The voice's lingering presence seemed to seep into the very marrow of my bones, leaving a cold weight that clung to me like damp fog. The forest around me felt oddly silent, the trees looming like ancient watchers, their branches stretching out as if to keep me tethered to this place. The distant murmur of the Veil—a mystical barrier that separated the known world from the unknown—seemed to pulse in my ears like a heartbeat, steady and unyielding.
I took another deep breath, trying to shake off the disquieting feeling. The voice had left more questions than answers, and I knew better than to trust it. Yet, I couldn't deny the pull of its words—the allure of finding out what this Divine Contract truly was and what it had to do with me.
I needed to think. To plan.
First, Harmony, the capital of Centrallis. I had to find whoever or whatever it was the voice wanted me to seek. But I couldn't just wander into the city blindly. Centrallis was sprawling, a labyrinth of winding streets, shadowed alleys, and towering spires.
The Oswin Relic. A family heirloom, but now I knew it was much more than that. The voice had hinted that it held answers, but I would have to unlock them. No one had ever reached the final gate within the trial. The idea of it gnawed at me.
'What did it mean to be a curse and a key?'
I turned my gaze toward the path leading back to the Oswin estate. The thought of returning there filled me with a sense of dread. Not because of the mansion's labyrinthine hallways or the cold, watchful eyes of its inhabitants, but because I knew I would have to face Liora again. She could sense when something was off, and I wasn't ready to explain any of this—assuming I could even begin to.
I turned away from the estate and ventured deeper into the woods. Here, the air felt heavier, and the shadows seemed to stretch longer, curling around me like tendrils. I could feel the Veil's presence thickening—the unseen boundary that separated our world from...whatever lay beyond it. The mana I needed was closer here, almost humming under the surface, waiting to be drawn.
I'd been practicing how to pull mana from the Veil into my body, merging it with my own essence. I had managed to get that part right. But harnessing it, actually wielding it, was a different challenge.
"Time to see if I've got this figured out," I muttered, mostly to myself, and closed my eyes.
I reached out with my senses, feeling for the Veil. A cold shiver ran down my spine as I made contact, a ripple of energy brushing against me like an ancient predator sizing me up. I had to coax it—invite it in without forcing it. Too much too fast, and it could backfire.
"Alright… slowly," I whispered. The mana seeped in, threading itself through my veins like liquid fire. I focused on circulating it throughout my body, weaving it with my blood until it thrummed in every muscle, every nerve.
"Good. Steady."
I took a breath and looked around, spotting a tree a few feet away—a perfect target. I raised my fist, feeling the mana coiling within, ready to spring. With a shout, I let it all go.
*BOOM!*
The tree didn't just crack; it shattered, exploding into a storm of splinters. I flinched as the space around it seemed to warp, distorting like a ripple in a pond. For a second, I thought I could see through the other side of the Veil—a world where shadows moved on their own.
"Hah!" The thrill of the destruction surged through me. But it was short-lived. Pain flared up my arm, sharp and immediate. I looked at my hand and grimaced. My knuckles were split, fingers bent unnaturally. "Dammit."
I forced myself to keep calm.
"Too much mana. Have to keep it under control." I closed my eyes again, focusing on my hand. I let the mana flow to the injured area, not forcing it this time but guiding it. Slowly, the bones began to realign, knitting together. The pain ebbed away, replaced by a warm, tingling sensation.
As the last bit of mana settled, I flexed my fingers, testing my newly mended hand. "Good as new... I think."
A laugh slipped out, half relief, half frustration. The Veil's power was immense, but it was wild, unpredictable. A stray thought, a moment's hesitation, and it could all go wrong.
"Gotta figure out how to channel it better," I muttered. "Can't be blowing my hand apart every time."
I scanned the forest again, searching for a new target. My eyes landed on a cluster of rocks. Perfect. This time, I would try something different. I stretched out my fingers, feeling the mana pulse in my veins. But instead of drawing it all at once, I let it trickle in, a slow, controlled stream.
I thrust my hand forward, and the mana shot out like a lance, slamming into the rocks. They didn't explode this time, but a crack spread across their surface, followed by a low rumble. The rocks trembled, then split apart, collapsing in on themselves.
"Better," I breathed. I could feel the sweat beading on my forehead, my muscles trembling from the strain. I needed to have enough control on mana to regenerate while I blasted it out in attacks.
"Still not perfect, but getting there."
I could feel the Veil's energy lingering around me, like a presence watching, waiting. It wasn't just a source of power; it had a will of its own. I'd have to respect it—learn its rules, its quirks.
A thought crossed my mind, one that made my heart race a bit. If I could learn to control this, what else could I do? Could I twist the Veil's power to bend reality itself, like the legends whispered about the Four Founders?
The forest seemed to grow quieter, as if listening to my thoughts.
"Guess I have no choice but to find out," I said aloud. "But first, let's try something else."
