The sky above Renga Town turned a warm crimson, as if sunset had arrived a few hours too early.
No one noticed it at first.
Aurelis did.
She stood alone at the edge of the Old Garden Ruins—an overgrown courtyard just beyond the town's northern ridge, where statues of forgotten gods lay buried in moss. She had been following a pull… something ancient and unspoken.
The scroll in her arms shimmered faintly, the heat radiating from it like the heartbeat of a beast.
She knelt by the largest statue—half a lion, half bird, and all majesty—and brushed away a thick patch of vines.
Beneath it, etched in sacred fire-carved runes, was a name:
TENREI – The Sunfeather Flame
Aurelis's heart skipped.
"…You're real," she whispered.
She hadn't told anyone. Not Kazuki, not even Skye. The scroll had found her in the library's sealed wing, glowing and whispering in a forgotten dialect of mana. And somehow, Aurelis had understood.
He is trapped beneath flame and sleep. Wake him, and bear the burden of fire.
She traced the stone letters again.
A roar shook the earth beneath her.
Not loud. Not bestial.
More like… a memory roaring back into the world.
She stumbled back, blinking up at the red sky. The sun now had two shadows.
"Something's happening," she whispered.
Meanwhile, at the guild…
Kazuki, apron on backwards and holding a cracked measuring cup, was attempting to learn what an "egg" was.
"So you're saying this… came out of a chicken?" he asked.
Skye stared at him. "Kazuki. Please."
"I've eaten like, three dragon hearts. But this freaks me out."
Raigen buried his beak in his feathers. "You are hopeless."
Smile bounced by with a chef's hat that said [DOOM CHEF] and dumped flour all over Kazuki's hair.
"ARGH! WHY?!"
But the light-hearted chaos was interrupted by a shimmer in the air. A pulse. The same feeling Kazuki had when Smile first awakened.
Raigen froze.
"That's… an awakening."
Kazuki's eyes widened. "Like a new companion?"
"No. Not just that. Something big."
He rushed outside. The sky shimmered like hot glass. Trails of fire drew symbols across the clouds—ancient glyphs, dancing in elegant spirals. Mana thickened in the air, pressing on the lungs like a coming storm.
Kazuki stared up. "Woah."
Then he felt it—like his soul was being tapped on the shoulder.
Aurelis.
Back at the ruins, the statue of Tenrei cracked.
A firebird's outline burst from the stone in a flash of gold and red, wings stretching toward the sky. Its body, still translucent, still incomplete—but unmistakably alive.
The companion was awakening.
Aurelis gasped and fell to her knees, overwhelmed by waves of fire-aspected mana. Tears slipped down her cheeks—not from pain, but from recognition.
She whispered through the heat:
"Are you… mine?"
The bird opened its burning eyes.
"You called. I answer. If you endure, I will rise."
Flames burst outward, but they didn't burn. They breathed.
The mark appeared on her arm—a glowing tattoo of a winged flame encircled by a ring of thorns. Her guild crest shimmered too, adapting to reflect her bond.
Tenrei hadn't fully manifested yet. He was still too weak. But the connection was made.
And with it came a warning.
"He watches. The serpent coils beneath the garden. I will not rise until you face him."
Back at the guild, Kazuki stopped cold.
Raigen flinched. "Kazuki. Do you feel that?"
"I think…"
Kazuki turned to Smile.
The slime was no longer smiling.
It was watching the distant hill. Where the ruins were.
Where Aurelis stood.
Kazuki's breath hitched. "She's in trouble."
Smile wobbled, then vanished in a blink.
Raigen flared his wings. "Then so are we."