The forest changed.
Kai didn't notice it at first.
The towering trees became smaller.
The undergrowth thinned.
The air felt...
Drier.
He continued walking.
There was no reason to stop.
The abandoned laboratory had given him more questions than answers.
Subject 46.
Mana circuits.
Half-drifters.
Experiments.
The mysterious figure inside the white void.
And...
The slime.
"..."
Kai scratched his head.
"I really got swallowed by a slime..."
"...Andre's never going to let me live that down."
He laughed quietly.
The laughter quickly faded.
His thoughts drifted back to the laboratory.
The language.
At first...
He couldn't understand a single word.
Then the headache came.
Afterward...
Everything became readable.
"...Memory fragments..."
He muttered.
"They're becoming stronger."
Not complete.
Still incomplete.
But stronger.
Almost as if...
Something inside him had started waking up.
Kai raised his hand.
He concentrated.
Nothing happened.
He sighed.
Then remembered the crater from his dream.
The fire.
The strange sensation.
He tried copying that feeling.
Slowly...
A tiny spark appeared above his fingertip.
Barely larger than a candle flame.
Kai's eyes widened.
"...It worked."