I turned my attention to a boulder, larger than the rest. I had an idea—a dangerous one, but I needed to push my limits. I reached out again, pulling the mana in, but this time, instead of just circulating it, I tried to wrap it around my hand like a second skin. I could feel the energy vibrating, like it was ready to snap.
I swung my fist, and as it connected with the boulder, I released the mana in a sharp burst.
*CRACK!*
The boulder split clean in half, the two pieces crashing to the ground with a deafening thud. I stumbled back, panting. My hand was intact this time, though it was numb, the bones vibrating like I'd just struck a bell.
"Hahaha, okay… that's enough for now." I wiped the sweat from my brow, my body still buzzing with leftover adrenaline.
I took a deep breath, calming my racing heart. If I was going to uncover the truth behind the Divine Contract, behind the Oswin Relic and the voice in the Veil, I needed to get stronger—much stronger.
But strength wasn't enough. I needed control. And to achieve that, I'd have to keep pushing myself to the edge, right where the Veil's power was most dangerous.
I glanced back toward the estate, its looming silhouette hidden by the dense trees. I'd go back, eventually. But not now. Not until I had more answers—and a lot more power.
As I stood amidst the wreckage of shattered trees and split boulders, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched—not just by the Veil but by something else lurking beyond it. It was almost as if the Veil itself had eyes, peering into this world from its unseen depths. And with every pulse of mana I drew from it, those eyes seemed to open wider.
The Veil wasn't just a distant boundary. In certain places, it hung closer to our world, like a thinning curtain stretched too tight. Those areas where the barrier between worlds weakened were the most dangerous—the places where reality felt distorted, where shadows seemed to flicker and bend unnaturally, and where whispers could be heard in the wind.
In those places, where the Veil thinned, it became fragile. And a fragile Veil meant a breach was possible.
The ancient texts called them "Convergence Points"—places where the fabric of reality had grown weak, where the line between this world and the other blurred. The Veil's power was more accessible there, but so were its dangers. And the dangers were not just mana surges or errant spells. The greater threat was what lay beyond.
Because where the Veil thinned, things could slip through.
"That's where the monsters come from," I murmured to myself, piecing together the fragments of what I'd read and heard. "Where the Veil is weak enough, beings from the other realm—creatures of raw mana, chaos, and darkness—find their way into our world."
I'd heard the stories: warped beasts with too many eyes or limbs, their forms twisted by whatever strange laws governed their side of the Veil. Some looked like nightmarish versions of animals, others like things no sane mind could ever dream up. And they weren't just dangerous; they were wrong, as if their very existence violated the natural order of Aeloria. They defied logic and reason, attacking with powers that broke the rules of our world.
I could still remember one of the first tales I'd heard since waking in this body—a nearby village, where a man had vanished without a trace. The locals whispered about a shimmering fog that had rolled in from the forest, thick and unnatural. When the fog lifted, the man was gone, his home torn apart as if by a wild animal, though no tracks were found. A Convergence Point, they said. Something had slipped through the Veil.
It wasn't just a matter of thin air and shadows. The Veil had a will, a consciousness that I was only beginning to grasp. And when it decided to thin, or when some unseen force strained against it from the other side, a tear could form. And through that tear, they came.
I clenched my fists, flexing my newly healed hand, feeling the lingering vibrations of the mana coursing through it. The power was intoxicating. What if my actions, my experiments, were weakening the barrier here? What if I was drawing attention from the other side?
"Damn, this place could be thinning right now, for all I know."
The thought gnawed at me as I stood among the wreckage of my reckless training. Was I truly playing with fire here? It wasn't just a matter of power or control; it was the very fabric of reality that I could be unraveling. Every time I drew mana from the Veil, it felt like a game of tug-of-war with something immense and unseen, like pulling a thread from a tightly woven tapestry. How long before that thread caused the entire weave to come undone? How long before I accidentally tore a hole wide enough for something far worse to slip through?
I glanced around the forest, my gaze shifting to the shadows between the trees, the stillness unsettling. The air had a charged quality now, as if the Veil itself were aware of what I'd just done. What if I was wrong? What if my efforts to harness this power were not just straining my body but also the very boundary that separated this world from the other? The Veil was a barrier, yes—but it was also a living, breathing thing, full of its own mysteries and dangers. What if it had its limits?
I shook my head, trying to steady my thoughts.
"Am I really risking it all for this?"
Was that how the Veil weakened? Was I contributing to the problem with every pull of mana I took from it, each time testing its limits? Or was it due to something else, some other force or presence gnawing away at the barrier between worlds?
I remembered what I'd heard in hushed conversations—legends and stories passed down by the elders of the Oswin estate and the murmurs of the servants. They spoke of places where the Veil had always been thin, where the air seemed to hum with a strange energy, where time itself felt warped and twisted. Places where the boundary between our world and the other was stretched too thin, like a fabric worn over centuries. Convergence Points.
But what if those points were not just ancient scars left from forgotten battles or cosmic shifts? What if something—or someone—was actively weakening them?
...