The black line across the golden rune continued spreading.
Slowly.
Almost imperceptibly.
Yet Eryndor could see it.
The people of Drakemere could not.
They were too distracted by Kael.
The young Titan stood beneath the ancient structure, his body surrounded by fading golden light.
The enormous shadow of a Titan that had appeared behind him was already gone, but its presence seemed to linger in the air.
Kael looked down at his hands.
The Law Runes across his arms had changed.
Before, they had appeared as simple markings.
Now they moved.
Not physically.
Their patterns shifted whenever his energy circulated.
Eryndor understood what had happened.
The inheritance had not given Kael another Talent.
It had not changed his Rank.
It had not created another Core.
Instead, it had awakened part of the potential already contained within his Titan Bloodline.
Kael looked toward Eryndor.
“Something changed.”
“I can see that.”
“I can feel it.”
Kael clenched his fist.
The air around his hand compressed.
A faint shockwave spread outward.
Several nearby people stepped back.
Kael immediately relaxed his hand.
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
Eryndor studied him.
“Your control improved.”
“By how much?”
“Enough that you almost destroyed the ground without trying.”
Kael stared at the stone beneath his feet.
Then he smiled.
Not arrogantly.
With genuine excitement.
For the first time since Eryndor had met him, Kael looked like someone who had discovered something he had always been searching for.
Strength that had a purpose.
But Eryndor’s attention remained on the black mark.
He walked toward the ancient tower.
The moment he approached, the golden runes reacted.
A low vibration passed through the stone.
Kael noticed.
“It recognizes you too.”
“Not in the same way.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
Kael gave him a look.
Eryndor smiled faintly.
“I’m beginning to understand that saying that is becoming a habit.”
He placed his hand against the tower.
Nothing happened.
No inheritance.
No message.
No reaction beyond a faint ripple of energy.
The structure seemed to examine him.
Then the runes dimmed.
Kael frowned.
“Nothing?”
“Apparently.”
Eryndor withdrew his hand.
The mirror pendant beneath his clothes had become cold.
That was not nothing.
It was a warning.
The tower’s inheritance was meant for Titans.
Eryndor was not a Titan.
At least, not yet.
His connection to the Ten Primordial Races was something else entirely.
His future memories had shown him a path where he eventually possessed multiple bodies, each tied to a different Primordial Race and one of the ten extraordinary Talents.
But that future belonged to another timeline.
He could not assume it would happen again.
Kael stepped away from the tower.
“What now?”
“We investigate the corruption.”
Kael’s expression became serious.
“Under the mountain?”
“Most likely.”
Aldren approached them.
“You two have been staring at that mountain for several minutes.”
Eryndor pointed toward the golden rune.
“There’s corruption inside the Domain.”
Aldren frowned.
“Can it get through?”
“I don’t know.”
Kael answered before Eryndor could.
“Then we find out.”
They entered the mountain shortly afterward.
The entrance was hidden behind the ancient tower.
A spiral staircase descended into darkness.
Unlike the staircase beneath Vaelcrest, this one was enormous.
Each step was large enough for several people to stand upon.
Golden runes covered the walls.
Kael recognized some of them.
“These are different.”
“Yes.”
“Some look like the ones from the inheritance.”
Eryndor nodded.
“The Domain is teaching you.”
“Teaching me what?”
“How Titans used their power.”
Kael stopped.
“You mean the original Titan?”
“Perhaps.”
Eryndor continued downward.
“The Ten Primordials were not simply powerful beings.
Their races developed around their existence.”
Kael looked thoughtful.
“So the Titan Race inherited more than physical strength.”
“Exactly.”
“The runes?”
“One part of it.”
Kael looked at the markings.
“I thought Law Runes were simply a Titan ability.”
“They are.”
Eryndor paused.
“But they’re also a language.”
Kael stared.
“A language?”
“A way of expressing Laws through existence.”
Kael touched one.
A pulse traveled through his arm.
His eyes widened.
He suddenly saw something.
A massive figure standing beneath an ancient sky.
Its body was covered in countless runes.
Mountains surrounded it.
The Titan raised one hand.
The mountains moved.
The vision disappeared.
Kael stepped backward.
Eryndor caught his shoulder.
“What did you see?”
“The Titan.”
“Which one?”
Kael shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Eryndor understood.
The vision was probably a remnant of ancestral knowledge.
Not a memory.
The same distinction applied to awakened beasts and plants.
The Domain was giving Kael fragments of understanding.
Enough to help him develop.
Not enough to give him mastery.
They continued downward.
Eventually, they reached a vast underground hall.
The walls were covered with enormous murals.
Eryndor stopped.
The first mural showed the Titan Race.
The second showed mountains.
The third showed countless figures carrying Law Runes.
The fourth showed a golden barrier.
The fifth showed something else.
A black shape.
The shape was surrounded by ten enormous circles.
Eryndor’s expression changed.
“The seals.”
Kael followed his gaze.
“Ten.”
“Yes.”
The mural showed ten ancient beings standing around the black shape.
They were not detailed enough to identify their faces.
But their races were recognizable.
A Titan.
A Celestial.
A Dimension being.
A Chaos being.
A Supreme Beast.
A Cosmic entity.
A Void being.
An Elemental.
A Chaos Tree.
A Demon.
Ten beings.
Ten Primordial Races.
And beneath them, the black shape.
Eryndor walked closer.
“What is that?”
Kael shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Eryndor studied the mural.
The black shape was not depicted as a creature.
It had no body.
No face.
No limbs.
It looked more like a wound in reality.
Something that should not exist.
Then Eryndor noticed something.
The Ten Primordials were not attacking it.
