Night fell over the hollow, but their mission was not yet over. The trio made camp on the ruins of a fallen spire.
Marcus sat by the fire, Orenmir resting beside him, no longer in its material form but floating as an ethereal image—a black and white ripple in the air.
"What you used today was only the base form," Geoffrey explained, leaning against a broken column. "You've unlocked Temporal Fracture, but there's more. Much more."
Marcus turned to him. "Why did the blade appear that way for me? Why time?"
"Eidolon Relics mirror the soul," Tyrese said, sharpening his blade nearby. "What you are… what you've suffered, what you will become… all of that shapes your Eidolon."
"You carry temporal trauma," Geoffrey added. "You either regret the past, fear the future, or desperately want to change something."
Marcus swallowed hard. A face flashed in his memory—his sister, her death, the moment he wished he could undo.
Orenmir pulsed again, almost humming in empathy.
"Soon," Geoffrey continued, "you'll reach the True Eidolon Release. That's when Orenmir will speak. It will show you its name, and your bond will deepen."
"How do I trigger it?"
"Emotion," Tyrese said. "Pain, clarity, revelation. Some people awaken mid-battle. Others need to confront something buried."
Geoffrey pulled a scroll from his pack and unfurled it—a map marked with red X's. "There's a rift surge due in the caverns beneath Elraen Hollow. A Cursed Eidolon may be trapped there. If it's corrupting the rift, we'll need to put it down. Think of it as your real trial."
Marcus stood. He could feel it now—the path ahead wasn't just about survival. It was about understanding.
"Orenmir," he whispered. "What are you trying to show me?"
As he stared into the flames, the spectral blade flickered, casting shadows that looked just a little too much like future versions of himself—taller, armored, glowing with power, or twisted by time.
A trial was coming.
And he wasn't sure which version of himself would survive it.