Eseren slept.
Her breathing was shallow but steady now, the worst of the bleeding slowed by Daniel's binding and the mountain's cold air. The faint rise and fall of her chest was the only sound in the cave besides the distant wind howling through cracks in the stone.
Daniel sat beside her for a long time, unmoving.
Only when he was certain she would not wake did he stand.
That was when he felt it.
Not danger.
Not hostility.
A call.
It came from deeper within the cave — a low, ancient pressure, like a locked door that had waited far too long for the right key. The air shifted subtly, vibrating against his bones.
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"This cave…" he murmured, "was never empty."
He glanced once more at Eseren, then turned and walked into the darkness.
The Sealed Path
The cave narrowed as he descended, stone walls growing unnaturally smooth, as though shaped by something other than erosion. Strange markings appeared — half-burned symbols etched into the rock, their edges blackened as if scorched by intense heat long ago.
At the end of the passage stood a stone gate.
No hinges.No handle.
Only a single groove carved into the center — long, thin, unmistakable.
A sword mark.
Daniel felt it immediately.
The third blade trembled at his back.
Until now, it had remained bound, silent, resisting his call. Unlike the other two, this blade carried weight — not hunger, not speed, but authority.
Daniel exhaled slowly.
"So this is why," he said quietly.
He reached back.
The third sword emerged for the first time.
It did not scream.It did not hum.
It commanded.
The air bent around it as Daniel pressed the blade into the groove.
The cave shook.
Stone cracked, glowing faintly red along the ancient carvings. The gate split apart with a thunderous grind, releasing a wave of heat so intense it sent Daniel stepping back, cloak snapping behind him.
Beyond the gate—
Firelight.
The Conqueror's Remnant
The chamber within was vast and circular, its ceiling lost in shadow. At its center stood a stone altar scorched black, surrounded by ash that had not cooled in centuries.
Resting atop it was… wood.
Burnt.Cracked.Lifeless.
At first glance, it looked like nothing more than the remains of an old, ruined bow — warped by fire, barely held together.
Daniel approached cautiously.
The moment his hand hovered above it—
A voice laughed.
Not aloud.
Inside his mind.
"Took you long enough."
Daniel froze.
"What are you?" he asked.
The bow pulsed faintly, embers glowing beneath its charred surface.
"I am Blaze Bang," the voice said proudly."Soul-bound weapon of conquest. Breaker of armies. Ender of sieges."
Daniel stared at the ruined bow.
"…You look broken."
The voice snorted."I look restrained. There's a difference."
Daniel lifted it.
The moment his fingers closed around the wood, heat surged up his arm — not burning, but testing. Memories flickered at the edge of his awareness: battlefields aflame, arrows falling like meteors, enemies scattering beneath mirages and firestorms.
This was not his inheritance.
He understood that immediately.
"This belongs to her," Daniel said.
The bow went silent.
Then—
"…Yes," Blaze Bang admitted slowly."I felt her earlier. The anchor-child. She can bear me."
Daniel turned back toward the cave entrance.
The Awakening
Eseren stirred as Daniel returned.
Her eyes fluttered open weakly. "Daniel…? Did you leave?"
"I found something," he replied, kneeling beside her.
He placed the bow across her hands.
At first, nothing happened.
Then—
The cave ignited.
Not in flame, but in presence.
Eseren gasped as power flooded her — raw, vast, overwhelming. The burnt wood peeled back like shedding bark, revealing glowing crimson veins along the bow's frame. Embers floated through the air, circling her like fireflies.
Her anchor pulsed violently, stretching outward—
And holding.
She screamed once — not in pain, but in shock — then went still as her body adapted.
Blaze Bang laughed, loud and triumphant.
"YES! That's it! Anchor me! HOLD ME!"
Eseren's eyes snapped open.
They glowed.
"…I can hear it," she whispered.
Daniel steadied her shoulders. "Focus. Don't fight it."
She breathed in.
The power settled.
The bow dimmed, its fire sleeping beneath the surface once more — appearing again as old, burnt wood to any unworthy eye.
Eseren slumped back, exhausted.
But alive.
More than alive.
Pills of the Ancients
Daniel returned to the inner chamber alone and searched it thoroughly.
Behind the altar, hidden compartments revealed their true purpose:
Small jade boxes.Sealed scrolls.And vials of medicinal pills radiating pure vitality.
Cultivation resources.
Daniel crushed one pill and fed it to Eseren carefully.
Her body reacted instantly.
The torn flesh knit together with soft cracking sounds. Bruised organs eased. Her breathing deepened, color returning to her skin.
She slept again — this time peacefully.
Daniel sat beside her, watching the firelight fade.
Ahead lay the capital.
Behind them, the forest still remembered their blood.
And now—
They carried an inheritance that once conquered worlds.