Outskirts of Brevia – Forest Trail, Morning Light
The trees thickened. Birds quieted. The sun blinked between branches like it wasn't sure it was allowed to be here.
Ashen walked a few paces behind Katrina. His boots scraped against bark and wet leaves. She moved like a panther who'd already memorized every step ten times over.
He cleared his throat.
Ashen
> "Teacher…"
Ashen (internal)
> "Okay. Weird. Saying that out loud makes me feel like a third-grader roleplaying in the backyard."
Katrina glanced sideways. Just enough to acknowledge it.
Katrina
> "Yes?"
Ashen stepped over a twisted root, then looked at her more seriously.
Ashen
> "What happens if two fire crystal users fight each other?"
She didn't stop walking. Just shrugged.
Katrina
> "You'd never know."
Ashen blinked.
Ashen
> "...Huh?"
Katrina
> "Because there are no two fire crystal users."
She paused under an old arching tree and turned slightly. Her eyes flicked toward him like she was measuring how fast his brain was spinning.
Katrina
> "Each crystal is unique. No duplicates. No copies. Once someone's bonded to one, that's it. That affinity doesn't exist in the wild again."
Ashen opened his mouth a little, like a kid being told candy was a one-time thing.
Ashen (internal)
> "Wait… so if you get a lightning crystal, no one else ever gets lightning again? That's… kind of insane."
Ashen (internal, a beat later)
> "Also… I don't even remember the damn power system of this world. They didn't call me 'Failed Author' for nothing."
His foot caught on a root. He stumbled — just slightly — and regained his balance before Katrina noticed. Probably.
He sighed.
Ashen (internal)
> "To be fair, it wasn't really my fault."
Because — if the rumors were true — and he of all people knew how true they might be…
The fiction you write is just… borrowed memory. Stories plucked from the whispering edge of another reality. Another life.
He didn't know when he'd first heard that theory. Maybe on a podcast, maybe in a Reddit thread buried under a dozen unverified sources. Maybe he made it up.
Didn't matter now.
Because Ashen hadn't just written this world.
He was walking in it.
And the fact that he didn't remember how anything worked?
That wasn't laziness.
That was natural.
Because he hadn't made up this world. He'd remembered it.
But like all memories…
It fades.
Ashen (internal)
> "Even recognizing Master Madhav and piecing together the events of the 'Last Day'... That was pure luck."
Or maybe it wasn't.
Maybe luck had nothing to do with it.
Maybe he was the only one who could stop it.
Whatever it was.
The two stood before a wide, flowing river. The water shimmered under the pale sunlight, dancing in steady ripples that whispered against the stones.
Katrina stepped forward, hands behind her back, gaze firm.
"You want to see your mana?" she asked.
Ashen's eyes lit up. "Yes."
Katrina smirked. "Well, so do I."
"This test won't make you stronger or make you capable enough to use magic items," she said. "Far from it. It's the quickest way for me to know if you're worth training or not."
Ashen blinked. "Worth training?"
Katrina nodded. "No willpower test. No creativity nonsense. No motivational speeches or patience trials. Just one thing."
She turned to face him fully. "How strong your mana is. How strong it can become. That's all I care about."
Ashen stepped back slightly, unsure.
"Sounds unfair," he muttered. "What if my mana's weak now, but grows strong later? What if I improve if you just trained me hard?"
Katrina sighed, not out of frustration — but something softer. Sadder.
"That happens," she said. "It's rare… but yeah, it does. Problem is, I have a dream too."
She paused. The wind caught her cloak. The river's murmur seemed to hush.
"I want to make Whisper's Light the strongest guild in the West Sea. The one that gets chosen to go to the Veilstream. And for that…" she looked at him, eyes sharp, voice low, "I can't waste my time on people who MIGHT get strong."
Ashen opened his mouth, but something held him.
Because in that moment — when Katrina said "to go to the Veilstream" — her voice didn't just crack with ambition.
Her eyes shimmered. Just briefly.
Like something inside her remembered a scar. A loss. A promise. A face.
A deeper pain.
A darker past.
Or maybe…
A connection to the Veilstream.