The caravan established camp before sunset, several hours after the bandit attack.
The captured bandits had already been handed over at a roadside outpost maintained by a nearby settlement, and Darren had insisted on stopping earlier than usual so the guards and hunters could properly check injuries, repair damaged equipment, and inspect the wagons.
The attack itself had not caused serious losses, but experienced caravan leaders knew that small problems became large ones when ignored for several days.
Rhea sat near one of the fires with Toren, Mira, and Bram while slowly rotating one shoulder.
Her body was tired in a way that felt different from ordinary exhaustion.
The fight had demanded less internal force than she expected, yet maintaining Kael’s continuous movement while tracking attacks from several directions had forced her to use muscles and habits she had barely noticed before.
Bram handed her a cup.
“You’ve changed a lot.” Rhea looked at him.
“We’ve known each other for one day.” “I meant your fighting.” Toren nodded.
“You weren’t wasting movement.” Rhea stared into the cup for a moment before looking toward Kael.
Her master was sitting several meters away with enough food beside him to feed three people.
“I wasn’t fighting like that before.” Mira raised an eyebrow.
“How long has he been training you?” “Less than two weeks.” Nobody spoke.
Bram slowly lowered the piece of roasted meat in his hand.
“Two weeks?” “Roughly.” Toren looked toward Kael again, this time with considerably more attention.
“I assumed years.” “So did I,” Mira admitted.
Rhea smiled faintly.
“I met him in the Hollow Depth.” That only made Bram’s expression worse.
After several seconds, he remembered something from the battle and laughed.
“You looked happier when he said ‘good’ than when the bandits surrendered.” Rhea’s expression immediately became serious.
“You don’t understand.” “I clearly don’t.” “There are levels.” Kael looked over.
“I didn’t make levels.” Rhea ignored him and counted on her fingers.
“First everything was terrible.
Then less terrible.
Then acceptable.
Then better.
Today I got good.” Mira started laughing.
Bram joined her.
Toren, however, nodded thoughtfully.
“If someone at his level says you’re good, I can understand being pleased.” Rhea pointed at him.
“Exactly.” Kael looked mildly confused.
“I was describing the movement.” “You created a ranking system by accident.” “I did not.” Rhea smiled into her cup.
Bram eventually turned toward Kael.
“Where did you learn to fight like that?” “Hollow Depth.” “From who?” “Mostly monsters.” Bram stopped chewing.
Mira looked amused.
“That’s not an answer.” “It is.” Kael took another bite before continuing.
“You do something.
It fails.
You survive.
You change it.
Then try again.” Toren leaned slightly forward.
“You make it sound simple.” “It is.” “Easy?” “No.” Rhea looked toward Kael.
“Did you lose often?” “Yes.” That answer surprised everyone.
Rhea frowned.
“You?” “I wasn’t always this good.” She stared at him.
Kael seemed to think nothing of the admission.
“I got buried alive once.” Bram’s food stopped halfway to his mouth.
Kael continued.
“Thrown through a cliff several times.
Swallowed twice.” Mira’s expression changed.
“Twice?” “Different creatures.” Rhea slowly put down her cup.
“And you survived being swallowed?” “Obviously.” Bram looked slightly pale.
Kael thought for a moment.
“I also spent a few days trapped under something large.” “How large?” Rhea asked.
Kael looked toward her.
She immediately regretted asking.
“Large.” Rhea sighed.
“Of course.” Kael resumed eating.
Nobody asked for further details.
Far behind the caravan, buried beneath the road they had traveled earlier that day, the dull red cube remained inside the collapsed chamber.
Kael had memorized its exact location before moving beyond the range from which he could continuously examine it.
The fact that it had rotated by itself interested him, but he had already chosen his current direction.
Veyrun.
The caravan.
Rhea’s training.
The cube could wait.
Curiosity did not decide Kael’s path for him any more than kings, monsters, or mountains did.
The next morning, Kael resumed Rhea’s awareness training before the caravan had even traveled an hour.
“How many riders behind us?” Rhea kept her eyes forward.
“Three.” “Wrong.” She frowned and listened.
Hoofbeats.
One near the rear.
Two farther left.
Another had just come around the last wagon.
“Four.” “Better.” Mira, walking beside her, smiled.
