The rumble shaking the stone chamber deepened, spreading through the floor like the breath of something ancient waking beneath the earth. Ash drifted from the ceiling in thin gray flakes, falling quietly around Aras and Lira.
Lira stiffened. "Too close," she whispered.
Aras pushed himself upright, his hand pressed against the wall for balance. The burn in his chest—where the gray light had struck him—pulsed again, the ache growing sharper.
"What's coming?" he asked.
"The Ashbound," Lira said, moving toward the narrow passage ahead. "Hunters of the deep. They collect the fallen… and especially those who've been marked."
Aras's hand instinctively moved to his chest.The mark beneath his skin glowed faintly.
"Marked by what?"
Lira pointed at him with a grim expression."By that. Hide it if you can. If they see it—no one comes back."
But it was already too late.
The pulse beneath Aras's ribs suddenly surged — bright, hot, alive.
"Not now," Lira hissed.
Aras's breath hitched."I—I can't control it."
The light inside him pushed outward, ignoring his will entirely.And then…
Ash particles in the air began to swirl, rising as though caught in an unseen vortex.They twisted together, forming symbols, shapes—
Words.
Lira didn't see it.Only Aras's eyes widened as the message formed.
[SYSTEM AWAKENING — ASHFLARE SEED DETECTED]
Core Type:Ashflare Seed(Weak Form — Fragile, Dormant, Growing)
Light Fragment Activation: 3%
STATS INITIALIZED
Vitality: 12
Force: 9
Resilience: 15
Perception: 14
Reaction: 11
Corruption Tolerance: 10
Inner Light Control: 4
Light Capacity: 3
WARNING:Your light awakens faster than your strength.This imbalance attracts the Ashbound.
The symbols broke apart, dissolving back into drifting ash.
Aras staggered backward, breath catching in his throat.
"Aras!" Lira grabbed his arm. "What happened? What did you see?"
"I… saw something. A message. It called me—Ashflare Seed."
Lira froze.Her eyes widened with a fear Aras did not expect.
"That's impossible," she whispered."The Ashflare only appears to… no. No. Not here. Not now."
Before Aras could question her,a rhythmic clicking echoed through the passage behind them—
tok… tok… tok…like bone tapping stone.
Lira's face blanched."They've locked onto you."
Another pulse of light flared under Aras's skin.
"No!" Lira hissed. "If the mark reacts again, they'll rip through the walls."
A distorted silhouette slid into view at the far end of the corridor—tall, thin, wrong.Ash clung to it like a second skin.
Aras felt a cold breath crawl down his spine.
"Run," Lira whispered."Run now. Your light is calling them."
The Ashbound hissed—a sound like dead air scraping through a broken flute.
Aras didn't need more encouragement.
He and Lira bolted into the darkness.
Behind them, the Ashbound began to follow—and the tunnels trembledas if the mountain itself recognized the Ashflare Seedand hungered for it.