The fire crackled steadily, casting a warm glow over the trio. Skewers, heavy with foraged greens and strips of meat, lined the edges of the flames, their juices sizzling as they cooked. On the far side of the fire, a small pot of water simmered, herbs from Evin’s pouch steeping into a fragrant infusion.
The preparations had been conducted in near silence—each of them focused on their task. Now, with nothing left to do but wait, Allovilde decided to break the quiet.
“Laktor, if you don’t mind me asking… you’ve been traveling and expanding your Pathway for, what, a couple of decades?”
Laktor, lounging against a rock, gave a slow nod. He stretched his legs out, pulling a whetstone from his belt and running it along the edge of his dagger with practiced ease. “Mhm.”
A few strokes of the stone later, he added, “Actually, I think I’ve just hit the twentieth year. Which means, by the way, that I’m—” he lifted his head with a smirk, “—more than twice your age. Damn. I’m getting old.”
Allovilde sat close to Evin, her arms wrapped around her legs, chin resting against her knees. “Would you mind showing us your mark?” she asked. “Ours are still small, and we’ve never seen an advanced one before.” She hesitated for a moment, then added, “In our village, the elders kept theirs hidden. Said it was a matter of privacy. But… I never really understood why.”
Laktor looked up sharply, meeting Allovilde’s gaze. “Well, you’re both right and wrong,” he said, setting the whetstone aside. “In general, it’s not wise to share details about your Pathway with anyone you don’t fully trust. Imagine getting ambushed in the woods by someone who planned their attack based on everything you carelessly revealed about your abilities.”
As he spoke, he casually reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head. “But I doubt the two of you are scheming against me, so why not.”
The mark stretched from his wrist, curling up his forearm, then branching across his chest and back like living ink. The intricate designs covered large portions of his skin, each line and symbol layered.
“I’ll even go as far as letting you see my numbers,” he added, his tone almost playful. “As a show of good faith.”
Evin raised an eyebrow. “Numbers?” he asked, skeptical. “What do you mean?”
Laktor frowned. “Wait—you two don’t know about the Pathway numbers?” His eyes flicked between them, searching for some hint that they were joking. “Are you kidding me? How the hell do you track your progress?”
Evin and Allovilde exchanged bewildered glances.
“Well,” Evin began hesitantly, “we’ve been watching how strong the symbols appear—how defined they are. And… we’ve noticed extra dots appearing along some of them. We figured those might be boons for doing something significant, but we’re not sure.”
Laktor exhaled sharply, then ran a hand through his hair before finally breaking into laughter. “Void take me—you two have been raised under a damn rock! Tracking the density of your marks—now that’s a new one!” His laughter came in waves, full-bodied and amused.
Evin’s gaze drifted over Laktor’s skin, now seeing the finer details—each and every symbol were surrounded by faint dots and figures. They weren’t random. They meant something.
Laktor shook his head, still grinning. “Alright, listen up. I’ll teach you something free of charge—because frankly, this is common knowledge anywhere outside this forest.”
“You’ll both get used to this with practice—it’ll become second nature in time. But for now, just follow my lead.”
Laktor set aside his dagger and sharpening tools, crossing his legs beneath him. He closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.
“Do as I do.”
The sound of shifting bodies filled the quiet space as Evin and Allovilde adjusted their positions, mirroring him. Laktor waited until they settled before continuing.
“Now, just as you did when you first activated your Pathway, seek out that same sensation. Beneath the skin of your mark, there’s a web—a network of lines, unseen but very real. Let yourself feel them out.” His voice was steady, guiding. “One of those lines will feel stronger than the others. It will call to you. Find it. Trace it.”
Silence stretched between them, broken only by the crackling of the fire. Evin focused, his breath slowing as he reached inward, following the unseen threads under his skin. The sensation was faint at first, like trying to grasp smoke, but then—there it was. A pulsing thread, warm and steady.
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Laktor continued, “Follow that line to where it changes. You’ll feel a shift, a point where it deepens, strengthens. That’s your energy core. This core fuels your mark, and in turn, your mark channels the energy. One cannot exist without the other—they are bound, inseparable.”
A few minutes passed before both Evin and Allovilde murmured their confirmation.
“Good,” Laktor said. “Now, focus on the core itself. It holds more than just power—it holds knowledge. Form a question in your mind. Ask to see your progress, your status.”
They fell into silence again, their breathing even, their focus intense.
Then—
“Wha—wha—what is this?!” Allovilde’s voice broke the stillness, filled with shock. “It’s like someone’s written all over my eyes!”
