🌀 Chapter 77
"Some strength must be stolen from silence. Some truths… dug from the graves of memory."
🧭 Scene 1: The Clock Leads Him Below
That night, Aeren's dreams were clearer than ever—not chaos, but direction.
A silver trail of gears floated before his eyes in the dream—leading him through cracked tunnels beneath Sinjai Academy.
When he woke, the trail still shimmered faintly in his vision.
He followed it.
Down through hidden stairwells.
Past locked doors.
Until he reached a gate carved into the mountain stone:
"Chamber of Lost Seconds – Access Forbidden."
His Clock Core pulsed.The door unlocked itself.
🧙 Scene 2: The Ghost of His Past Trainer
Inside the chamber stood a massive sphere of frozen time—within it floated an ancient man wrapped in white-and-black robes, a cracked mask over half his face.
He opened his eyes.
"At last… my student returns."
"Who… are you?"
"I was your combat tutor in your past life. You gave me the name Orris, the Silent Gear. I trained you when you were Veleor, the Clocked King. And now…"
He stepped forward—ghostlike, but solid.
"…I must teach you again. Before your shadow does."
⚔️ Scene 3: The Training of Echoes
Orris didn't teach with words. He taught with echoes.
The chamber became an arena of past lives.
Each round, Aeren faced a version of himself from past battles:
Aeren the Mage-Slayer.
Aeren the Sky-Walker.
Aeren the Warbreaker.
Each one faster. Stronger. More ruthless than the last.
"You must learn not to fear your power," Orris said, "but to command it before it commands you."
After hours of brutal mind-body duels, Aeren collapsed—his Clock Core beating like a second heart.
🕵️ Scene 4: The Visitors Arrive
Meanwhile, at the surface of Sinjai Academy, three cloaked figures arrived through the teleportation gate—no fanfare, no announcement.
They were the Council of Silent Order, a hidden authority that judged awakened individuals too dangerous to be left alive.
They wore no armor.
They needed none.
They didn't speak.
They observed.
And their presence made even Diamond-tier instructors lower their gaze.
Instructor Zephyra muttered:
"They've only ever appeared four times in recorded history…"
One of them placed a glowing sigil in the sky:
"Target: Aeren Veleor – Risk: Catastrophic."
🧬 Scene 5: The Marked Vision
Elsewhere, Anshi sat in meditation, unaware that the gear tattoo on her wrist had fully formed a Time-Ward Glyph.
She saw flashes of a future where Aeren was surrounded—alone—cornered.
And then… she saw herself shielding him, bloodied but unbroken.
Her vision ended with a whisper she couldn't place:
"If you love him… you must be ready to break for him."
🕯️ Scene 6: Aeren Awakens a New Skill
At the end of his training, Orris pointed to Aeren's chest.
"You're ready for the next Seal."
The Clock Core spun wildly, and suddenly time paused again.
Orris whispered:
"This is the first of your old techniques reborn: Echo Blink."
Aeren vanished—teleporting mid-movement, leaving a trail of illusions behind that repeated his actions from 3 seconds ago.
A move that split reality just long enough to confuse even precognition-based opponents.
"You're not the boy anymore," Orris said."But not yet the king. You're something in between."
"Then I'll become something new," Aeren whispered."Something they won't expect."
🔚 End of Chapter 77