Smoke curled around Aiden as he squared off with Mael Derrek in the hollowed-out husk of the mill. Firelight danced across scorched walls and broken beams, flickering between them like a third presence—eager, hungry.
Mael cracked his neck, one arm hanging uselessly at his side, the other still clutching an axe. Blood soaked his armor. His breath came ragged.
"You're just a kid," he rasped.
Aiden stepped forward, unblinking.
"And you're a footnote."
---
> [Combat Initiated: Duel – Aiden Varos vs. Mael Derrek]
Environment: Partial Burn Zone – +5 Fire Skill Potency
System Note: Blood Echo forming...
---
Mael charged.
The impact shook the mill's foundations. Aiden ducked, rolling beneath the axe swing, using Temporal Slip to phase past Mael's follow-up—just a flicker, a heartbeat's width of movement.
He turned mid-roll, hands igniting with Flame Pulse.
The blast struck Mael's injured shoulder, sending the brute staggering into a half-collapsed beam. Wood shattered. Dust fell.
But Mael didn't stop.
---
The mercenary roared and slammed his axe into the floor, shattering it beneath Aiden's feet. He dropped—and hit the second level hard, ribs screaming.
Mael followed with a crash, his sheer weight punching through what remained of the upper planks.
"You think this place makes you strong?" Mael snarled. "It's just kindling!"
He grabbed Aiden by the collar—lifted him.
Then screamed.
Because Aiden bit him.
---
The mercenary stumbled, swearing, and Aiden dropped, coughing, spitting blood—and flaring Flashburn Spark into Mael's face at point-blank range.
The mercenary reeled, clawing at his eyes.
That was enough.
Aiden's fingers twitched, shaping a new spell mid-cast, built off instinct and the Emberheart's growing bond.
The air chilled.
---
> [New Spell Created: Frostburn Conflux (Tier I+)]
Element: Fire/Ice Hybrid
Effect: Combines internal heat spike with external cold flash – ruptures tissue, stuns armored targets
Mana Cost: 28 | Cooldown: 15s
---
He slammed both palms against Mael's chest and cast it.
A shriek of unnatural magic burst outward—heat surging in, then snap-freezing, rupturing armor and skin in a crackling bloom of steam and ice.
Mael screamed.
Then fell.
And did not rise.
---
> [Boss Defeated: Mael Derrek – Gravedogs Warhound]
+250 XP | +1 Attribute Point | +1 Legacy Sync
Item Acquired: Warhound's Fang (Bound Weapon – Requires Sync 15%)
Total Sync: 15%
---
Aiden stood alone in the smoke, every nerve burning, every breath a war.
But he was alive.
And Mael Derrek was dead.
---
Outside – Village Square
The rain had turned to mist.
The last of the Gravedogs were fleeing—scattered, bloodied, leaderless. Elya stood in the square, axe lowered, her arm torn and bleeding but eyes steady.
Torran crouched near the well, cradling one of the fallen villagers. He looked up as Aiden approached.
"You did it," he whispered.
Aiden looked around—at the bodies, the blood, the smoke-stained sky.
"No," he said. "We did."
---
Later – Veyda's Shrine
Veyda traced a symbol in the air with ash and ember.
The leyline beneath the village pulsed once—then again—then surged.
Aiden felt it resonate through his bones.
> [Leyline Anchor Stabilized]
Timeline Drift: Countered
Sync Pulse Registered
+1 Legacy Sync
> Total Sync: 16%
She turned to him.
"This village wasn't meant to survive," she said softly. "But it has. And so have you."
"Barely," he muttered.
"And yet… you remain. That matters."
She touched his wrist.
The Weave shimmered around them.
And in the capital, mirrors cracked.