Thread of Duality

Chapter 20 – Thread of Duality

The dawn arrived gently over Astralis Academy. Gold brushed the sky like a painter's first stroke, casting shadows that danced along the stone walls of the S-rank dormitory. Birds chirped faintly in the courtyard garden, but within his room, Robert's heartbeat drowned everything out.

He sat upright, breath shallow.

Something pulsed beneath his skin—warm, rhythmic, alive.

He pulled his collar down.

A shimmering, golden-red thread etched across his chest like a brand made of fire and silk. It moved when he breathed, shifting with each heartbeat, glowing and dimming in turn.

> [New Status Effect: Thread of Duality]

You have been touched by the Sealed God, Amnesh.

Effect: Unknown.

Influence: Unknown.

Potential: Unstable.

Warning: Connection is active.

He blinked at the message, disbelief still settling in. A god. Not a spell. Not a system perk. A god had reached through the veil—and touched him.

And not just him.

---

Across the academy's garden wing, Meloy stood barefoot before her mirror, still wrapped in a night robe, the morning sun painting her in pale gold. Her fingers hovered above her collarbone, where the same thread pulsed softly, as if in response to a question only she had asked.

She'd dreamt of stars unraveling—of vast, rotating spirals of color and a voice that was both gentle and infinite. A whisper spoken not in words, but in feeling:

"Two who should never have touched. Two fates that were never meant to meet. Now entangled. Let the world feel the echo."

Meloy's reflection was pale and thoughtful. She wasn't afraid. But something deep within her stirred—uncertainty layered atop something older, wilder.

Magic?

No… meaning.

---

Training Field – S-Rank Track

"Again!"

Instructor Marisa's voice cut through the air like a sword.

Students clashed and tumbled, spells arcing and weapons blurring. Training today was focused on synergy—pair exercises, mock battles, and reaction-based maneuvers.

Robert moved sluggishly through warm-ups, barely registering Ivan's banter as he tried to process what the thread meant.

"Yo," Ivan called, tossing a training spear over his shoulder. "You and Meloy look like you stayed up all night passing energy drinks and nervous glances. That first date stress finally getting to you?"

Robert didn't respond right away.

Ivan frowned. "You okay?"

Meloy approached, her steps light but deliberate. She met Robert's eyes, and for a heartbeat, the world quieted.

The thread pulsed.

She felt it too. He could tell. In a way he couldn't explain, he just knew.

"Something happened," Robert muttered to Ivan. "I think… we're connected."

From across the training field, Zar'aleth turned.

He was tall and graceful, with dark bronze skin and silver-white hair bound back by a clasp of bone and obsidian. His gaze was predatory—calculating, patient. A pureblood vampire of noble caste, born into the Dominion and now ranked among the top S-rank students.

He walked toward them without urgency, but every step carried the silence of a stalking predator.

"You two…" he said slowly, his voice deep and rich. "You're tainted."

Meloy stiffened.

Robert frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Zar'aleth's nostrils flared. "Chaos magic. Old. Divine. I can smell it leaking off you like heat from a wound. What did you do?"

Before Robert could respond, Instructor Marisa clapped her hands once. The sound cracked like thunder.

"Enough flirting and growling, children. Partner drills. Two-on-two combat. I want teamwork, I want rhythm, I want results. Anyone still brooding gets to clean the beast stables after class."

The students split into pairs. Ivan paired with Zar'aleth, after a shrug and a "please don't drink my blood" joke. Robert and Meloy instinctively stepped toward each other.

As their hands brushed, the Thread of Duality pulsed violently.

Energy surged between them.

The air shimmered.

A burst of golden-red light spiraled around their forms and vanished just as fast. Mana flared outward in a ripple that knocked several weapon racks clattering to the ground.

Everyone stopped.

Silence fell.

> [Thread of Duality: Awakened]

Effects:

– Shared instincts

– Dual-Element Synchronization

– Empathic Link: Active

– Passive Chaos Bloom: +% chance for unusual results in boundary events

Warning: Synchronization Level – 47%

Warning: Prolonged contact may lead to Identity Confluence

Marisa's eyes narrowed. She tilted her head, then let out a long exhale. "Well. That's not in the standard curriculum."

Zar'aleth watched with narrowed eyes. "This isn't just divine interference," he murmured. "This is deliberate. Someone wove you two together."

Robert felt it—Meloy's heartbeat, her tension, even her instinct to pull away—but instead, she gripped his hand tighter.

"We'll control it," she whispered. "We have to."

---

Elsewhere – The Shattered Altar of Amnesh

Far beyond the mortal realm, suspended in a dream of broken time and untold stories, Amnesh stirred.

No cathedral bore his name. No faithful knelt at his altar. The other gods had made sure of that.

Once, he had been one of them. A god of beginnings. Of divergence. Of what could be.

But the others—Ysera, Elryn, even the playful Nael—had grown wary. His touch was too wild. Too freeing. While they carved domains and systems and rules, Amnesh sought the edges. The 'what-ifs' and 'nevers' and 'impossibles.'

