🌑 Chapter 31
"Legends say the bones of ancient gods sleep beneath Sinjai… but some gods do not dream quietly."
🏛️ Scene: Announcement Hall – Sinjai Academy
The entire first-year batch stood assembled.
A massive projection glowed above the main arena, showing the results of the recent competition. Aeren and his team had secured Rank 13, barely making it into the top teams that would qualify for the next phase.
Instructor Varik stepped forward.
"Congratulations. You've all proven yourselves worthy. But the real test begins now."
He pointed to a map — old, torn, with strange glowing marks on it.
"The second phase of your evaluation will not take place in any forest or simulation. This time, you'll be entering the Sealed Tunnels beneath Sinjai."
Gasps filled the hall.
"But those are forbidden!""They're sealed for a reason!""Even teachers don't go there…"
Varik nodded grimly.
"And that is exactly why we're going there now. We need to know who can adapt in the face of unknown threats."
He added one more thing.
"Inside, we've detected... anomalies. Shifts in power. Strange echoes. You will not be alone."
🌌 Scene: The Entrance to the Depths
Late at night, the 15 teams stood before the old chapel ruins at the edge of campus — a forgotten place covered in vines and silence.
As the moon glowed faintly red above them, the floor cracked open — revealing a spiral staircase descending into blackness.
"Teams will enter one by one every hour," said Instructor Nevara."Each team must explore, map, and bring back a relic from within."
When it was finally Aeren's team's turn, Anshi gave him a serious look.
"Stay sharp. Something down there feels… wrong."
🕯️ Scene: Inside the Tunnels – 2nd Layer
Aeren and his team (Anshi, Kai, and Mira) crept through ancient stone halls.
Torches lit automatically, but the shadows danced too much. The walls whispered. Occasionally, they swore they heard… chanting.
"This place isn't just old," Mira whispered. "It's hungry."
Suddenly, Kai stepped on a faded rune.
The wall ahead slid open with a screech.
Behind it — was a shrine, pulsing with black and silver energy. Floating above it was a glowing sigil — in the shape of an eye.
As Aeren approached, it blinked.
And suddenly — his mind split.
🧠 Inside Aeren's Vision – The Time Fracture
He saw a vision.
A battlefield. A city floating in the sky. The cloaked man again.Monsters kneeling. The second moon fully black.A girl… Anshi? …falling. Screaming.
And a voice that hissed into his head:
"Unlock it. Unlock me. We are bound."
Aeren gasped — snapping out of the trance, falling to the floor. The eye sigil burned on his palm briefly before vanishing.
"Aeren?!" Anshi caught him. "What happened?"
"I… saw something. I think… I think this place is connected to the second moon."
🕷️ Scene: Ambush
Before they could react further — the shrine behind them shattered.
Six-legged creatures began crawling out of the stone. Hissing. Screeching. They had no eyes. Just mouths.
"Spine Crawlers!" Mira screamed. "Run!"
But instead of running, Aeren stood still — his eyes glowing faintly, his body trembling.
The Crawlers stopped.
All of them.
One by one, they began devouring each other.
"Did you… control them?" Kai asked in shock.Aeren, sweating, shook his head. "I didn't mean to... I just… panicked."
⚠️ Scene: The Deeper Door
After escaping the ambush, the team found a final sealed door at the end of the tunnel. It was engraved in ancient language.
Only Aeren could read it.
"Here sleeps the First Void Bearer. One day, the Seeker of Time shall wake them."
Everyone stared at him.
"How do you know that?""I… don't know," he admitted. "It just… made sense."
Behind the door, something stirred.
Something old. Watching.
Waiting.
👁️ Meanwhile – Outside the Dungeon
At the academy, Instructor Varik was speaking to someone through a mirror portal.
"He saw the Sigil Eye?" the voice asked."Yes. And he read the Ancient Tongue.""It's starting. Prepare the Skyfall Protocol."
And in the distance… under the second black moon… the dark organization stirred.
🗝️ Chapter 32 Preview:
"The Awakening Beneath Sinjai"As Aeren's power grows and his link to the unknown deepens, the Sealed Dungeon prepares to reveal what it's truly guarding… and across the continent, the cloaked ones begin to gather.