Rhea narrowed her eyes.
“Don’t.” “Don’t what?” “You’re going to distract me.” “I wasn’t.” “You are now.” Mira immediately began asking questions about Greyhaven.
Rhea tried answering while tracking the caravan.
Bram joined ten minutes later.
Then Toren.
By midday, Rhea was trying to remember wagon positions while three hunters deliberately discussed food, hunting stories, and increasingly ridiculous rumors around her.
She finally snapped.
“All of you are traitors.” Bram grinned.
“Training.” Kael nodded.
“Useful.” Rhea glared at him.
The terrain began changing during the afternoon.
The cultivated land and low hills gradually gave way to harsher ground.
Stone ridges appeared along the horizon, first as isolated formations and then in growing numbers until the entire northern landscape seemed split by jagged walls.
Darren rode toward the front.
“We’re approaching the Broken Spine.” Kael looked ahead.
Hundreds of irregular stone ridges stretched across the region.
Some rose like narrow mountains.
Others formed deep ravines and fractured cliffs.
The entire territory resembled an enormous mountain range that had shattered and collapsed into itself long ago.
Darren unfolded the route map.
“The road turns south here.” Kael looked at the map.
Then toward Veyrun’s direction.
Then at the road.
Rhea saw the sequence.
“No.” Kael looked at her.
“What?” “We’re taking the road.” “Veyrun is there.” He pointed straight toward the Broken Spine.
Rhea sighed.
“Yes.” “The road goes that way.” Kael pointed south.
“Also yes.” “That’s the wrong direction.” Darren stared at him.
Rhea turned toward the merchant.
“This happens.” Darren looked back at the map.
“The detour exists because wagons can’t cross the Broken Spine.
There are unstable ravines, monsters, and cliffs.
The southern road adds three days, but it’s safe.” Kael understood immediately.
His problem was simple.
If he were traveling alone, there would be no problem at all.
He would walk straight through.
But the caravan couldn’t.
Kael looked at the twenty wagons.
Then at the Broken Spine.
He remained silent for several seconds.
Darren relaxed slightly.
Apparently Kael had accepted the situation.
Then Kael asked, “How wide does the road need to be?” Rhea slowly turned.
“Master.” Darren frowned.
“What?” “For the wagons.” Rhea closed her eyes.
Kael continued.
“How wide?” Darren pointed toward the current road.
“At least this wide if we’re keeping two lines.
Narrower if we move single file.” Kael nodded.
Rhea stared at him.
“You’re seriously thinking about making a road.” “It would be faster.” “Through the Broken Spine?” “Yes.” Darren looked toward the jagged region ahead.
“There are mountains.” “I noticed.” “Ravines.” “Yes.” “Monsters.” “Probably.” Darren turned toward Rhea.
She sighed.
“This is normal.” Kael moved toward the front of the caravan.
He did not simply unleash Decay across the landscape.
That would have been crude.
His Absolute Spatial Sense extended deep into the Broken Spine.
He mapped the nearest ridges, underground cavities, weak stone layers, water channels, hidden ravines, and stable ground.
Then he selected a route.
Not the easiest natural route.
The shortest stable line toward Veyrun.
“Follow behind,” Kael said.
Darren hesitated.
Then Kael started walking.
The first stone ridge rose ahead.
Decay Domain spread forward in a narrow corridor.
Nothing exploded.
The rock simply deteriorated.
Hard stone lost integrity, cracked, and collapsed into fragments that continued breaking down until the passage was broad and level enough for wagons.
Kael walked.
The Domain moved with him.
Trees standing directly in the chosen path aged, weakened, and collapsed into harmless debris.
Uneven ground eroded into a smoother route.
Stone walls opened ahead while the surrounding formations remained untouched.
Behind Kael, a road appeared.
Bram stared.
“He’s making a road.” Mira looked toward the ridge disappearing ahead of them.
“Through a mountain.” Toren adjusted his spear.
“Apparently.” Darren stood beside the first wagon with his mouth slightly open.
Then years of merchant instinct overcame shock.
“Move!” The wagons followed.
Kael continued walking.
Rhea caught up beside him.
He glanced at her.
“Watch.” She frowned.
“What?” “The Domain.” Rhea paid closer attention.
