The void twisted around them as Vaerik strode across the platform, each footfall sending sparks of flame spiraling into the astral wind. Kai followed reluctantly, still absorbing the fact that he stood among the dead—among Elemental legends.
"Your foundation is fire," Vaerik said, voice like a furnace—controlled, but seething with ancient heat. "Fire is the beginning. It is hunger. Transformation. Rage harnessed into purpose."
Kai glanced at his hands. "But I've never… I didn't awaken. I failed."
Vaerik turned, eyes burning gold. "You didn't fail. You awakened something deeper—older. You're not here to 'try.' You're here to ignite."
He raised his hand.
A pulse of flame leapt from his palm and curled into the shape of a phoenix, which hovered above the platform, wings spread. It didn't burn—it shimmered with energy that buzzed in Kai's teeth.
"You will do the same," Vaerik said. "Feel your pulse. Not your heartbeat—deeper. That tether that loops through your spine, your breath, your fear. That is the flame's cradle."
Kai closed his eyes and tried. At first, nothing. The stars around him hummed. The heat from the phoenix prickled his skin. Then—he exhaled.
He reached into the silence inside him... and something stirred.
The warmth surged fast, boiling out from his chest like lava. His body shook. For a second, he thought it was working—until pain wracked his muscles and he collapsed to his knees, gasping.
"Too shallow," Vaerik said calmly. "You're pulling from instinct. Not essence. Again."
Kai tried again. And again. Heat, collapse. Heat, failure.
But the fourth attempt—something cracked.
His mind fell deeper than before, and he saw it: not fire, but a glowing red core, buried in shadow. Ancient. Beating. Waiting.
He touched it.
And the world shifted.
A burst of energy erupted from his chest, searing the space around him. The ground beneath cracked open. A symbol burned itself onto his palm—jagged, primal, breathing with beastly energy. Then a voice—not Vaerik's, not his—a cold, mechanical growl spoke inside his head:
---
[Ancient Beast System Activated]
Codex Unlocked: Emberfang Strain — Tier 1
Abilities Locked | Survival Threshold Met
Welcome, Kai. You are now claimed.
---
Kai staggered backward. "What… what was that?!"
Even Vaerik's eyes flared in surprise.
"The Beast System," he muttered. "I had heard whispers… but I never thought…"
Kai looked at his palm, the mark still glowing faintly. Something had answered. Something old.
"Your flame," Vaerik said slowly, "is not elemental alone. It's deeper than blood. You've merged with a force buried far beneath our kind."
Kai swallowed, voice barely a whisper. "Then what am I?"
Vaerik stepped closer, placing a steady hand on his shoulder. "You are the beginning of something forgotten. And the end of something feared."
The moment the Emberfang core ignited within Kai, a wave of searing heat surged across his chest, and something deep within him—metallic and ancient—clicked into place.
A crimson interface lit up across his vision, forming in glowing arcs of glyphs and data only he could see. It was like seeing through his own bloodstream.
---
[Ancient Beast System: Online]
Strain Detected: EMBERFANG — Tier I
Status: Instinct Bonded
PRIMARY TRAITS UNLOCKED:
- Beast Reflex (Minor): Reaction speed enhanced by 18% when sensing aggression.
- Vital Combustion: Energy output increases based on physical damage sustained.
- Thermal Memory: Body adapts after first exposure to any physical trauma or attack type.
WARNING:
> Awakening this strain marks you as a Primordial Divergent. This lineage has been linked to the collapse of mental boundaries, mutation, or Abominable transformation. Proceed with restraint.
NEXT UNLOCK:
- [Tier II Access Locked]
> Requirements: Survive a death-class encounter while embracing Flamecore Surge.
---
Kai stumbled backward, eyes wide, chest heaving.
"What… what is this?" he whispered, staring at the pulsating interface floating inches from his vision.
Vaerik's flame shimmered with equal parts reverence and caution. "That is no ordinary awakening. The Beast System was buried by time and fear."
Kai looked down at the glowing symbol branded into his palm—jagged and alive, echoing the interface.
"This thing," he said breathlessly, "it's alive. It's watching me."
Vaerik's eyes narrowed. "And it remembers who it once belonged to."
Kai staggered back, breathless, the Ancient Beast System interface still pulsing before his eyes. The heat in his veins hadn't faded—it simmered beneath his skin, hungry and wild. The crimson glyph on his palm flickered, synced to his heartbeat like a brand from another world.
Vaerik watched him in solemn silence, arms crossed, ember eyes narrowed.
"That mark," he finally said, "isn't just a bond. It's a beacon."
Kai looked up, pulse still hammering. "A beacon for what?"
Vaerik didn't answer with words. He raised his hand, and the void around them rippled. Platforms of scorched earth and obsidian burst forth from the starlit nothingness—a battlefield. In the distance, flame-draped constructs rose like sleeping beasts, each one glowing with latent energy.
"This is where your training begins," Vaerik said, stepping onto the terrain. "The Emberfang strain responds to stress and instinct. You will master it by understanding what it fears—and what it desires."
The environment responded to them. The constructs activated, forming into six molten simulacra—bestial in shape, each one echoing Kai's own fire signature.
"What… are those?"
"Reflections of you," Vaerik said. "Fractured echoes pulled from the strain's memory. They are shaped by your core's potential—and they are born from the part of you that doubts."
The six beasts let out a guttural roar and charged.
Kai's mind screamed to run.
Instead, he stepped forward—and the Ancient Beast System flared again.
---
[Combat Protocol Engaged]
Simulacra Challenge: Tier I — "Trial of the Emberfragments"
> Objective: Endure. Synchronize. Assert dominance.
Temporary Skill Unlocked:
Flamecore Surge – 10-second power spike amplifying physical strength and elemental infusion. High strain. Use with caution.
---
Kai didn't think. He moved.
The first beast lunged with a howl, maw wide and dripping in ember-fire. Kai dodged low, rolling across hot stone and coming up swinging. His punch landed—then ignited, the flames flaring outward, blasting the creature off its feet.
The other five encircled him.
"Focus!" Vaerik called from the edge. "You fight not them—but yourself."
As the second beast struck, Kai let instinct take over. He activated Flamecore Surge, and the world slowed. His limbs felt weightless, each motion surging with volcanic power. He dodged, countered, and for a split second—he wasn't fighting at all.
He was flowing.
The flames weren't raging out of control anymore—they moved with him, bent to him. The Beast System flared again:
---
[Partial Synchronization Achieved]
> Aggression tethered. Reflex control improved. Strain adapting…
> Danger threshold rising.
---
By the time the sixth simulacrum fell, Kai stood in the center of the battlefield, chest heaving, eyes glowing faintly with residual light.
He felt it in his bones—something had shifted.
Vaerik stepped forward, fire trailing behind him. His voice was low but firm. "Your Emberfang core has accepted you. But this is only the outer flame, Kai. What sleeps beneath it… will not be so eager to obey."
Kai looked at the scorched arena, then at his hand, where the glyph still shimmered.
A faint smile touched the edge of his lips.
"Then we go deeper."