIGATE THE PRESENCE OF THE MAN WITHOUT SHADOWS.
Kael knew it wasn't a coincidence. Something — or someone — was playing with the rules of time, and he might be the only one capable of finding the breach before it spread.
He prepared his equipment, adjusted the transition core to tracking mode, and left at dawn for the forest.
The wind howled between the tall trees, and for the first time since his death, Kael felt he was not alone.