The city seemed exhausted after the chaotic movement of the previous night. The streets had reorganized themselves, but not into their original positions: it was as if the place had decided to adopt a more uncomfortable shape, like a body still adjusting after waking up. Even so, there was a strange silence that made it clear this was not rest, but vigilance.
Rai'kanna walked ahead, watching the buildings that now seemed to lean inward, forming a corridor far too long to be natural. Liriel observed the walls, noting symbols that appeared and disappeared as the light shifted. Elara and Vespera kept an alert pace, while Lyannis stayed close to me, gripping her spear as if expecting an ambush at any moment.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Vespera asked, breaking the tense silence.
"The resonant core," Liriel replied. "According to the map the collector gave us, it's in an ancient amphitheater. But I don't believe the map is complete."
"This city never gives anything for free," Elara murmured.
We continued through the narrow corridor until it abruptly opened into a circular plaza. However, the plaza did not seem solid. Its edges wavered slightly, as if they were overlapping layers trying to fit together. At the center stood a semicircular structure, with wide steps descending to a stage made of dark stone.
The amphitheater.
The feeling of being watched grew stronger.
"Looks like we've arrived," Rai'kanna said. "Takumi, how is the flame?"
I stepped forward. The flame inside me, which had been calm before, began to vibrate — like a frequency being activated by something invisible. It wasn't heat, nor pain. It was a strange kind of recognition.
"It's reacting," I replied.
"Then this is the place," Liriel murmured.
We descended the steps. Each step echoed as if the sounds were multiplied. And the echo returned different, distorted, almost like a response.
"This… isn't normal," Lyannis said, gripping my arm.
"Are the sounds alive?" Vespera asked.
"The amphitheater was built to store resonances," Liriel explained. "But something altered its function. Now it doesn't echo… it repeats feelings."
"Feelings?" Elara raised an eyebrow.
"You'll notice."
At the final step, the center of the stage revealed something unexpected: a surface that looked liquid, yet was solid, undulating slightly as if breathing. The flame inside me burned strongly, and the amphitheater responded immediately. A deep sound traveled through the air, like the opening note of a profound piece of music.
Rai'kanna stepped back. "Takumi, what did you do?"
"I just… breathed."
A second sound emerged, sharper. Then another, longer. It was as if the amphitheater were trying to imitate the flame. The vibration increased, and the undulating surface opened, revealing a pulsing blue light beneath.
Liriel opened the grimoire. "There is the core."
The pulsation intensified. And then, the walls of the amphitheater began to move. Not physically, but through vibration. The stones trembled like instruments tuning themselves. The entire stage transformed into a living resonance chamber.
That was when the first creature emerged.
From the sound.
The vibration condensed in the air, forming a transparent humanoid figure made entirely of sound waves. Every movement emitted a sharp noise that forced us to step back.
"They are materialized resonances!" Liriel shouted. "Be careful with the impact!"
The creature advanced, emitting a crack that split part of a step. Rai'kanna reacted with flaming wings, but the sound distorted the fire, bending it in another direction.
Elara tried an arrow, but the sound altered its trajectory.
Vespera tried to contain the impact with wind, but the air was split into irregular currents.
Lyannis attacked with her spear, but the creature vibrated, dodging without moving its body.
"My weapons can't hit!" she shouted.
"Because this isn't matter," Liriel said. "It's sound!"
Another creature formed on the opposite side, now deep and heavy. The ground boomed like a giant drum.
A third appeared, its vibration so high that it made my ears ring.
"The amphitheater is testing us," I murmured.
The flame inside me burned higher — and the amphitheater's vibration changed immediately. The creatures froze for a moment, as if listening.
"Takumi, your flame is controlling this," Rai'kanna said.
"Not controlling," I corrected. "Attracting."
The three creatures advanced at the same time.
I raised my sword. The flame reacted, not with force, but with rhythm. The metal vibrated slightly, as if tuning itself. The moment the first creature attacked, I spun the blade with precision, following the rhythm of the flame.
The creature exploded into sound waves that dissipated into the air.
"You harmonized with it!" Liriel shouted, far too excited for the situation.
The other two came immediately, and this time I could feel the vibration before the attack. I moved my body in the exact rhythm, striking the points of highest frequency. They unraveled in moments.
The amphitheater changed its vibration. The undulating surface opened even further, revealing a bright blue fragment at the center. It trembled like a heart beating out of rhythm.
"The resonant core," Liriel murmured.
I stepped down to the edge of the structure. The flame inside me pulsed at the same rhythm as the core, as if they were conversing through vibrations. Every second, the core changed color, shape, trying to find the correct frequency.
When I touched its edge, everything stopped.
No sound.
No echo.
No vibration.
A moment too silent to exist.
And then, the core synchronized with me.
The blue light became deep and intense, like a bottomless sea. The core released a single note — so pure that it sent shivers through everyone.
Rai'kanna approached. "Is this… dangerous?"
"The core is accepting Takumi," Liriel said. "It recognized the flame."
"And is that good?" Vespera asked.
"It depends," Liriel replied.
A new vibration ran through the amphitheater. It did not come from it.
It came from the city.
The surrounding structure trembled, as if the entire place had just witnessed something it was never meant to.
Elara looked at the surrounding buildings. "The city… reacted to the core?"
"No," Liriel said, carefully storing the artifact. "It reacted to Takumi carrying it."
Lyannis touched my shoulder, worried. "Does that mean the city knows where we are?"
"Worse," Liriel replied. "It knows who he is."
The wind shifted, carrying a distant murmur, like hundreds of doors closing at the same time.
Rai'kanna raised her wings. "We have to get out of here now."
Because the city, for the first time, did not seem confused.
It seemed… focused.
And focused on us.