The second sigil—wind—shimmered in response to Alex's touch. Mana surged through his veins, resonating with the ancient carvings embedded in the stone. Unlike fire, which responded to his fury, wind required calm—focus.
Alex closed his eyes.
The memory of his father's teachings flickered—standing atop a desolate cliff, guiding him in secret.
"Feel the current, not with your hands, but with your breath. Mana isn't forced—it listens."
A deep breath. A pulse of mana. The wind sigil clicked into place.
Another clang. Another step closer.
"Two down," Soren muttered. "The deeper we go, the more unstable this place feels."
Veridia pressed her hand to the wall, absorbing the etched memories. "It's not just instability. The deeper layers were never meant to be disturbed… at least, not by Saints or humans."
"Then what were they meant for?" Nyssa asked.
Veridia didn't answer.
They advanced into the next chamber—a vast cathedral-like space, its ceiling lost to shadow. At the center stood a monument—half-ruined, half-immaculate. Floating above it were six orbs of mana, slowly rotating. The third sigil—earth—rested beneath them, embedded in a slab of crystallized stone.
As they stepped forward, a voice echoed—not in sound, but in thought.
"Who carries the burden of both bloodlines?"
Alex froze. The voice was not familiar, yet it knew him.
"You are fractured. Divided. One foot in subjugation, the other in rebellion. State your purpose."
Alex stepped forward, facing the monument. "To free the enslaved. To shatter the illusion. I carry both lines, but I serve neither."
The orbs pulsed. The chamber shook.
"Then bear witness."
Light flooded the room.
Visions tore into their minds—fragmented memories not their own.
Saints standing before the S-Wall as it was forged—casting a ritual to suppress mana on Earth. Humans kneeling, unaware their freedom was stolen.
The ancient civilization—powerful, luminous—falling not to war, but to betrayal from within.
The Nameless Horror—chained deep beneath the sixth continent—watching, waiting.
When the vision faded, Alex was on his knees, gasping. Nyssa steadied him, equally shaken.
"They didn't suppress mana just to rule," she whispered. "They feared something. Something in Zeta."
Soren's eyes were wide. "And they buried it… using the S-Wall to isolate humanity."
Alex stood slowly. "They feared what humanity could awaken… what we could become."
With renewed purpose, he stepped toward the earth sigil. Stone rose to meet him, forming a platform. He placed his hand on the sigil.
It accepted him.
Clang.
Three down.
Behind them, the monument crumbled—its message delivered.
"Three more," Veridia murmured. "But I wonder… if these are just locks—what are they truly guarding?"
Alex didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the hallway ahead, where darkness coiled like mist. The next chamber called to him. And within it, something stirred.
Not hostile.
Not monstrous.
But familiar.