The Weeping Expanse swallowed the Pathbreakers whole.
Day after day, they pushed deeper into the shattered land.
Through broken canyons where the rocks seemed to whisper.
Across dead rivers where the bones of forgotten beasts rotted in the dust.
Under skies that seemed too heavy, too low.
And still, Kaelen led them forward.
Every step carved a path toward destiny.
[System Notification]
[Exploration Progress: 12%.]
[Potential Stronghold Site: Not Yet Located.]
[Warning: Residual Sovereign Energy Detected Below Surface.]
Kaelen frowned at the notification.
Residual Sovereign Energy?
There had been Sovereigns here before.
Long ago.
Before the kings.
Before the guilds.
Before the world forgot.
"Good," Kaelen muttered.
"Their failure won't be ours."
The Scouting Party
One misty morning, Kaelen set out with a small team —
Eren, Mira, and Lyra at his side.
They moved fast, silent, following faint leyline pulses that only Kaelen could sense.
Hours passed in silence.
The terrain grew worse — crumbled ruins, broken towers half-sunken into blackened soil.
And then, they found it.
The Heartland
At the center of the ruined expanse lay a wide plateau —
stone cracked but strong, protected on three sides by natural cliffs.
At its center stood the shattered remains of a fortress.
Ancient.
Massive.
Walls thicker than anything Kaelen had seen in the cities.
Foundations that had survived a thousand years of storms and wars.
It was perfect.
[System Notification]
[Site Detected: Heartland Citadel Ruins.]
[Potential for Sovereign Fortress Construction: High.]
[Hidden Feature: Dormant Nexus Core Below.]
Kaelen's heart pounded.
A Nexus Core?
If they could awaken it…
they could create a barrier strong enough to defy armies, dragons, even Ascendants.
This was the place.
The birthplace of their Sovereign Nation.
But Something Else Stirred
As Kaelen approached the broken courtyard, a low rumble echoed from beneath the stone.
The air grew colder.
Shadows twisted along the cracks.
Lyra whispered, voice tight:
"Something's down there."
Mira lifted her bow, arrow nocked, eyes scanning the ruins.
Eren hefted his axe, expression grim.
Kaelen stepped forward, Sovereignblade Astryn humming at his side.
He could feel it too.
Not just old magic.
Something alive.
Something waiting.
Something angry.
Reflection
Kaelen paused at the center of the broken fortress.
He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling the pulse beneath his boots —
a heartbeat older than kingdoms, slower than time itself.
"This land was ruled once," he said softly.
"By those who failed."
He opened his eyes, silver light burning in their depths.
"We will not fail."
He turned to his team.
"Prepare the others.
We claim this place."
"Even if we have to tear the ghosts from its bones."
The Pathbreakers would not be denied.
Not by kings.
Not by gods.
Not even by the dead.