Chapter 68 — The Brother You Never Met

Kael didn't move.

The old man sat quietly across the chamber.

His crimson eyes were fixed on Kael's face.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

Then Kael finally asked:

“Who is he?”

The old man didn't answer.

Kael's grip tightened around the Darven katana.

“You said he's my brother.”

The old man nodded.

“Your father's brother.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Darian?”

“No.”

“The other one.”

“Yes.”

Kael took a step forward.

“What is his name?”

The old man looked toward the floor.

“His name was Seran Darven.”

Kael repeated it silently.

Seran.

He had never seen the name in the family records.

Not once.

“How old is he?”

“Older than your father.”

Kael froze.

So that explained the memory.

Three young men.

His father.

Darian.

Seran.

The three brothers.

Kael's father hadn't been the center of that generation.

He had been one of three.

And two of them had survived.

Or at least—

one of them had.

Kael sat across from the old man.

“Tell me everything.”

The old man studied him.

“You won't like everything you hear.”

“I didn't come here for things I would like.”

A faint smile appeared on the old man's face.

“Good.”

He leaned back.

“Your grandfather had three sons.”

“Your father was the youngest.”

Kael listened carefully.

“Seran was the eldest.”

“Darian was the middle.”

“Your father was the youngest.”

Kael frowned.

“Then why wasn't Seran mentioned in the family records?”

The old man's expression became bitter.

“Because he was erased.”

“By whom?”

“The Darven family.”

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Why?”

The old man was silent for a moment.

Then:

“Because Seran tried to reach the Core.”

Kael's expression changed.

“He succeeded?”

“No.”

The old man looked directly into Kael's eyes.

“He touched it.”

That answer was somehow worse.

“What happened?”

“He came back.”

Kael frowned.

“That doesn't sound like a failure.”

“It was.”

The old man looked toward the ceiling.

“Seran returned alive.”

“But something about him had changed.”

“How?”

“We don't know.”

“Then why erase him?”

“Because three days after he returned…”

The old man's voice became quieter.

“…every network structure within his territory stopped recognizing the Darven bloodline.”

Kael's eyes widened.

“He lost Administrator authority?”

“No.”

The old man shook his head.

“Something worse.”

“What?”

“The network began recognizing him as something else.”

Silence filled the chamber.

Kael's mind raced.

“Something else?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

The old man stared at him.

“That is the question your family spent generations trying to answer.”

The old man reached beneath the table.

He removed a small crystal.

It was dark silver.

Kael immediately recognized the material.

His Metal Sense reacted.

[Unknown Magical Metal detected.]

The crystal contained a faint crimson signal.

The old man placed it on the table.

“This was found after Seran disappeared.”

Kael stared.

“Where?”

“Inside the eastern branch.”

Kael touched it.

The moment his fingers made contact—

[Bloodline resonance detected.]

Kael's eyes widened.

Then—

a memory appeared.

Three brothers.

Young.

Standing inside a forge.

His father was laughing.

Darian was arguing with him.

And Seran stood quietly in the corner.

Kael couldn't hear everything.

But he heard one sentence.

“The network doesn't belong to us.”

Another voice.

Darian.

“Then why does it obey us?”

Seran looked at the Darven katana.

“It doesn't.”

The memory ended.

Kael pulled his hand away.

The crystal stopped glowing.

He stared at it.

“The network doesn't obey the Darvens.”

The old man nodded.

“That was Seran's conclusion.”

Kael thought about the Fourth Path.

Administrator.

Correction.

Continuity.

The Core.

The ancient network had never been designed to be owned.

It had been designed to operate under specific rules.

And the Darven bloodline had access to those rules.

Not absolute control.

That distinction suddenly seemed much more important.

Kael looked at the old man.

“What happened after he touched the Core?”

The old man lowered his voice.

“Seran began searching for something.”

“The Origin?”

“Yes.”

“He believed he could find it?”

“He believed the Core had shown him part of it.”

Kael frowned.

“Shown him?”

The old man nodded.

“After Seran touched the Core, he began having memories that weren't his.”

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“Like mine.”

“Perhaps.”

“What did he see?”

The old man looked at the dark crystal.

