Chapter 5: The Hidden System Awakens
Chapter 5: The Hidden System Awakens
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The next day began like any other day. The early morning mist covered the academy grounds as Zephyr made his way to Infirmary Wing Two, the scroll from the rookery hidden safely beneath the folds of his cloak. Each step he took was heavier than the last. Not from the exhaustion, but from the lingering weight of last night.
He had not dared to open the scroll yet. He hadn't even dared to dream what the hooded figure's words meant, "Your blood remembers what the world has forgotten."
Inside the infirmary, the day passed in a blur of work with the beasts. He applied salves to wounded beast paws, fed sedated beasts, and measured fever temperatures of molting creatures. Wren watched him closely, but said little. Only the occasional nod of approval or small corrections.
Yet all day, Zephyr felt something..A heat inside his chest. A faint pulse beneath his skin. As if something was waiting for his response.
By evening, the world grew quieter. The caretakers retired to their dorms. The instructors gathered for their nightly reports. The low sun bled across the courtyard like molten gold, casting long shadows across the academy's worn stones.
Zephyr sat alone in his narrow room, the scroll was laid out on his bed. For a long time... he simply stared at it.
The seal on the scroll was different now. The ouroboros dragon symbol, which was previously a faint imprint of wax, had begun to glow.Soft golden tendrils of light pulsed from it, like veins of living fire.
His hands trembled slightly as he touched the scroll. The wax crumbled away at his touch.
The parchment unfurled on its own, revealing a series of ancient runes etched in ink that shimmered like starlight. The letters were foreign yet familiar, as if written into his very blood.