Kaen walked through the academy's quiet halls, his mind still echoing with the strange voice beneath the Crimson Tree. He couldn't shake the feeling something had been watching him—waiting.
Today, a new student had arrived. He sat at the back, silent, but his eyes… Kaen felt them on him the whole time. When their eyes met, the boy simply smiled — calm, unreadable.
During break, Kaen left the classroom, following a strange hum in the air. He hadn't planned to — his feet just moved, as if pulled by something.
He found himself in a part of the academy few students visited. Old stone walls, dusty and cracked. At the end of a corridor, an old tapestry fluttered… but there was no wind.
Kaen pulled it aside.
A narrow passage stood behind it, dark and cold. Every instinct screamed at him to leave.
He stepped inside.
The path twisted down, lit faintly by red crystals embedded in the wall. The deeper he went, the louder the hum became. At the end, a door stood—ancient, covered in strange carvings… blood sigils.
As Kaen reached out, the markings began to glow. His fingertips burned slightly, but he didn't pull back.
Then, a mark appeared on the door — the same mark from his dreams.
Suddenly, the air turned heavy.
"You weren't supposed to come here… yet."
The voice wasn't his. Wasn't anyone's. It was inside him. Behind him. In front of him.
Kaen turned sharply.
Nothing.
But his hand was still glowing.
And the door…
Was opening.
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