The moon hung low and bruised over the shattered rooftops of the Greek district as Kairo landed softly beside the others. His hood was still damp from the rain, droplets sliding from his jawline like falling glass. No one noticed the faint glow that flickered beneath his bandaged wrist — the hidden scroll pressed against his skin like a second pulse.
Selene exhaled shakily.
"We made it… we really did."
Rael grinned, blade resting lazily on his shoulder.
"Barely. If those patrols had turned around we'd be dead meat."
Kaze scoffed.
"Relax. We're ghosts when we move together."
Together.
The word stung Kairo when it shouldn't have.
If they knew what was tucked beneath his clothes, they wouldn't say together so easily.
They moved under the cover of trees, the night swallowing their footsteps, until torches lit the path ahead — the outpost of the Single Wielders.
Six figures awaited them like statues carved from iron discipline:
Ruel. Lani. Isha. Damis. Kasai. Dagon.
Legends in whispered tavern stories. One ability each — mastered to perfection.
Ruel stepped forward, voice sharp but calm.
"Report."
Selene bowed and presented the stolen archives.
"The Greek council is planning expansion to the East. Troop movement. Forbidden experiments. Names of targets."
The air tightened.
Damis hissed under his breath.
"That's enough to start a war."
Kasai nodded to the shadows.
"Inform Sensei. Immediately."
As they spoke, Kairo felt something… call to him.
The scroll.
The mark beneath his skin warmed — not painfully, but hungrily.
As if recognizing home.
Selene noticed his distant stare and nudged his arm gently.
"You okay, Kairo?"
His voice came quiet, almost flat.
"…Yeah."
She smiled, relieved.
That smile — it would hurt later.
But neither of them knew yet.
Ruel sternly folded the reports.
"You all performed well. Go rest. From morning onward — missions resume."
Everyone dispersed toward their quarters.
But Kairo didn't sleep.
He sat alone on the rooftop, wind tugging his cloak as he unwrapped his wrist and stared at the ancient scroll under moonlight. Symbols moved like living ink — Yoruba runes, older than stories, older than kingdoms.
The Mark on his forearm pulsed once.
Kairo Adeosun…
Do you wish to see?
He hesitated.
Then slowly, he unraveled the first inch of the scroll.
Light exploded silently behind his eyes.
For a moment — he saw everything.
Aether as rivers beneath skin.
Life-force swirling like galaxies inside every warrior below.
He saw Selene glowing bright as wildfire.
Rael like steel.
Kaze like lightning.
And himself…
A black sun with three rings.
One active. Two sleeping.
His breath trembled — not in fear, but in awakening.
Pure Eye.
Not illusion yet. Not amplification yet.
Just sight. Truth. Potential.
He closed the scroll gently, hiding it again.
No one must know.
Not now.
Not even Selene.
He rose, gaze cold and unreadable, looking down at the camp — at home, at friends, at everything he was about to outgrow.
Tomorrow would begin like any other.
But deep inside, something had already changed.
A seed planted.
A path chosen.
A destiny waking.