At the same moment, Evin’s vision exploded with symbols, numbers, and strange markings that seemed to float in the air before him. But just as he was about to voice his confusion, something else happened—
A flash. A scene not of his own making. A vision.
The world around Evin blurred, and for a fleeting moment, he felt weightless, as if suspended between reality and something far beyond it. Then, sensation returned—a rush of humid air, the distant cry of seabirds, the rhythmic crash of waves against jagged stone.
He was no longer by the fire.
Instead, he stood atop a narrow stone bridge, carved not by human hands but by time and tide, spanning a chasm between two towering cliffs. Below, the sea churned, restless and violent, frothing against the rocks like a beast denied its prey. The air was thick with the scent of salt and the lingering warmth of a sun that had just dipped beneath the horizon, casting the sky in hues of deep violet and ember-red.
Beyond the cliffs, the Shattered Isles stretched out in a vast, fragmented chain of landmasses, some no more than jagged spires rising from the depths, others covered in lush jungle, their canopies dense with life. The foliage shimmered faintly in the dim light, some leaves glowing with bioluminescent veins, others rustling with unseen creatures. Fireflies—or something more—floated lazily above the undergrowth, casting eerie green flickers against the dark trunks of massive kapok trees.
A distant rumble shook the ground beneath him. Evin turned his gaze inland, where a volcanic peak loomed in the distance, its summit wreathed in a halo of smoke and flickering embers. A river of molten rock traced a path down its slope like veins of fire, illuminating the jungle with an ominous glow.
A sound pulled his attention back—a whisper, soft as the shifting tide, but unmistakably near.
He wasn’t alone.
From the foliage at the cliff’s edge, two golden eyes peered out at him. A shape slinked forward, silent despite its size—a great feline, its fur patterned with swirls of shadow and shifting hues, perfectly blending with the moonlit landscape. An island tiger. Its gaze locked onto Evin, assessing, waiting.
Evin's breath caught.
The air around him pulsed, thick with unseen energy, as if the Isles themselves were watching, waiting to see what he would do.
Evin gasped for air as his senses snapped back into reality. His eyes flew open, wide with panic, and before he could steady himself, he jolted upright—only to slam his forehead squarely into Laktor’s face.
“Void damn it, boy!” Laktor growled, recoiling and rubbing the side of his chin near his right eye.
Evin clutched his head, his breath coming fast and ragged. “What—what is this?!” he blurted out, blinking furiously. Strange symbols and lines filled his vision, overlaying everything around him. He squeezed his eyes shut, took a few deep breaths, then exhaled slowly in an attempt to calm himself. “I—I think I had another vision,” he finally admitted. “And when I woke up, everything was… overwhelming.”
Laktor, still rubbing his jaw, regarded him with a mixture of curiosity and mild irritation. “A vision, huh?” His tone shifted, the irritation fading. “Tell me what you saw.”
Evin recounted the details—the storm-lashed cliffs, the glowing jungle, the molten veins of the volcano, the sea serpent watching him from the depths. As he spoke, Laktor’s eyes widened.
When Evin finished, Laktor let out a slow breath. “Well, void take me…” he muttered, eyes narrowing. “That sounds like the Sixth Region. The Shattered Isles.” He fell silent, staring into the fire as if weighing something in his mind.
Then, with sudden decisiveness, he stood. “We’re leaving after we eat,” he declared. “Both of you are coming with me. We’re heading back to my organization.”
Evin exchanged a bewildered glance with Allovilde before turning back to Laktor, the strange text and numbers still swimming before his eyes. “Wait—what?”
As Evin struggled to make sense of what had just happened, he forced himself to steady his breath and focus on the strange markings before him. Slowly, the chaotic blur resolved into something comprehensible. For the first time in his life, he was looking at his own personal character sheet.
Pathway Summary:
Name:
Evin Frost (ID : #002003007-713820)
Skills:
Herbology: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 787/1000)
Mycology: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 749/1000)
Foraging: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 332/1000)
Survival: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 180/1000)
Tracking: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 756/1000)
Dagger: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 210/1000)
Skinning: Tier 1 - Novice (Progress towards Tier 2 - Apprentice: 475/1000)
Advanced Pathway Status:
Dormant
Achievements:
Forest Explorer: Completed 100 hours of forest exploration.
Herbal Enthusiast: Identified 150 unique herbs.
Survivalist: Engage and survive 50 unique fights against beasts.
Opportunistic group: As part of a group, engage and survive an encounter against a creature above your expected combat rating.
Traits:
5% increased success rate when picking Tier 1 plants, herbs and mushrooms.
5% increased chance of finding rare Tier 1 plants, herbs and mushrooms.
5% increased chance of successfully tracking Tier 1 creatures.