The wind over the Bastion's northern wall howled like a living thing, carrying snow and whispers of unrest. Thalen stood at the edge of the departure platform, cloak whipping behind him, his hand resting lightly on the hilt of his blade.
It pulsed now alive with something new.
The Ember State.
Not full Tyrant Spirit, not yet but a mark that his soul had been tempered by the First Flame. His aura felt denser, heavier, yet easier to control. The sword at his back, a mid-tier rare blade now inscribed with faint runes, shimmered with residual heat even in the freezing air.
He wasn't the same boy who arrived here weeks ago.
Beside him, Ragan stood silent, his eyes locked on the mountainous horizon.
"A disturbance in the eastern reach," he said. "Border town called Jastel's Ridge. Reports of corrupted aura activity. You'll go with a team observe, contain, eliminate if necessary."
"Why me?" Thalen asked. "There are stronger warriors."
"There are," Ragan admitted. "But none who've just touched the Ember State. I want to see if it holds in the field or collapses."
Thalen glanced toward the others waiting behind him Bran, Liora, Selis, and Aven. All dressed in travel gear, all watching him.
They weren't just assigned to him.
They were his responsibility now.
The Journey
The path to Jastel's Ridge took four days through snowy terrain and hostile wildlife. Thalen traveled in near silence, eyes always scanning the ridgelines. The others took shifts guarding camp at night. On the second evening, Liora handed him a waterskin without speaking. Bran laughed too loudly at his own jokes. Selis read reports by firelight.
Aven, always quiet, finally spoke while walking beside Thalen on day three.
"You've changed," he said simply.
"How so?"
"Your aura doesn't scream anymore. It hums."
Thalen didn't answer.
Jastel's Ridge
When they arrived, the town was half-frozen and eerily quiet. Wooden homes stood like abandoned shells. No smoke. No voices.
"Something's wrong," Liora whispered.
Selis drew a map. "Last report placed a patrol here. There's no trace of them."
The town square was littered with cracked earth—scarred by aura residue. Thalen knelt, brushing ash from the ground.
"Burn marks," he muttered. "But not from fire. This was soul decay."
Bran swore. "Corruption. How many?"
A scream echoed from the well.
The team snapped into action, Thalen at the front.
They found a child—barely ten—crouched at the base of the stone well, clutching a glowing shard. His eyes were glazed, mouth moving silently. As they approached, his aura flared.
Black.
A tendril of corrupted energy lashed out.
Thalen moved first. His blade met the tendril mid-air, slicing it clean. Steam hissed as the corrupt aura recoiled.
"Get the child!" he barked.
Aven stepped forward, channeled a barrier, and swept the child into safety. Thalen held the line.
From beneath the well, a figure rose.
Twisted. Human once, but no longer. His arms were longer than normal, aura writhing like serpents. The corruption bled from his chest like smoke.
"You are too late," the creature hissed. "This town is already claimed."
Bran leapt into action with a thunderous roar, his Earthshatter Aura sending a quake through the ground, knocking the creature off balance.
Liora vanished in a swirl of mist, appearing behind it with daggers drawn, slashing the tendrils one by one.
Thalen's blade pulsed in his hand. The Ember State surged.
Now, he thought.
He stepped forward. The world slowed.
His aura wrapped around the blade faint flames licking the edges. Ragan had called this state flickering fusion the early harmony between base aura and the Tyrant's influence.
"Strike true," he whispered.
The blade came down.
A single arc of heat and steel.
The corrupted figure screamed as its aura was split clean through. The tendrils shriveled. The black mist evaporated.
When it fell, only ash remained.
Aftermath
The town was saved barely. Of its hundred citizens, only twenty remained untainted. The child survived, but the shard he held was not a natural aura core.
Aven inspected it carefully.
"This wasn't born of aura," he said, eyes darkening. "It was engineered. Someone seeded corruption here deliberately."
"Who would do that?" Liora asked.
Thalen had a feeling he already knew.
Return
When they returned to the Bastion, Ragan awaited them in the war hall.
"You fought well," he said after hearing the full report. "But this was no accident. The corruption was planned. That means the world outside is changing."
He looked directly at Thalen.
"And the age of the Tyrants is not over. It's just beginning."