Kael stared at the pulsing crystalline core in the center of the Vault of Dominion. The energy inside it wasn't just raw electricity—it was something older, something alive. It crackled in erratic patterns, shifting in a rhythm that felt almost… aware.
Every cell in his body screamed at him that this was the next step.
The Overseer watched him closely, his silver eyes reflecting the arcs of energy flowing through the vault. "This is your moment, Kael Ardyn. To step beyond the limitations of mere awakened. To claim what was once lost."
Kael's fists clenched. He knew what he wanted. But he also knew nothing in this place was freely given.
Behind him, Ryven's voice was tight. "Kael, listen to me. I've been here longer than you. I've seen this before. Nobody walks away from something like this the same."
Kael turned slightly, meeting Ryven's gaze. "What are you saying?"
Ryven exhaled, his usual smirk nowhere to be found. "I'm saying that the Overseer doesn't just want you to touch that thing. He wants you to become part of it."
The words hit like a blow to the chest.
Kael looked back at the crystal. The pull of its energy was undeniable. His instincts, his very being, felt connected to it.
But Ryven was right—there was no way the Overseer would allow him to walk away after taking this power.
The Overseer stepped forward, his voice calm. "You hesitate because you are afraid."
Kael met his gaze. "I hesitate because I don't trust you."
The Overseer chuckled softly. "Then you are smarter than most."
Kael didn't move. The Vault thrummed with energy, the air thick with static. He could feel the subtle pull of the current, waiting for him to step forward.
But then, something changed.
The crystal flickered.
For a brief second, Kael felt something else inside it.
Not just power.
Voices.
A whisper, deep inside his mind.
"We were the first…"
Kael's breath caught.
"We were the last…"
The voice wasn't human. It was old, fractured, layered with something… mechanical.
Something not alive.
His pulse quickened. The Overseer had said this vault held the first ascended warriors. That this energy was the source of human awakening.
But if that were true…
Why did it feel like something else was inside it?
Kael took a slow step back. "What the hell is in that thing?"
The Overseer's expression didn't change, but Kael caught the faintest flicker of something in his silver eyes. Annoyance.
"You are perceptive," the Overseer said, his voice measured. "More than I expected."
Ryven took a step forward, fists clenched. "So the truth finally comes out."
Kael's mind raced. If the Overseer wanted him to take this power, to bond with the energy inside that crystal, then that meant—
It wasn't just awakened energy in there.
It was something else.
Something that had been waiting for someone like him.
Kael shook his head. "I don't trust it."
The Overseer exhaled. "A shame."
Then he raised his hand.
Lightning surged from the walls, coursing through the vault's conduits, slamming into the ground at Kael's feet. The force of it threw him backward, his body skidding across the metal floor as arcs of electricity surged around him.
Kael pushed himself up just in time to see the crystal's energy pulse violently.
The Overseer's voice was cold. "Then you leave me no choice."
Kael barely had time to react before the vault came alive.
Massive metal constructs descended from the ceiling, their limbs crackling with artificial energy, their bodies reinforced with exoskeletal plating. They looked almost humanoid, but their movements were unnatural, fluid like electricity itself.
Ryven cursed. "You had to say no, didn't you?"
Kael wiped the blood from his lip, already shifting into a fighting stance. "Would you have said yes?"
Ryven smirked. "Not a chance."
The Overseer remained still, watching as his creations closed in. "You have denied the gift freely given. Now, we shall see if you are worthy of taking it by force."
Kael could already feel the charge in the room shifting. These things weren't just machines—they were alive with current, their energy cycling through their limbs like a living storm.
And unlike before, Kael wasn't just going to absorb their power.
He was going to take it apart.
The first construct lunged, its arm extending in a whiplike motion, arcs of electricity surging toward Kael. He sidestepped, feeling the charge before it struck, and countered with a pulse of disruptive magnetic force.
The construct seized up, its energy short-circuiting for a brief moment.
Kael took advantage. He drove his fist into its chest, channeling his power into a focused overload, frying its core. The construct convulsed, then collapsed in a heap of smoldering metal.
One down.
Ryven wasn't far behind. He had leapt onto another construct's back, his fingers glowing with static as he shoved his palm against the machine's skull. Sparks flew as he sent a controlled surge into its neural core, forcing it to spasm and collapse.
But more were coming.
The energy in the vault was rising. Kael could feel the pull of the crystal, the way the Overseer was channeling its energy into his creations.
This wasn't just a test.
It was a war.
Kael focused inward, feeling the new connection he had gained from fighting the Stormborn Ascendant. He could sense the way the energy flowed through these constructs, the way they drew from the current of the vault.
Which meant…
He could interrupt it.
Kael raised his hand.
Instead of attacking, he pulled.
The nearest construct staggered, its body locking up as its energy was ripped from its core. The charge flowed into Kael, flooding his system, feeding into the storm within him.
He had never tried this before.
But now, it felt natural.
The constructs collapsed one by one, their power drained, their movements faltering. The Overseer's calm expression finally shifted, a flicker of irritation breaking through his mask.
Kael stepped forward, his body brimming with the energy he had taken, his eyes locked onto the Overseer.
"This was never about giving me power," Kael said. "It was about controlling it."
The Overseer's silver eyes darkened. "Control is what separates gods from animals."
Kael smirked. "Then I guess I'm not a god yet."
He raised his hand. The vault itself trembled.
The Overseer stepped back.
For the first time, Kael saw something he hadn't expected.
Uncertainty.