The wind blew through the crowd gathered in front of the breach, and Orson’s body was getting comfortable again—again and again. Even with the suit that was supposed to filter the air, he could still feel the wind on his skin, and that should not have been possible. The suit covered everything.
Old man Vance finished speaking. Corvin walked to a pile of equipment, picked up a pickaxe, and handed one to Orson before taking one for himself. Then they followed the non-awakened workers toward the breach.
The closer Orson got, the more he felt it: a pulse, steady and slow, like a living heart trying to enter the world.
He looked up. A dark cloud churned around the breach, reaching into the sky like a vortex while the wind blew all around it. A green glow pulsed from within the cloud. The non-awakened entered one after another, and old man Vance took the lead. Orson looked up at the breach, sighed, and followed the crew inside.
Corvin moved close and started talking low.
"So here’s the plan. First, we make sure old man Vance sees us walking in. Then we slip away to find monster cores. Got it?"
"What are you talking about?" Orson whispered back.
Corvin looked at him. "Don’t tell me you actually thought we were here to mine. I mean, it’s a good gig, but that’s not what I’m after. Why do you think I begged for this job? The announcement of the hidden astral weapon went out to every clan."
Orson said nothing.
Corvin took that as a chance to continue. "Look. Every guild in this breach is going to the Temple of the Breach to see if there’s any reward there. But what’s the one thing stopping them from reaching it?"
Orson looked at him. "Monsters."
Corvin smiled. "Bingo. So they have to kill. And we, as non-awakened, can slip in and steal the cores of the monsters they kill."
Orson frowned. "Didn’t Officer Ray warn you about this? What if the clans catch you?"
Corvin looked at him. "When do you mean ’me’? It’s ’us.’ Besides, it worked last time. And this is the fastest way I know to pay back you know who."
Orson did not know who, but Corvin did not need to know that. Orson simply nodded. This was not their first time.
Corvin continued with his plans. "Besides, we have Clan Mercer backing us."
He looked at Orson, waiting for a reaction. Nothing came.
Corvin stared. That was weird. Sometimes when he mentioned the Mercer family, it made Orson angry, and angry people did angry things—like help a friend steal monster cores from the Awakened. But Orson showed no emotion.
Weird. Corvin shook his head. His mind was on the heist, so he chalked Orson’s behavior up to the marriage. Apparently it was true what they said: marriage changed people.
They followed the non-awakened workers into the breach.
Passing through felt like moving between realities. Orson knew the feeling well—the shift from one set of rules to another. He looked down at himself. Still the same body. Still the same clothes. But the place around him was different.
They stood on a large landmass. Floating islands hung in the sky above them, drifting slowly, while five suns burned high overhead and cast pale light across the land below. The ground was covered in grass, trees, and rolling hills. A forest stretched to the left, a river cut through the center, and birds flew between the floating islands. The air was clean and warm.
Nothing like the sandy wasteland outside.
Orson was about to follow the group toward the mines when Corvin pulled him back. Corvin nodded at two figures behind them, then led Orson away from the mining team. They slipped into the trees unnoticed.
Orson looked at Corvin. "Who are they?"
Corvin smiled. "Some people I hired. We’ll have the money from the mining. And a little from what we make if we’re able to take the cores."
Orson said nothing as they walked.
Corvin continued. "There are no Saints here. Most of the people are Awakened rank warriors. Some Resonants too. But we should be able to slip through them."
Orson asked the question that had been bothering him. "What’s the difference between a Saint and an Awakened?"
Corvin looked at him. "How should I know? Aren’t you the one from the Mercer family?" He paused. "Wait. Let me guess. You’re still bitter about not having an attunement life gate."
Orson looked at him. Names upon names—hard to keep track. But he had to keep pushing. Maybe he could understand this world better.
Corvin sighed. "Look. Even I have a life gate. But you don’t see me risking my life just to be an Awakened. Sure, the powers are cool. But the risk is just as high."
Corvin kept walking, and Orson followed, deep in thought.
So people who cultivated in this world were called Awakened. But when Orson felt the power around him, it was the same as the energy inside the breach. What were Saints then? And Resonants?
The more Corvin talked, the more Orson’s mind tangled. Even this body was a mess. It remembered things, yet the memory of what life Orson had lived was blank—a void where a person should be.
He sighed and kept walking.
Shouting came from another side of the island. Corvin and Orson moved toward it silently, using the brush as cover, until they stopped at the edge of a clearing.
A battle raged on the horizon. Multiple humans faced monsters. From this distance Orson could not make out the details; the humans were small shapes moving against larger, darker ones, while the sound of metal clashing and beasts roaring carried across the field.
Corvin looked at Orson. "If things get hard, get your blade ready. Okay? I don’t plan on dying here."
He moved forward, using trees and bushes as cover. Orson followed, still not remembering when he had agreed to any of this.
The forest was wide. Tall trees swayed in the wind. An axe flew through the air and split a wolf’s head clean off.
Rain, rain, rain, rain.
A tap on her shoulder brought her back.
She looked up. Her captain stood over her. "Are you sure you’re ready? You’ve been spacing out since we got here."
Rain looked up. "I’m fine. Don’t worry. Let’s move."
She stood and looked at the giant island floating about seventy feet above her. It loomed overhead, blocking out the sun. Her clan gathered around her. The floating island drifted closer, and its gravitational force pulled at them. Rain and her team used it to launch themselves upward. They flew about eighty feet into the sky before the gravity of the island caught them and pulled them onto its surface.
That was when Corvin and Orson reached the place the clan had been standing. Most of the Awakened were also preparing to jump. Corvin quickly removed his suit and looked at Orson.
"If we want to take the core, we have to pretend to be Awakened. So remove your suit and take this."
He held out a small breathing tube.
Orson looked at it.
"It’s just a breathing tube. It’s not going to kill you."
Orson took it, then started removing his suit.
The moment the fabric pulled away from his skin, a light breeze touched him. He froze.
His eyes glowed black. Energy flooded through him—spiritual energy. Real spiritual energy.
He pulled the suit off completely and stood there, letting the energy wash over him. For the first time since he woke in this world, he smiled.
Everything around him had been different. Alien. Wrong. But this—this was the same. This was what he understood.
He looked around and took a deep breath. The air filled his lungs, and the energy moved through his body like it belonged there.
Corvin looked back and saw his friend smiling. "What’s with you?"
Orson laughed. "It’s nothing."
They walked toward the beast corpses scattered on the ground.
Meanwhile, Rain stood on the floating island and looked at her clan members battling the beasts below. She sighed to herself.
Then she felt it.
A presence. Familiar.
She looked around. Nothing.
Then she realized it was coming from the island she had just left.
She walked to the edge and looked down. The energy was stronger now, and she could feel it clearly.
She was shocked.
It was the same energy people in her past life released—the same cultivation, the same path.
Was someone else reincarnated into this world as well?
She stared down at the island below, searching for the source.