Chapter 8: The Shadow in the Rain
Rain began falling before noon.
At first, it was only a few drops, barely enough to notice.
Then the clouds thickened, turning the sky gray and heavy.
Within minutes, the road became muddy, and water ran between the stones.
Evan pulled his hood over his head.
“Why does this world have such dramatic weather?”
Liora laughed.
“You’re complaining again.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“You are.”
“I’m making an observation.”
Kaela, walking several steps ahead, glanced back at them.
“The nearest village is another hour away.”
Evan sighed.
“An hour?”
“You’ll survive.”
“That’s what you always say.”
“And you’re still alive.”
Evan opened his mouth, then closed it.
He couldn’t argue with that.
The three continued down the muddy road.
Rain drummed against their clothes, and the forest beside them had become unusually quiet.
Then Kaela suddenly stopped.
Evan nearly walked into her.
“What happened?”
Kaela’s hand moved toward her weapon.
“Someone is following us.”
Evan’s expression changed.
“Where?”
“The forest.”
Evan immediately activated Mana Sense.
The world around him shifted.
The trees became faint outlines of magical energy, and the rain itself seemed to carry traces of mana.
Then Evan saw it.
A thin trail of black mana moved between the trees.
It wasn’t following Kaela.
It wasn’t following Liora.
It was following him.
“Kaela…”
“What?”
“That mana isn’t following the group.”
Evan pointed toward himself.
“It’s following me.”
Before Kaela could respond—
SHING!
A masked figure burst from the trees.
Kaela immediately blocked the attack.
Metal struck metal.
The stranger twisted away and disappeared between the trees.
Evan’s instincts took over.
“Wait!”
He chased after them.
Branches whipped past his face as he moved through the rain.
The stranger was fast.
Evan used his Assassin training to follow their movements, stepping around roots and fallen branches.
For a moment, he caught up.
The masked figure turned.
Something beneath the mask briefly glowed.
A strange symbol.
Evan froze.
He recognized it immediately.
The same symbol from the ancient temple.
“The Gate…”
The stranger suddenly threw something onto the ground.
A small black crystal.
Evan’s eyes widened.
“Wait!”
BOOM!
Dark smoke exploded between them.
Evan covered his face.
When the smoke finally cleared, the stranger was gone.
Only a strange message remained.
It had been carved into the trunk of a nearby tree.
FOURFOLD DOES NOT BELONG.
Evan stared at the words.
“What does that mean?”
Kaela and Liora caught up with him.
Kaela examined the markings.
“I don’t know.”
Evan looked down at the black crystal left behind.
His expression hardened.
“But whoever wrote this knows about the Fourfold.”
By late afternoon, they finally reached Rivenwood.
The village was small, surrounded by thick forest and old wooden houses.
Normally, there would have been people outside.
But the streets were almost empty.
Evan noticed several houses with their doors open.
“Something’s wrong.”
Liora nodded.
“It feels like everyone is hiding.”
They soon learned why.
The village elder explained that seven people had disappeared.
“Where did they go?” Evan asked.
“The forest.”
“Any witnesses?”
“No.”
He hesitated before reaching beneath his cloak.
“Only this was found.”
He placed a small piece of black crystal on the table.
Evan immediately recognized it.
“The Voidborn…”
The elder stared at him.
“You know them?”
Evan nodded.
“They’ve been looking for me.”
The elder’s face became pale.
“Then you shouldn’t stay here.”
Evan frowned.
“Why?”
The elder lowered his voice.
“Because someone came through this village before.”
Evan’s attention sharpened.
“Who?”
“We don’t know.”
“Was it a Traveler?”
The elder suddenly looked at Evan.
“How do you know about Travelers?”
Evan didn’t answer.
The elder looked toward the forest.
“Because that person asked the same question.”
Evan’s heart began beating faster.
“How long ago?”
“About twenty years.”
“Twenty years…”
The elder nodded.
“They asked about the World Gates.”
Evan stepped closer.
“What happened to them?”
The elder’s expression darkened.
“They disappeared.”
That night, Evan, Kaela, and Liora entered the forest.
They followed traces of strange mana until they discovered an old stone entrance beneath the roots of a massive tree.
An underground chamber lay below.
Inside were the seven missing villagers.
They were alive, but they were unconscious, surrounded by strange symbols.
And standing in the center of the chamber was someone Evan recognized.
Silver hair.
Calm expression.
Ronan.
Kaela immediately raised her weapon.
“You again.”
Ronan sighed.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t follow me.”
