The southern forests were not the only place where the tournament had begun.
Far across Verdanthos...on the eastern side
A group of four awakened appeared in the middle of a vast valley.
The moment their feet touched the ground, Eldric Vaelor looked toward the horizon.
Mountains stretched endlessly into the distance.
Dense forests covered the lower valleys.
And somewhere beyond them...
Was the Golden Statue.
Eldric adjusted the gloves covering his hands.
"So this is Verdanthos."
Beside him stood Azrion.
Unlike Eldric, he wasn't looking at the scenery.
He was looking behind them.
"Don't admire it yet."
Eldric glanced at him.
"Why?"
Azrion pointed toward the ground.
"Look."
Several footprints were pressed into the soil.
Deep.
Large.
Fresh.
Eldric crouched beside them.
"Ravager."
"How fresh?"
Azrion examined the edges of the prints.
"Less than an hour."
One of their teammates swallowed nervously.
"So they're nearby?"
Azrion stood.
"Probably."
Eldric smiled.
"Good."
The other awakened stared at him.
"Good?"
Eldric nodded.
"Yes."
He looked toward the footprints again.
"Everyone else is probably going to be thinking about the statue."
"They'll rush north."
"They'll fight anything in their way."
"They'll waste Aether."
"And eventually..."
"They'll become easier targets."
Azrion crossed his arms.
"You've already started treating this like a chessboard."
"Because it is one."
Eldric stood.
"Fifty thousand awakened."
"Two thousand advancing."
"The System doesn't need everyone to reach the statue."
"It only needs enough people to eliminate themselves."
One of the teammates looked uneasy.
"Then what do we do?"
Eldric pointed toward the mountains.
"We don't go north."
Azrion looked at him.
"You want to move West ?"
"No."
Eldric smiled.
"We stay here."
Azrion's expression hardened.
"For how long?"
"Until the first wave passes."
The two guide bots floated closer.
"Objective: reach the Golden Statue located in northern Verdanthos."
"Additional information: environmental conditions are subject to change."
Eldric looked at the bots.
"How many teams have already moved through this region?"
"Unknown."
"How many participants have been eliminated?"
"Unknown."
Eldric's eyes narrowed.
"So even the bots aren't giving us everything."
Azrion gave a quiet laugh.
"Did you really expect them to?"
"No."
Eldric turned toward the valley.
"That's what makes this interesting."
A distant roar echoed between the mountains.
Then another.
Then silence.
The other two awakened instinctively reached for their weapons.
Azrion raised one hand.
"Don't."
They froze.
"Listen."
For several seconds, there was nothing.
Then came the sound of movement.
Not one creature.
Several.
A pack was moving through the forest below.
Eldric watched the trees carefully.
"They're heading away from us."
Azrion nodded.
"Which means something scared them."
Eldric's expression changed.
For the first time, the confidence disappeared.
"Everyone..."
"Stay quiet."
The four awakened lowered themselves behind a rocky ridge.
The forest below remained still.
Then something enormous moved between the trees.
Only for a moment.
A dark silhouette.
Far larger than a Ravager.
Then it disappeared.
One of the teammates whispered:
"What was that?"
Eldric didn't answer.
Azrion's eyes remained fixed on the forest.
"I don't know."
Eldric slowly stood.
"That's exactly why we're not moving."
He looked toward the distant northern horizon.
The Golden Statue was somewhere beyond those mountains.
Thousands of awakened would eventually come searching for it.
But Eldric had already understood something most participants hadn't.
The tournament wasn't simply about reaching the destination.
It was about understanding the world between you...
And the destination.
And Verdanthos had just shown them that there were things within its forests that even the tournament's rules didn't fully explain.
The valley had gone quiet again.
Eldric and the others remained behind the rocky ridge, watching the forest below.
Azrion, however, had stopped paying attention to the creatures.
His gaze had fallen upon his own hands.
They were steady.
Too steady.
He slowly opened and closed his fingers.
