The breakfast hall of the Paraiso palace was bathed in the soft, golden light of a perfect morning, but the atmosphere at the table was far from serene.
Of the three teenagers, only Jay appeared to have found any rest. He was busily devouring a plate of honeyed cakes, his eyes bright and full of energy.
Beside him, Reign poked listlessly at her fruit, her eyes underlined by dark circles. Across from them sat Leib, who looked like a ghost inhabiting a living body.
Jay swallowed a mouthful of cake and glanced at Reign. "Whoa, Reign. Did you spend the whole night practicing with Opa? You look like you went ten rounds with a mountain troll."
Reign glanced at Leib, her expression guarded. "Something like that," she muttered.
Leib didn't wait for a better opening. He leaned forward, his voice a low, urgent rasp. "Jay, something happened yesterday. Something I can't explain."
For the next ten minutes, Leib recounted the events, the glowing prompt, the trek to the cemetery, the mourning blue cat, and the terrifying moment the spirit turned to ink and vanished into his chest. He described the prompt that told him he had acquired "Feline Reflexes."
Jay's fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He stared at Leib for a long beat, then burst out laughing. "A prompt? Like a game? Leib, buddy, I know you've been spending way too much time in the library. What you're describing... that's not how Gabays work. They don't turn into 'skills.' They are partners."
"I felt it, Jay," Leib insisted, his voice rising. "I feel faster. I feel different."
Jay shook his head, a pitying look in his eyes. "Look, man, the shock of the Awakening... it messed with all of us. You're just stressed. Your mind is trying to fill the gap because you didn't get a beast. It's okay."
To settle the matter, Jay insisted they head to the royal gymnasium, a massive, high-ceilinged arena designed for spirit training. "Show me," Jay challenged, standing in the center of the padded floor. "Show me these 'Feline Reflexes.'"
Leib took a deep breath. He tried to summon the feeling he'd had in the forest. He crouched low, his muscles tensing. He tried to sprint toward Jay, attempting to mimic the unnatural speed he felt he'd possessed the night before.
He moved, but to Jay and the few guards watching, it just looked like a boy running awkwardly. Leib tried to leap over a training dummy, but his foot caught the edge, and he tumbled ungracefully into the mats. He scrambled up, his face flushed, and tried to move with a "cat-like" grace, his hands curled like claws.
Jay winced, looking away. "Leib... stop. You're just... you're just imitating a cat. This is hard to watch."
Leib froze. The shame hit him like a physical blow. He looked at his hands, which felt normal, and then at Reign. She looked torn, her hand reaching out to pat his back.
"Maybe Jay is right," Reign said softly, though her voice lacked conviction. "Maybe your mind is just trying to help you cope. It's a lot to take in, Leib."
Leib felt a hollow colder than the shadow itself. Was he truly going mad? Was his desperation to be special creating illusions that even his only friends couldn't see?
The awkward silence was broken by the entrance of King Batlaha. He had come to oversee the morning drills, but he stopped when he saw Leib. "I am surprised to see you here, Leib. I thought the library was your true kingdom."
Reign, eager to steer the conversation away from Leib's potential breakdown, stepped forward. "Your Majesty, Leib found something. Not just the... the things in the cemetery, but something at the Bátis."
Batlaha listened as Leib, now much more subdued, described the tiny, hairline fracture he had found on the rim of the sacred well. Unlike the story of the blue cat, this news made Batlaha's entire demeanor shift. His face turned grim, his eyes losing their warmth.
"Show me," Batlaha commanded.
They immediately headed to the Great Arena. The Bátis stood under the midday sun, silent and ancient. Leib led them to the exact spot. He knelt and pointed. "There. It's tiny, but it's there."
Batlaha leaned in, Shaba looming over his shoulder. The King's breath caught. "A crack," he whispered. "This well has survived a thousand years of elemental storms, wars, and the awakening of seventy-four Mythicals. Not even the highest whirlwind or the weight of a Dragon could chip this stone. And now... a fracture."
"Maybe the Bátis was overwhelmed?" Reign suggested. "Two Mythicals in one year... maybe it was too much energy for the stone to hold."
"That makes sense," Jay added, nodding.
"It shouldn't," Batlaha countered. "The Bátis is not just stone. It is a conduit. It does not break."
A sudden roar from above cut their conversation short. A pillar of fire descended from the sky, and King Prien of Fiero landed on the back of his Flaming Phoenix. He slid off the bird's back, his eyes fixed on Batlaha.
"You called for me, Batlaha. You said the foundation is failing?"
They returned to the palace to discuss the matter in the privacy of the King's war room. As they sat around the heavy obsidian table, Batlaha looked at Leib.
"Leib, I apologized for dismissing the latter half of your story earlier. Prien, the boy claims that yesterday, a dying Gabay did not evaporate. He says it turned into shadow and entered him."
Jay rolled his eyes. "Your Majesty, with all respect, it's just an illusion. He was tired, he was sad... he's imagining things to feel like he has a Gabay."
"Let us listen first," Batlaha said firmly.
Prien leaned forward, his eyes like glowing coals. "A Gabay turning black? That is... unheard of. But think, Batlaha. During the Awakening, a shadow leapt from the Bátis. It entered this boy. Could it be that the shadow is not a companion, but a... a vessel?"
Leib felt a chill. "A vessel for what?"
"For the essence of spirits," Prien mused. "In the old, forbidden texts of Fiero, there are mentions of 'The Consumer.' A being that doesn't bond, but absorbs. But those are myths to scare children."
Leib opened his mouth to speak, but the room suddenly went ice-cold.
The torches along the walls flickered, their golden flames turning a sickly, pale violet. A heavy, suffocating pressure filled the room, making it hard for even the Kings to breathe. Jay jumped up, Jin growling beside him, and Reign's serpent coiled around her, its scales glowing with a frantic light.
Leib didn't move. He couldn't.
Inside his mind, a sound like a thousand glass windows shattering echoed. His vision didn't just blur; it reorganized. The violet text from the cemetery returned, but it wasn't a memory. It was a live command.
A massive, glowing prompt materialized in the air, but it wasn't just in Leib's head. The air rippled as the letters formed, shimmering with a dark, pulsating light.
[ TARGET ACQUIRED ]
[ 53 KM SOUTHWEST ]
Leib's eyes snapped wide, his pupils dilating until his eyes were nothing but black voids. He gasped, clutching his chest as a searing heat flared in his heart.
"Leib?" Reign whispered, her voice trembling. "What is happening?"
The prompt began to pulse faster, its glow intensifying until it cast long, jagged shadows across the room.
[ TARGET CLASS: EPIC ]
[ TIME UNTIL SOUL EVAPORATION: 4 HOURS ]
[ PROCEED TO CONSUMPTION ]
Suddenly, Leib let out a choked cry and fell to his knees. His skin began to smoke, not with fire, but with a thin, wispy black vapor.
"Batlaha!" Prien shouted, his hand igniting with fire. "The boy!"
Leib looked up, his face a mask of agony. "It's... it's telling me... someone is dying," he wheezed. "Fifty-three kilometers away... it's hungry... I can't breathe..."
He collapsed onto the floor, but as his forehead hit the marble, a second prompt appeared right beneath the first, turning a blood-red color.
[ WARNING: HOST VITALS CRITICAL ]
[ HUNGER PENALTY INITIATED ]
[ 0:59 SECONDS UNTIL HEART FAILURE ]
The room plunged into total darkness as the prompt began to count down.