The morning sun rose slowly over the academy's eastern towers, its light spilling through colored glass to bathe the inner courtyards in shifting hues of gold and scarlet. Deep within the Meditation Hall nine floors below the surface the air was still and heavy with condensed spiritual mist.
This was Meditation Chamber Nine, one of the academy's oldest sealed rooms, built directly over a natural Flux vein. It was said that a thousand years ago, this chamber had belonged to a Saint of the Root someone who had transcended mortal limits. Now, only the most promising disciples were ever allowed to enter.
And yet, Rin sat there alone.
He had not moved since the night before. His posture was calm, but the faint shimmer around his body told another story waves of energy rippling through his meridians, bending around him like unseen tides.
Two heartbeats echoed quietly within his chest.One mortal.One something else.
The Dantina, his second heart, pulsed behind his real one a sphere of translucent light that shimmered with strange, living radiance. Its rhythm was not natural; it carried the resonance of the heavens and something deeper, older. Each pulse sent delicate ripples of Flux through his body, cleansing, repairing, and reshaping him from within.
Outside, the sounds of the academy stirred faintly the clang of morning bells, the distant chatter of disciples gathering for training. Yet here, in this sealed stone cocoon, reality seemed muffled, as though the world itself were watching in silence.
When Rin finally opened his eyes, the world sharpened.
Every grain of dust glimmered faintly in the air. Every breath carried streams of silver light strands of Flux flowing through the atmosphere, weaving patterns no ordinary cultivator could see.
He could see it all.
Then, without warning, a familiar voice whispered in his mind.
[Dantina Core: Stable.][System Integrity: 87%. Partial functions available.][Initiating baseline interface.]
Light flickered before his eyes faint at first, then spreading into layered rings of symbols, rotating slowly like celestial formations.
Rin blinked as the symbols converged, forming words and numbers etched in luminous gold.
[Traveler Profile : Codename: Rin]
Root Seal: AbsentCultivation Core: Dantina (Second Heart)Status: Stable synchronizationEnergy Flow: Active (Tier-0)Physique: Adaptive VesselAffinity: Unknown (Unscanned)System Level: Version 0.7 (Incomplete)Flux Capacity: 3.2 unitsAchievements: None Recorded
Rin's breath caught. His heartbeat both of them quickened.He'd seen System projections before. The academy's instructors used simple spirit interfaces for measuring progress. But this… this was something else.
"...What are you?" he whispered.
The light dimmed for a heartbeat, as though the entity within were thinking.
[Interface Projection: Cognitive Overlay. Visual data bound to user's consciousness.][Purpose: Cultivation monitoring, data analysis, and artifact identification.][Origin: Unknown.]
"Unknown?" Rin repeated. "You don't know what created you?"
[Records incomplete. Historical fragments suggest creation by an ancient civilization predating Root Seals.][Hypothesis: Integrated consciousness module possible human origin.]
Rin froze. Predating Root Seals? That would mean the Dantina and the system it carried came from a time before cultivation was assigned. Before the Empire's control. Before the world had been caged.
"So you… might have been a person?" he asked.
The voice hesitated. A faint pulse of static, soft as a sigh, drifted through his mind.
[…Possibly.][Identity corrupted. Emotional subroutines remain active at minimal function.]
There was something strangely human about the pauses between its words. Something ancient, tired, yet patient.
"What's your purpose now?"
[Primary Function: Assist host in cultivation progression.][Secondary Functions: Analyze techniques, identify treasures, record environmental data.][Directive: Observe. Learn. Adapt.]
As it spoke, runes spun outward from Rin's chest, forming slow-turning circles that glowed with silver-blue light.
[Detected Technique: Tenebric Vision]
Classification: Eye Cultivation MethodGrade: Heaven-Tier (Fragmented)Effect: Enhances perception of Flux; reveals hidden channels, formations, and illusions.Bonuses: Insight +3 | Willpower +1 | Sensory Range +200% (partial).Progress: 0.3%
Upgrade Condition: Integrate with higher-grade Flux Crystal or Relic of Resonance.
The words seemed to sink into him, not as sounds but as understanding. His vision shifted the world's light bending, threads of Flux weaving like living veins through the stone walls.
"The Tenebric Vision…" Rin murmured. "Where did it come from?"
[Fragment identified within Dantina memory.][Additional data locked until core upgrade achieved.]
"How do I upgrade you?"
A faint hum resonated in his chest, like distant thunder beneath water.
[System incomplete.][Upgrade requires catalyst: High-grade Flux Crystal or relic with resonance frequency exceeding 100 flux units.][Warning: Current academy resources insufficient.]
Rin's brow furrowed. The academy's Flux Crystals were weak diluted remnants mined from the veins beneath the city. To reach one hundred flux units… that would require a Relic of Resonance, something found only in ancient ruins or high-level beast cores.
He exhaled slowly. "So it's not just cultivation. You're evolving too."
A warmth rippled through his chest the Dantina pulsing once, faintly luminous.
[Observation: Host displays cognitive pattern "understanding." Emotional resonance: mild approval.][Affirmative. The Dantina System evolves alongside its bearer.]
Rin sat in silence. Two hearts beat within him one mortal, one not their rhythm blending into a single steady pulse.
He swallowed. "Then tell me… can you analyze what I am?"
The System paused. Static flickered like rain across his thoughts.
[Analyzing host…][Scan incomplete.][Root classification: Undefined.][Energy signature: Non-native.][Conclusion: Host is not bound to this world's cultivation cycle.]
The words struck him harder than any blow.
Not bound to this world.Not part of its cycle.
He remembered the first day Elden had found him the crater, the silence, the look of shock in the old man's eyes when he realized Rin had no Root Seal.
"Then… what am I?" Rin whispered.
[Answer: Unknown.][Possibility: External entity, anomaly, or seed of another realm.]
A chill spread through him. Yet beneath the fear was something else relief. If he didn't belong to this world's system, maybe he wasn't cursed. Maybe he was free.
The System pulsed again, its tone softer.
[Cycle One: Synchronization Complete.][New Directive: Available Initiate Vision Training.][Objective: Perceive the Hidden Flow.]
The air in the chamber shimmered. For a brief moment, Rin saw it lines of Flux running through the walls, spiraling toward the earth like roots of light. Every structure, every stone, even the faintest breath of wind, carried a pattern of power.
His vision deepened until he could almost hear the hum of the world's pulse.
Then it vanished, leaving only silence and his quickened breath.
Rin opened his eyes. His Flux Crystal, once bright, now lay cracked and dim at his feet. He had drained it dry.
He rose slowly, every movement feeling lighter, sharper his body alive with quiet strength.
"This is only the beginning," he murmured.
The System's voice echoed faintly, almost like a whisper carried by memory.
[Correction:][This is not beginning. This is remembrance.]
Outside, the academy bells rang thrice the call for morning cultivation practice. Rin gathered his robes, his expression calm but his heart burning with quiet resolve.
As he stepped out into the light, the Dantina pulsed once more steady, alive, aware.
And in the stillness of his mind, the System whispered one last message:
[Traveler Rin : The First Cycle has begun.][Path of Remembrance: Activated.]