Solari Crest seemed brighter when they returned. The plaza fountain sparkled under the morning sun, and the streets were fuller now, packed with new players wandering in groups. Vendors called out to them cheerfully, offering starter gear and maps. The guild hall doors were wide open, with banners fluttering in the breeze.
Everything looked normal.
That was what made it feel wrong.
Selene stayed close to Zyren as they walked, her gaze sharp and restless. She looked at the rooftops, the crowd, the shadows under the trees. Her hand never drifted far from her bow.
Zyren noticed it, but he did not comment.
He understood her tension.
The hall had changed something in her.
It had changed something in him too.
They moved through the plaza until they reached the training grounds at the edge of town. A wide field of packed soil spread out behind a low wooden fence. NPC instructors stood near practice dummies, showing new players how to swing, shoot, or cast their first spells. Small groups of players were already sparring, laughing as they learned the rhythm of combat in this world.
Zyren watched in silence for a moment.
The way weapons moved here felt different.
Weight felt real.
Momentum mattered.
Even a simple training slash carried impact.
Selene leaned slightly toward him.
"You should at least equip something," she said quietly. "You cannot walk north with empty hands."
Zyren nodded once.
"Show me what you recommend."
Selene looked surprised by the trust in his tone, then she softened.
"There is a basic arming stall near the guild hall," she said. "I can guide you there. But first, you need to choose a starter weapon. Even if your class is hidden, you still need a base fighting style."
Zyren glanced at the practice dummies.
"I prefer a blade."
Selene nodded.
"Then we will get you a simple sword."
They turned to leave the field, but before they could take more than a few steps, a tall instructor NPC approached them. His armor was plain and bronze colored, covered in scratches from years of training. His face carried a stern calm.
"New adventurers," he said. "You look like you have questions."
Selene opened her mouth to speak, but Zyren answered first.
"We are heading north soon. What should we know about the road"
The instructor studied Zyren. His eyes narrowed slightly in a way that felt too focused.
"The north road is quiet for beginners," he said. "But not today."
Zyren did not react.
Selene did.
"Why not today"
The instructor lowered his voice.
"Because the town has felt tremors since dawn. The kind that only come when a mythborn presence stirs. The guards are uneasy. The priests have been silent. Even the root birds flew out of the valley."
Selene's fingers tightened on her bow strap.
"What kind of presence"
The instructor hesitated.
"I do not understand it fully," he said. "But in this world, tremors mean something is waking. And when something wakes, it seeks a reason."
His gaze returned to Zyren.
"You should not be walking alone."
Zyren held his eyes.
"We are not."
The instructor nodded slowly.
"Good."
Then he turned away as if suddenly disinterested, returning to the practice line without another word.
Selene watched him leave.
"That felt like a warning meant for you," she murmured.
Zyren kept walking.
"It was."
They moved back toward the guild hall.
On the way, Zyren noticed something else. NPCs looked at him a second too long before turning away. The smiles on their faces were bright, but the eyes behind those smiles were not. Their pupils trembled. Their breath caught. Their bodies stiffened like prey sensing danger.
Selene noticed as well.
"This town keeps reacting to you," she said softly.
Zyren lowered his voice so no players nearby could hear.
"I think the system is doing something to them."
Selene frowned.
"You mean the system is forcing them to notice you"
"I mean the world itself notices me," Zyren replied. "Even if players cannot."
Selene did not argue.
She only looked unsettled.
They reached the arming stall beside the guild hall. A blacksmith NPC stood behind a wooden counter, his arms thick and his beard braided with thin iron threads. A row of starter weapons hung behind him.
"Welcome," he said cheerfully. "Looking for gear to begin your legend"
Zyren stepped forward.
"A sword."
The blacksmith nodded and pulled out a basic iron blade with a simple leather grip.
"Light, balanced, made for beginners," he said.
Zyren took it and tested the weight.
It felt right.
Not special.
Not rare.
But honest.
He strapped it to his waist.
Selene picked up a few basic arrows from the counter and checked their handling, then nodded in approval. She paid for her supplies without hesitation.
As they turned away, the blacksmith watched Zyren.
His cheerful smile faded just slightly.
Then he leaned forward and spoke quietly, fast enough that only Zyren could hear.
"Do not trust every priest you meet, bearer."
Zyren paused.
Selene turned.
"What did he say"
Zyren kept his voice calm.
"Nothing important."
The blacksmith went back to his bright smile immediately, greeting the next set of players as if he had not spoken at all.
Selene studied Zyren's face.
"You are hiding things from me."
Zyren met her gaze.
"I am protecting you."
Selene blinked, caught off guard by his honesty. She looked away for a moment, then nodded slowly.
"All right," she whispered. "But do not push me too far away. If I am walking with you, I need to understand the danger."
Zyren did not answer with words.
He only inclined his head once.
They left the stall and moved toward the north gate.
The closer they got, the more Zyren felt the pressure again. Not just eyes this time. A presence in motion. Something sliding across the edge of the town like a shadow moving beneath water.
The guards at the gate were more alert than before. Their hands stayed close to their weapons. Their stances were tighter. Their eyes scanned the horizon again and again.
One guard raised a hand as Zyren approached.
"Leaving town already"
"Yes," Zyren said.
The guard looked him over, then paused in a way that felt almost like fear.