Evan stepped forward.
“You know about the Travelers.”
Ronan’s expression changed.
“How do you know that word?”
“Someone called me a Traveler.”
Ronan stared at him.
“Who?”
“The Guardian.”
Ronan went completely silent.
His eyes slowly moved toward Evan’s hand.
They widened.
“The Fourfold mark…”
Evan looked down.
“You know it?”
“I’ve only seen it in old records.”
“What records?”
Ronan shook his head.
“Records that shouldn’t exist.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ronan looked directly at Evan.
“Because the last person who carried that mark destroyed an entire kingdom.”
Silence filled the chamber.
Evan’s expression changed.
“What?”
Ronan continued.
“They called him the Fourfold Traveler.”
Kaela looked at Evan.
“Another person with four elements?”
Ronan nodded.
“Fire. Water. Lightning. Darkness.”
Evan stared at his hand.
“Who was he?”
“We don’t know his real name.”
“Then where did he go?”
Ronan looked toward the ancient symbols.
“Earth.”
Evan’s eyes widened.
“What?”
“He disappeared through a World Gate.”
Evan stepped forward.
“When?”
Ronan answered quietly.
“Three hundred years ago.”
Evan froze.
“Three hundred years…”
Ronan nodded.
“And that’s the problem.”
“What problem?”
“The records say the Fourfold Traveler died three hundred years ago.”
He pointed toward Evan.
“But the mark on your hand is exactly the same.”
Evan couldn’t speak.
Kaela looked between them.
“Are you saying Evan is connected to him?”
“I don’t know.”
Before anyone could say more—
RUMBLE!
The chamber shook.
The symbols around the room suddenly turned red.
Ronan’s expression changed.
“We have to leave.”
“Why?”
Ronan looked toward the ceiling.
“Because they found him.”
A deep voice echoed through the chamber.
“Fourfold Traveler.”
Evan froze.
That voice.
He had heard it before.
At the temple.
The Guardian.
But this wasn’t the Guardian.
The voice came from somewhere beyond the chamber.
“You carry the same power.”
Evan looked toward the entrance.
“Who are you?”
There was no answer.
Instead, a single black eye appeared in the darkness.
“You carry the same fate.”
The eye vanished.
Then—
BOOM!
The chamber exploded.
Kaela grabbed Evan’s arm.
“Run!”
They rushed toward the surface as the underground chamber collapsed behind them.
When they finally reached the village, Evan turned around.
Black flames were spreading through the forest.
Ronan stood beside him.
Evan looked at him.
“You’re coming to Arclight.”
Ronan frowned.
“Why?”
“Because you know something about the Fourfold Traveler.”
Ronan remained silent.
“And I’m going to find out who he was.”
Ronan looked toward the road.
“You won’t like what you find.”
Evan tightened his fist.
“I need the truth.”
After a long silence, Ronan finally nodded.
“Then we go to the Arclight Archive.”
Kaela looked at Evan.
“And if the records are wrong?”
Evan stared at the burning forest.
“Then someone changed them.”
Far away, beneath a mountain, Aurelion Veyr stood inside an ancient chamber.
A massive stone tablet floated before him.
Its surface displayed the image of a young man surrounded by four elements.
Aurelion slowly touched the image.
“The First Fourfold.”
A shadowy figure stood behind him.
“Should we tell him the truth?”
Aurelion shook his head.
“Not yet.”
“The boy will eventually discover it.”
“I know.”
Aurelion stared at the ancient image.
“The question isn’t whether Evan will discover the truth.”
He turned toward the darkness.
“The question is whether he will become the same person.”
The ancient tablet suddenly cracked.
Aurelion’s expression changed.
A single word appeared across the stone.
RETURN.
Aurelion stared at it.
For the first time, genuine concern appeared in his eyes.
“The Gate has awakened.”
The next morning, Evan, Kaela, Liora, and Ronan began their journey toward Arclight.
But Evan couldn’t stop thinking about what he had learned.
Three hundred years ago, someone from Earth had possessed the same four elements.
That person had entered the World of Unknown.
He had become known as the Fourfold Traveler.
And according to the records…
He had died.
Yet somehow—
Evan carried the same mark.
The mystery was no longer simply:
Why was Evan summoned?
Now there was a more frightening question.
What happened to the First Fourfold Traveler—and why is Evan following the same path?
The road to Arclight had begun.
And somewhere beyond the mountains…
Aurelion was waiting. i well release tomorrow chapter 9-12 make sure you well active my new release chapter enjoy the novel