The chamber fell into complete silence.
No one dared to breathe.
The colossal guardian remained kneeling before me, its head lowered in respect.
The silver light flowing through its crystal horns illuminated the ancient hall, casting long shadows across the stone floor.
I stood frozen.
Not because I was afraid.
Because I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do.
Hunter Bran slowly lowered his axe.
“…Did…”
“…Did that monster just bow?”
“It’s not a monster,” Elder Rowan said quietly.
His weathered eyes never left the guardian.
“It hasn’t shown any hostility.”
Hunter Milo looked between the guardian and me.
“It called Kael…”
“…the Origin Heir.”
The words echoed through the chamber.
Origin Heir.
Until now, the title had been nothing more than a mysterious notification from the Origin Core.
Hearing another being speak it aloud made it feel…
real.
Too real.
The guardian finally moved.
Its stone body groaned as centuries of dust fell from its shoulders.
Slowly, it rose to its full height.
Even standing still, it radiated an overwhelming pressure.
Yet…
That pressure never reached me.
It flowed around my body like water around a stone.
The Origin Core pulsed warmly.
Guardian Recognition Complete.
Designation: Aegis-17
Status: Loyal to the Origin Legacy.
Threat Assessment: Friendly.
Aegis…
So even the guardian had a name.
The giant raised one massive hand and placed it over its chest.
Its voice was deep enough to make the chamber vibrate.
“At last…”
“The Heir has returned.”
Returned?
I frowned.
“I’ve never been here before.”
The guardian’s crystal eyes flickered.
“Your body…”
“No.”
“It is your soul that carries the Origin.”
Every hunter turned toward me again.
I could almost feel their questions.
Fortunately, before anyone could speak, the guardian continued.
“The Origin does not recognize blood.”
“It recognizes resonance.”
Elder Rowan stepped forward cautiously.
“Guardian.”
“If this boy truly is the one you’ve been waiting for…”
“Then tell us.”
“What is this place?”
The guardian became silent.
For several seconds, the only sound was the soft hum of the crystal at the center of the chamber.
Finally, it answered.
“This sanctuary…”
“…is one of one hundred.”
A chill ran down my spine.
One hundred?
“There were once one hundred Origin Sanctuaries spread across the continent.”
“They preserved knowledge.”
“They trained successors.”
“They protected civilization.”
Its voice grew quieter.
“Most have fallen.”
Images flashed across the walls without warning.
Not illusions.
Memories.
Towering cities floating among the clouds.
Cultivators wielding rivers of light.
Enormous beasts soaring through the heavens.
Countless people studying inside vast academies built from crystal and white stone.
It was beautiful.
Magnificent.
Then…
The scene changed.
The sky split apart.
Darkness poured from enormous cracks in space.
Entire cities burned.
The floating islands crashed into the earth.
One sanctuary after another disappeared beneath oceans of fire.
The hunters watched in stunned silence.
Hunter Ellis whispered,
“What…
happened?”
The guardian’s answer carried unimaginable sorrow.
“We failed.”
The vision vanished.
Only the quiet glow of the sanctuary remained.
Hunter Bran slowly shook his head.
“Those cities…”
“They couldn’t have existed.”
“They looked like the realm of gods.”
The guardian turned toward him.
“They were built by people.”
“Just as you build villages.”
The simple answer somehow made everything even more unbelievable.
I took a careful step forward.
“If there were one hundred sanctuaries…”
“How many remain?”
The guardian closed its glowing eyes.
“Unknown.”
“My connection to the network ended…”
“…three thousand, four hundred and twelve years ago.”
Three thousand years.
This place was older than any kingdom we knew.
Older than recorded history.
The Origin Core suddenly projected another notification.
Primary Objective Updated
Locate Remaining Origin Sanctuaries.
Restore the Origin Network.
Current Known Sanctuaries: 1/100
A strange feeling settled inside me.
The task before had been simple.
Survive.
Protect Ashwood.
Grow stronger.
Now…
The Origin Core had given me a purpose far greater than myself.
The guardian extended its hand.
Resting in its enormous palm was a small object wrapped in silver light.
A ring.
It appeared to be forged from black metal unlike any I had seen.
Tiny stars shimmered across its surface.
“This…”
“…belongs to the Heir.”
I hesitated.
“What is it?”
The guardian answered with a single sentence.
“The first key.”
The moment those words left its mouth…
The ring floated into the air on its own.
It drifted toward me.
Slowly.
Silently.
Then settled into the palm of my hand.
The instant my fingers closed around it—
A surge of ancient spiritual energy erupted through the chamber.
The black ring dissolved into countless strands of silver light and merged into my right hand.
A strange symbol appeared on the back of it.
A circle.
Within it…
A single shining star.
The Origin Core flared brilliantly.
First Origin Relic Acquired.
Legacy Key I – Successfully Bound.
New Function Unlocked…
Before the notification could finish—
A deafening explosion echoed from somewhere far above the sanctuary.
The entire chamber shook violently.
Stone fragments rained from the ceiling.
Hunter Milo instinctively raised his spear.
“That wasn’t from inside the ruins.”
Elder Rowan’s face darkened.
“No…”
“It came from the forest.”
Another explosion followed.
Closer this time.
Then came screams.
Human screams.
From the direction of…
Ashwood.
