Cold.
That was the first thing Kael felt.
Not the burning heat.
Not the overwhelming power.
Just… cold.
His fingers twitched weakly against the ground.
Rough.
Uneven.
Not concrete.
Slowly…
His eyes opened.
Darkness greeted him.
Not complete—but dim.
Faint light filtered in from somewhere above, barely enough to see shapes.
Kael groaned softly, trying to sit up.
Pain answered immediately.
His entire body screamed in protest.
"…Where… am I…?"
His voice echoed.
That was wrong.
Too hollow.
Too wide.
A cave?
No…
Something bigger.
He forced himself upright, leaning against a nearby surface.
Stone.
Cold.
Ancient.
His breathing steadied slowly.
The pain was still there—but weaker now.
Controlled.
"Aetherion…"
Silence.
Kael frowned.
"Don't do this now…"
Nothing.
His chest tightened slightly.
For the first time since everything began…
The voice was gone.
A faint glow pulsed beneath his skin.
Weak.
Unstable.
But still there.
"…You're still alive…"
Relief washed over him—small, but real.
Then—
A sound.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Water.
Somewhere deeper in the darkness.
Kael pushed himself to his feet slowly.
His legs trembled—but held.
"Okay…"
He took a breath.
"Step one… figure out where the hell I am."
He moved forward.
Carefully.
Each step echoed.
The space around him stretched far beyond what he could see.
And then—
He noticed it.
Symbols.
Faint.
Carved into the walls.
Not random.
Structured.
Ancient.
Kael reached out slowly, brushing his fingers against the stone.
The moment he touched it—
The symbols flickered.
A faint light spread outward.
"…What…?"
The glow intensified slightly, revealing more of the space around him.
And what he saw—
Made him freeze.
It wasn't a cave.
It was a structure.
Massive.
Pillars stretched upward into darkness.
Broken machinery lay scattered across the ground.
And at the center—
A platform.
Circular.
Waiting.
"This place…"
Kael stepped forward slowly.
The closer he got—
The stronger the feeling became.
Familiar.
Not from memory.
From something deeper.
The core.
It reacted.
Weak—but undeniable.
"You brought me here…"
No answer.
But he knew.
This wasn't random.
He stepped onto the platform.
The moment his foot touched it—
The entire structure hummed.
Light surged through the carvings.
The ground trembled beneath him.
"—!"
Kael tensed.
Then—
A voice.
Not Aetherion.
Older.
Colder.
"Signal detected."
Kael's eyes widened.
"Core signature… confirmed."
The light intensified around him.
"Initiating… reactivation."
"Wait—what?!"
Too late.
The platform ignited beneath his feet.
Energy surged upward—wrapping around his body.
Not violent.
Controlled.
Precise.
Kael gasped as the energy flowed into him.
The weak glow in his chest flared—
Stabilizing.
Strength returning.
"Host condition… critical."
"Beginning restoration."
Kael's vision blurred again—
But not from pain this time.
From something else.
Information.
Fragments.
Images flashing through his mind—
Structures like this.
Scattered.
Hidden.
Waiting.
"What… is this place…?"
The voice answered.
"Outpost… designation: forgotten."
Kael's heart skipped.
Forgotten.
And somewhere far away—
The Hunter stopped.
His head turned slightly.
"…I felt that."
A slow smile formed.
"So that's where you went."
The hunt… had just begun.