Chapter Three: A Phantom of the Past and a Great Burden

Chapter Three: A Phantom of the Past and a Great Burden

As Kaelon struggled against the sharp headache that had overtaken him following the first vision, the image of the Ice wielder had barely begun to fade when another flash of memory crashed into his mind—deeper and far more terrifying than the last.

He saw himself standing upon a barren wasteland, gathering every ounce of strength he possessed to unleash his most powerful Ice technique against one of the Elemental Incarnates. That opponent had a presence so dreadful it sent chills through the bone; his body resembled that of a man in his thirties, but his eyes were two pits torn straight from hell—his pupils as black as the deepest night, while the whites of his eyes burned with a deep, blood-red glow. This Incarnate carried no sword at all; instead, a thick, suffocating darkness radiated from his body, writhing and shifting as though it were alive. The instant Kaelon launched his attack, the man stepped forward with utter coldness and caught the strike with his bare hand, completely unharmed! In the blink of an eye, that dense darkness spread outward, closing in around Kaelon's body, crushing him with a force so terrible it shattered the bones of both present and past at once—until he felt his Heart Core itself break apart entirely.

"Ahh!..."

Kaelon jolted awake from the grip of these terrifying thoughts and memories, gasping for breath. He looked around but found no trace of Himaru, who had already left the scene in haste. The boy shook the remnants of terror from his body and began walking, his steps unsteady, toward the village market to buy the food his grandfather had asked for. His mind churned with questions and the shock of that memory, but he took deep breaths, trying to convince himself:

"Calm down, Kaelon... it must just be some strange dream, or hallucinations brought on by lack of sleep and waking too early... yes, it couldn't possibly be anything else."

Meanwhile, in another scene far from the bustle of the market—high atop one of the elevated rooftops overlooking the city—a conversation was unfolding behind the veil of secrecy.

The grandfather, Kaizu, the Water Lord, stood with his usual dignity before the young Himaru, discussing with him a fateful decision: his wish to retire and pass on his sigil.

Himaru's eyes widened in disbelief, his tone laced with disapproval as he said:

"Lord Kaizu? Are you truly serious about this? We are in desperate need of your experience and wisdom to protect our people! In these dangerous times, no one can fill the void you would leave, or take your place as the Water Lord."

Kaizu turned to face him, a calm smile—carrying the wisdom of long years—spreading across his face, and said in a low voice:

"You remind me so much of myself, Himaru... When your grandfather retired in his time, I stood exactly where you stand now, saying those very same words to him. But the train of life does not stop for anyone, and I now have a successor for the Water Sigil. You must all help guide him along the path ahead."

Himaru asked, gripped by both curiosity and unease at once:

"A successor? And who is this person you deem worthy of bearing a sigil of such magnitude?"

The grandfather replied, his eyes gazing toward the horizon:

"It is my grandson... Kaelon. He will receive the sigil from me tomorrow morning, and become the new Water Lord."

Himaru's brow furrowed, his tone shifting to one of seriousness mixed with fear:

"And what of you? And what of him?! Have you no fear for him, old man? Are you not afraid he might be killed on the battlefield, at such a young age?"

Kaizu answered with steady confidence:

"I will be his shadow... I will train him and guide him until the very last breath of my life. And do not forget, Himaru—most of the Elemental Incarnates who dare to attack the island of humans are weak ones, possessing only a single Heart Core, easily destroyed with an iron blade. They come to us alone, driven by greed, seeking to grow stronger by killing humans."

The grandfather continued, his tone turning instructive:

"They seek that small jewel-like fragment lodged within the human heart—the one we call the Human Heart Core. By absorbing it, they grow stronger, gaining an additional Heart Core for themselves, which gives them a far greater chance of survival even if their original core is destroyed in battle. Did you know, Himaru... that this hidden core within human bodies bears a striking resemblance to the Heart Core found within the bodies of the Incarnates themselves?"

Himaru cut him off with a sharp look, anger and contempt plain upon his face:

"And even if humans possess a core resembling theirs, humans die from the simplest of attacks! Their bodies are frail, weak, and they cannot control the elements by instinct... unlike the Incarnates, who are far superior in physical strength—their bodies are hard as stone and nearly impossible to pierce, and they can only be killed by destroying their Heart Core, not to mention their absolute mastery over the elements!"

He stepped closer to the old man and continued, his voice burning with anger:

"Do you truly believe—with your own eyes—that humans are better than the Incarnates?!"

Kaizu answered calmly, his confidence unshaken:

"Humans are not physically stronger, that is true... but at least, they possess pure feelings. They have compassion, sorrow, and love. And that is the true strength that those monsters lack."

Himaru let out a bitter, mocking laugh, his eyes flickering with a red glow:

"Feelings? Those feelings do not protect them, Lord Kaizu—quite the opposite. They weaken them, and make them easy prey! My father used to say the very same thing you're saying now... and how did that end? He died protecting one of the village families! He could have fled and saved himself, but he fought to his very last breath to protect people he didn't even know. He came home with mortal wounds, and lived for only three more hours before he passed away."

Himaru turned his face away, continuing, his voice choking with grief:

"Before he died, he warned me fiercely never to use the Fire Sigil. He told me my body was too weak to bear its heat, that I was not fit to be a Fire wielder... unlike my younger sister, who possessed every quality needed to absorb the sigil. He asked me to pass it on to her, so that she would be the one to fight... but I didn't! I used the sigil myself and never gave it to her. I wanted to protect her, to keep her far away from this hell! And because I cannot control fire easily, and because Fire techniques drain my energy and body at a terrifying rate, I was forced to learn swordsmanship and rely on the blade to make up for what I lack... I did not want to throw this heavy, dreadful burden onto my little sister's shoulders. And yet you—you want to so simply throw it onto your little grandson?!"

Himaru turned, ready to leave, casting one final, cold glance back at Kaizu, and said:

"At your age, you will never understand this... As a grandfather, you should be the one protecting your grandson—you should be the one fighting to the death to keep him far away from this—not handing him something that could kill him at any moment."

Himaru vanished from the place in haste, leaving the old man Kaizu standing alone beneath the rays of the sun, pondering the young man's words, heavy with bitterness.

But it was not only the wind that watched the old man...

For behind a thick veil of motionless shadows in the corner of the abandoned rooftop, a dark specter stirred—unseen by anyone. From the heart of that pitch-black darkness, two black eyes emerged, their whites split by a terrifying, blood-red hue... It was the very same figure Kaelon had recalled in his nightmare!

He stood watching Kaizu with an overwhelming presence that reeked of death, a wicked smile spreading across his lips. Then he whispered, his voice like the hiss of serpents:

"None of you remain... You will all die... today!"

The shadows suddenly contracted, and that dreadful form vanished as though it had never been—leaving behind only the first Whispers of a bloody battle that would change the fate of the island of humans forever.

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