“A place beyond the network.”

“A place before the first civilization.”

“A place where the bloodline existed without a name.”

Kael's breathing slowed.

“Then he found the Origin.”

“No.”

The old man's answer was immediate.

“He found the path toward it.”

Kael stared.

“And that was why he disappeared.”

“Yes.”

“What happened to him?”

The old man looked directly at Kael.

“We don't know.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“You said my brother touched the Core.”

“He did.”

“You said he came back.”

“Yes.”

“Then disappeared.”

“Yes.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Who made him disappear?”

The old man shook his head.

“That's the part nobody knows.”

Kael immediately asked:

“Does Darian know?”

The old man smiled faintly.

“Darian knows more than your father did.”

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“But less than Seran.”

“Probably.”

“Then why is Darian searching for the Origin?”

“Because he believes Seran found a way.”

Kael frowned.

“A way to what?”

“Return.”

Kael went silent.

The old man continued:

“Darian believes Seran didn't die.”

“He believes Seran crossed beyond the network.”

“And he believes that if he reaches the Origin…”

“…he can find him.”

Kael stared at the dark crystal.

That changed Darian's motive.

He might not simply be pursuing power.

He might be searching for his missing older brother.

But that did not make him trustworthy.

Kael remembered what the entity had said.

Don't trust either brother.

Perhaps there was a reason.

Kael finally asked the question that mattered most.

“My father knew about Seran.”

“Yes.”

“He knew Seran disappeared.”

“Yes.”

“He knew Darian was looking for him.”

“Yes.”

Kael's eyes hardened.

“Then why didn't he tell me?”

The old man looked directly at him.

“Because your father wanted you to survive.”

Kael frowned.

“I could handle the truth.”

“No.”

The old man shook his head.

“You couldn't.”

Kael's expression tightened.

“At eight years old?”

“Yes.”

“Eleven?”

“Still no.”

“Then when?”

The old man looked toward the ceiling.

“When the bloodline remembered enough.”

Kael stared.

“The twenty-percent threshold.”

The old man's eyes narrowed.

“You know about that?”

“Yes.”

“Then your father succeeded.”

Kael went silent.

The old man continued.

“He knew the bloodline would eventually force the truth into your path.”

“So he prepared everything.”

“The weapons.”

“The books.”

“The Space Ring.”

“The pocket world.”

“The training resources.”

Kael's eyes widened.

“The early System awakening.”

The old man nodded.

“Everything.”

Kael suddenly remembered the ancient rusty sword.

The artifact that had forced his System awakening years before normal development.

His father had called it dangerous.

Kael had wondered why he possessed something capable of accelerating his awakening.

Now he understood.

It hadn't simply been an emergency weapon.

It had been part of the progression plan.

The old man confirmed it.

“The sword was designed to react to the bloodline.”

“Your father knew.”

“He knew that eventually it could force the System awake.”

“Then why not awaken it naturally?”

The old man looked at him.

“Because natural awakening would have come too late.”

Kael froze.

Too late.

The inheritance was built around time.

The longer Kael remained outside the true path—

the more dangerous the enemies searching for the bloodline became.

His father needed him developing before they found him.

That explained everything.

The Space Ring.

The books.

The weapon materials.

The rusty sword.

The forced System awakening.

It wasn't just an inheritance.

It was an accelerated development plan.

Kael finally understood why his growth had been so abnormal.

He had been thinking about his level.

The old man was thinking about the entire structure.

“You are not merely leveling faster,” the old man said.

“You began earlier.”

“You have generations of accumulated knowledge.”

“You have rare materials.”

“You have high-quality equipment.”

“You have a bloodline specifically suited to your inheritance.”

“You have a System that records your progress.”

“You can freely allocate your attributes.”

“You can learn from every battle.”

“And most importantly…”

The old man looked at Kael's weapons.

“You have almost no wasted development.”

Kael nodded slowly.

His father had spent decades discovering what Kael had been handed almost immediately.

A normal awakened person might spend years learning forging.

Kael had access to the books immediately.

A normal fighter might spend years finding compatible weapons.

Kael could forge them himself.

A normal person might never encounter monsters strong enough to force rapid adaptation.