Who am I?
The question had followed him for years.
Not loudly.
Not like a voice.
More like a thought that never truly belonged to him.
He had learned to ignore it.
To bury it beneath training.
Missions.
Orders.
Names.
Titles.
Expectations.
Everyone knew Azrion Velcrest.
The dependable one.
The calm one.
The person who never hesitated when things became dangerous.
But sometimes...
When he looked into a mirror...
He wondered whether that person actually existed.
"Azrion?"
Eldric's voice pulled him back.
Azrion looked up.
"You alright?"
"Yes."
The answer came too quickly.
Eldric stared at him for a moment.
"You've been quiet."
"I'm thinking."
"About?"
Azrion looked toward the forest.
"I don't know."
Eldric raised an eyebrow.
"You don't know what you're thinking about?"
Azrion gave a faint smile.
"Something like that."
Eldric didn't press him.
He turned back toward the valley.
But Azrion remained still.
I know your face.
I know your memories.
I know your fears.
I know the things you regret.
His breathing slowed.
So why do I sometimes feel like I'm watching someone else's life?
A strange sensation passed through him.
For the briefest moment, the world seemed unfamiliar.
The mountains.
The trees.
His teammates.
Even his own reflection in the small puddle beside his foot.
He looked down.
The water trembled.
His reflection stared back.
Azrion stared at it.
Then...
His reflection smiled.
Azrion didn't.
His expression immediately changed.
He stepped backward.
The puddle became still.
His reflection returned to normal.
"What was that?"
One of the teammates asked.
Azrion looked toward them.
"Nothing."
He looked down again.
Nothing.
Only his own face.
Only his own eyes.
Only Azrion.
Or so he told himself.
Eldric approached.
"You sure?"
Azrion nodded.
"Yes."
Eldric studied him.
"You know..."
Azrion looked at him.
"You don't have to pretend you're fine around us."
Silence.
For some reason, those words struck deeper than they should have.
Azrion looked away.
"Everyone pretends."
"That's different."
"Is it?"
Eldric didn't answer.
Azrion's eyes narrowed.
"I've spent so long becoming the person everyone wanted me to be..."
His voice lowered.
"...that I don't know what remains when nobody is watching."
Eldric remained silent.
Azrion looked toward the sky.
"I don't know whether I'm the person who makes these decisions..."
"...or the person who simply accepts them."
A distant gust swept through the valley.
The grass moved like waves.
Azrion closed his eyes.
For a moment, another thought appeared.
Not his own.
You don't have to know.
His eyes opened.
"Who said that?"
Eldric frowned.
"Said what?"
Azrion looked at him.
"You didn't hear it?"
"Hear what?"
Azrion said nothing.
The thought disappeared.
He looked down at his hands again.
They were still his.
His memories were still his.
His name was still his.
Yet somewhere deep inside...
A question remained.
If you know everything I know...
If you remember everything I remember...
If you feel everything I feel...
Then what separates you from me?
Azrion slowly clenched his fist.
"I am Azrion Velcrest."
He whispered it to himself.
Once.
Then again.
"I am Azrion Velcrest."
His voice became firmer.
"I am..."
He stopped.
The words suddenly felt incomplete.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
Not happiness.
Recognition.
"...you."
The wind stopped.
And somewhere deep within the valley...
Something opened its eyes.
Azrion didn't notice.
Not yet.
But the words of his own chapter had already begun to take shape.
The river ran quietly through the valley.
Its surface reflected the evening sky, broken only by the occasional ripple caused by the current.
Azrion knelt beside it.
He cupped both hands beneath the water and brought it to his face.
The cold water washed away the sweat and dust from the journey.
For a moment...
He simply stayed there.
Then he looked down.
His reflection stared back.
Azrion studied it.
The same silver eyes.
The same dark hair.
The same face he had seen countless times throughout his life.
Yet somehow...
It felt unfamiliar.
He touched the surface of the water.
The reflection distorted.
