Greyhaven greeted them with salt and sunlight.
It wasn't the broken ruin they'd left behind but a city that breathed—streets humming with trade, children chasing gulls across the piers, black-haired dockhands singing to the rhythm of rope and crate.
The two men they'd saved from the shadow attack limped beside Kael and Elira. One clutched his bandaged arm, the other a cracked sword hilt. They looked exhausted but alive, and that was enough.
A gate warden stepped out. "Purpose of visit?"
"Escort," Kael said, steady. "These two need a healer. We're heading to the Guild."
The injured man nodded quickly. "They pulled us out of that nightmare. They saved us."
Recognition flickered across the guard's face; rumor had already run faster than horses. "Guild's east rise. Keep your weapons where I can see them. Don't make me regret this."
They passed through the archway into a swirl of smells—spiced bread, seaweed, lamp oil. Fishermen shouted prices while students in pale robes scribbled diagrams on the stone railings. Elira felt her shoulders loosen for the first time in days.
Mira looked up the slope. "We should register. If we're going to take proper jobs, we'll need access and supplies."
Kael smirked. "And a name on the books beats 'those three with trouble.'"
Elira gave a small laugh. "It's also proof we're… still here."
The Adventurer's Guild crowned the hill, its slate roof glittering under late sun. Inside, the air cooled, carrying the scent of ink and metal polish.
A receptionist glanced up. "New registrations?"
"Yes," Elira said. "The three of us. And these two need treatment."
"They'll be seen first," the woman assured, ringing a small bell. Two attendants hurried the rescued adventurers toward an infirmary door. "You three, come with me."
Behind them, Haco lingered near a column, hood low. "Not me," he said before Elira could speak. "My name's already in their ledgers. Pretend I'm a ghost walking beside you."
The receptionist blinked but nodded. "Very well, sir… ghost."
The testing hall smelled faintly of chalk and scorched wood. Three crystal pillars lined its center; a few guild officers watched from the rail above.
Kael went first, pressing a gauntleted palm to the crystal. Brown surged through it, laced with thin gold sparks.
"Earth and lightning," the examiner said. "Strong combination—solid, explosive."
Kael rolled his shoulders. "That's me."
Mira followed. Her resonance flared crimson, cooled to blue, then froze into white; a thread of green wound between them.
"Fire, water, ice—with grass traces," the examiner murmured. "Volatile balance."
Mira grinned. "I call it personality."
Then Elira stepped forward. She set her hand against the pillar, and light burst outward—golden first, then silver-white with streaks of wind and water flowing beneath. The air rippled, gentle yet immense.
"Wind, water, grass, light," the examiner said in a hush. "Purity this high… rare."
He didn't see the faint shadow that brushed the light's edge, but Haco did. His eyes narrowed slightly, saying nothing.
Next came sparring—wooden blades and limited magic.
Kael's armored strikes shook the floor; Mira spun fire into steam and ice, laughter in every motion; Elira's swordwork was disciplined, each step guided by invisible wind.
When it ended, sweat glazed their faces. The examiner's quill scratched fast. "Qualified. Expect monitoring—talent draws notice."
They received small metal tags engraved with their names. Elira turned hers in her hand, feeling the weight of something official, something alive.
Outside, evening light poured over the harbor. The smell of sea salt tangled with roasted nuts from the street vendors below.
"So that's it?" Haco asked at last, joining them on the steps. "All that for a stamp and a tag?"
"It's how people start," Elira said.
"For most," Haco replied, folding his arms. "But if you only wanted to measure strength, why use their toys instead of your own interface?"
Mira blinked. "Our what?"
"You mean there's another way?" Kael asked.
Haco studied them—truly studied—and his expression shifted from curiosity to quiet disbelief. "You really don't know." He sighed, brushing hair from his eyes. "Humans have forgotten."
He lifted a hand, traced a tiny cross in the air, and tapped the center. A shimmer unfolded before him, pale light rippling like water. They glimpsed only Wind and Void before the glyphs faded.
"It's called the Axis Veil," he said. "Your inner interface. The crystals copy its shadow; they're not the source. Touch the axis within, not the air. Try it."
They mimicked his motion. Nothing—then a flicker.
Elira gasped as a translucent panel formed before her eyes:
Elira Veylan — Level 27
Attributes: Wind / Water / Grass / Light / Dark
Skills: Swordsmanship Lv.143 | Defensive Arts Lv.96
Void Skill: Consecrate (Lv. 1 / ??)
Status: Stable — Awakening in Progress
Her breath caught. "It knows everything."
Mira's panel flared beside hers:
Mira Solenne — Level 29
Attributes: Fire / Water / Ice / Grass
Skills: Magic Fusion Lv.122 | Alchemy Lv.71
Void Skill: Magic Fusion (Lv. 122)
Status: Overlapping — Unstable Growth (Tuning Recommended)
Mira gave a short laugh. "Figures. Half my 'tricks' were just Magic Fusion running wild."
Kael's panel appeared next, solid and sharp:
Kael Dravern — Level 28
Attributes: Earth / Lightning
Skills: Combat Technique Lv.150 | Reinforcement Lv.84
Void Skill: Pulse Vault (Lv. —)
Stance: Grounded — Dormant Potential
Kael grinned. "At least it calls me what I am. Grounded's fine."
Mira closed her panel, glancing at Haco. "And you?"
He only smiled faintly. "Some things don't need an audience."
Elira looked back at her own screen, the word Dark beside Light like twin stars in one sky. "If the Veil is in everyone," she asked, "why did people stop using it?"
"They didn't," Haco said, eyes fixed on the horizon. "Someone made your kind forget. Memory breaks easier than bone."
Kael frowned. "Whoever that was… they're long gone, right?"
"Maybe," Haco murmured. "Maybe not. Deeds outlive the hands that made them."
Mira folded her arms. "Then we keep ours clean."
Elira shut her Veil last. The icons dimmed, dissolving into the sea breeze. "We use it," she said quietly, "and we choose who gets to see with us."
From the infirmary behind them came faint voices—the rescued men talking to healers, laughing weakly. The sound made the world feel possible again.
Haco's cloak shifted in the wind. "Keep your lines straight," he said. "The Veil will keep you honest."
The tide rolled in, gulls circled the masts, and Greyhaven kept moving—unaware that somewhere between its light and shadow, old memory had started to wake.