Evolis' breath came in ragged gasps as he sprinted through the twisted forest, his golden eyes scanning frantically for Aeliana and Orion. The air was thick—too thick, pressing down on him like an invisible force. His vision wavered, flickering between sharp clarity and something… wrong.
They had been together just moments ago. They had been talking, laughing—
Then the screaming started.
Aeliana's voice. Orion's roar of defiance.
Evolis skidded to a stop, the ground beneath his boots feeling unstable, like reality itself was warping around him. His heart pounded, his Etherion flaring as he propelled himself forward, breaking through the thick underbrush.
The air was thick—thicker than it should have been. It clung to his skin, damp and suffocating, carrying a scent that made no sense—smoke and charred wood, yet the forest was untouched. The trees stretched impossibly tall, their shadows warping as if alive, twisting toward him like skeletal hands.
The voices weren't coming from one direction anymore. They bounced—too close, too far, whispering and screaming all at once. Aeliana's voice broke through, but it was layered—one version pleading, another gasping for breath, a third… hollow, like she had already given up.
"AELIANA!" he shouted, his voice cutting through the eerie silence.
No response.
"ORION!"
Nothing.
Then, faintly, ahead of him—
"Evolis!"
Aeliana's voice, sharp and laced with pain.
His blood ran cold.
He pushed forward, Etherion surging through his limbs, trying to bridge the distance. His surroundings twisted, the trees elongating unnaturally, the path ahead shifting like a mirage. The forest stretched impossibly long, warping and folding in on itself.
He ran harder.
But no matter how fast he moved, he wasn't getting any closer.
Orion's voice broke through next, a guttural yell of fury—then pain.
Evolis' chest clenched.
He had to reach them.
His instincts screamed at him, his golden eyes flickering with desperation as he pushed against the unnatural resistance of the world around him. The air itself seemed to fight him, his legs feeling like they were wading through tar.
"Aeliana! Orion! Where are you?!"
"Evolis—help—!"
Her voice was close—so close.
Then, suddenly—behind him.
He spun, his breath sharp, only to see nothing but darkness creeping at the edges of the trees.
Aeliana's voice again, this time softer, more distant. "Please…"
A chill ran down his spine.
Then, Orion—his voice ragged, desperate. "Damn it, kid—MOVE!"
A violent crash echoed through the forest, followed by the sickening sound of something breaking.
No.
He turned again, lunging toward where Orion's voice had been, but the moment he moved, the entire world shifted. The trees blurred, the sky darkened, and the ground beneath him cracked like shattered glass.
Then he saw them.
Aeliana was on her knees, silver eyes wide with pain, blood spilling from her lips. Orion stood in front of her, his body riddled with jagged wounds, his usual cocky grin replaced by a grimace of pain. And standing over them—
Evolis couldn't see who it was. Or what it was.
A shifting, formless shadow.
No. No.
He took a step forward, but his legs felt like lead. His body refused to move fast enough.
Aeliana looked at him, her gaze pleading. "Evolis…"
Orion turned, blood dripping from his mouth, his voice hoarse. "What are you waiting for? MOVE—"
A sickening crack split the air.
Orion's body collapsed.
Evolis' world slowed.
Aeliana reached toward him, her fingers trembling, her voice nothing more than a whisper. "Evolis…"
Then—darkness swallowed her whole.
He roared.
A raw, broken sound that shattered the air around him. His energy surged, golden light exploding from his core, but it was too late. He lunged forward, reaching—grasping—
Gone.
They were both gone.
The world twisted around him, the shadows laughing, mocking, suffocating—
Crack.
The illusion fractured.
A sharp, golden light surged through his vision, splintering the false reality like glass. His body jerked violently as something yanked him back, away from the abyss of grief.
His breath hitched—
His eyes snapped open.
Reality reasserted itself.
Aeliana was shaking him, her silver eyes wide with alarm. "Evolis! Wake up!"
His heart slammed against his ribs. His hands were trembling. His throat was dry. And—
His vision blurred slightly as something cool traced down his cheek.
He reached up to touch his cheeks, and felt that they were wet.
Tears.
He had been crying.
Evolis blinked rapidly, his golden irises flickering with residual energy as he forced himself back into the present. The illusion was gone. The twisted nightmare had been a lie.
Aeliana was still here. Orion was still here.
He exhaled shakily.
Aeliana's grip on his shoulders was firm, grounding him. "Evolis, what happened?" Her voice was softer now, concerned. "You just… collapsed."
His gaze flickered downward—to his hand, still partially extended toward a plant with dark, spiraling vines and luminescent blue petals. The air around it shimmered unnaturally.
Aeliana followed his gaze and frowned. "The Lotus Mirage."
Evolis swallowed, forcing the last traces of emotion from his face. "A hallucinogen?"
The search for herbs had started as a simple task—just another step in preparing themselves for whatever awaited at the heart of the Secret Realm.
They had already gathered a few useful plants—Etherroot, which could stabilize one's Etherion when nearing a breakthrough, and a rare variant of Starleaf, known for amplifying energy absorption. But Aeliana insisted that they needed more.
"If we're getting closer to the center of the realm, we should be preparing for anything," she had said.
And that was how they found themselves in this small clearing, surrounded by thick mist and the strange, faint glow of the Lotus Mirage.
Evolis had been the one to reach for it.
And then—everything had gone wrong.
Now, as he stood there, his breath steadying, he barely registered the tension in Aeliana's posture as she studied him.
She nodded, lips pressing into a thin line. "More than that. It traps the mind in illusions so real that people don't always wake up from them."
Orion crouched beside them, watching Evolis carefully. "You scared the hell out of us, man. One second you were fine, the next you were just… gone. Eyes wide open, not responding."
