The world dissolved into a swirling vortex of colors, a disorienting kaleidoscope that left Liam breathless and adrift. He wasn't on horseback anymore; he wasn't in the Eastern Wastes. He was… nowhere. Or, perhaps, somewhere else. The air hummed with a strange energy, a palpable vibration that resonated deep within his bones. He felt weightless, yet strangely grounded, as if suspended in a timeless void.

Then, a figure coalesced from the swirling chaos. A man, tall and powerfully built, with a longsword strapped to his back. His hair was long, a cascade of blond that seemed to shimmer with an inner light, and his eyes… his eyes were the same piercing blue as Arthur's, as Brian's, yet they held an intensity, a depth of knowledge, that was almost overwhelming. Nine stars, blazing with a brilliance Liam had never witnessed, were emblazoned across his chest, radiating an aura of immense power.

Liam felt it then, a surge of energy, not the chilling cold of his own ice magic, but something… different. Something vast, ancient, and profoundly present. It was magic, raw and untamed, yet somehow… ordered.

"Finally," the figure said, his voice a deep, resonant rumble that seemed to echo from the very fabric of this strange place. "We meet, Liam."

Liam's mind reeled. He was dreaming, he knew, but this… this felt real. More real, in some ways, than the harsh reality he'd left behind. "Who… who are you?" he stammered, his voice barely a whisper. "Where am I?"

A faint smile touched the figure's lips. "This place," he said, gesturing around at the swirling nothingness, "is what some might call the 'Magicule Zone.' A… confluence… of magical energies. A place between places." He paused, his blue eyes fixing on Liam with an unnerving intensity. "And I… am Kael Volgunder."

Liam's breath caught in his throat. Kael Volgunder? The legendary founder of his family? The first patriarch? The man whose tomb he had visited, the man whose grimoire he carried? But… "You're… you're dead," Liam blurted out, the words sounding foolish even to his own ears. "You died centuries ago."

Kael chuckled, a low, rumbling sound. "Indeed, I did, young Liam. But magic… magic is a curious thing. It transcends the boundaries of life and death, of time and space. I left behind a… residue… a condensed portion of my own magical power, bound to certain… items. Like the Core you now possess."

Liam's hand instinctively went to his tunic, to the place where the Umbral Core rested.

How could Kael…

Kael seemed to read his thoughts. "I see much, Liam," he said. "More than you can imagine. And I have been… waiting. Waiting for a successor. Someone compatible with the essence of ice magic. Someone to… awaken." He paused. "I did not anticipate it would take five hundred years."

Liam struggled to process the information, his mind reeling. He was talking to the ghost, the essence, of his legendary ancestor, in some bizarre magical realm. And Kael knew about the Umbral Core.

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"I… I don't understand," Liam said, his voice shaking. "Why… why me?"

"You have a strong heart, Liam," Kael said, his voice softening slightly. "You strive to improve. You… persevere. But you lack… refinement. You lack… understanding. And we are running out of time."

"Time?" Liam asked, his confusion growing. "Time for what?"

Kael's expression turned grim. "The demonic forces you have encountered," he said, "they are stronger than you realize. Their ability to activate the Balus Gate… that teleportation network… it requires a significant expenditure of magicules. Yet, I sense no such concentration in the air, not on this scale. They must be using mediums. Vessels to channel and amplify their power." He paused. "Generally… mana cores."

Liam's eyes widened. Mana cores? He'd read about them, fleetingly, in the fragmented pages of the grimoire. "Mana cores…" he repeated, his voice a hushed whisper. "But… those are found within the hearts of… monsters."

"Indeed," Kael confirmed.

"But monsters… they disappeared centuries ago," Liam protested. "They're… extinct."

Kael's gaze was unwavering. "They vanished," he corrected, "because the Dragon of Void vanished. The source of the dimensional rifts that allowed them to enter our world… it closed."

Liam's mind struggled to grasp the concept. Dragon of Void? A dragon his father had never mentioned? "A… a Dragon of Void?" he asked, his voice filled with disbelief. "But… I thought there were only five…"

Kael's expression was grave. "Even five hundred years ago, knowledge of the Void Dragon was limited, suppressed. Its magic… it opened pathways, rifts, between dimensions. It allowed… things… to enter our world. Things that should not be here." He paused again, his gaze distant, as if he were looking back at a time of great turmoil. "But that is a story for another time. For now, Liam, you must focus. You must train. You must prepare. There are hardships ahead, greater than you can imagine."

"Will… will I see you again?" Liam asked, a strange sense of urgency filling him.

Kael smiled, a faint, almost melancholic smile. "You will," he said. "But not until you reach your… second circle. A threshold of power and understanding."

"Circles?" Liam asked, bewildered. "What… what are circles?"

"There is much to learn, young Liam," Kael said. "But our time here is… limited. I will explain more… when you are ready."

And with that, the figure of Kael Volgunder began to fade, dissolving back into the swirling chaos of the Magicule Zone. Liam felt a sudden, sharp pull, a sensation of falling, of being ripped away from this strange, ethereal realm.

Then, darkness.

He awoke with a gasp, his body drenched in cold sweat, his heart pounding. He was still on horseback, still being supported by Brad, his head resting against the older man's shoulder.

"Liam!" Brian's voice, filled with relief, cut through the fog in his mind. "You're awake! Are you alright?"

Liam blinked, trying to focus his vision, trying to separate the lingering images of the dream from the harsh reality of the Eastern Wastes. He managed a weak nod. "I… I think so," he mumbled, his voice hoarse.

Brian studied him closely, his eyes filled with concern. "You were out for hours," he said. "We were worried."

Liam didn't answer. He couldn't. He couldn't explain what he had just experienced, not yet. He needed time to process it, to understand it.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the horizon. And then, he saw it. In the distance, a faint glimmer of light, a cluster of structures silhouetted against the rising sun.

"Look," Brian said, his voice filled with a weary hope. "The outpost. We're close."