"Take the main road," he said. "Do not step into the forest line. If you hear anything calling your name, ignore it."
Selene's expression darkened.
She had heard nothing of that kind of warning before.
Zyren nodded once.
"Understood."
They stepped through the gate.
The open land beyond Solari Crest stretched wide and bright. Shallow hills rolled toward the horizon, broken by clusters of trees and faint ruins that poked from the earth like old bones.
A calm road of packed dirt led north.
Grass swayed on either side.
Selene walked slightly behind Zyren, watching every movement in the sky.
"What did the guard mean by calling your name," she asked.
Zyren kept his eyes forward.
"I do not know yet."
Selene frowned.
"That is not comforting."
Zyren almost smiled.
Almost.
Before he could answer, the wind changed.
The warm breeze that had followed them out of the town thinned, then turned cold. The grass bent in one direction. Not from natural wind, but from pressure.
Selene stopped.
"You feel that," she said.
Zyren nodded.
A tremor moved under their feet.
Not the soft tremor from earlier.
This one was deeper.
Heavier.
The road ahead darkened slightly, as if light itself pulled away from a point farther north.
A faint howl drifted across the fields.
Not loud.
Not close.
But sharp enough to make the air tremble.
Selene drew an arrow slowly.
"What is that"
Zyren unsheathed his basic sword.
"I think the tremor found its reason."
The grass on their left flattened suddenly, forming a widening path. Something large was moving through it fast, charging toward them without showing its full body.
Selene took a quick breath, lifting her bow.
"Stay behind me," she said.
Zyren stepped beside her.
"We fight together."
The flattened path reached the road. The grass exploded upward in a burst of dirt and torn roots as a creature emerged.
A wolf.
But not a normal one.
Its body was large, nearly the size of a horse. Its fur was black with streaks of silver light running like veins across its shoulders and spine. Its eyes burned white, empty and sharp. A faint mist rose from its mouth with every breath, cold enough to frost the air.
A divine beast.
Or something close to it.
The wolf lowered its head and stared at Zyren.
Selene felt the shift instantly.
"It is looking at you," she whispered.
Zyren held the wolf's gaze.
The wolf took a step forward. The ground cracked lightly under its paw. The silver veins along its fur pulsed once.
Then it spoke.
Not with sound.
With a pressure that slid into Zyren's mind.
Bearer.
Zyren's body stiffened for a heartbeat.
Selene's arrow trembled.
"It is speaking," she said.
"It is not supposed to do that," Zyren answered.
The wolf growled low and began to circle them slowly, never breaking eye contact with Zyren. Its movements were smooth and deliberate, like a hunter testing the air.
Selene tracked it with her bow.
"If it lunges, I shoot."
Zyren's grip tightened on his sword.
"Wait."
Selene glanced at him.
"Wait for what"
Zyren watched the wolf carefully.
It was not attacking.
It was measuring him.
The wolf took another slow step closer.
A quiet ripple of darkness moved across the ground from its paws.
The crown inside Zyren pulsed in response.
Cold silence spread through his chest.
He understood instinctively that this was a test.
Not from players.
Not from NPCs.
From the world.
Zyren stepped forward once.
Selene's breath caught.
"Zyren, do not."
He did not stop.
The wolf lowered its body, muscles coiling.
Zyren kept walking until he was within striking distance.
He held his sword low, not threatening.
The wolf growled again.
Bearer.
Show.
Zyren felt the meaning.
Show that he could stand.
Show that he could carry the crown without flinching.
Show that he was not prey.
He inhaled slowly.
Then reached inward.
The anti divine essence stirred.
A calm darkness, held tight.
He did not unleash it fully.
He only let a thin veil rise from his chest.
A faint black and silver aura flowed around his sword like smoke caught in moonlight.
The wolf froze.
Its ears lifted.
Its eyes widened slightly.
Then it lowered its head, not in submission, but in acknowledgement.
Selene stared in shock.
"What did you just do"
Zyren did not answer immediately.
He watched the wolf.
It stepped back two paces.
The silver veins dimmed.
Then it turned its head toward the north.
A path in the grass opened again, this time leading away from them.
Before it vanished into the field, the wolf sent one final pressure into Zyren's mind.
North.
Court.
Eyes.
Then it disappeared into the grass as quickly as it had arrived.
The wind softened again.
The light returned.
Selene lowered her bow slowly, her expression a mix of awe and fear.
"That beast was not here to kill us," she said.
"No," Zyren replied. "It was here to announce something."
"Announce what"
Zyren looked toward the distant hills.
"That the gods are starting to notice me."
Selene swallowed softly.
"And now"
Zyren sheathed his sword.
"Now we keep walking north."
Selene stepped beside him again, closer than before.
"Zyren," she said quietly. "Whatever you are carrying… do not carry it alone. If the world is coming for you, then I will be beside you when it arrives."
Zyren looked at her for a long moment.
He saw no fear in her eyes now.
Only resolve.
He nodded once.
"All right."
They resumed their journey up the road.
Behind them Solari Crest shone under the sun as if nothing had happened.
Ahead of them, the north waited.
And far above, beyond the clouds of Aetherra, a ripple passed through the Divine Court.
Somewhere on a throne of storm and sky, a god opened his eyes and felt a quiet sting of unease.