Evolis exhaled, his grip tightening slightly. He could still feel the phantom weight of their deaths in his chest. The raw, aching horror of it.
Aeliana hesitated, then asked, "What did you see?"
He masked the movement of his fingers curling into his palm. His voice, when he spoke, was controlled. "Nothing important."
She didn't believe him. He could see it in the way her silver eyes flickered, her expression subtly hardening. But she didn't push.
Instead, she exhaled and stood, brushing the dirt off her robes. "Be careful next time. Even you aren't immune to everything."
Aeliana lingered for a moment longer than necessary. Her silver eyes studied his face, her brows slightly furrowed, as if trying to read the emotions he refused to show. Evolis knew that look. She wanted to press him, to demand an answer, but something held her back.
Orion, ever the opportunist, clapped Evolis on the shoulder. "Well, at least we know what it takes to shake you up." He smirked, but there was a sharpness to his gaze, like he wasn't entirely convinced either.
Evolis avoided their gazes, feigning nonchalance. "Yeah. A pretty flower. Terrifying."
Evolis let out a slow breath before rising to his feet, rolling the tension from his shoulders. His golden eyes flickered once more at the Lotus Mirage before he turned away.
Then he paused.
"Why do we even need this?" he asked, voice casual, but his gaze sharp.
Aeliana blinked at the sudden question, then crossed her arms. "The Lotus Mirage isn't just dangerous—it's useful. When refined properly, it enhances mental clarity and comprehension. It helps cultivators break through mental bottlenecks, especially at higher stages. If we're trying to reach Advanced Stage before leaving this realm, this could make all the difference."
Evolis raised a brow. "So you're saying it'll help us think better?"
Aeliana rolled her eyes. "It heightens comprehension, which means faster breakthroughs. Which means less time struggling to process Etherion."
Orion grinned. "Basically, it makes us smarter."
Evolis snorted. "Right. That's what you need."
Orion gasped in mock offense. "How dare you."
Aeliana shook her head, already moving to extract the Lotus Mirage properly this time—carefully, methodically.
Evolis glanced at the plant one last time, his jaw tightening.
Illusions so real that people don't always wake up from them.
His golden eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion before he turned away, pushing the lingering dread from his mind.
"Fine. But if I pass out again, I'm blaming you."
Orion chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I'll catch you next time, princess."
Aeliana smirked, but Evolis just sighed.
"…Let's keep moving."
---
Selene sat in the dimly lit chamber, her fingers tapping idly against the polished stone of the table in front of her. The air was thick with Etherion, woven into the walls of the underground citadel like living veins of power.
Before her, a hooded figure knelt, his posture rigid. "Lady Selene." His voice was steady, but there was an undertone of unease. "Our agents have confirmed that Evolis has entered a secret realm."
Selene's violet eyes flickered with interest. "Is that so?"
The spy nodded. "It is an isolated domain, locked from external interference. But… its nature is peculiar. It does not match the known Architect ruins."
Selene leaned forward slightly, her interest sharpening. "Then what is it?"
The spy hesitated for a fraction too long, his throat bobbing as he finally spoke. "We believe it is… one of the peculiar realms we have been researching."
The chamber stilled.
The weight of Selene's gaze settled on him like an unspoken command. Though her expression remained composed, something in the air shifted—pressure coiling, suffocating. It wasn't overt, not yet, but to those attuned to her moods, it was the kind of silence that preceded a storm.
"Interesting," she murmured, her fingers tracing absent patterns on the armrest of her chair. "And Evolis? He entered this realm?"
The spy nodded stiffly. "Yes. Our sources confirmed it."
Selene's eyes darkened, her mind whirring through the implications.
This was sooner than expected.
For all their efforts to keep watch over him, Evolis had always been… unpredictable. There were pieces of the past they had yet to recover, fragments of knowledge lost to the void of time. But if he was stepping into these realms, then the trajectory of his fate was accelerating.
And that?
That was dangerous.
Their advantage had always been his ignorance. His memories—his power—remained locked away, buried beneath the weight of an existence he had yet to remember. But now, something was guiding him toward these ruins, these inheritances, and she did not believe in coincidences.
The walls of control they had built around him were beginning to fracture.
She inhaled slowly, fingers stilling. "How certain are you that this information is accurate?"
The spy straightened. "One of our informants confirmed the sighting. There is no doubt—he is inside."
Selene leaned back, considering.
A peculiar realm. One whose origins they had yet to fully decipher. If Evolis had truly entered, there were only two possibilities—either he would emerge stronger… or he would not emerge at all.
She exhaled, her voice smooth but edged with finality.
Selene's fingers drummed against the stone armrest, her thoughts spiraling deeper. For years, the Architects had remained patient, carefully maintaining their advantage over Evolis. His ignorance had been their greatest weapon.
But now, that ignorance was crumbling.
He was walking paths he should not remember. Treading on foundations laid by someone who should no longer exist.
A memory flickered at the edges of her mind—an old warning, one whispered long ago in the halls of the Architects.
"If he regains himself, if he reaches the precipice of his former strength, we will not be able to stop him."
Selene's lips pressed into a thin line. They still had time, but not much. The closer Evolis came to uncovering the truth of his past, the more dangerous he became—not just to them, but to the very balance of the world itself.
"Then we watch. Closely."
The spy hesitated. "Should we interfere?"
Selene's gaze flickered toward him, sharp and unreadable. "Not yet."
Not until they understood how much he had reclaimed.
Not until they knew if he was truly becoming the man they feared he would be.
Because if he was…
Then their time to act was running out.
Selene's lips curved ever so slightly.
Evolis.
It seemed their game was about to become far more interesting.