The Hidden Flame in the Bone Orchard
Interlude: The Search for a Mortal Worthy of the Heavens
Long had Zaxton left the First Realm, his name etched into myth, his presence now felt more like divinity than flesh. But power demanded foresight, and foresight demanded legacy.
So, cloaked as an old beggar wrapped in tattered rags, Zaxton descended quietly to where no starlight reached — not to rule, but to find one soul who had never tasted greatness yet still walked its path.
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🌲 A Village Forgotten by Heaven
In the shadows of the Jagged Spine mountain range, where spirit beasts roamed unchecked and even the Don Empire's banners faded, lay a half-dead village known only as Ashgrove — a settlement lost to plague, war, and abandonment.
In its decaying center stood a bone orchard — white stakes of the dead rising from dark soil.
And in that orchard, a boy named Rin lived among the dead.
He had no parents. No master. No sect.
Every day, he buried bones.
Every night, he carved talismans from what was left.
No one taught him.
No one helped him.
But from pain and silence, a technique was born — a kind of spiritual threading drawn from memory and bone, laced with innate empathy.
When beasts attacked, he fought.
When elders fell sick, he healed.
And when hope died, he endured.
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🔥 Zaxton Watches
Zaxton followed him for weeks in disguise.
He watched him bind a forest boar using nothing but bone-dust and willpower.
He watched him tend to a dying girl without asking for thanks.
He watched him train alone under the waterfall, screaming into the current.
> "Not trained," Zaxton muttered, eyes narrowed.
"Not guided. And yet... walking the road with better posture than most emperors."
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⚖️ The Test of Weight and Sky
Zaxton approached as a coughing beggar, placing a jagged black stone in the boy's hand.
> "Take this to the summit of Mount Indrath. Place it under moonlight before the third night falls."
Rin looked at the stranger and nodded, saying nothing.
He left without food. Without escort.
Crossed rivers. Fought bandits. Slept with wolves.
On the third dusk, bloodied and bent, he returned. The stone — now glowing faintly — was in his hands.
> "It's done," Rin said simply.
Zaxton stood, his aura now rising like a dawn horizon.
> "No. It has begun."
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🏰 To Stoneveil — The Crucible of Will
Before taking Rin to the Third Realm, Zaxton sent him to the cradle of his rise — the city of Stoneveil. There, the boy would train under the Lilac Order, study governance beneath the Council, and learn how mortals could bend empires when they burned with righteous flame.
Zaxton watched from afar, as Rin struggled and bled and rose.
Not once did he give favor.
Not once did he interfere.
And after seven years, Rin returned — no longer a silent gravedigger, but a cultivator whose name now stirred whispers in the border realms:
> Rin of the Veiled Flame.
Wielder of the Memory Thread.
Student of the Mortal Pillar.
And now, destined Ambassador of the Thirteenth Moon.
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🌌 One More Step Toward Judgement
When Rin finally knelt before Zaxton at Mt. Fai's peak, Zaxton placed his hand on his shoulder.
> "You are the first to walk behind me," he said.
"You are not my heir. You are my sword in silence. My reminder of what should not be forgotten. The world will see me as Dominion. But you—"
He pointed to the stars.
> "You will be my Judgement."
Together, they turned their eyes skyward — to the Moons that watched and waited.
And with the Ambassador named and the Mortal Flame lit, Zaxton completed yet another silent task on the road toward his true throne.
Rin of the Veiled Flame
The Mortal Ambassador
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🔥 A Path Born of Bone and Thread
Unlike other disciples who trained under famed sects, Rin's cultivation was entirely self-born — raw, intuitive, and rooted in suffering.
His core technique, Veiled Flame Sutra, was a fusion of:
🔹 Bone Memory Binding — the art of extracting energy and ancestral echoes from bones, allowing him to recall forgotten techniques and trauma alike.
🔸 Soul Thread Weaving — the ability to tether spiritual threads between emotions, thoughts, and spirit beasts, binding even enemies with the weight of memory.
🔺 Silent Ember Flow — a defensive style that redirected incoming force into passive heat, storing kinetic energy to be unleashed in explosive bursts.
Where others lit the heavens with fire, Rin's flame burned beneath the skin — unseen, patient, and all-consuming.
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🌓 The Awakening: Who Walks Beside Me
It wasn't until Rin began training personally on Mt. Fai, beneath celestial winds and the gaze of dragons, that he came to a quiet realization.
One evening, after meditation left his spirit floating high above the valley, he looked back — and saw a shadow of endless scale walking silently beside him through every memory.
He saw the beggar…
He saw the war general…
He saw the one who tamed the storm and shattered a realm…
And then he realized:
> "The one who chose me… is Zaxton."
Terror gripped him. Not fear of punishment — but the weight of worthiness.
> "Why me? What could I ever carry that the strongest being in the known realms saw fit to trust?"
He wept alone atop a high ridge.
Then he stood.
> "I don't need to understand his reason. I only need to become it."
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🌕 A Moon in Waiting: The First Mission
After a year of training at Mt. Fai and managing emissary duties in Don Divine Gate, Rin's true task was revealed:
> "The 12 Moons are watching," Zaxton said quietly. "You will enter their presence as my envoy — not to bow, but to remind them: The 13th is not empty."
Rin was to attend the Ecliptic Accord, a lunar conclave held once every 30 years where moons negotiated resource allocation, border tensions, and cultivation rites.
Zaxton gave him no guards. No scrolls. No cheats.
Only a single talisman, marked with his personal sigil, that glowed only if Rin spoke truth in the face of destruction.
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🌌 To the Hall of Moons
When Rin entered the astral chamber where each Moon sat upon a throne carved from their element — Bone, Storm, Flame, Song, Dust, and more — silence fell.
He did not announce himself.
He did not bow.
He simply walked to the empty 13th Pillar, placed a hand upon it, and turned to face them.
> "I am Rin of the Veiled Flame.
Ambassador to the 13th.
Chosen not because I am strongest.
But because I am still becoming.
Just like him."
Whispers stirred the stars.
The Moon of Storm laughed — not in mockery, but surprise.
> "He has his father's eyes. And none of his arrogance. Interesting…"
The Moon of Song said only:
> "Let the boy speak."
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🌠 The Meeting to Come
Rin's mission was only beginning.
He would have to navigate politics, prevent a border war between Flame and Ice, and protect a neutral sect from exploitation — all under the scrutiny of powers far older than he.
But behind his spine burned a silent ember.
And before his words stood the trust of Zaxton.