So they sealed him. Bound his essence in chains of logic, fate, and prophecy.

Yet cracks remained.

And in those cracks, Amnesh watched.

Waited.

Hunted.

When Robert and Meloy had first met, their fates were static—untouched by prophecy. Inconsequential. They were not meant to be anything beyond classmates. Background pieces in a divine game.

But Amnesh had seen a possibility. A variable.

So he threaded them.

Why?

Because he refuses to let the story stay still.

He had no temples, so he etched himself into bonds.

No prayers, so he whispered through instinct.

No script… so he rewrote it.

"Let the gods of balance and wisdom weep," Amnesh whispered, coiling through the fabric of the world. "Let the fixed become fluid. Let the safe become strange."

And when they try to sever his Thread?

"Then they will learn what it means to lose control."

---

Academy Infirmary – Afternoon Check

Robert sat shirtless on the infirmary bed, Instructor Marisa examining the pulsing thread beneath his skin with narrowed eyes and a glowing diagnostic glyph in her palm.

Meloy sat nearby, quiet but alert.

"This isn't a curse," Marisa finally said. "But it's not a blessing either. It's like… some kind of living contract."

Robert's brow furrowed. "Can you remove it?"

"No. And trying might kill you."

Meloy shifted. "What does it do?"

"Whatever it wants," Marisa said dryly. "From what I saw in the field, your mana and instincts are beginning to align. That's dangerous. Synchronization in combat is powerful, but synchronization of selves? That's another level. If it continues, you might start thinking the same thoughts. Sharing dreams. Losing track of where one ends and the other begins."

She looked them both over.

"You've been touched by a god. And not one of the polite ones."

Robert swallowed.

Meloy whispered, "What if we embrace it? Instead of running?"

Marisa looked at her, surprised—and just a little impressed.

"…Then you'd better train twice as hard and learn where your minds begin to blur."

The students dispersed after their sparring drills, most whispering about the golden-red flare that had exploded between Robert and Meloy. Rumors spread like wildfire, each version more dramatic than the last.

Ivan wiped sweat from his brow and found Zar'aleth by the weapon racks, carefully inspecting the edge of his dueling blade.

"Hey, you seem like you know something," Ivan began, leaning casually against the pillar. "That thread thing—Robert and Meloy. You called it divine."

Zar'aleth didn't look up. "Because it is."

Ivan whistled low. "Damn. I thought you were being dramatic. But this is real, huh?"

Zar'aleth sheathed his blade. "Chaos doesn't lie. It lingers."

There was a pause.

Ivan scratched the back of his head. "So... is this good or bad?"

Zar'aleth turned his crimson gaze to him at last. "That depends. On which god did it—and why."

"Well," Ivan shrugged. "There's only one god who'd make a mess like that and call it art."

Zar'aleth nodded. "Amnesh. The Sealed One."

Ivan sobered. "I thought he was just myth."

"He is myth," Zar'aleth said. "Because the other gods made him myth. He was chaos incarnate—pure potential. Not evil. Just… unbounded. The gods of order hated that. So they locked him away and erased his name from most mortal memory."

"Except he's clearly not staying locked," Ivan muttered.

"No," Zar'aleth said quietly. "And now he's chosen them. Robert and Meloy."

"Why them?"

"I don't know," Zar'aleth admitted. "But Amnesh never weaves without purpose. His threads twist fate itself. If that bond matures…"

Ivan raised a brow. "What?"

"They won't just be powerful. They'll be unpredictable. Every choice they make could ripple outward—disrupt prophecies, shatter safeguards, wake things that sleep beneath the world."

Ivan let out a low breath. "Hells."

Zar'aleth finally looked away, distant. "If I were the gods of order, I'd be watching closely. Or preparing to sever that thread before it grows."

"And you?" Ivan asked, folding his arms. "You going to try to cut it?"

Zar'aleth's expression sharpened—but it wasn't cruel.

"No," he said after a long silence. "Not yet. Because if the world is truly shifting, I'd rather see where it turns."

Ivan cracked a grin. "You're just hoping it leads to a good fight."

Zar'aleth smirked, the barest hint of fangs showing. "Always."

---

Evening – S-Rank Dorm Rooftop

The sky had turned dark velvet, scattered with stars. The rooftop was quiet. A breeze danced over the academy towers.

Robert sat beside Meloy, legs swinging over the ledge. Neither spoke for a while.

He finally broke the silence. "It's scary."

She looked at him.

"I like you, Meloy. But this thread... it's more than just a feeling. I don't know how much of what I feel is me anymore."

Meloy's voice was soft. "I know. I've felt your thoughts. Flashes. Emotions that aren't mine. But I think… we're stronger with it."

She turned to him, eyes steady.

"Maybe the thread didn't create something new. Maybe it revealed what was already forming."

He reached for her hand. She didn't pull away.

> [Thread of Duality – Resonance Increased: 55%]

They sat in silence, watching the stars, unaware that far above the clouds, one of those stars wasn't a star at all.

It blinked.

And smiled.

---

End of Chapter 20