The One Who Was Expected

Chapter 55 — The One Who Was Expected

The observation node remained dark.

Aether stood before it, replaying the Watcher's final words in his mind.

You are not the Origin Heir I expected.

That sentence bothered him more than the Watcher's presence itself.

Not because it frightened him.

Because it implied history.

Someone had been expected to inherit the Origin Mark.

Someone had been expected to arrive.

Someone had been expected to become the successor of the fallen Origin Domain.

Yet Aether was the one standing here.

He looked at the ancient pillar.

"System."

[Awaiting command.]

"Can you determine who the Watcher expected?"

[Searching available records.]

Several seconds passed.

[Search complete.]

[Result: Insufficient information.]

Aether wasn't surprised.

"Can you determine whether that person existed?"

[Probability of historical existence: High.]

Lyra crossed her arms.

"That's not exactly helpful."

Aether glanced at her.

"It's still information."

Aria stepped closer to the pillar.

"If someone else was supposed to inherit the Origin Mark, why does yours work?"

Aether looked down at his hand.

The silver symbol pulsed faintly beneath his skin.

"That's what I want to know."

The mark disappeared again.

For now, there were no answers.

Aether turned toward the observation node.

"We're not destroying it."

Lyra looked surprised.

"Why not?"

"Because it's useful."

Aether placed his palm against the pillar.

Origin Energy flowed into the ancient structure.

The node trembled.

[Warning: Primary Observer may detect interference.]

Aether continued.

"I want it connected to our detection formation."

The system immediately responded.

[Attempting connection.]

Silver lines spread across the pillar.

They traveled through the ground and disappeared into the surrounding forest.

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Aether carefully adjusted the flow.

He wasn't trying to control the entire network.

Only this node.

[Observation Node connection modified.]

[Host authority: Partial.]

[External observation: Restricted.]

[Local detection function: Integrated.]

Aether nodded.

"Good."

Aria looked at him.

"So now if the Watcher uses it again..."

"I'll know."

Lyra smiled.

"You're basically putting a security system on the security system."

Aether glanced at her.

"Exactly."

They returned to the cave before sunset.

Seris was still there.

She immediately noticed the change in Aether's expression.

"You found something."

Aether nodded.

"The Watcher."

Seris became serious.

"What did it say?"

"That I'm not the Origin Heir it expected."

Seris remained silent.

Aether noticed.

"You know something."

"I know very little."

"Then tell me the little you know."

Seris hesitated before finally speaking.

"The ruin where I saw the silver eye had a damaged inscription."

"What did it say?"

"I couldn't read all of it."

She closed her eyes, trying to remember.

"There was something about an Origin Heir who would return after the fall of the Domain."

Aether's attention sharpened.

"Return?"

"That's the word."

Aria looked at Aether.

"Then perhaps the person the Watcher expected was someone from the original Origin Domain."

Aether considered it.

"Possible."

Lyra asked, "But then why are you recognized as the Origin Heir?"

Aether didn't answer immediately.

He had already considered several possibilities.

Maybe the original heir had died.

Maybe the inheritance had changed its conditions.

Maybe Aether wasn't the original heir at all.

Or perhaps—

there had never been a single Origin Heir.

The system interrupted his thoughts.

[New information available.]

Aether opened the interface.

[Origin Heir Foundation detected.]

[Analyzing inheritance compatibility...]

The screen changed.

[Compatibility: 100%]

Aether's expression became serious.

"Whatever happened in the past, the inheritance accepts me."

Aria nodded.

"Then maybe that's what matters."

"Maybe."

Aether wasn't satisfied.

But he wouldn't let an unanswered question control his decisions.

He had more immediate objectives.

His territory.

His cultivation.

His strength.

And the strange northern region.

That night, Aether began cultivating again.

He sat beneath the Origin Gathering Formation.

Energy flowed steadily into his body.

His Origin Core absorbed it.

His muscles strengthened.

His senses sharpened.

But the Origin Points barely changed.

[Origin Points: 247/300]

He needed fifty-three more.

Aether continued.

Hours passed.

At midnight, the system finally displayed another message.

[Origin cultivation complete.]

[Origin Points: 249/300]

Only two points.

Aether opened his eyes.

He wasn't disappointed.

Cultivation wasn't a shortcut.

If he wanted rapid growth, he needed resources and combat.

He stood.

Tomorrow, he would hunt again.

But before he could leave the cultivation chamber, Nyx suddenly raised her head.

Her golden eyes fixed on the eastern wall.

Aether immediately followed her gaze.

Nothing was there.

Then his system activated.

[Unknown Origin fluctuation detected.]

[Location: Eastern underground structure.]

Aether frowned.

"The inheritance chamber?"

[Negative.]

[Separate location detected.]

He immediately remembered the Origin Spring.

The Territory Anchor.

The underground cavern.

Something had changed there.

Aether woke Lyra and Aria.

"We're going back."

Lyra grabbed her weapon.

"What happened?"

"The underground structure is reacting to something."

They left the cave.

The forest was dark and silent.

After reaching the eastern cavern, Aether immediately noticed the difference.

The Origin Spring was glowing.

The water had become faintly silver.

The Territory Anchor inside Aether's storage space began vibrating.

Aether removed it.

The crystal-tree relic floated above his palm.

[Territory Anchor resonance detected.]

[External source identified.]

Aether looked toward the spring.

"So the anchor wasn't dormant because it was damaged."

Aria understood.

"It was waiting for something."

Aether nodded.

He lowered the anchor toward the spring.

The moment it came within several meters—

the entire cavern shook.

A circular formation appeared beneath the water.

The eye symbol emerged.

But this time, there was no broken ring.

There were four complete rings.

Aether's expression hardened.

The same symbol that had appeared beneath his feet in the north.

The same symbol connected to the Observation Network.

The Territory Anchor wasn't simply a resource for his future territory.

It was connected to the ancient network.

[Warning.]

[Territory Anchor has established partial connection with Observation Network.]

Aether immediately pulled it back.

The connection disappeared.

The cavern became still.

Lyra looked at him.

"Is that bad?"

Aether stared at the anchor.

"Not necessarily."

He looked toward the northern mountains.

"But it means our territory may become visible to something that existed long before we arrived."

Aria tightened her grip on Starfall.

"Then perhaps we shouldn't use it."

Aether shook his head.

"We will."

Both girls looked at him.

Aether's expression remained calm.

"If this world already contains ancient things watching us, hiding won't solve the problem."

He placed the anchor back into storage.

"We'll build the territory properly."

"And when something comes looking..."

His hand rested on the Executioner's Blade.

"We'll deal with it."

Far to the north, beyond the mountains, a silver eye opened.

The First Watcher had noticed the connection.

But this time—

it did not speak.

It simply watched.

And somewhere deep beneath the Northern Seal, something else watched the Watcher.