Chapter 20: The Healer’s Sigil
Morning in the village was never truly quiet—roosters crowed, carts creaked over cobblestones, and the air buzzed with the chatter of traders. But today, a strange tension clung to the wind like mist before a storm.
Elric stood at the edge of the forest, his fingers tracing the mark that had begun to form on his wrist overnight—thin lines like roots, curling inwards into the shape of a serpent. It pulsed faintly with warmth, reacting to something only it understood.
Lira watched him from a distance, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "That's from the Tree, isn't it?"
"Yes," Elric replied. "Or maybe... something beneath it. Selene called it a sigil—a seal tied to the Bloodroot Pact."
"You didn't have that before."
"I think I've had it for longer than I know," he said. "It just hadn't awakened."
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Inside the clinic, Cai was awake and alert, poring over medical diagrams with a focus that bordered on obsessive. Elric noticed the same shimmering energy around him, like a faint halo of something old stirring in new blood.
"You're learning fast," Elric said, setting a cup of tea beside him.