It was Seren who asked first.
"Do we have a crest?"
They were seated beneath the spirit-tree at twilight, its ash-petals glowing faintly in the wind. Nyru dozed beside the fire. Kuro paced in shadows. Irius flickered like a ghost-light near the edge.
Kaien stirred from his silent meditation.
"We did."
"But the world buried it."
He stood and extended his hand.
From the brazier rose a glyph—an ancient sigil made of broken flame spirals intersecting like shattered rings. It pulsed faintly, echoing Kaien's breathing.
"This is the crest of the Ashen Hollow. Once burned from the world."
"Today, we carve it back."
[Ashen Hollow Sect — Flame Crest Forged]
Symbol: Broken Spiral CrownMeaning: Flame that falls, rises unchainedSect Pillars:
— Memory— Judgment— Becoming— Bond
Core Cultivation Path:
— Sovereign Flame Variants— Beastlink Harmonies— Forbidden Echo Techniques— Soul-forged Oaths
Disciples:
Kaien Maerok, Ashbearer
Seren, Flame-Dream Blade
Rin, Chain-Smoke Pact
Veyra, Ash-Reckoner
Sect Status: Flame-Level 3 — Ascending Spark
Kaien stood at the stone tablet near the brazier, carving their names into the ash-slate with a single finger of flame.
Each disciple was called forward.
Each stepped into the ring of symbols and offered their first technique—their soul-forged mark, the art that would begin their legend.
[Seren's Technique – Veil of Asterflame]
Type: Illusory Strike – Dreamfire VariantEffect: Creates three simultaneous flame echoes of the user, each capable of delivering a phantom wound that lingers in the mind, disrupting perception.Emotion Source: Doubt transformed into clarity.
"They'll never know which blade is mine," she said."Until they've already bled."
[Rin's Technique – Smokebind Grudge Chain]
Type: Shadow Grapple – Fear FlameEffect: Summons a chain from the user's own memory of defeat; it wraps the enemy and forces them to relive a failure, weakening spiritual defenses.Emotion Source: Fear used as anchor, not prison.
"I run no more," Rin whispered."Let them choke on what once held me."
[Veyra's Technique – Brand of the Unspoken]
Type: Marking Flame – Judgment AffinityEffect: Scribes a sigil upon the enemy's chest that burns when a lie is spoken or a name is concealed. Grows stronger the more sins are hidden.Emotion Source: Regret shaped into flame.
"Let their guilt burn louder than their blades."
Kaien placed no technique on the tablet yet.
"I will not write my mark," he said, "until I remember it."
"But when I do, it will burn so bright the heavens will blink."
That night, as the sect crest blazed over the Hollow, a shadow passed through the Veilwood.
A young man stepped through with no beast, no cloak, no flame drawn.
He bowed politely to Seren at the gate.
"I heard a sect rose from ash," he said."I came to see if it was real."
Kaien met him at the inner path.
"Name?"
"I'm just a wanderer," he said with a smile. "But I once trained in the Flameborne Courts."
"And I thought perhaps I could learn more. Or… offer something."
Kaien's eyes narrowed.
"You have no beast."
"I burned it," the man said simply. "By mistake."
"Now I want to earn another."
Kaien gestured for Veyra to circle wide behind him, silent. Her eyes flashed with judgment flame.
[System Alert — Unregistered Soul Signature Detected]
Name:Unknown*False Aura Construct DetectedTrue Affinity: ???Divine Interference Trace: ActiveRisk Level: RedDirective: Observe before burn
Kaien smiled.
"Then join our fire for a night. If it accepts you, we'll speak again."
The man bowed once more.
But Kaien saw it—the flicker of divinity buried deep beneath his skin.
Someone had sent him.
And Kaien would let him stay.
Long enough to find out who.
Far away, in a sky temple clouded in gold, a masked woman crossed through a hall of mirrors. She stopped before a still pool of flame.
Within it, Kaien Maerok knelt, carving names into stone.
She reached into the flame.
And whispered:
"I name you again."
"So I may end you again."