They were containing it.
Each one stood beside a massive golden seal.
The same seals connected to the Ten Domains.
Eryndor’s thoughts raced.
The Ten Domains had been created from the remnants of dead Primordials.
Their Authority remained because it was still necessary.
The Primordials had not simply died.
They had left behind a structure of containment.
But why?
What had happened to them?
The mural changed.
A second scene appeared.
The Ten figures were gone.
Only their Domains remained.
Then another scene.
Something was moving inside the black shape.
Then another.
The black shape was larger.
The golden seals were weaker.
Then the mural ended.
Eryndor stared.
Kael spoke quietly.
“They failed.”
“Not exactly.”
Eryndor looked at the final image.
“They’re still holding it.”
“For how long?”
Eryndor didn’t answer.
A sound echoed through the hall.
A crack.
The floor beneath them split.
Kael immediately moved in front of Aldren.
A black mist emerged.
Eryndor recognized it.
Corruption.
The mist spread across the floor.
Kael’s Law Runes illuminated.
His body moved.
His momentum began building.
Eryndor raised his hand.
“Wait.”
Kael stopped.
The mist changed direction.
It moved toward Eryndor.
His Core pulsed.
The mist halted.
For a moment, it seemed confused.
Then it recoiled.
Eryndor stared.
Again.
The same reaction.
Corruption could sense him.
But it couldn’t assimilate him.
Not yet.
A voice emerged from the darkness.
Not loud.
Not clear.
But present.
You are not supposed to be here.
Eryndor’s eyes narrowed.
Kael looked around.
“Did you hear that?”
“No.”
Eryndor did not look away from the mist.
The voice continued.
You carry what was lost.
Eryndor’s heartbeat quickened.
“What do I carry?”
Silence.
Then:
Nothing.
The mist suddenly retreated.
It disappeared into a crack in the floor.
Eryndor remained motionless.
Kael looked at him.
“What did it say?”
Eryndor hesitated.
“It recognized me.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Kael stared at the crack.
“Then we need to know what was lost.”
Eryndor nodded.
They continued deeper into the mountain.
The hall eventually opened into a massive cavern.
At its center stood something enormous.
A stone statue.
A Titan.
It was carved from black stone and covered in Law Runes.
Its face was stern.
Its arms rested at its sides.
And behind it stood an enormous circular seal.
Unlike the other seals, this one was still completely golden.
Eryndor approached.
The statue suddenly moved.
Kael stepped forward.
The stone Titan raised one hand.
A voice filled the chamber.
[Inheritance trial initiated.]
Kael’s expression changed.
Eryndor stepped back.
“This is yours.”
Kael nodded.
The statue’s eyes began glowing.
[Titan inheritance candidate detected.]
[Core: compatible.]
[Race: compatible.]
[Talent: compatible.]
[Comprehension: insufficient.]
Kael clenched his fists.
“What does that mean?”
The statue answered.
[Power without understanding is incomplete.]
Kael’s expression hardened.
The floor beneath him changed.
A circular arena formed.
The statue stepped forward.
[Prove your path.]
Kael smiled.
“Finally.”
He charged.
His Titanic Momentum activated.
One step.
Then another.
Then another.
His speed increased.
The Law Runes across his body brightened.
The statue raised its hand.
A Law Rune appeared in the air.
Kael struck it.
The impact shook the chamber.
He was thrown backward.
He landed on his feet.
Then charged again.
The fight continued.
Eryndor watched carefully.
Kael was strong.
Very strong for his current Rank.
But the statue was teaching him.
Every attack forced him to understand something.
His momentum.
His strength.
His movement.
His Law Runes.
His timing.
His control.
Every time Kael relied purely on power, the statue stopped him.
Every time he adapted, the statue allowed him to advance.
Eryndor understood.
This was not an inheritance of strength.
It was an inheritance of comprehension.
After what felt like hours, Kael finally stopped attacking.
He stood still.
His breathing was heavy.
The statue waited.
Kael closed his eyes.
His momentum disappeared.
For the first time since the battle began, he stopped moving.
Eryndor smiled.
Kael understood.
His Talent became stronger through continuous momentum.
But that did not mean he needed to move without thought.
Momentum could exist in intention.
In rhythm.
In control.
Kael opened his eyes.
He stepped forward.
One step.
The Law Runes across his body synchronized.
Another step.
His energy became smoother.
A third.
His entire body seemed to move as one.
Then he struck.
The statue blocked.
But this time, it moved backward.
Only one step.
Yet the cavern shook.
The statue lowered its hand.
[Comprehension recognized.]
The Law Runes across Kael’s body erupted.
[Inheritance integration: successful.]
The golden seal behind the statue brightened.
Kael’s aura surged.
But his Core remained one.
His Rank remained the same.
Nothing about the system had been broken.
He had simply become more complete.
The statue slowly returned to stone.
Kael stood silently.
Eryndor approached.
“How do you feel?”
Kael looked at his hands.
“Like I’ve been using my Talent incorrectly my entire life.”
Eryndor smiled.
“Then the inheritance did its job.”
Kael looked toward the golden seal.
“What happens now?”
Eryndor turned toward the mural.
“We find out why the seals are weakening.”
Before Kael could answer, the golden seal flickered.
Once.
Then again.
A thin black line appeared across its center.
Eryndor’s expression hardened.
The inheritance had succeeded.
But something else had noticed.
Deep beneath the mountain, Corruption stirred.
And for the first time, Eryndor understood the danger.
The Ten Domains were awakening their inheritances.
But every awakening was also drawing attention from the thing sealed beneath the world.
The ancient war had not ended.
It had only been waiting for the world to become alive again.