Everything was still.

  As if time had stopped… or the world itself was holding its breath.

  Ray stood motionless, breathing slowly, his eyes fixed on the frozen fireball hovering in front of him.

  "Am I… dead?"

  But no—he was still there. He could hear his heartbeat. He could feel the cold brushing against his skin.

  Then a voice came from within him, clear… deep… like it didn’t belong to this world:

  "Ray… now it begins."

  Suddenly, the air moved.

  But the fireball didn’t move—it vanished.

  It evaporated in an instant, as if it had never existed.

  Then the ground beneath him shook, and a small whirlwind of fme rose from the rocks, swirling around his body like it recognized him.

  "I… am the fire?" he whispered with a trembling voice.

  The fme spiral touched his palm—yet didn’t burn him.

  He felt warmth rising through his spine, as if something dormant within him had finally awakened.

  Then came a sharp pain—

  Like something inside him had broken.

  He dropped to his knees, clutching his chest.

  A sudden, fleeting vision struck his mind:

  – A massive dragon, eyes of fire, staring at him.

  – Six gems floating around its heart.

  – A scream… then silence.

  Ray opened his eyes, gasping.

  Then he heard the hunters shouting from below the hill:

  "The boy!! He stopped the fire!"

  "That’s impossible!"

  "He’s not human!"

  One of them shouted, "KILL HIM!"

  They ran toward him.

  But Ray was no longer the same.

  He rose slowly… his right hand still glowing a deep orange.

  Without thinking, he raised it, and fire gathered in his palm…

  Then he released it in a fsh.

  An explosion.

  The hunters recoiled as the fire shot out in a massive arc—untouched by anyone.

  "I… didn’t even think about it…" he whispered, staring at his hand.

  ---

  The ground beneath him began to tremble.

  The air grew heavier.

  Then he heard the voice again—or maybe it was a feeling, transted in his mind:

  "This is the first gate… Don’t open it fully. Not yet."

  His body suddenly felt cold, as if the fmes had withdrawn.

  Then he colpsed to his knees, exhausted.

  ---

  Minutes ter…

  Ray crawled to the edge of the mountain, looking down at what remained of his vilge.

  "The vilge…"

  It was burning—only shadows and smoke remained.

  Tears fell silently from his eyes, but his heart was unshaken.

  "I won’t run anymore."

  He looked at his hand…

  The fire was gone, but its trace remained.

  And though he didn’t understand what was happening to him…

  He knew one thing for certain:

  He was not without a core.

  He carried somethi

  ng… no one else had.