The heavy steel doors of the Special Collections and Archives hissed open, the sound surprisingly quiet in the tomb-like silence of the library's sub-basement. Kaelen stepped across the threshold, and the air changed instantly. The normal, dry scent of old paper and dust that permeated the rest of the library was replaced by something else, something far more ancient. It was a cold, still air, thick with the weight of forgotten time and the faint, almost imperceptible psychic residue of the countless scholars who had dedicated their lives to the words stored within these walls.
The archive was a vast, temperature-controlled vault. Endless rows of towering, climate-sealed metal shelves stretched into the gloom, each one filled with acid-free archival boxes, leather-bound manuscripts, and scrolls kept in protective casings. The lighting was low, a series of soft, motion-activated guidelights that illuminated the aisles as he walked, creating the unsettling feeling that the path was manifesting just for him.
This was a sanctuary of knowledge, a place where the university guarded its most precious treasures. To the mortals who ran this institution, these treasures were rare first editions, unique historical documents, and the personal papers of famous alumni. To Kaelen, they were a potential treasure map, a collection of fragmented data points that might, if properly analyzed, lead him to a source of true power.
He walked past shelves labeled "17th Century Colonial Charters" and "Pre-Industrial Agricultural Records," his gaze sweeping over them with disinterest. He was not here for the documented, accepted history of mortals. He was here for the footnotes, the apocrypha, the things that had been dismissed as myth and filed away in the darkest corners of the archive. He was hunting for the echoes of a time when the world had a stronger connection to the cosmic energies he understood.
He found a secluded research carrel tucked away in a far corner, a small, sterile cubicle containing a single chair and a powerful, high-resolution data terminal. He sat down, the chair cool against his skin. The silence was absolute, broken only by the faint, rhythmic hum of the climate control systems.
He did not touch the terminal's keyboard. A mortal scholar would have spent weeks, months, even years navigating the complex digital catalogue, submitting requests, and waiting for an archivist to retrieve the physical documents. Kaelen did not have that kind of time. And he had a far superior tool.
He closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair. In the darkness of his mind, the familiar blue screen of the Cosmic Dao System materialized.
[System Ready. Awaiting Command.]
Kaelen's will was sharp and precise. He was not browsing; he was performing a targeted, multi-spectrum data assault.
[System command: Interface with this facility's digital network. Bypass all security protocols. Access the complete, unredacted index of the Special Collections archive.]
A flicker of text appeared. [Executing... Bypassing Level-5 firewall... Bypassing archival encryption... Access granted. Displaying catalogue.]
An ocean of data flooded Kaelen's mind. It was a dizzying torrent of titles, dates, author names, and content summaries, the accumulated knowledge of centuries. A normal mind would have been instantly overwhelmed, driven mad by the sheer volume of information. Kaelen's sovereign consciousness, however, processed it all with a calm, detached efficiency.
He began the second phase of his command. He was not looking for a specific book. He was looking for a pattern, a correlation between seemingly unrelated events.
[System command: Initiate cross-referential data-mining protocol. Create a primary search parameter for all texts, manuscripts, and geological surveys pertaining to the local Blackstone Mountain Range.]
[Parameter set. Searching...]
The data stream in his mind began to filter, narrowing from an ocean to a river.
[System command: Create three secondary search parameters. Parameter Alpha: All mentions of anomalous celestial events, including meteor strikes, comets, 'sky-fire,' 'falling stars,' or similar mythological descriptions. Parameter Bravo: All mentions of anomalous geological formations or unique mineral deposits, specifically iridium, quartz, and obsidian. Parameter Charlie: All local folklore, myths, or pre-colonial legends pertaining to 'emperors,' 'tombs,' 'seals,' 'prisons,' or 'sleeping gods'.]
[Parameters set. Cross-referencing Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie against the primary Blackstone Mountain parameter. Searching for statistical overlaps and keyword correlations.]
The river of data now became a focused, high-pressure stream. Kaelen watched as the System's powerful logic engine went to work, sifting through millions of data points, performing a task that would have taken a team of mortal researchers a lifetime. He saw connections being drawn that no historian had ever considered.
A 17th-century missionary's journal, dismissed as religious fantasy, described a local tribe's belief that a "star of vengeance" had fallen on the highest peak of the mountains in the "time of their grandfathers' grandfathers." The System flagged it.
A 19th-century geological survey, written off as an error, noted an unusually high concentration of iridium—an element common in asteroids but rare on Earth's surface—in the rock samples from that same peak. The System flagged it.
An early 20th-century ethnographer's collection of local myths contained a story about a "First Emperor," a god-like being who was said to have descended from the heavens. The legend claimed he did not die, but built a great tomb within the mountain to serve as a prison for a "great evil," sealing it away for all time. The System flagged it.
One by one, the disparate threads were pulled from the tapestry of history. The System wove them together, creating a new picture, a hidden story that had been lying in plain sight for centuries.
[Data correlation complete.]
