One year has been passed since the awakening ceremony.
Season come and goes, day and night take their turns to watch over every being in this world, giving them strength and life energy full of nutrition.
Since Limbo's last journey to South no new bells of danger was announced.
But today— was different.
The first report came at dawn.
A hunter returned early to schedule return, face pale, bow still unstrung. He didn't speak at first, just stood in the village square as if unsure whether words were enough.
"They were watching and scanning," he finally said panting.
That was all it took.
Within an hour, elder chaya had called meeting.
The hall was small, meant for disputes over land lines and grain storage, not matters like this. Yet every seat was filled.
Chaya stood near the center, staff grounded, expression calm but alert. Beside her sat elder Caya, older and heavi8in build, fingers drumming once against the table before stilling.
What's the occasion of this meeting? One the people asked.
Some unknown corrupted beasts were seen near the forest border, while looking at hunter—
"No injurys?" Chaya asked.
"No," the hunter replied. "They didn't approach. Just...stood there, searching for something."
"Searching?" Drake asked.
"Not sure, that's...seems like." Hunter replied.
"How many?" Caya asked.
The hunter hesitated. "Three, maybe it's hard to tell we didn't close the gap, until be sure."
"One more thing! Their shapes weren't steady."
A murmured passed through the room.
"Corrupted beast don't hesitate," one villager muttered.
"They don't watched," another added question.
Chaya raised a hand, silence returned quickly.
"Where?" She asked.
"At the forest's edge," the hunter said. "Past the old stones. They didn't cross."
Caya leaned back. "That's matters."
"It does," chaya agreed. "Which is why we won't rush."
A younger guard frowned. "If we wait and they come closer—"
"They didn't," chaya interrupted gently. " And That restraint is not accidental."
Her gazed drifted, unfocussed for a moment.
"...limbo mentioned something similar," she said quietly.
Several heads turned.
"He and Rin," she countinued, "on their trip beyond the river, to the northern hills. Watching presence corruption that didn't behave like corruption."
Caya exhaled calmly and slowly. "You think this is related?"
"They're kid's!."
"I think, we atleast give a thought," chaya said, choosing her words carefully, "that whatever this is it remembers being seen."
No one argued.
The decision was simple.
No petrols beyond the border.
No provocation, only Observed and we have to increased petrols for time being.
The meeting was ended without any conclusion and resolution.
That was the most dangerous part.
Meanwhile on otherhand.,
Limbo spent most mornings in the forge as the schedule was ongoing since he returned.
The rhythm helped him.
Hammer.
Turns.
Quench.
His father didn't ask why he stayed longer over these days, why he was volunteered for heavier work, or why his hands moved with unusual precision.
"You're learning to listen," his father said once, watching him shape a blade edge. "Metal tells you when it's ready."
Limbo nodded, "so does everything else."
His father snorted softly. "Careful. That kind of thinking gets you in trouble."
Maybe, Limbo thought.
But trouble was already circling.
Sweat rolled down his back as he lifted another ingot. His muscles burned not in pain, but steadily as if adjusted to a new baseline. He welcomed the strain with open arm.
Strength earned here didn't draw attention.
At night, when the forged cooled and the village slept, he practice differently.
Quitetly.
The Fragment it no longer resisted him.
That was the strange part.
The fifth Fragment — pure, heavy, silent.
Resist within his perception like a locked door that had decided not to block the hallway anymore.
Over these time span, it integrated slowly.
Not by force, or any commands.
By acceptance and patience.
When he checked his status, the system responded after a delay longer than usual.
System status check open.
System status:
Alpha Fragment: 5/7
Synchronisation stable.
Beta fragment: 1 (unintegrated)
After the numbers unsettled him.
Five Fragments.
Deep sighed, just two fragments missing.
And one beta, present but that different story.
He stared at the interface longer than necessary.
"Who are you?" He asked quietly.
The system did not respond.
He tried again
"Who made you?"
Still nothing.
His heartbeat remained steady, but something deep in his chest tightened.
"Does everyone get the system?"
The question almost escaped fully.
In front of his parents,
Almost...
He stopped himself.
Rin noticed first the odd behaviour where he was lost on his own, while still present in group.
"You move differently," she said one evening, watching him adjust a practice stance near the riverbank.
"Better?" He asked.
"Quiter," she replied. "Like you've already where you intend to be."
Gaja cracked his neck nearby. "He's been like that for weeks. Creepy as always."
Limbo shrugged, "i don't feel stronger."
"That's worse, dude look in mirror," Gaja muttered.
The restraint on Gaja's wrist glimmered faintly as he shifted. It held but not effortlessly.
"Still holding?" Limbo asked.
Gaja flexes his fingers. "For now, feels tighter when I push."
"But it's much better since temple visit and kings help."
Rin's expression darkens, "that means it's working properly."
No one argued.
"But when did you returned, I heard you went back to your home." Rin asked.
"I did, came back last week to deliver aunty items mother give." Gaja explain.
"How's aunty?"
" like always... good." Gaja replied.
Two weeks after the first sighting, it happened again
Same place and same distance.
Different shapes.
A scout returned shaking.
"They weren't beast," he said. "Not fully."
Chaya closed her eyes briefly.
"Did they look towards the village?" She asked.
The scout swallowed, "yes."
"Call him!"
Who? Guard asked.
Limbo!....
The standing Limbo at the edge of the crowd, listening to melody sing by one the villagers, suddenly get summons along with Rin and Gaja.
And get filled with the situation.
Not to the voices, to the forest.
It felt closer.
Not advancing, waiting some things that's holding them back.
That night, as Limbo lay while awake, the Fragment stirred, not actively, not with urgency.
Aware.
His dreams came shallow and broken.
Drums without sound.
Heat without flame.
A presence that did not Move
He woke before the dawn, beneath steady, heart calm.
Soon, something seemed to say.
Not as a threat.
As a statement.
Elder chaya came to see him before breakfast.
She didn't knock, she never did.
Ela and ronin stand to welcome the elder while greeting.
And offered a seat.
"You felt it," she said.
"Yes."
She studied him closely. "You're growing, yet ...integ"
"I am."
"Slowly," she approves. "Good"
She turned towards the forest. "The Corrupted ones are testing distance, not strength.
"Why?" Limbo asked.
Chaya met his gaze. " Because something change year ago."
They both knew what it meant.
"You're not the cause," she added. "But you're part of the equation now."
A glass in ela hand slip with ....bamm.
Spilling the water on floor.
"What it means he's part of equation, don't tell me you're planning to use my child as a shield," a worried mother's heart didn't bear even the thought.
"When the time comes," chaya said quietly, "I will not asked you."
"But for now rest assured, no ones going to hurt him."
She paused at the doorway going back.
"But do not mistake patience for Safety."
And Ela my child.
"Don't cut the wings that will be hope many lives."
One day you'll understand.
With that she gone.
That evening, the sun dipped low, painting the foreT eldge in golden and shadow.
Limbo stood beside the river watching the current pulls leaves downstream.
Naval was still untouched and safe.
But the line had been drawn.
And somewhere beyond the trees, something waited—not to battacked, but to see who would move first.
Limbo tightened his grip on the quite weight within him
He would not rush, but when the forest crossed the line...
He would be ready.
This time will be different.