---
Wind howled through the broken riftscape, carrying the metallic tang of ozone and the far off stench of scorched beast hide. Kai's silhouette moved in long, silent strides across tilted rock plates, each footstep scattering silver dust left behind by the departed beast over time. Above him, black and blue clouds spun in a violent gyre, spearing white spears of lightning into the fractured ground. Every strike shook the air with a sound like mountains colliding.
Follow the thunder; where the storms converge, iron sleeps. That was the System's directive message to him. It was crisp, impersonal, undeniable.
Kai used predator instinct and let a small pulse of Monarch aura sweep outward in a 30-pace radius. The world returned as a shifting relief map of vibrations and aura echo: fissured basalt, buried pools of essence, broken ore veins releasing slow, glowing drips. No moving foes. No new guardians.
Still he felt eyes.
