The month ended with rain.
Heavy mountain rain crashed against the rooftops of the hidden village while fog swallowed the cliffs surrounding East Cloud completely.
Messenger birds hid beneath wooden awnings.
Wind chimes trembled softly outside every home.
And inside Disar’s house… the Red Threads sat around a low wooden table covered in maps, books, loose notes, and one extremely stressed Deep.
“This makes no sense.”
Deep rubbed both hands through his hair dramatically while staring at the old map spread across the table.
Robin sat beside him calmly flipping through Harun’s hunter booklet.
Dhruv leaned forward across the table while Deepika rested against one of the wooden pillars nearby sharpening her knives absentmindedly.
The atmosphere felt different tonight.
Heavier.
Because training was ending tomorrow.
Which meant the real journey would begin again.
Disar quietly poured tea near the open porch while rain echoed through the mountains outside.
Kael wasn’t here today.
The Silver Wolves had already left three mornings ago.
Without goodbye.
That felt fitting somehow.
Robin carefully adjusted the lantern closer toward the map.
The faded markings became clearer beneath warm light.
Old routes crossed East Cloud in strange patterns while certain areas were circled in red ink.
Harun’s handwriting filled the edges.
Notes.
Warnings.
Half-finished thoughts.
Deep tapped the table suddenly.
“Wait.”
Everybody looked toward him.
Deep pointed toward one specific section near the lower east region.
“This symbol appeared three times already.”
Robin leaned slightly closer.
The mark looked like three curved lines crossing one circle.
Ancient hunter language.
Robin’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
“…That’s not a location mark.”
Dhruv looked toward her.
“Then what is it?”
Robin slowly turned several pages in the old hunter book.
Rain continued hammering outside while lantern light flickered softly across the room.
Then she stopped.
Her eyes widened slightly.
Deep noticed first.
“…You found something.”
Robin quietly rotated the book toward everyone.
The same symbol appeared there too beside old eastern records.
Below it, faded text read:
“The path beneath kings.”
Silence settled across the room.
Deepika stopped sharpening her knife.
Dhruv leaned closer.
“What does that mean?”
Robin’s fingers moved slowly across the page.
“In ancient hunter history… kings didn’t only mean rulers.”
She looked up now.
“Sometimes powerful hunter territories were also called kingdoms.”
Deep blinked.
“So Grandpa wasn’t marking kingdoms…”
Robin nodded slowly.
“He was marking hunter-controlled zones.”
The realization shifted the atmosphere immediately.
Because that changed everything.
This wasn’t a treasure trail.
It was a hidden hunter route.
Disar quietly spoke from near the porch:
“Harun discovered something very old near the end of his life.”
Everyone turned toward him.
Rainwater dripped softly from the roof outside while mountain fog rolled through the distant cliffs.
Disar continued calmly:
“There are rumors that before modern governments existed… hunters ruled parts of the continents from the shadows.”
Robin’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“The Old Hunter Kingdoms.”
Disar nodded once.
“Most records were destroyed centuries ago.”
Deep leaned back slowly.
“So the Seven Stones are connected to them?”
Disar didn’t answer immediately.
Which already felt like an answer.
The red markings suddenly felt more dangerous now.
Like Grandpa wasn’t simply searching for treasure.
He was uncovering history somebody wanted buried.
Deep suddenly looked horrified.
“Wait.”
Everybody looked toward him again.
“If these are hidden hunter routes…”
He pointed dramatically toward the map.
“…other hunter squads can probably read this too.”
Silence.
Then Robin quietly answered:
“Yes.”
Rain thundered outside.
Deepika immediately stood upright.
“How many squads?”
Robin looked toward the markings carefully.
“If experienced hunters know old symbols…”
Her expression hardened slightly.
“…a lot.”
Dhruv slowly leaned back.
So Kael wasn’t random.
The Silver Wolves already understood parts of the map.
Meaning somewhere out there… other squads were probably moving already.
Toward the same destination.
The same secrets.
The same Stones.
Deep cursed quietly.
“Well that’s terrible.”
Disar walked toward the table now.
The lantern light reflected softly against his golden eyes.
“Good.”
Everyone looked confused.
Deep pointed at him aggressively.
“HOW is that good?”
Disar rested one hand against the map.
“Because now your real training begins.”
Silence.
The rain continued outside endlessly.
Disar looked toward Dhruv.
“You wanted to become King of Hunters.”
Dhruv nodded once.
“Then understand this now.”
Disar’s voice lowered slightly.
“The world ahead will not care about your intentions.”
“Only your strength.”
“Your decisions.”
“And whether your squad survives them.”
The room became quiet again.
Dhruv glanced toward the others.
Deep arguing with a broken compass piece again.
Deepika pretending not to worry.
Robin rereading symbols while touching her pendant absentmindedly.
His squad.
Still incomplete.
Still growing.
Still fragile in some ways.
And somehow… already precious.
Disar suddenly reached beneath the table beside him.
Then placed something onto the wooden surface.
THUNK.
A black leather case.
Long.
Weapon-sized.
Dhruv frowned slightly.
“What’s that?”
“Open it.”
Dhruv carefully unlatched the case.
Inside rested:
three polished throwing knives reinforced hunter gloves small smoke-resistant cloth wraps and a dark shoulder holster designed for movement
Custom-made.
Deep immediately leaned forward.
“THAT’S SO COOL.”
He pointed toward the cloth wraps first.
“Your invisibility weakens around dense smoke.”
Dhruv blinked slightly.
“You noticed.”
“I notice everything.”
Fair point.
Disar continued:
“The cloth contains mountain ash fibers.”
“It won’t remove the weakness.”
“But it will delay the smoke interference slightly.”
Dhruv carefully touched the wraps.
Useful.
Actually useful.
Deepika looked impressed despite herself.
Deep whispered:
“…he’s basically a mountain wizard.”
Disar looked mildly disappointed by that sentence.
Then he reached inside his robe and removed something else.
A folded paper.
Old.
Worn.
He handed it directly toward Robin.
Robin unfolded it carefully.
Her eyes widened slightly.
“A route map?”
Disar nodded once.
“An old hunter passage leading east.”
Deep immediately looked confused.
“But we’re already in East Cloud.”
Disar sighed softly.
“Eastward inside East Cloud.”
“Oh.”
Deep paused.
“…That makes more sense.”
Robin studied the route carefully.
Narrow forest markings crossed dangerous terrain toward a circled location near the lower eastern coast.
And beside it… one name.
Velkrith.
Deepika frowned slightly.
“I’ve heard of that place.”
Robin looked toward her.
“You know it?”
“Only rumors.”
Deepika’s voice lowered slightly.
“They say hunters disappear there.”
The rain outside somehow sounded heavier afterward.
Dhruv slowly smiled.
Of course the next destination sounded horrifying.
That felt normal now.
Disar looked toward the group one final time.
“Tomorrow morning you leave the mountains.”
Silence.
The words landed strangely.
Because this hidden village had already begun feeling safe.
Comfortable.
Warm.
Robin quietly closed the route map.
Deep stared toward the rain outside thoughtfully.
Even Deepika looked quieter than usual.
One month.
Enough time for the mountains to become home.
Disar calmly picked up his tea again.
“The world below hasn’t become kinder while you trained.”
Dhruv rested one hand against Veyra beside him.
“I know.”
Disar’s golden eyes sharpened slightly.
“No.”
The old swordsman looked directly at him now.
“You still don’t.”
The lantern light flickered softly across the room.
And somewhere far below the mountain storms… other hunter squads were already moving.
Toward Velkrith.
Toward Harun’s secret.
Toward the path beneath kings.
END OF CHAPTER 21