A quiet tension draped the forest like morning mist.
Birdsong returned, cautious and sparse. Wind stirred the canopy as if reluctant to wake what had settled below. Aerin stood with her arms folded, eyes locked on the clearing's center—where Leo had collapsed three days prior.
Now he stirred.
His eyes opened slowly, the golden irises flickering not just with life—but with depth. Resonant currents rippled faintly across his skin, distorting the air like heat waves.
"Easy," Aerin said, stepping forward. "You've been... gone."
Leo sat up. The sigil on his chest—a once-broken star now whole—glowed softly, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
"Three days," he murmured. "It felt like a lifetime."
> "System Synchronization Complete.
Soul Resonance: 100% – Anchored.
Trait Activation: 'Anchor of Self'
Passive Status Effects: Stabilized. External Influence: Denied."
The world looked different. Sharper. As if reality had thickened around him, grown denser in his presence.
But he wasn't alone.
From the treetops came a rustle. A whisper of something vast.
And then, a voice—not human, not quite system. It resonated through the clearing like the memory of thunder.
> "Anchor Signal Detected."
"Veil-Sleeper Awakened."
"The Watchers stir."
Leo's pulse spiked. Aerin drew her blade.
"Was that... the system?" she asked, voice low.
Leo shook his head slowly. "No. This is something else."
The air shimmered—and high above, the sky fractured for just an instant. Not visibly, but energetically. A ripple across the fabric of existence. As if some unseen presence blinked... and now saw them.
---
> "New Global Event: The Shattering Silence has begun."
"System Update Inbound. Initiating World Sync in: 72 Hours."
"Warning: All Soul-Bound entities will be exposed to Ascendant Protocols."
---
The system message hit like a thunderclap. Aerin paled.
"That's... never happened before," she whispered. "System updates are localized. Is this—global?"
Leo rose to his feet. "It's because of the Anchor. Because I finished it."
He felt it—beneath his skin, in his breath. A connection had been severed... and another forged in its place. He was no longer just part of Nimrune. He was now tethered to something older, deeper.
And the world had noticed.
---
Far from the forest, in the ruined spires of Velmark—a sentinel stirred.
Once a watcher of the Hollow Sky, now dormant for centuries, it blinked to life. Its eyes glowed with mirrored starlight.
> "Resonant Signature Confirmed.
Subject: Leo Draemis.
Status: Awake."
Chains snapped. Dust fell like snow. And in the echoes of its voice, the past began to awaken.
---
Back at the clearing, Aerin frowned.
"So… what now?"
Leo looked toward the sky—now clear, but no longer still.
"Now," he said quietly, "we find out what else has woken up with me."
---
> Quest Unlocked: "Awakening Protocol"
Tier: S
Objective: Investigate the Shattering Silence. Locate the other Anchors.
Time Remaining: 72 hours until World Sync.
Failure Consequence: Unknown Ascendant Interference.