The air in the clearing grew thick with tension as the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows across the three concentric circles.
Valen stood at the edge of the outermost circle, his expression cold, detached from the events that were about to unfold.
His gaze, sharp and calculating, locked onto Aeliana, who stood innocently in the center of the First Circle. The glowing patterns beneath her feet pulsed with a faint light, responding to Valen's mana.
The forest was eerily silent, as though nature itself held its breath in anticipation of the ritual's beginning.
Valen inhaled slowly, his senses heightened, feeling the energy from the Essence Orbs and Prime Essence Orbs begin to stir, vibrating with latent power. It was time.
Without hesitation, he began the incantation. His voice was low and measured at first, but with each word, it grew in intensity, echoing through the dense trees around them.
The ancient language of the incantation was harsh and guttural, its syllables slicing through the quiet like a knife. As Valen spoke, the three circles flared to life, the runes etched into the earth igniting in a bright, eerie glow.
The energy from the orbs began to pulse outward, flowing like rivers of light toward Aeliana.
She stood in the First Circle, her eyes wide with awe as the glowing symbols around her began to shift and hum with a strange power.
For a moment, she looked up at Valen with a smile, still unaware of what was about to happen.
"Valen, this is amazing!" she said, her voice filled with innocent wonder.
Valen didn't respond. His eyes were fixed on the ritual, his focus unbroken. His incantation continued, each word pulling more energy from the Essence Orbs, forcing them to converge on Aeliana.
The Prime Essence Orbs glowed with a brighter intensity, their power fueling the transformation that was about to begin.
Suddenly, the energy hit her. Aeliana's body stiffened, her smile fading as a sharp pain tore through her small frame.
Her hands flew to her chest, her breath coming in ragged gasps as the light from the circles intensified.
"Valen…?" Her voice trembled now, confusion and fear creeping into her words.
Valen's gaze remained impassive. He knew this was necessary. The pain Aeliana was experiencing, the agony that would soon overwhelm her—it was the only way to activate her special physique, the Celestial Conduit.
A rare and powerful physique, one that connected her very essence to the flow of primordial energy.
It was her blood that would serve as the key to unlocking the ancient tablet, the key to granting Valen the power he sought.
Aeliana's knees buckled, her small hands clutching at the air as the energy from the Essence Orbs poured into her, coursing through her veins like molten fire.
The glowing patterns on the ground began to swirl, growing brighter and faster as the ritual reached its peak.
"Valen, it hurts!" she cried, her voice breaking with each word.
The pain surged through her again, sharper this time, tearing through her body like an unrelenting storm.
She gasped, her breath coming in shallow, desperate gulps as tears began to stream down her face.
Her muscles tensed, her small frame trembling uncontrollably as her body was forced to channel more energy than it could bear.
But Valen didn't flinch. He watched her suffering, his heart cold, his mind focused only on the power that was building around them.
This was the price, and Aeliana, for all her innocence, was merely a sacrifice in the grander scheme.
The energy inside her continued to swell, reaching a fever pitch. Aeliana's vision blurred, her body wracked with pain so intense she could barely think.
She fell to her knees, sobbing, her tiny hands pressing against the ground as if trying to find some anchor in the chaos.
"I-I don't understand!" she whimpered, her voice small and broken. "Valen… please help me…. Why are you…. not answering?"
Her mind raced, struggling to make sense of what was happening, to grasp why her beloved brother—whom she had always trusted—was allowing this to happen.
But the pain drowned out her thoughts, pulling her deeper into a sea of torment from which there was no escape.
Valen's incantation reached its crescendo, and with a final word, the air around them seemed to shatter.
Above them, the fabric of reality itself tore open, a gaping wound in the sky. From that wound, something ancient and terrible emerged—the stone tablet, its surface etched with symbols older than time itself.
It descended slowly, hovering above the ritual site, its presence suffocating, the power it radiated almost unbearable.
Aeliana looked up through tear-filled eyes, barely able to comprehend what she was seeing.
The tablet loomed above her, massive and cold, as if it had existed long before the world itself. Her heart pounded in her chest, every beat slower, weaker, as her life force drained from her.
"Valen…" she gasped again, her voice barely a whisper now.
Her mind spiraled into darkness, her body convulsing with the last vestiges of energy as the tablet absorbed the essence flowing from her.
It pulled at her very soul, drawing her life into itself as the ritual entered its final phase.
Every fiber of her being screamed for relief, for the pain to stop, but there was no escape.
Her body glowed brighter, a beacon of raw power that burned from within, but it was fleeting. Her strength was slipping away, the agony too much for her small frame to handle.
She collapsed fully now, her tiny body crumpling to the ground, her breaths shallow, her vision dimming.
In her final moments, she thought of Valen. She had always trusted him, loved him like a brother. But now, as the world around her faded, all she felt was confusion and sorrow.
Why? The thought lingered in her mind, her last flicker of consciousness grasping at the question that would never be answered.
With one final breath, Aeliana's body stilled, the glow fading from her skin as her life force was completely drained.
Her small figure lay motionless in the center of the First Circle, her life extinguished, her role in the ritual complete.
The stone tablet, now fully activated, began to crack. Thin fissures spread across its surface, the ancient stone breaking apart as it absorbed the energy Aeliana had provided.
A brilliant light erupted from within the cracks, growing in intensity until it filled the entire clearing.
Valen stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the tablet as it began to disintegrate, releasing a fine, shimmering dust into the air.
The light enveloped him, searing through his body as the essence of the tablet merged with his blood, his bones, his very body.
The pain was immediate, sharp and unforgiving, as if his body was being torn apart from the inside out.
But Valen didn't scream. He stood firm, his jaw clenched as the power coursed through him. This was it—the First Great Opportunity. The power Kael had never claimed. And now, it was his.
As the light grew brighter, the world around him faded into blinding white.