The safehouse was quiet except for the sound of turning pages.
Mira sat hunched over ancient books and faded scrolls, candlelight flickering across her face. Kade and Sol rested on the floor, bruised but alive. Lyra sat close to Eren, her hand never leaving his.
Colon stood near the window, watching the night sky, his presence both comforting and intimidating.
Mira finally spoke:
"There's something strange."
Everyone turned toward her.
"I found records older than the kingdom itself. Stories of a dragon… not just reborn, but reborn endlessly. Each time stronger, each time closer to becoming fully awakened in human form."
She pointed to a passage in the brittle text:
|'When the flame is pure and the vessel. |strong, the Dragon will return not as a | child of bloodline — but as the Dragon | itself, in mortal skin.'
Eren's heart stopped.
"Wait… are you saying I'm not just… a descendant?"
Mira looked up at him slowly. "I think… you're something else entirely."
Colon finally spoke. His voice was low and steady:
"She's correct. But the time to confirm that truth has not yet come."
Kade frowned. "Man, you're always cryptic."
Colon turned to Eren. "I promised I would train you and tell you the truth when you're ready. But you must earn that readiness."
Eren clenched his fists. "Then what do I do now?"
Colon's eyes glinted. "We start your training."
Later that night
They went to the outskirts of the ruined city, where the forest grew thick and silent.
Colon drew a circle of glowing runes around Eren.
"This will unlock what your body has forgotten," Colon said.
Eren took a deep breath. "Will it hurt?"
Colon's expression softened. "Only until you stop resisting."
Colon raised his hands. Energy swirled.
Eren felt heat pour into him — pressure building, his veins burning like fire. He gasped, falling to his knees.
Images flooded his mind:
• Wings, stretching wide.
• Claws, raking through the sky.
• A roar that shook mountains.
He could barely breathe.
"Do not fight it!" Colon's voice echoed in his head.
Eren screamed. His body shimmered, scales flickering along his skin, wings briefly forming behind his shoulders before fading.
And then — silence.
He collapsed, panting.
Colon knelt beside him. "That was your first unlocking. More will come. Your body remembers, even if your mind does not."
Eren looked up at him, sweat dripping down his face. "What am I?"
Colon's eyes glowed faintly.
"You are the beginning of the end. And the rebirth of all things."
Meanwhile...
In the shadows of a faraway temple, the leader of the Hollow Star knelt before a dark altar.
"It has begun," he whispered.
A deeper voice echoed from the darkness:
"You failed to stop the awakening."
The masked leader bowed his head. "He's stronger than we thought."
The shadows hissed around him.
"Then we must destroy him before he remembers."
The leader rose, his voice cold and final:
"It's only just begun. The real battle… is coming."