The road to Keystone was long and unkind.
Not because of danger — but because silence had a way of making people remember what they tried to forget.
Jayden walked ahead, boots brushing the pale dirt of the trail. Around them, the world stretched in shades of gold and gray — open plains bending beneath the wind, the scent of dew still clinging to the air.
Behind him, Askeladd whistled a tune that didn't quite belong anywhere. His satchel clinked with glass and ink bottles, the weight of a dozen unsorted thoughts.
"You've been quiet for hours," he said eventually. "That's either a good sign or a terrible one."
Jayden smiled faintly. "Depends on who you ask."
"I'm asking you."
"Then it's a terrible one."
Askeladd laughed — soft, unbothered. "Honest, at least."
They walked a while longer before Jayden broke the silence again.
"Back at the Academy... you once said every human's strength is measured in steps. I never asked what that really meant."
Askeladd gave him a curious look. "You mean the Class System?"
Jayden nodded.
"You never pay attention when it matters," Askeladd sighed, though the smile behind his voice betrayed amusement. "Alright then — one more time."
He slowed his steps, glancing toward the endless horizon.
"The Codex divides humans into six stages. Not to label them, but to test how far they can reach. The first is Dormant — ordinary people who haven't touched their Element. Just breathing, surviving. But when the Codex stirs in your blood… you become Unlocked."
Jayden listened quietly.
"An Unlocked human has glimpsed their Element — shaped it, even if barely. The next stage, Master, is where most stop, if they even reach it. It's not about strength; it's about harmony. You've learned your rhythm, your laws, your limits."
The road bent slightly, curving toward the mountains. Their shadows stretched long in the fading light.
"Beyond that lies Heroic — rare, dangerous souls who embody their Element so deeply that nature itself bends to their presence. Above them stands Supreme, where the Element no longer obeys — it becomes you. And finally, the last step…"
Jayden raised an eyebrow. "Mythic."
Askeladd smiled. "A word whispered, not spoken. They say a Mythic can rewrite the Codex itself. I don't believe that, but… maybe once, someone did."
Jayden's expression darkened. "And the beasts?"
"Ah," Askeladd said, eyes glinting. "They follow the same path, but in chaos. From Dormant, they rise to Unlocked, then to Untamed, where instinct drives power. Beyond that lies Feral, then Corrupt, where their essence twists against nature. And the rarest… Divine, when the beast becomes something more than mortal — closer to a god's echo than a creature's will."
Jayden absorbed every word. The world suddenly felt heavier — as though each step forward placed him deeper in its story.
"So what about people like us?" he asked. "Students. Trainees. Where do we stand?"
"Between Dormant and Unlocked," Askeladd said softly. "We're just trying to open the first door — without drowning in what waits behind it."
The silence that followed wasn't empty. It carried meaning — the kind that sank deep and stayed.
Jayden glanced at the horizon again. A faint wind brushed past, carrying the metallic scent of distant rain. His fingers twitched by his side, almost unconsciously, as though the water in the air had heard his thoughts.
He pushed the feeling away.
The road to Keystone was quiet that morning. The sun had yet to burn through the gray haze that clung to the cliffs. Jayden walked beside Askeladd, the rhythm of their boots the only sound between the sighs of wind.
You ever think about why the Codex ranks humans the same way it ranks beasts?" Askeladd asked suddenly.
Jayden shrugged. "Because both can lose control?"
Askeladd smirked. "Maybe. Or maybe it's the Codex reminding us — evolution doesn't always mean virtue."
Before Jayden could reply, a sharp whistle sliced through the silence. Instinct screamed. A dagger flashed past his face and lodged in the tree beside him.
Three figures emerged from the mist — armed, coordinated, faces wrapped in gray scarves.
"Travelers?" Askeladd said quietly.
"They look too disciplined," Jayden murmured.
The one in front stepped forward. His eyes gleamed with that cold confidence only killers carried. "You're from the Academy, aren't you? That means you're carrying relics."
Askeladd's tone was calm, but his stance shifted slightly. "Turn around. You don't want this."
The man grinned. "We'll see."
The ground cracked.
An earth spike shot toward them. Jayden leapt aside, barely dodging. The air filled with the hiss of steel and grit.
They were Unlocked — trained, experienced, and lethal.
Jayden summoned a thin veil of water barrier, barely enough to deflect a blade before it grazed his cheek.
He countered with a burst of compressed water, the impact sending one of them stumbling back — but not down.
Askeladd's staff swept out, striking the ground and raising a wall of stone.
The mercenaries split, flanking from both sides.
"Two on the left!" Jayden called.
"I see them!" Askeladd blocked another blow, but his expression tightened.
"They're not raiders. They're ex-Guard!"
The fight became a blur of instinct — water slicing against earth, metal shrieking against stone.
Jayden ducked under a blade, kicked out a burst of water pressure to shove the man back — but caught a punch in the ribs that made him stumble.
Pain flared. He gritted his teeth.
This wasn't training.
They were faster. Smarter. Real killers.
---
Minutes blurred. Sweat mixed with rain.
Jayden's knees hit the ground after a heavy strike — his barrier cracked, fragments of liquid light dissipating.
His chest burned, lungs heavy.
The mercenary leader stalked forward, dragging a claymore coated in earthen essence.
"End of the road, Academy boy."
Jayden's grip tightened on his knife, though his vision blurred.
"Jayden!" Askeladd's shout came from somewhere behind, his own duel raging against two others. "Don't let him—"
Too late. The leader charged.
Jayden raised his arm in reflex. The impact sent him rolling across the dirt. His shoulder screamed with pain.
The world dimmed for a moment — until something inside him shifted.
His heartbeat echoed — slow, heavy, resonant.
The noise of the fight faded.
And for a brief, terrifying second, his right eye burned with light.
Not fire.
Not magic.
Something beyond those things.
Lines of essence shimmered faintly through the air — not everywhere, not overwhelming — but just enough.
He saw the weight of his enemy's steps, the fracture in his stance, the vibration in his weapon.
He moved — not guided by thought, but by clarity.
The claymore came down.
Jayden sidestepped an inch, thrust his knife upward, and twisted — not a deep wound, but enough to draw a groan.
The world snapped back to normal.
The Eye dimmed.
He stumbled, dizzy. "What… was that?"
---
The leader roared, essence surging through his veins. The ground beneath his feet cracked, sending shockwaves that nearly threw Jayden off balance.
But Askeladd was there — his staff driving deep into the soil, summoning a burst of rock shards that intercepted the attack.
"Now, Jayden!"
Jayden surged forward, channeling what little essence he had left.
Water spiraled around his arm — wild, unrefined — before he slammed his fist into the man's chest.
The impact burst outward like a wave hitting a cliff.
The man staggered back, slammed into a boulder — and didn't rise again.
The mist settled.
Silence.
Only their ragged breathing filled the air.
Jayden dropped to a knee. His hand trembled.
Askeladd approached slowly, eyes studying him — curious, wary.
"You shouldn't have been able to move like that," he said quietly. "That… wasn't just instinct."
Jayden looked away, chest heaving.
"I don't know what it was," he lied.
Askeladd didn't press. He simply nodded, brushing dirt off his cloak. "Then let's keep it that way. Keystone's not far."
Jayden glanced at the fallen mercenaries. A strange unease gnawed at him.
The Eye had opened — not fully, but enough to whisper something unspeakable.
A hint of something vast, ancient, and watching.