The screams echoed through the sanctuary.
They were faint…
But unmistakable.
Ashwood.
Something had happened to Ashwood.
Hunter Bran was the first to react.
“We have to get back!”
He turned toward the corridor, but before anyone could take a step, the entire sanctuary trembled again.
Dust fell from the ceiling as several runes flickered.
The Guardian raised one massive arm.
“Wait.”
His deep voice rolled through the chamber.
“The emergency passage is sealed.”
Hunter Milo tightened his grip on his spear.
“Our village is in danger!”
“I know.”
The Guardian’s crystal eyes shifted toward me.
“The Heir’s arrival has awakened the sanctuary.”
“The seal protecting the surrounding forest has weakened.”
A chill ran down my spine.
“The tracks…”
I whispered.
“The unknown beast…”
The Guardian nodded.
“It was not hunting.”
“It was searching.”
The Origin Core appeared before my eyes.
Mission Updated
Objective: Protect Ashwood Village
Time Critical
Reward: Synchronization Increase
Failure Condition: Irreversible Losses
I clenched my fists.
No.
I wasn’t going to lose this home.
Not after everything it had given me.
The Guardian stepped toward the center crystal.
Ancient runes spiraled around its stone body.
“I can open another path.”
“But once you leave…”
“This sanctuary will enter dormancy again.”
“Until the Heir returns.”
Elder Rowan stepped beside me.
“Kael.”
“We’ll discuss everything else later.”
“Right now…”
“Wesave our people.”
I nodded firmly.
“Together.”
The Guardian placed one enormous hand upon the cracked crystal.
The chamber filled with blinding silver light.
The floor beneath our feet shifted.
A circular platform slowly rose from beneath the stone.
It resembled an ancient elevator, carved from flawless white stone.
“Stand upon it.”
The Guardian ordered.
Everyone obeyed.
As soon as the last hunter stepped onto the platform, the Guardian struck the crystal with its fist.
A deafening hum echoed through the sanctuary.
The platform shot upward.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
It surged through the earth like a spear piercing the sky.
The hunters instinctively grabbed the stone railing.
Wind roared around us.
In less than ten heartbeats—
Sunlight exploded into view.
The platform emerged from the ground in the middle of the eastern forest, nearly a kilometer from Ashwood.
Behind us, the stone shaft sealed itself as if it had never existed.
Smoke.
The first thing I noticed was smoke.
Dark gray columns rose above the treetops.
Ashwood.
Without waiting for an order, every hunter sprinted toward the village.
As we burst from the forest, the sight before us froze me in place.
The eastern gate had collapsed.
Several cottages near the wall were burning.
Villagers hurried to carry buckets of water while hunters fought desperately against creatures unlike anything I had ever seen.
They resembled wolves…
But their bodies were covered in jagged black crystal.
Their eyes burned with crimson light.
Each movement was unnaturally coordinated.
“They’re working together!”
Hunter Ellis shouted.
One beast feinted toward Bran while another attacked from behind.
It wasn’t instinct.
It was strategy.
The Origin Core reacted instantly.
New Species Identified
Corrupted Crystal Wolf
Threat Level: High
Warning: Corruption Energy Detected
A Crystal Wolf lunged toward a frightened child trapped beneath a broken cart.
Without thinking, I ran.
The world around me slowed.
Not because time had changed…
Because my senses had.
I saw every movement.
Every heartbeat.
Every shift in the beast’s muscles.
The upgraded Spiritual Perception guided me instinctively.
I drove my spear forward.
Thrust!
The wooden spear pierced the wolf’s shoulder, knocking it sideways before it could reach the child.
“Run!”
The little girl didn’t hesitate.
She scrambled toward her parents.
The wolf growled and turned toward me.
Its crimson eyes held no anger.
Only hunger.
Behind me, Hunter Milo smiled despite the chaos.
“That’s it, Kael!”
“Trust your instincts!”
The Crystal Wolf attacked again.
This time…
I didn’t retreat.
I stepped inside its reach, deflected its claw with the shaft of my spear, and struck the side of its neck.
The beast staggered.
Hunter Bran’s axe descended a heartbeat later.
CRACK!
The corrupted wolf collapsed.
Instead of blood…
Dark mist poured from the wound before evaporating into the air.
A scream echoed from the watchtower.
“There are more!”
Everyone looked toward the forest.
Dozens of crimson eyes stared back from the shadows.
One after another…
Black Crystal Wolves emerged from the trees.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty…
And behind them…
The forest itself seemed to part.
A towering silhouette stepped into the fading afternoon light.
Nearly three meters tall.
Its body was covered in black crystal armor.
Twin horns curved backward from its skull.
Unlike the smaller wolves…
It walked slowly.
Confidently.
Intelligently.
The smaller beasts immediately lowered their heads as it approached.
Hunter Daren’s face turned pale.
“…That’s their leader.”
The creature lifted its head toward Ashwood.
Then…
Its glowing red eyes locked onto me.
Not Elder Rowan.
Not Hunter Milo.
Me.
A deep, rumbling voice echoed across the battlefield.
A voice no ordinary beast should have possessed.
“Origin…
Heir…”
Every hunter froze.
My blood ran cold.
The creature knew exactly who I was.
And somehow…
It had come looking for me.