Chapter 54 - The Way Forward
They didn't speak for a long while after leaving the desecrated ruin.
Jin walked with a heavy silence, his eyes lost in thought as the forest swallowed their path once more. Around them, shadows loomed tall, but even the birds dared not call after what had just taken place.
Lyra glanced at him occasionally. His pace was steady, his expression hard—but she could feel it. He was disturbed. Not by the fight… but by what he had seen.
By what still lay below.
"You didn't expect the seal to pulse," she finally said. "Even after we ended the ritual."
Jin's jaw tensed. "It wasn't just a barrier or a trap. That seal was a container… something ancient was inside it. Still is."
Gorr, walking a few paces ahead, folded his arms. "Then we should go back and destroy it completely."
Jin shook his head. "It won't work. Whatever they were trying to awaken…it stirred, not because of the ritual—but because I got close. I think my bloodline… or that thing inside me… resonated with it."
Lyra turned to Jin, narrowing her eyes. "That thing inside me... What do you mean?"
Jin blinked, then waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing. Just... the heat of battle. Let's not dwell on it."
She studied him a moment longer, sensing something deeper but letting it go with a sigh.
The survivors of the ancient race had already been guided to a safe corner of the ruin, their expressions wary but thankful. Jin approached them, giving a solemn bow.
"We'll find a way to ensure your safety," he promised.
One of the elders of the race—barely older than Jin himself due to the time-warped slumber—nodded. "You have our gratitude... Elemental Wielder."
---
Later, as the dust settled and the party took a moment to recover, Gorr's tail flicked lazily as he opened a shimmering portal of folded space. He turned toward Lyra and Jin.
"It's time," Gorr said. "We've delayed long enough."
Jin nodded. The battle had left him with much to reflect on, and even more to master. He needed time to advance his soul techniques and elemental transitions.
Before they parted, Gorr held out a small box. Inside were two delicate strands of his own hair, each with a speck of blood at the tip.
"Keep this with you," Gorr instructed. "If either of you channels your spiritual sense into the strand, you'll be pulled to the other's location instantly. Like a beacon. We will all grow stronger individually and meet here in 10 years"
Lyra accepted hers silently, staring at Jin. "Ten years, huh?"
Jin gave a faint smile. "Ten years."
She didn't say anything more. Instead, she shook her head with a faint smile and vanished in a flash of white light, leaving behind a flicker of fire and radiance.
Gorr turned to Jin. "You sure about your next steps?"
Jin nodded. "I need answers. More than that, I need the strength to carry what's coming."
Gorr simply grinned. "Then go find it."
With a deep breath, Jin activated his movement technique. Fire swirled at his feet, wind pushed him forward, and earth kept his stride grounded. Water pulsed in his veins like flowing energy.
---
Days passed. Jin traveled through dense forests and over jagged mountains, always following the faintest whispers of elemental resonance. His soul cultivation allowed him to scan wide areas for anomalies, and his mastery of the four elements made him attuned to even the subtlest of elemental irregularities.
Eventually, he stumbled across an ancient passage nestled beneath a cliffside waterfall. The entrance was barely visible, concealed by ancient arrays designed to veil it from prying eyes. But Jin felt it—the rhythmic pulse of knowledge calling to him.
He stepped through and into a vast, dust-laden hall carved entirely from stone and glowing with rune-inscribed walls. The chamber stretched endlessly, and even the air inside carried the heavy scent of age and secrets.
Bookshelves lined the walls. Slabs and scrolls were scattered across stone pedestals, untouched by time. This was not merely a ruin—it was a sanctuary of knowledge. A treasury of ancient understanding.
At first, Jin was impressed but reserved. He'd seen ruins before. But as he walked deeper, he came upon a massive stone slab placed like an altar at the center of the room.
It was covered in a dense array of runes, some of which pulsed as he approached, reacting to his elemental signature. His soul cultivation flared instinctively, deciphering the meaning hidden in their structure.
He began to read.
"Within these runes lies the ability to weave formations that suppress realms. To create weapons that draw on cosmic essence. To carve arrays that can seal even space itself. To grant breath to the lifeless. To awaken the sleeping. To merge soul and element."
Jin froze. His heart pounded. This wasn't just old magic. This was the language of the world itself. A way to control not just the elements, but the very fabric of what gave them meaning.
He reached out and touched the slab.
A searing pain ran up his arm, and visions flickered across his mind—complex formations, forgotten names of ancient rune masters, glimpses of battles where runes turned tides. Knowledge poured into him like a river finally breaching a dam.
He stumbled back, breath ragged, yet eyes blazing with purpose.
"This... this is it."
No longer just elemental paths. This was deeper.
He turned to face the ruin, newly aware of the responsibility he'd stepped into. Somewhere, out there, forces were moving, and his power—this knowledge—would be key to surviving and shaping the battles to come.
He smiled faintly to himself. "Time to rewrite the rules."
And with that, Jin began his study of the ancient runes, unaware of how far this new path would take him.