Kael had been surrounded by them since the beginning.

A normal person might not even understand their bloodline until adulthood.

Kael had been studying his bloodline since eleven.

A normal person had no personal System guidance toward hidden inheritance thresholds.

Kael did.

And—

the rusty sword had started that entire process years earlier.

The old man looked at him.

“That is why you are growing quickly.”

Kael nodded.

“But it doesn't mean I'm actually stronger than everyone my age.”

“Correct.”

“You still have enemies far above me.”

“Many.”

“Some could kill me instantly.”

“Yes.”

Kael smiled faintly.

“Good.”

The old man looked amused.

“Why are you happy about that?”

“Because it means I'm not finished.”

Kael remembered the sealed section in his father's inheritance.

He asked:

“What happens at Level 40?”

The old man's expression changed.

“You know about that?”

“My father's archive has a sealed section.”

“Level 40 and Bloodline Progress 20%.”

The old man became silent.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“You know what is inside.”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“I can't tell you.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“Why?”

“Because it isn't my secret.”

“Whose?”

The old man looked at the Darven katana.

“Your father's.”

Kael stared at him.

“My father left something specifically for Level 40?”

“Yes.”

“And you know what it is.”

“Yes.”

“What does it do?”

The old man smiled.

“You're not ready.”

Kael sighed.

“Everyone keeps saying that.”

“Because it's true.”

Kael stood.

“One more question.”

The old man nodded.

“Where is Seran now?”

Silence.

Then—

the old man looked toward the wall.

A faint crimson light appeared.

Kael activated Network Sense.

Nothing.

Metal Sense.

Nothing.

Then—

Darven Authority.

A tiny reaction appeared.

Outside the settlement.

Far beyond the eastern territory.

Kael's eyes widened.

“He's alive.”

The old man didn't confirm it.

He simply said:

“The last message Seran sent before disappearing was simple.”

“What did he say?”

The old man closed his eyes.

“Tell my brothers not to follow me.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“That means he knew they would.”

“Yes.”

“Darian followed.”

“Yes.”

“My father didn't.”

“No.”

“Why?”

The old man opened his eyes.

“Because your father chose you.”

Kael froze.

“He chose to protect me instead of following Seran.”

“Yes.”

That explained something Kael had never understood.

His father had always seemed obsessed with protecting Kael's future.

Perhaps he had already lost one brother to the Origin.

He wasn't willing to lose his son to it too.

The old man suddenly looked toward the ceiling.

His expression changed.

“Someone has arrived.”

Kael immediately activated Network Sense.

Nothing.

Then—

a foreign signal appeared.

Black.

Very faint.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

“Severance Order?”

“No.”

The old man stood.

The movement was unexpectedly fast for someone who had appeared so weak.

Kael drew his katana.

“Then who?”

The old man looked toward the entrance.

“Something older.”

The ground trembled.

Dust fell from the ceiling.

Then—

a voice echoed through the abandoned settlement.

“I knew the branch would eventually be discovered.”

Kael's eyes sharpened.

That voice wasn't Darian.

It wasn't the ancient sealed entity.

It wasn't the Network Predator.

The old man stepped in front of Kael.

For the first time—

the old man looked genuinely afraid.

“Stay behind me.”

Kael frowned.

“Why?”

The old man looked toward the entrance.

A shadow stood there.

Tall.

Humanoid.

Completely covered in black armor.

Silver eyes.

Kael's System activated.

[Threat Analysis.]

[Analysis failed.]

[Level: ???]

[Grade: ???]

[Threat: Unmeasurable.]

Kael's heart tightened.

The shadow spoke.

“The primary Darven has awakened.”

The old man raised his hand.

“No.”

The shadow continued.

“The administrator is alive.”

Kael slowly raised his rifle.

The shadow turned toward him.

“And the Origin has noticed.”

The chamber went silent.

Then—

the shadow removed its helmet.

Kael stared.

The face beneath it wasn't his father.

It wasn't Darian.

It wasn't Seran.

It was a face Kael had never seen.

But the eyes—

they carried the same crimson bloodline.

The stranger smiled.

“My name is Erynd Darven.”

A pause.

“I am the brother your family forgot existed.”