The final warning faded from my vision, and for several seconds the grey world remained completely still. The towering rectangular steel monolith stood before me, the engraved word Prarambh faintly glowing in red.
Then a thin crack ran across its surface.
Another followed. The massive monolith did not collapse onto the ground. Instead, it dissolved in place, fragmenting into shimmering metallic motes that hovered in the air for a brief moment.
Then they surged toward me.
I did not resist.
The particles passed through my body without impact and descended directly into my Dawn Core. I felt the shift instantly. Deep within my internal landscape, where the elemental volcano churned and the central island remained hidden beneath layers of Essence, a new movement began.
The Dawn Core trembled.
From beneath its inner surface, land began to rise.
A new island formed.
It pushed upward slowly, solidifying from nothing, its surface smooth and metallic in tone. The rising mass stabilized into a plateau. At its center, the same rectangular steel monolith emerged once again, perfectly intact, the word Prarambh carved upon it.
The sword in my hand flashed.
In a streak of crimson light, it vanished from my grip and reappeared within the Dawn Core, embedding itself at the peak of the steel structure rising from the new island. The blade slid cleanly into place as though it had always belonged there. The red line along its center pulsed once, synchronizing with the core beneath it.
Then everything stilled.
Outside, the grey world grew silent once more.
I opened my eyes fully and raised my hand.
"Prarambh."
The sword answered.
In a crimson flash it reappeared in my grip, the red line along its blade glowing faintly. It felt lighter now, more responsive, as though it recognized me as much as I recognized it.
The air in front of me split open again.
Another portal formed and it was not hard to guess that it was simply an exit. Without hesitation, I stepped through. The portal closed behind me instantly.
When my vision cleared, I was no longer standing in a grey endless world.
I found myself in a narrow alley.
Stone walls rose on either side of the narrow alley. The air carried a faint scent of iron and smoke, mixed with something distinctly feral. Without hesitation, I expanded my perception outward, letting it spread across the city I was in.
The signatures were unmistakable.
Ferans.
I stepped forward once and vanished from the alley, reappearing high above in the sky.
From the sky, the layout became clear quickly. It did not take long for me to identify the place.
It was the capital Ness in the planet Selara. The same planet the Transcendent traitor had named before I erased him.
I hovered silently, scanning further.
"Are you trying to compensate now, System?" I muttered under my breath.
It had opened a portal directly to this world the moment the trial ended. There had been no delay, no randomness. If this was coincidence, it was too precise. I had asked for direction. And I had been delivered directly to Selara. Whether it was compensation or calculation, I could not tell.
But I was here now. And Hollow Star was somewhere on this planet.
To locate the base of Hollow Star, or at least a thread that could lead me toward it, I chose not to move blindly through the streets. Instead, I remained suspended high above the city, crossed my legs in the open sky, and closed my eyes.
My perception expanded outward slowly at first, then steadily widened until it covered the entire city of Ness. I let it flow through rooftops, seep through walls, slide beneath foundations, and brush against every living presence below. I was not searching for something obvious.
Hollow Star did not leave banners or open signatures. I searched for irregularities, hidden spatial folds, suppressed runes, faint distortions that did not belong to natural construction.
At the same time, I filtered through the auras of the inhabitants, searching for something subtler.
Deathmist.
Not the dense concentration found in relay bases, but residue. A trace. A faint echo clinging to someone who had come into contact with it.
Minutes passed.
I found concealed weapon caches, smuggling compartments, and minor rune locks—but nothing tied to Hollow Star.
Then, nearly ten minutes into the search, I found it.
A faint residue.
It clung to the aura of a woman inside a shop near the inner district. She was not elderly as I had first assumed from her aura’s texture; she appeared to be in her forties. A sword rested across her back, worn but maintained. She stood behind a polished counter, organizing what appeared to be old relics and artifacts.
Her aura carried a hint of that mist. Not enough to mark her as a soldier. But enough to suggest contact.
In the next instant, I vanished from the sky and reappeared on the street in front of her shop.
The storefront was refined compared to the surrounding structures. Tinted glass panels framed the entrance. The interior lighting glowed warmly behind the glass. Above the door, engraved in polished metal, the name read:
Rubies Blazo Antiquities.
’Interesting.’
I stepped forward and knocked once.
From inside, a calm voice responded, "Come in."
I pushed the door open and entered. The interior was well arranged, ancient weapons mounted carefully along the walls, relics displayed behind protective glass, artifacts labeled neatly. The air smelled faintly of flowery fragrance and treated wood.
Behind the counter stood the woman.
Now that I saw her clearly, I recognized the features of the Fox tribe among the Ferans. Her ears were slightly pointed and furred, her eyes sharp and observant. She studied me briefly before offering a polite smile.
"Welcome," she said. "Looking for something rare?"
I did not answer immediately.
Instead, I allowed my perception to expand fully throughout the shop, scanning beneath the flooring, inside the walls, across hidden compartments, searching for concealed runes or spatial distortions.
But I found nothing. I stopped the search and looked directly into her eyes.
Then I snapped my fingers.
Space froze around her instantly.
The air solidified, locking her in place mid-motion. She could still see. She could still think. But her body could not move. Even the faintest twitch was restrained.
Her pupils widened slightly, but she did not panic.
I stepped closer.
"I am looking for the base of Hollow Star," I said calmly.
Her eyes flickered.
"If you know anything," I continued evenly, "you will blink once."
I held her gaze.
"If you do not know anything, you will not blink."
I leaned slightly forward, my voice steady.
"And make sure you are not lying to me. If it turns out that you are not helpful, I will kill you and move on."
The space around her remained completely locked.
All that could move were her eyes.
I waited.