[Location: Shrine of Aethra – Midday]
[System Activity: Passive Observation Mode]
[Ren's Condition: Qi Stabilizing | Spirit Root: Cooling Phase]
Ren stirred the embers of their small fire. The smell of ash and wet moss clung to everything. Training had left him aching in places he didn't know existed. For the first time in days, the world was quiet.
Aria sat nearby, her sword across her lap. It wasn't decorative—Ren now understood that every groove in its spine was etched with meaning. Regret, probably.
She was watching the horizon, distant and still.
Ren broke the silence. "What did you mean yesterday? About failing your first pact?"
She didn't look at him. "It's not a story I tell."
"I'm not asking for sympathy. I'm asking because I need to know who's teaching me."
A pause.
Then she sighed—and began.
Five Years Ago – Northern Wastes, Province of Solcrin
Aria had once been like him. No system. No shortcut. Just a prodigy with a rare spirit root—the Mirror Orchid, known for perfect mimicry and deep emotional resonance. She had been the youngest initiate of the Glimmering Veil Sect, chosen at ten, cultivating by eleven, and bonded to a Spirit Beast by thirteen.
That bond was called a Pact—the sacred covenant between soul and spirit.
Hers had been with a creature named Veyr, a Moonshade Lynx. Graceful, loyal, and fiercely protective. Together, they were rising stars.
"We were unstoppable," Aria murmured. "Until we weren't."
Ren leaned forward. "What happened?"
"War."
A rival sect, the Gravelight Order, attacked Solcrin under a false pretense. They weren't after territory. They were after souls. Specifically, highly refined cultivator pacts, which could be extracted and corrupted into spirit weapons.
During the siege of the Veil's sanctuary, Aria had been ordered to flee with the young disciples. She refused.
She and Veyr held the western pass alone for six hours.
They lost.
"I was forced to sever the pact," Aria whispered, voice tightening. "To prevent Veyr from being corrupted. Severing a pact is like tearing your own soul in half—and surviving long enough to feel every splinter of it."
Ren was silent. The fire cracked.
"What happened to the others?"
"Dead. The sect fell. I've been rogue ever since."
Back to Present
Ren didn't know what to say. The System in his head had always spoken of power—but not the price.
"How old were you?" he asked.
"Fourteen."
"...Shit."
Aria smirked faintly. "Exactly."
She stood and stretched, and the usual stoicism returned to her posture, but now Ren understood—it was armor. Pain wrapped in discipline.
"I didn't tell you this for pity," she said. "I told you because this world doesn't reward potential. It devours it. Cultivation isn't a ladder—it's a battlefield. And it remembers the weak."
Ren nodded. "Then let's make it remember us for the right reasons."
For the first time, she offered him a genuine smile.
"Good. Because training resumes at dusk."
Later that Night – System Log [Hidden Access Unlocked]
[Host Mental State: Syncing with Secondary Entity – "Aria Vale"]
[New Trait Unlocked: Shared Trauma Link]
[Effect: Increases soul resonance with compatible allies. Allows for temporary Pact-Like connections.]
[Warning: Trait is emotionally volatile. Can backfire under duress.]
[Recommendation: Seek a True Pact of your own.]