These two chapters are a special treat for this weekend , Enjoy! 😋😋😋
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The morning light spilled through the narrow window of Kaelen's quarters, catching the faint dust motes in the air.He hadn't slept.
Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't dare.The sigil's glow had faded hours ago — not completely, but enough for him to know that the network had reset. It was back to watching, humming faintly like an old habit.
But now, when he drew in a breath, he could feel it differently.The rhythm was slightly off. Its pulse stuttered every few cycles, like a heartbeat skipping once every dozen beats.
He smiled faintly.
That meant the interference he'd created had worked.
He stretched, the movement smooth, controlled. His aura remained calm and disciplined — the very image of an obedient disciple. The kind of man no elder would suspect.
Far above, in the Obsidian Hall, the Council gathered under the morning sun.Light streamed through the crystal canopy, refracting across the black stone floor, throwing golden streaks against the assembled figures.
Elder Solen stood near the center, his expression composed but his eyes sharp. Across from him, Elder Varin leaned back slightly in his chair, arms folded, his gaze wandering the air as if lost in thought.
A series of runic projections floated above them — threads of light forming the map of the sect's Surveillance Lattice. Each node pulsed with steady golden rhythm.
Except one.
"That one again," Solen murmured, pointing. The fifth node from the eastern ridge — a faint, erratic flicker breaking the pattern."The same sector that showed fluctuations last week."
Elder Ryn, the artificer in charge of maintaining the formation, adjusted his lenses. "I've already checked the channels. There's no external breach — no evidence of sabotage from outside."
Varin's voice was low. "So it comes from within."
Solen's gaze flicked toward him. "You sound unsurprised."
"Because you forget," Varin replied mildly, "that humans are more unpredictable than arrays. You can test circuits a thousand times, Elder Solen, but never a soul."
Ryn frowned, not following the undercurrent in Varin's tone. "It's possible a disciple's qi is interfering. Perhaps a fluctuation in alignment. The lattice is sensitive to personal resonance shifts."
Solen's hand brushed his beard. "Name?"
Ryn hesitated. "Disciple Kaelen Virelle."
The air grew quiet.
Varin's eyes flicked toward the projection — not alarmed, not surprised, only slightly narrowed in thought.Solen exhaled softly. "Again, it's him."
Varin's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "Curious, isn't it? The one you were so certain had nothing left to hide."
"Do not twist my words," Solen said calmly. "I only said he was efficient, not transparent."
"Ah," Varin murmured, "a difference of degree, then."
The tension between them was subtle but old — like two sculptors shaping the same stone from opposite sides.
Finally, Solen turned to Ryn. "Strengthen the synchronization on that node. Double the pulse frequency and log every irregularity. If the pattern repeats…"
"You'll what?" Varin asked softly.
Solen's eyes met his. "Then we speak to him directly."
Down in the outer courtyards, Kaelen made his way through the training fields. The morning air was cool, the scent of dew still clinging to the grass. Disciples sparred nearby, their wooden blades clashing in rhythmic bursts.
He watched them quietly. Joren was among them again, his flame aura blazing brightly under the sun — controlled, proud, dangerous.A small crowd had gathered to watch him train.
Kaelen didn't join them. He just kept walking.
He had learned to read attention like heat — where it burned, where it cooled, and where it could be safely avoided. Today, the warmth of interest wasn't on him. That was good.
He moved toward the outer field where the weaker disciples practiced — those who'd failed to advance or lacked powerful backers. The shadows of the mountain wall fell here most of the day, leaving the space cooler, quieter.
Perfect.
He set his satchel down and knelt beside the dirt path, drawing faint lines with a sliver of jade. They looked random — meaningless scratches to anyone else.But to him, each line marked the sigil's energy pathways as they ran beneath the sect grounds. He'd memorized the entire network through observation alone.
Now he was experimenting.
He pressed his palm to the earth. Faint qi rippled outward — not enough to alert the lattice, just a whisper brushing through the formation's veins.When it touched the nearest node, he felt resistance — a tightening, heavier than before.
So they'd noticed.
A small, wry smile crossed his face. Of course they did.
He sat back on his heels, watching the faint tremor ripple through the ground. They'd increased the pulse frequency, trying to pin him down.
It wouldn't work — not yet. But it meant his margin for error had narrowed.
That night, back in the Council chambers, the golden web pulsed faster now — a steady rhythmic pattern, with one node flaring irregularly every few cycles.
Solen's frown deepened."Still unbalanced," he said. "Even with double synchronization."
Elder Ryn hesitated. "It's strange, sir. It's almost as if something inside the node adjusts itself every time we recalibrate. Like it's… learning."
Varin looked up at that word. "Learning, you say?"
Ryn swallowed. "Yes, Elder. It's adapting to the correction."
Solen's gaze turned sharp. "That's impossible."
Varin's tone was quiet, almost amused. "Or maybe it simply means your pupil isn't as ordinary as you believed."
"Enough." Solen's voice carried steel now. "I'll speak to Kaelen myself before the end of the week. If there's something irregular about his qi, I'll uncover it."
Varin smiled faintly. "I look forward to that."
Back in his chamber, Kaelen sat once again before his darkened lantern, the faint echo of the lattice hum still lingering in his ears.He could feel the tightening net, the increased pulse pressing faintly at his aura.
He knew what it meant. They'd noticed.
But instead of fear, what he felt was exhilaration — a quiet, controlled thrill in his chest.
So the game begins.
He reached inward, brushing against his Soul Palace, where the faint ember he'd hidden days ago flickered like a secret heartbeat. He fed it a trace of energy, feeling it respond — warm, alive, growing stronger.
The sigil's glow overhead flickered again — steady, then dim.
Kaelen opened his eyes, calm and unhurried."I see you," he whispered into the stillness."But you'll never see me."