The knocking came again.
Steady.
Measured.
Neither hurried nor threatening.
Rowan reached for the hammer resting beside the forge before walking toward the front door. Kael followed several steps behind, his hand unconsciously resting on Eclipse's hilt. Ever since returning from the Abyss, his instincts had changed. He could sense danger long before it revealed itself.
Whoever stood outside wasn't hiding their presence.
They simply had no reason to.
Rowan opened the door.
Three figures stood beneath the fading evening sky.
At the front was an elderly man dressed in simple dark robes with a silver cloak draped across his shoulders. His appearance was ordinary enough that most people would mistake him for a traveling scholar, but the calm authority in his posture made such a mistake impossible.
Behind him stood two Hunters wearing silver badges.
Rowan's eyes widened.
"Silver Hunters..."
The old man smiled politely.
"Forgive the late visit. My name is Aldric."
Recognition flashed across Rowan's face.
"The Association Master..."
The two Silver Hunters lowered their heads respectfully while Aldric remained standing with both hands resting on a wooden cane.
"I hope we aren't intruding."
Rowan stepped aside immediately.
"Please... come in."
The small house suddenly felt much smaller.
Kael remained silent as the visitors entered. Void Sense quietly spread throughout the room.
No killing intent.
No hostility.
Only curiosity.
That, strangely enough, made Kael even more cautious.
After everyone was seated, Aldric looked around the forge with quiet admiration.
"Rowan."
"You've maintained this place well."
Rowan scratched the back of his head.
"It isn't much."
"It never needed to be."
The old man smiled before turning toward Kael.
"So."
"The survivor finally returns."
Kael met his gaze.
"I suppose word travels quickly."
"It does."
"Especially when Captain Gareth refuses to stop talking."
One of the Silver Hunters coughed awkwardly.
"He has praised you to almost every Hunter in headquarters."
Rowan blinked in surprise.
"Gareth praised my son?"
The Hunter nodded.
"He called him the reason anyone returned from the Black Wolf Caverns alive."
Kael frowned slightly.
"I only did what anyone would."
Aldric chuckled.
"Humility."
"That's becoming increasingly rare."
Silence settled over the room for a few moments.
Finally, Aldric reached into his sleeve and produced a smooth crystal no larger than a walnut.
It glowed faintly with pale blue light.
"I have one request."
Kael looked at the crystal.
"What kind of request?"
"Hold this."
Nothing more.
Kael glanced toward Rowan before taking the crystal.
The moment his fingers touched it...
The blue light vanished.
Dark silver lines rapidly spread across its surface.
One heartbeat later—
Crack.
The crystal shattered into fine dust.
The room fell silent.
Even the two Silver Hunters stared in disbelief.
Aldric sighed.
"I feared that might happen."
Kael slowly looked down at the glittering fragments in his palm.
"What was it?"
"A Resonance Crystal."
"It measures a Hunter's affinity."
"And I broke it."
"You destroyed it."
Aldric corrected with a faint smile.
"The last person capable of doing that lived over two centuries ago."
Neither Silver Hunter spoke.
They simply exchanged uneasy glances.
The old man rose to his feet and walked toward the forge window.
Outside, evening shadows stretched across Ravenfall.
Without turning around, he asked quietly,
"What exactly happened beneath the Abyss?"
Kael considered the question.
"The truth?"
"If you're willing."
"I nearly died."
"I found things no one was meant to find."
"I survived."
Aldric nodded slowly.
"I expected as much."
He didn't ask for details.
Instead, he said something that caught Kael completely off guard.
"The Abyss changes people."
"My generation believed it only created monsters."
He turned.
"I've lived long enough to know that sometimes..."
"...it creates protectors instead."
For the first time since returning, Kael relaxed slightly.
This old man wasn't trying to expose his secrets.
He was trying to understand them.
Aldric reached inside his robe once more.
This time he removed a bronze Hunter badge.
Unlike ordinary badges, this one lacked a name.
Only the Association crest was engraved upon it.
He placed it gently on the table.
"This is temporary."
Kael looked at it.
"I haven't completed the Hunter Examination."
"You no longer need to prove you can survive."
Aldric answered calmly.
"You already have."
The Association Master folded his hands behind his back.
"The official records still list Kael Draven as deceased."
"I intend to leave those records untouched."
Rowan looked confused.
"But my son is standing right here."
"Exactly."
Aldric nodded.
"And because he is standing here, there are people who would become very interested in him."
His expression became noticeably more serious.
"Three different organizations requested information about the Hunter Trial within two days of its conclusion."
"They weren't interested in the survivors."
"They wanted to know who disappeared."
Kael's expression hardened.
"Why?"
"We don't know."
"And I dislike not knowing."
The old man looked directly into Kael's eyes.
"So until we do..."
"...avoid unnecessary attention."
Kael understood immediately.
Remaining officially dead gave him freedom.
Freedom to grow stronger before the world noticed.
"I understand."
Aldric smiled again.
"The badge has no registered name."
"When you decide what people should call you..."
"Bring it back."
"We'll complete the record."
Kael nodded.
"I will."
The Association Master turned toward Rowan.
"You've raised a fine young man."
Rowan smiled proudly.
"I only taught him how to work hard."
"The rest..."
He looked at Kael.
"...he learned himself."
Aldric laughed softly.
"Perhaps."
As the visitors prepared to leave, one of the Silver Hunters paused beside Kael.
In a voice only he could hear, the man whispered,
"Captain Gareth said something strange."
"What?"
"He said the wolves feared you."
The Hunter smiled faintly.
"I thought he was exaggerating."
"Now..."
He glanced toward the shattered crystal.
"I'm not so sure."
The three visitors departed into the evening.
Rowan closed the door behind them before letting out a long breath.
"I've never been so nervous in my life."
Kael picked up the nameless bronze badge.
Its weight felt surprisingly heavy.
Not because of the metal.
Because of what it represented.
A new beginning.
A chance to move through the world unseen.
Outside Ravenfall, atop a hill overlooking the city, a lone cloaked figure watched the blacksmith's home through a brass telescope.
"So..."
The figure murmured.
"The survivor really made it back."
He lowered the telescope and reached into his coat, removing a small communication crystal.
The crystal flickered to life.
A distorted voice echoed from within.
"Report."
"The target has been confirmed alive."
Silence followed.
Then came the reply.
"So the prophecy wasn't wrong."
"Maintain observation."
"Do not engage."
"We need to know whether he is merely fortunate..."
"...or whether he truly inherited it."
The crystal went dark.
The cloaked figure looked toward the lights of Ravenfall one last time before disappearing into the night.
Far beneath the earth, where ancient chains bound a forgotten king, one massive crimson eye slowly opened.
A deep voice echoed through the endless darkness.
"They've noticed..."
"Earlier than expected."
The chains trembled.
And somewhere within Kael's soul...
The Void stirred.