Chapter 67 — The Lost Branch

The mountain remained silent after Darian disappeared.

Kael stood alone in the deepest chamber, staring at the place where his brother had vanished.

The words stayed with him.

“Recover the Lost Darven Branch.”

Progress: 0%.

Kael looked toward the Ancient Core.

The memory had shown three young men.

His father.

Darian.

And another.

The third brother.

The existence of another branch changed everything.

Until now, Kael had assumed the Darven family had been divided into a few known branches over generations.

Now he knew something else.

One branch had been deliberately removed from the records.

And someone had gone to great lengths to keep it hidden.

Kael opened the Space Ring.

Hundreds of books appeared.

Family records.

Research journals.

Genealogies.

Ancient maps.

Kael began searching.

Not randomly.

He started with the oldest records.

The oldest genealogy was written on thick magical parchment.

Kael carefully turned each page.

The early generations were incomplete.

Some names had been damaged by age.

Others had been deliberately scratched out.

He compared several copies.

Most matched.

Then—

one didn't.

A damaged family tree showed four branches instead of three.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

The fourth branch had no name.

Only a symbol.

A black circle containing a single vertical line.

Kael copied the symbol into his notebook.

Then he checked the later records.

The branch disappeared after three generations.

No death record.

No migration record.

No marriage record.

Nothing.

It simply stopped existing.

Kael frowned.

“That isn't normal.”

He checked again.

At the bottom of one page, almost invisible beneath several layers of faded ink, was a sentence.

“Branch removed by unanimous decision.”

Kael's expression hardened.

Unanimous.

That meant the other branches had known.

And agreed.

He flipped the page.

Nothing.

Then—

a hidden line appeared when Kael passed a little mana through the parchment.

“Do not seek what chose to disappear.”

Kael stared.

“That's not a family record.”

It was a warning.

Kael did not immediately follow the warning.

He continued searching.

He compared the family records with the inheritance books.

Then the weapon manuals.

Then his father's personal notes.

Nothing.

Finally, he found something hidden inside a damaged weapon blueprint.

A small annotation in his father's handwriting.

Kael knew the handwriting immediately.

His father had written:

“Some Darven records are false.”

Kael stopped.

He read the next line.

“If Kael ever discovers the fourth branch, he must not trust the location given in the family archives.”

Kael's eyes widened.

His father had known.

He turned the page.

Another sentence.

“They hid their location from the family itself.”

Kael stared.

So even his father hadn't known exactly where the branch was.

But then why had he left the warning?

He searched deeper.

At the bottom of the page was a sequence of numbers.

Not coordinates.

Levels.

10 — 20 — 30 — 40 — 50.

Kael frowned.

Then remembered.

The Darven bloodline had major thresholds every ten levels.

The numbers weren't locations.

They were instructions.

He added them to the notebook.

10 → basic awakening

20 → Darven Forge

30 → Darven Armament

Then—

40?

Unknown.

50?

Legendary Beast access.

Kael stared at the gap.

“What was supposed to happen at forty?”

His father had never explained it.

Perhaps because he had never reached it.

Or perhaps because the knowledge had been hidden.

Kael suddenly wondered whether the lost branch had something to do with the Level 40 threshold.

Kael returned to the Space Ring.

He searched for something he had overlooked.

Not books.

Not weapons.

Not materials.

A storage compartment.

His father's inheritance had multiple sealed sections.

Most had already been opened through bloodline authentication.

But one small section remained.

Kael had assumed it contained materials that required a higher Bloodline Progress.

Now he looked more closely.

There was no lock.

No key.

Only a sentence engraved onto the metal.

“For the Darven who reaches the fourth threshold.”

Kael froze.

Fourth threshold.

Level 40.

He placed his hand against it.

Nothing happened.

The System responded.

[Bloodline requirement not met.]

[Required Bloodline Progress: 20%.]

Kael frowned.

So the archive needed two things.

Level 40.

And Bloodline Progress 20%.

He stepped back.

Another piece of the puzzle.

The lost branch.

The twentieth-percent bloodline memory.

The Level 40 threshold.

They were connected.

Kael suddenly remembered Darian's words.

“You are still at fifteen percent.”

Darian knew.

Maybe he was waiting for twenty.

Or perhaps—

he was afraid of what Kael would remember.

Kael returned to the black-circle symbol.

He activated Network Sense.

Nothing.

Metal Sense.

Nothing.

Darven Authority.

A reaction.

Faint.

Very faint.

Kael's eyes widened.

The symbol wasn't merely a family mark.

It contained a bloodline signature.

A very old one.

Different from Kael's.

But related.

He touched the parchment.

The symbol pulsed.

Then—

a line appeared on the map inside his mind.

It extended from the eastern territory.

Beyond the known network.

Past the regions Kael had explored.

And ended somewhere outside the ancient guardian system.

Kael immediately opened his eyes.

“I found something.”

The Verdant Gale Warden, waiting outside the chamber, entered.

“What?”

Kael showed him the symbol.

The Warden stared.

Its silver eyes narrowed.

“I have seen that.”

Kael froze.

“Where?”

“Long ago.”

“Where?”

The Warden looked toward the eastern forest.

“On the far side of the territory.”

Kael frowned.