Kael wasn’t merely destroying everything ahead.
Only material preventing passage deteriorated.
A stone column several meters to the side remained untouched.
The road surface stayed solid.
Even roots beneath stable sections remained intact where removing them might weaken the ground.
Rhea slowly understood.
“You’re choosing every part.” “Yes.” “While walking?” “Yes.” She looked behind them at the road.
“Power isn’t control.” Kael glanced at her.
Rhea remembered the phrase from earlier lessons.
“You have both.” Kael looked ahead.
“Now.” That single word carried more weight than the explanation.
Rhea did not ask how long it had taken him to reach this level of precision.
She already knew the answer was probably measured in decades.
Several monsters fled as the road advanced through their territory.
Kael ignored them.
He had no reason to kill creatures simply for living nearby.
Then something large refused to move.
A heavily armored predator emerged from behind a stone ridge and planted itself directly in the newly created route.
Its body was low and broad, covered by overlapping plates that formed a shell around most of its upper half.
The creature roared.
Kael stopped.
“Move.” The predator lowered its body.
Rhea sighed.
“Why do they never move?” “It would save time.” The creature attacked.
Kael didn’t immediately kill it.
Instead, he looked at Rhea.
“What would you remove?” She blinked.
“What?” “To stop it.” Rhea examined the creature.
Armor covered most obvious targets.
Her first thought was the head.
Then the legs.
She remembered Kael’s lessons.
Don’t attack what looks important.
Identify what actually matters.
She watched the front limb move.
There.
A narrow armored joint supporting the creature’s weight.
“That.” Kael smiled faintly.
“Better.” Decay touched only the selected joint.
The armor cracked.
The leg collapsed.
The creature crashed sideways.
For several seconds it looked confused.
Then survival instinct overcame territorial pride.
It scrambled away using its remaining limbs and disappeared among the rocks.
Rhea watched it go.
“You could have killed it.” “Didn’t need to.” Kael resumed walking.
The caravan followed.
By evening, they had already crossed terrain that would normally have required more than a day of careful travel.
Darren looked repeatedly at the road behind them.
If the route remained stable, merchants could use it again.
The implications were enormous.
A permanent passage through even part of the Broken Spine could shorten journeys by days.
Kael didn’t care.
He simply preferred straight roads.
Then his Spatial Sense found something beneath them.
Kael stopped.
The entire caravan slowed.
Rhea immediately moved beside him.
“What?” Kael looked down.
Far beneath the road lay a massive underground cavity.
Inside it were buildings.
Not geometric facilities.
Not strange moving chambers.
A city.
Ancient streets stretched beneath collapsed stone.
Buildings had caved in.
Statues lay broken in public squares.
Large sections had been buried by earth and rock over an unknown period.
Thousands of skeletons remained scattered throughout the ruins.
Kael examined them.
Something was wrong.
“City,” he said.
Darren looked around.
“Where?” “Under us.” Rhea’s expression changed.
“Alive?” “No.” The mood shifted immediately.
Kael’s perception moved through the buried settlement.
Homes.
Workshops.
Large public buildings.
Underground shelters.
People had died everywhere.
But their positions were strange.
One skeleton lay near a doorway.
Its skull faced north.
Another remained beneath fallen masonry.
North.
A group inside a shelter.
All facing north.
Kael expanded his examination.
Thousands.
Every body.
Same direction.
Then he noticed the statues.
Several massive stone statues had originally faced different streets.
Before the city died, someone had rotated them.
North.
Kael looked toward the horizon.
The Silent Expanse lay in that direction.
Rhea watched him.
“What are they looking at?” Kael remained silent for a moment.
His mind connected the buried facility beneath the Hollow Depth.
The occupancy record.
The distant marker.
STILL OCCUPIED.
SINCE BEFORE RECORD.
Now this city.
Thousands of dead.
All facing the same place.
Kael finally answered.
“The same place I’m planning to visit eventually.” Rhea became quiet.
Far beneath the newly created road, the ancient dead remained where they had fallen.
Homes had collapsed.
Streets had disappeared.
Entire generations had been buried beneath the Broken Spine.
Yet even after all that time, every empty skull still faced north.
Toward the Silent Expanse.
the link is in the synonyms.