Word spread faster than fire.
In the days that followed, travelers, scouts, and envoys arrived at the Heartland gates.
Not nobles.
Not lords.
Commoners.
Villagers.
Awakeners too poor to buy academy entries.
Broken families chased out by guild wars.
They came not to conquer,
but to belong.
The Oath Ceremony
Kaelen stood before the assembled crowds in the southern courtyard.
There were no great speeches.
No golden thrones.
No nobles preening for titles.
Only simple words.
"Swear to protect this land and its people," Kaelen said.
"And this land will protect you."
One by one, they came forward.
Hands on the cracked-crown banners.
Voices steady, even when trembling.
"I swear by my blood.
By my blade.
By my dream."
Each oath was recorded by the Heartland Nexus itself, binding the land and the people in Sovereign Writ.
Pathbreaker Expansion
Kaelen assigned new captains among the Pathbreakers:
Mira oversaw training for new archers.
Damon managed the growing wall defenses.
Selina opened healing clinics for the wounded settlers.
Slowly, brick by brick, a new city grew behind the Bastion's walls.
Kaelen watched it all silently.
Not with pride.
But with responsibility.
The weight of lives depending on him.
And he swore again, silently:
"I will not fail them.
Not here.
Not ever."