The temple felt heavier as we prepared to leave, like the air itself had been holding its breath since the anomaly was defeated. The faint glow of the runes on the walls dimmed as we stepped away from the central chamber, casting the space into deeper shadows.

Lena carried the shard carefully, its soft, rhythmic pulse lighting the edges of her fingers. She seemed almost mesmerized by it, her sharp green eyes reflecting its glow.

“Keep staring at it, and it might start talking back,” Derrick muttered, his tone dripping with irritation.

Lena smirked. “You’re welcome to carry it if you’re so concerned.”

“No thanks,” he said, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword. “I don’t need another cursed object weighing me down.”

I followed them in silence, my gaze shifting between the shard and the runes etched into the temple walls. Something about the shard tugged at the edges of my senses, a faint but unmistakable pull.

When I stepped closer to Lena, the shard’s light flared slightly, like it was responding to me.

A system notification blinked into my vision:

[System Alert: Temporal Artifact Detected. Access Restricted—Insufficient Clearance.]

“What the hell does that mean?” I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.

“What’s wrong?” Lena asked, glancing over her shoulder.

“Nothing,” I said quickly, brushing the notification away.

She raised an eyebrow but didn’t press further, though her gaze lingered on me a little longer than I liked.

The three of us made our way down the cracked stone steps leading out of the temple. The forest beyond was still and quiet, the thick canopy above blocking most of the light.

“So,” Derrick said, breaking the silence, “are we just going to ignore the fact that thing almost killed us?”

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“It didn’t *almost* kill us,” Lena said, her tone breezy. “We handled it.”

“Barely,” Derrick shot back. “And now we’re carrying around the reason it showed up in the first place. Smart.”

“The shard didn’t summon the anomaly,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. “The system did. That’s what it does—it reacts. And clearly, it thought we were worth testing.”

“Testing?” Derrick barked out a laugh. “You really think this is all some kind of cosmic exam?”

Lena’s smirk widened. “Why not? Maybe we passed.”

Their bickering filled the silence as we navigated the uneven forest trail. I stayed quiet, my thoughts circling back to the shard and the strange pull I felt whenever it was near.

The system had responded to me directly. *Temporal Artifact Detected.* Why?

I thought about the fight with the anomaly, the way my chronomancy had seemed to disrupt its movements, making it flicker and stutter. Was that connected to the shard? Or to me?

“What do you think, Hiro?” Lena’s voice broke through my thoughts.

“Huh?”

“About the shard,” she said, slowing her pace so she was walking beside me. “You used your abilities during the fight. Did it feel… different?”

I hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

Her eyes narrowed slightly, like she was trying to read something in my expression. “Interesting.”

Derrick snorted from ahead. “You’re wasting your time, Lena. The kid doesn’t know anything.”

“Maybe not yet,” she said, her voice light but pointed.

The tension in the group was palpable as we continued toward the town. Derrick’s frustration was clear in the sharpness of his steps, while Lena seemed almost too relaxed, like she thrived on the conflict.

And me? I was somewhere in between—caught in their crossfire, trying to make sense of it all.

We were halfway back when the first sign of trouble appeared.

Derrick stopped abruptly, holding up a hand to signal silence. His head tilted slightly, his eyes scanning the dense trees around us.

“What is it?” Lena asked, her voice low.

“Footsteps,” Derrick said. “More than one. Closing in.”

I strained my ears, and after a moment, I heard it too—the faint crunch of leaves, the quiet shift of weight against the forest floor.

Lena stepped closer to me, her free hand crackling faintly with energy. “Looks like we’ve got company.”

“Stay behind me,” Derrick said, drawing his massive sword with a quiet scrape of steel.

We waited, the tension coiling tighter with each passing second. And then, they emerged.

A group of five figures stepped out of the shadows, their dark armor etched with glowing runes. Each of them carried weapons—swords, daggers, a crossbow—all angled toward us.

The one at the front, a tall woman with short, ash-blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, stepped forward.

“Marked and reckless,” she said, her voice calm but cutting. “You’ve made quite the mess.”

“Who the hell are you?” Derrick demanded, his blade steady in his grip.

“We’re the Hunters of the Veil,” the woman said. “And you’re carrying something I want.”