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because I did not know what it meant.”

Kael pointed at the symbol.

“This belonged to another Darven branch.”

The Warden nodded slowly.

“Then there may be a connection.”

“To what?”

The Warden hesitated.

“The region where the wind stops.”

Kael stared.

“That sounds descriptive.”

“It is.”

The Warden spread one wing.

“There is a place beyond the eastern territory where the air becomes completely still.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“And?”

“Nothing living stays there for long.”

Kael smiled faintly.

“Sounds like exactly where we should go.”

They traveled for two days.

Kael did not rush.

He monitored the network.

No new anchors appeared.

No Severance forces attacked.

The eastern guardian remained behind, protecting the third restored section.

The deeper they traveled, the stranger the forest became.

The trees thinned.

The wind became weaker.

Then—

it stopped.

Completely.

Kael took another step.

Nothing moved.

No leaves.

No grass.

No branches.

His own breathing sounded unusually loud.

The Verdant Gale Warden stopped beside him.

“This is it.”

Kael activated Network Sense.

Nothing.

The ancient network did not extend into this region.

That was unusual.

Kael activated Metal Sense.

Still nothing.

Then—

he noticed the ground.

Small pieces of metal were buried beneath the soil.

Not weapons.

Not anchors.

Markers.

Someone had placed them in a deliberate pattern.

Kael crouched.

“Someone lived here.”

The Warden nodded.

“Long ago.”

Kael followed the markers.

One.

Two.

Three.

They formed a path.

The path ended at a cliff.

At the base of the cliff was a door.

No guardian.

No seal.

No network.

Just stone.

Kael approached.

The door carried the black-circle symbol.

The lost branch.

His bloodline reacted immediately.

[Related Bloodline Signature detected.]

[Compatibility: 91%.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Ninety-one.”

Lower than the ancient structure.

But extremely high.

He placed his palm on the door.

Nothing.

Then—

he placed the Darven katana against the symbol.

The door opened.

Beyond the door was a massive underground settlement.

Not ruins.

Abandoned.

Stone houses.

Workshops.

Storage chambers.

Training grounds.

And at the center—

a large hall.

Kael walked slowly.

Dust covered everything.

There were no bodies.

No remains.

No signs of a battle.

It looked as though everyone had simply left.

He entered the nearest workshop.

Metalworking tools remained on the table.

Some were made from materials Kael had never seen.

He activated the System.

[Unknown Material detected.]

[Analysis incomplete.]

Kael smiled.

Even abandoned, the settlement contained technology beyond what he currently understood.

He entered another building.

Books.

Hundreds.

Most were damaged.

Kael picked up one.

The cover carried the black-circle symbol.

He opened it.

The first page contained a single sentence.

“We left so the others could forget us.”

Kael froze.

He turned the page.

“The primary Darven line must never find this place.”

Another page.

“The Core has begun calling to the bloodline.”

Another.

“One of our brothers has already gone below.”

Kael stopped.

Darian.

His father.

Someone else.

He continued reading.

“We were wrong to believe distance would protect us.”

“They found the settlement.”

“The last record will be hidden before the evacuation.”

The next page was blank.

Kael flipped forward.

Nothing.

Then he found a final note inside the back cover.

“If a Darven finds this place again, do not seek us.”

Kael stared.

The handwriting was different from his father's.

Older.

Much older.

Then—

another sentence appeared when Kael touched it with his bloodline.

“Seek the one who remained.”

Kael's expression changed.

“The one who remained?”

The Warden stepped forward.

“What does it say?”

Kael showed him.

The Warden stared at the page.

Then looked deeper into the settlement.

“There's someone here.”

Kael activated Network Sense.

Nothing.

Metal Sense.

Still nothing.

Then Darven Authority.

A faint reaction came from beneath the central hall.

Kael moved there.

The floor was reinforced.

Too strongly.

He crouched.

“There's a chamber underneath.”

The Warden nodded.

Kael placed his hand against the stone.

The entire floor shifted.

A hidden staircase opened.

Kael descended.

At the bottom—

one room.

One table.

One chair.

And—

one person.

An old man sat with his back toward them.

His hair was silver.

His clothing was simple.

His body looked weak.

But Kael immediately sensed the bloodline.

Darven.

The old man spoke without turning.

“You took long enough.”

Kael froze.

The man slowly turned.

His eyes were crimson.

The same color as Kael's.

The same sharp shape as Darian's.

But older than both.

Kael raised his weapon.

“Who are you?”

The old man smiled.

“My name has been forgotten.”

He looked at the Darven katana.

“But that sword remembers me.”

Kael's grip tightened.

“You're from the lost branch.”

The old man nodded.

“One of its last survivors.”

Kael stared.

“How long have you been here?”

“Long enough.”

“What happened to everyone else?”

The old man looked away.

“They left.”

“Where?”

“Some died.”

“Some joined other branches.”

“And some…”

His expression darkened.

“…went looking for the Core.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Did they find it?”

The old man looked directly at him.

“Yes.”

Silence.

“Who?”

The old man smiled faintly.

“Your brother.”

Kael's heart stopped.

“Darian?”

The old man shook his head.

“No.”

Kael's expression changed.

“Then who?”

The old man leaned back.

“The brother you haven't met yet.”