[Hypothesis: A high-probability event occurred approximately 5,000 years ago. A celestial object, likely of extraterrestrial origin and containing significant spiritual energy, impacted the Blackstone Mountain Range. This event correlates with the local legend of the 'First Emperor's Tomb' and the concept of a 'Celestial Seal'. Further investigation is warranted.]
[Potential Target Location Identified: The highest peak of the Blackstone Mountains, known locally as 'The Emperor's Throne'.]
Kaelen opened his eyes, a feeling of grim satisfaction settling over him. He had found it. He had his next target. The mountain was not just a mountain. It was a place of power. It might contain a natural treasure trove of spiritual energy, or perhaps even a forgotten artifact from the "First Emperor." Either way, it was the key to his next breakthrough in cultivation.
He had what he came for. He was about to sever his connection to the terminal and leave when he felt a subtle shift in the room's atmosphere. His [Soul Sense], which he now kept passively active, registered a new presence entering the archives. It was a single person, and they were moving with a quiet confidence that suggested they belonged here.
He remained perfectly still, feigning continued research. He heard the faint, almost silent footsteps approach. They did not stop at the main desk, nor did they head to the primary archival shelves. They moved with a quiet purpose towards a specific, secluded section nearby—the section dedicated to obscure medieval poetry and celestial cartography.
Kaelen felt a flicker of curiosity. It was rare for anyone to come to this sealed archive. It was even rarer for them to head to such a specific and esoteric section.
He subtly angled his head, catching a glimpse of the newcomer in the reflection of his dark computer terminal.
It was Isolde Thorne.
She was dressed simply, in the practical, comfortable clothes of a dedicated student—a dark turtleneck sweater and jeans. She carried a single, leather-bound book. She did not look like the popular, enigmatic beauty from the campus quad, nor the sharp, commanding agent he had met outside the Valerius estate. Here, she looked like a scholar, a seeker of knowledge, just like him.
But her presence here, in this highly restricted place, at this exact time, was a statistical improbability too great to be a coincidence.
She settled at a carrel not far from his own, placing her book on the desk. Kaelen, using a flicker of his [Soul Sense], read the title on the spine. It was not a book of poetry. It was a text on ancient, pre-Christian European celestial mapping, written in archaic Latin.
He knew then, with absolute certainty, that she was here for a reason connected to him. She was either investigating him, or she was sending him a message.
He decided to force the issue.
He closed down his terminal and stood up, stretching as if he had been reading for hours. He gathered his things and began to walk towards the exit, a path that would take him directly past her table.
As he approached, she looked up from her book, her expression one of mild, pleasant surprise. "Kaelen Vance," she said, her voice a soft, academic murmur that perfectly suited the silence of the archive. "Fancy meeting you here. I didn't take you for a student of the classics."
"My interests are varied," Kaelen replied, his tone neutral. He glanced down at her book. "As, it seems, are yours. That's a rather obscure text for a casual reader."
"I have a passion for history's little puzzles," she said, her smile both charming and intelligent. "The places where myth and cartography intersect. Sometimes, an old star map can tell you more than a history book." Her eyes held his, and he could see the sharp, analytical mind working behind them. This was a probe. A test.
He decided to meet her probe with one of his own.
"An interesting theory," he said. "I've been researching something similar. Local geology. There are myths about a 'Sky-Fall' event in the Blackstone Mountains, thousands of years ago. Strange, isn't it? How our ancestors would attribute a simple meteor strike to the actions of gods and emperors." He was feeding her a piece of the puzzle, a mundane explanation for the very anomaly he was investigating, to see how she would react.
Isolde's smile didn't waver, but her eyes sharpened with a new intensity. She had caught the bait.
"Perhaps," she said, her voice dropping slightly, becoming more conspiratorial. "Or perhaps they weren't attributing it. Perhaps they were just… reporting what they saw." She leaned forward slightly. "Be careful what you go looking for in the Blackstone Mountains, Kaelen. Some tombs are better left sealed. The 'emperors' who built them were not known for their hospitality towards trespassers."
The words struck him with the force of a physical blow.
Some tombs are better left sealed.
It was almost identical to the warning she had given him at their first encounter. But this time, it was not a vague piece of advice. It was a direct, pointed response to his own line of research. There was no longer any doubt. She knew. She knew about the Tomb. She knew about the Seal. And she knew that he was on the path to discovering it.
This woman, this student, this agent—she was a player in this game, a far more significant one than he had initially realized.
He held her gaze for a long moment, a silent, intellectual duel taking place in the hushed quiet of the archive. He was no longer just a reincarnated sovereign. He now had a rival, a beautiful, enigmatic, and dangerously knowledgeable one.
He finally broke the silence, a small, cold smile touching his lips. "Thank you for the advice, Ms. Thorne," he said. "I will be sure to keep it in mind."
He gave a slight nod and walked away, leaving her sitting at her table, a thoughtful, calculating expression on her face. The game had just become infinitely more interesting.
His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, expecting a message from Viktor. But the number was unknown. The message was short, blunt, and chilling.
Campus quad. Now. Or the girl you were just talking to might have an accident.
It was from Dante Valerius. The insect had decided to become a nuisance once more. And this time, he was using Kaelen's new, intriguing rival as bait.