Academy — Restricted Archive Entrance:
The corridor did not exist on any public map.
No signs.
No markings.
No reason for a trainee to ever be there.
Kael stood in front of it anyway.
"…I don't remember walking here," he muttered.
The air felt different.
Not heavy.
Not tense.
Absent.
Like something important had been taken out of it.
Entrance:
A sealed door stood ahead.
No handle.
No visible mechanism.
Kael tilted his head.
"…So I just stand here or what?"
Silence.
Then—
The surface flickered.
Just for a second.
The door opened.
Kael blinked.
"…That was easy."
Inside the Archive:
The room was massive.
Far larger than it should've been.
Rows of records stretched endlessly into the distance.
But something was wrong.
Entire sections—
were missing.
Not empty.
Removed.
Like pages torn out of a book.
Movement:
Kael walked slowly between the shelves.
"…This place feels worse than the ruins," he said quietly.
He reached for a scroll.
The moment his fingers touched it—
It disintegrated.
Not burned.
Not broken.
Erased.
"…Okay."
He pulled his hand back.
The Mark Section:
At the far end—
There was a single intact section.
Unlike the others—
It was untouched.
Untouched… but not preserved.
Ignored.
Like something no longer acknowledged its existence.
Kael stepped closer.
The label above it was faded.
Almost unreadable.
But not completely.
"…MARK…" he read softly.
The same word.
Contact:
He reached out again.
Slower this time.
His fingers touched the record.
This time—
It didn't disappear.
Activation:
The entire section reacted.
A faint pulse spread through the room.
The missing shelves—
Flickered.
For a brief moment—
They existed again.
Vision:
Not a memory.
Not an illusion.
Something else.
A battlefield.
Not like the current war.
Worse.
The sky was split open.
Not cracked.
Split.
The ground wasn't broken.
It was layered—
Like multiple realities stacked and collapsing into each other.
Figures stood across the battlefield.
Not humans.
Not beasts.
Something else.
One raised its hand—
And space bent around it.
Another—
Did not move at all.
But everything around it stopped.
Focus Shift:
Kael's vision moved.
Not by choice.
Toward a single point.
A group.
No—
A presence.
They stood differently.
Not dominating.
Not reacting.
Existing.
Like everything else was beneath them—
not by power—
but by nature.
Interruption:
The vision shattered.
The archive returned.
Silent again.
Kael staggered slightly.
"…What was that…"
Behind Him:
"…You were not authorized to access this sector."
Kael turned.
Marek stood there.
Expression unreadable.
Tension:
Kael scratched his head.
"…Door opened."
"That door does not open."
"…It did."
Silence.
Observation:
Marek stepped closer.
"You touched something."
Kael nodded slightly.
"…Yeah."
"What did you see?"
Kael paused.
Then—
"…Nothing that exists now."
Stillness:
Marek didn't react immediately.
"…Describe it."
Kael looked back at the shelves.
"…It wasn't a war like ours."
"…Then what was it?"
Kael's voice lowered slightly.
"…It looked like something before the world decided how things should work."
Silence.
The Word:
"…And there was that word again."
Marek's eyes sharpened.
"…What word?"
Kael looked at the faded section.
"…Mark."
Shift:
For the first time—
Marek's composure broke.
Slightly.
"…You need to leave."
Exit:
Kael didn't argue.
He walked out slowly.
The moment he crossed the doorway—
The archive sealed again.
Like it had never opened.
Inside the Archive:
Marek remained.
Alone.
He looked at the section.
The faded label.
"…That section was removed," he said quietly.
No response.
Because it wasn't supposed to be there anymore.
Deep Archive Layer (Unknown):
Something deeper reacted.
Not to Marek.
To Kael.
A mechanism—
ancient—
unregistered—
Activated.
Not fully.
Just enough.
System Response:
A faint line appeared across a hidden surface.
A name—
almost forming—
Then disappearing.
Final Scene:
Outside—
Kael walked back through the academy.
Same pace.
Same expression.
But this time—
He looked up at the sky.
Longer than usual.
"…That wasn't just a memory," he said quietly.
No one heard him.
But something did.
END OF CHAPTER 10...
TO BE CONTINUED...