The next night, the pulse came again.
It started faintly—like a distant drumbeat echoing through the bones of the world. Aren tried to ignore it, burying his head under a torn blanket, but the rhythm wouldn't stop. It wasn't just sound anymore. It was calling.
By the time he gave in, the city lights had dimmed to a dull orange glow. He pulled on his jacket and slipped past the curfew drones, following the pulse toward the outer district.
The air changed the moment he crossed the perimeter line. The world smelled alive here—wet moss, metal, and something sweet that didn't belong to the city. Each breath he took seemed heavier, thicker, as if the forest itself was pressing against his lungs.
And then he saw it.
Beyond the broken fence, the Verdant Abyss glowed faintly in the dark. The mist was alive—swaying and pulsing, like lungs inhaling and exhaling.
When Aren stepped closer, the light in his veins began to respond.
thump… thump… thump…
Each pulse of his heart made the forest shimmer brighter. The glow wrapped around the trees, spreading like veins of light through bark and vine. He reached out, trembling, fingers brushing against a leaf—
and the world shifted.
Aren's vision exploded into streams of color. Threads of light—fine and countless—wove through everything around him. Every blade of grass, every droplet of mist, even the air was alive with energy.
Astralis.
It was the same cosmic energy that had poured from the Starcore. But here, it flowed like blood through the veins of the world itself.
And then, he heard it.
Not through his ears—but straight into his mind.
A voice, soft and ancient, layered with countless tones.
> "Child of the fallen light… you bear the flame that should not be."
Aren staggered back. The air rippled, leaves trembling.
"What… what are you?"
The voice laughed—not cruelly, but with the weight of ages.
> "We are the root and the breath. The wound and the healer. We are Novara."
The mist surged, wrapping around him. The warmth in his chest flared painfully bright. His knees buckled, and he gasped for air.
> "The flame awakens again… after centuries of silence."
When he opened his eyes, the forest had gone still.
No pulse. No sound. Only silence—and the faint glow of his own veins.
He stumbled back toward the fence, shaking, heart pounding.
He didn't know what he had touched that night…
But the forest knew him.
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