The library's eastern wing was usually locked after dusk.
Yet tonight, Professor Elrin stood among its towering shelves, hands trailing across the ancient tomes as though searching for something long forgotten.
Behind him, a familiar presence entered.
"Still chasing ghosts?" asked Headmaster Veylan, his robes whispering like smoke.
Elrin didn't turn. "Not ghosts. Patterns."
Veylan raised an eyebrow. "You mean the mark."
"Yes." Elrin finally stopped before a sealed case—inside it, a scroll etched in silver ink. "The Mark of Echo hasn't appeared in centuries. The last bearer triggered the Shattering."
"And this boy, Riku Tanaka, now carries it," Veylan murmured. "Is it destiny... or mistake?"
"That," Elrin said quietly, "depends on which soul is stronger—the one from this world, or the one that came with him."
---
Elsewhere, in the dim corridors of Arcanum's lower levels, Riku followed Kaela toward the restricted combat chamber.
He wasn't sure what bothered him more: the echoing warning from the shadow woman, or the fact that part of him had wanted to stay in the vision.
"Tell me something," Kaela said suddenly, not turning around. "Back in your world... who were you?"
He hesitated.
"I was just... a kid. Skipping school, gaming all night. I didn't fight. I didn't lead. I didn't matter."
She stopped and looked back.
"You matter now."
---
The restricted chamber was more of a dungeon than a room—walls of spell-scarred obsidian, lit by blue crystal torches. Training here required permission. Kaela had none.
That didn't stop her.
"I want to see how far you've come," she said, stepping into a defensive stance.
Riku raised a brow. "Didn't we already train last night?"
She smirked. "That was warming up. Now we go real."
---
Their fight wasn't about winning.
It was rhythm, tension, trust. Kaela moved with sharp grace, her beastkin agility a blur. Riku countered with raw instinct, his new aura reacting faster than his thoughts.
Their blades met in sparks—each strike closer, faster.
Then—without warning—his mark ignited.
---
A pulse of force erupted from Riku, slamming Kaela back against the wall.
"Kaela!" he shouted, running to her.
She groaned, dazed but unhurt. "What the hell was that?"
"I—I don't know. It just... reacted."
They looked at his arm. The Mark of Echo was glowing violently, now overlaid with a second ring—one Kaela hadn't seen before.
"A second seal?" she whispered. "You're unlocking something."
"Or it's unlocking me," Riku said under his breath.
---
High above, Elrin stared into the starless sky from his tower.
He'd seen that glow before.
Long ago, in a war that erased continents.
> "Let's hope you don't make the same choice he did, boy."