The throne room pulsed with stillness. Kael stretched lazily, allowing the Loomheart's gentle hum to settle around him.
His mind, though, was far from relaxed.
There was something pulling at him—a tug. Not a force from the Weave, not a ripple in time or space. This felt different. It was like a whisper from a place beyond creation itself.
And Kael… he answered.
He stood.
In a single fluid motion, Kael pushed off the obsidian bone of his throne. He didn't need to speak, to think. The Loomheart thrummed in agreement as his form blurred—shifting.
Space fractured.
The stars twisted into nothingness, and the world of the Weave bent. Kael's body seemed to flicker, a comet trailing starlight as he ripped through dimensions.
The world he entered was vast. Its sky was filled with swirling storms of energy, continents hanging in mid-air, held together by pillars of raw, untamed power. The air crackled with intensity, with pure force.
Here, the laws of the universe weren't kind. Time bent like metal, gravity bent like string. But it was something more that struck Kael with a hard thud in his chest: the power of the beings that walked here.
They were stronger than him.
Kael stood at the edge of a floating island, gazing down into the chasm of endless storms below. The winds howled, but they didn't dare touch him.
But it wasn't the wind he was feeling.
It was the pressure.
This place… was alive with raw, untamed energy. He could feel it vibrating through the very atmosphere. The sense of power in the air was almost intoxicating.
A figure appeared before him, stepping from the swirling mists of energy.
A man—tall, with glowing tattoos running across his body. His eyes were bright, like molten fire, and his voice carried the weight of a thousand storms.
"You are not of this place," the man said, his voice like thunder.
Kael stood tall, facing the stranger, sensing the immense power within him. He didn't speak for a moment, assessing the stranger's presence.
"No," Kael replied, his voice cutting through the atmosphere like a blade. "I'm not. But I'm here now."
The man smirked, his aura flaring with raw energy.
"Then you've come to test yourself." He raised a hand, summoning lightning to strike the ground. The very island trembled beneath their feet.
Kael's eyes glowed with the soft light of Shardlight, but he remained calm, unshaken.
"You could say that."
Without warning, the man lunged. The air exploded around him with the speed and force of a comet.
But Kael was already gone.
He moved faster than light, appearing behind the man with a single step. The Loomheart thrummed as Kael's fingers brushed against the air. A single thread of the Weave unraveled before him.
The man spun, lightning crackling, but Kael was faster.
Crack!
Kael's finger barely brushed the man's chest. But that was enough.
The energy was absorbed.
The island quaked as Kael's pulse surged through the man's body, draining his power in an instant. The lightning went silent. The air went still.
The man's eyes widened, but he didn't fall. He staggered back, clutching his chest, realizing that the power he had summoned had been taken from him.
Kael stood, emotionless.
"You're strong," Kael said softly. "But you're not stronger than me."
The man nodded slowly, regaining his composure.
"Few are," he said. "But this world doesn't play by your rules, god. Here… there are beings that could tear you apart with a thought."
Kael tilted his head, considering.
"And where are these beings?" he asked.
The man smiled—a dangerous, knowing smile.
"They're watching."