"Who are you?"
The river settled.
His reflection returned.
Azrion sighed.
"That's a stupid question."
He sat beside the river.
"I know who you are."
He looked directly at himself.
"You're Azrion Velcrest."
"You've always been Azrion Velcrest."
A pause.
"Then why..."
His voice became quieter.
"...do I keep asking?"
The reflection remained silent.
Azrion gave a faint smile.
"Maybe identity isn't something you're given."
"Maybe it's something you choose."
He picked up a small stone and turned it between his fingers.
"People have already decided who I am."
"A friend."
"A warrior."
"Someone dependable."
"Someone who doesn't run."
He dropped the stone into the river.
"But none of those things tell me who I am when nobody needs me."
The reflection rippled.
Azrion leaned closer.
"Am I the person everyone sees?"
"Or am I the person I hide when they're looking?"
He stared at himself.
"I've spent years trying to become strong enough to protect people."
"But why?"
"Because I wanted to?"
"Because someone told me to?"
"Because I was afraid of being useless?"
He paused.
"Maybe all three."
The river continued flowing.
Azrion's expression softened.
"I think..."
"...identity is strange."
"We spend our entire lives collecting names."
"Son."
"Friend."
"Warrior."
"Leader."
"Enemy."
"Hero."
"But when all those names disappear..."
"What remains?"
He placed his palm against his chest.
"Is it our memories?"
"Our choices?"
"Our regrets?"
"Or is it simply the person who continues moving forward despite not knowing the answer?"
The reflection stared back.
Azrion smiled.
"I think..."
"...I'll choose the last one."
He stood.
"I don't need to know exactly who I am yet."
"I just need to make sure that whatever I become..."
"...it's my choice."
For a moment, everything was normal.
Then the reflection moved.
Azrion froze.
His reflection remained standing.
But its lips moved.
No sound came from the river.
Yet Azrion understood the words.
"Then why are you afraid of becoming me?"
His expression disappeared.
The reflection smiled.
Azrion took one step backward.
The river continued flowing as though nothing had happened.
From somewhere behind him came Eldric's voice.
"Azrion!"
Azrion turned.
Eldric stood beside the newly constructed camp.
"We're almost finished."
Azrion looked back toward the river.
His reflection was normal again.
He took a slow breath.
"Coming."
He walked away.
Behind him...
The river carried his reflection downstream.
And for just a moment...
Its eyes remained open.
For we are already one
I am ...
...you.
Azrion walked back toward the camp.
Behind him, the river continued flowing through the valley.
Eldric was placing the final pieces of wood around the fire while the other two awakened were still somewhere in the forest, searching for food.
Everything appeared normal.
Too normal.
Azrion stopped.
He slowly turned his head toward the river.
Nothing.
Only water.
Only the fading light.
Only his reflection.
He stared at it for several seconds.
Then he noticed something.
His reflection wasn't looking at him anymore.
It was looking behind him.
Azrion's breathing stopped.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
He turned around.
Nothing stood there.
He looked back at the river.
His reflection was smiling.
But Azrion wasn't.
Then the reflection raised one finger to its lips.
"Don't tell them."
The river suddenly became still.
Azrion's eyes widened.
A second reflection appeared beside his own.
Then a third.
Then a fourth.
All of them had his face.
All of them were smiling.
But none of them moved with him.
One whispered without sound.
"You wanted to know who you are."
Another answered.
"You already know."
Azrion stepped backward.
The water rippled violently.
Then every reflection spoke at once.
"You're me."
The river returned to normal.
Azrion stood frozen.
From the camp...
Eldric called out.
"Azrion?"
Azrion didn't answer.
Eldric looked toward him.
"Azrion!"
Finally, Azrion turned away from the river.
His expression was calm again.
Almost perfectly calm.
"I'll be there in a moment."
He walked toward the camp.
But beneath the surface of the river...
One final reflection remained.
It watched him leave.
And whispered:
"Soon."