Chapter 5. The Cursed Seal

Rayden took a slow, steadying breath. With what little courage he could gather from the shattered remains of his heart, he walked to Raelyn’s side and gently took her cold hand in his.

"Lyn," he called again, his voice softer than a whisper, hoping for a miracle. "It's me, Rayden."

There was no reaction. No flicker of an eyelash. No return of his grip.

A sharp, cold pain lanced through Rayden’s heart, more agonizing than any physical wound he had ever received. He let out another slow breath and tightened his grip, not as a brother, but as a practitioner. He began to feel for the energy pathways in Raelyn’s body. Ever since discovering his own latent abilities, he had suspected Raelyn must also share that bloodline. From where it came, he didn't know—as far as he knew, their parents had been ordinary people.

After a few moments, he released her hand, his expression a complex mask of grief and grim confirmation.

It was true. He could sense a vast, dormant power within her, but it was in ruins. Her Soul Core had been savaged, and the power tethered to it was fractured beyond recognition. His worst fears were real.

Silence. A silence more deafening than any scream. The sorrow in Rayden's heart had now reached a state of perfect, terrible clarity.

It had transformed into a cold rage. A lucid rage. A rage with a purpose.

“Ray, what is it?” Mireya asked cautiously.

"Now I understand." The grief in Rayden's eyes was replaced by a sharp, intense focus. "This isn't a problem of the mind, Mireya. It's a problem of the soul."

"The soul?" Mireya frowned. "What are you talking about, Ray?"

He turned to face her fully. "Raelyn's Soul Core has been corrupted. That's what's made her like this. An ordinary doctor could never cure this. They couldn't even detect it."

Mireya’s confusion only deepened. After disappearing for ten years, had Rayden returned spouting nonsense? Did he think this was some kind of fantasy story?

"Ray, I know you've been through a lot, but that sounds… like a fairytale," she said, her voice laced with weary resignation.

His expression didn't change. His serious gaze remained locked on hers, unconcerned with her skepticism. He then turned his attention back to Raelyn.

"I need absolute quiet," he said calmly. "Don't let anyone disturb us. I'm going to try and treat her."

Mireya almost laughed. In her mind, Rayden truly sounded like a charlatan. While she knew he had been a brilliant student, believing he now possessed some mystical medical ability was a difficult leap. Where on earth did a medical school graduate look like that? Long, tied-back hair, a powerful physique with hardened muscles, and an archaic style of dress. He looked more like a warrior from an ancient tale than a healer.

“Do you have medical skills, Ray?” she asked, needing to be sure.

He shook his head, his gaze never leaving his sister. "This isn't a medical matter. And here, in this room, only I can heal her. So please, just trust me."

Mireya sighed. A part of her wanted to believe, especially after witnessing the impossible martial skill he now possessed. But this felt different, heavier.

“Do as you wish,” she finally conceded with a resigned nod.

“I’ll borrow a room,” Rayden said, beginning to push Raelyn’s wheelchair. Mireya, clinging to a desperate sliver of hope, showed him the way. Raelyn herself remained silent, her expression vacant, as if nothing in the world could stir her.

After he had settled Raelyn on the bed in the quiet room, she suddenly spoke, her voice a faint murmur. “Mireya…” Her gaze was flat, but a flicker of confusion, almost imperceptible, passed through her eyes.

Mireya rushed to her side and clasped her hand. “Lyn, Rayden is here. Your brother is back. He’s going to help you get better now.”

“Brother… Ray?” Raelyn whispered, though her eyes remained fixed on Mireya.

In that moment, Rayden wanted nothing more than to rush forward and embrace his sister, but he held himself back. It would be meaningless. After Mireya gave a final nod and stepped away, he approached the bed, giving Mireya a look that was a clear dismissal. Understanding, she backed out of the room, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm of fear and hope.

Alone, Rayden took a deep breath, calming the storm within his own heart. He had to be clear. Objective.

“Lyn, it’s me. Your brother,” he said softly, the earlier coldness in his eyes melting away into profound tenderness. “I need you to sleep for a little while.”

Raelyn remained expressionless, a bitter pill that Rayden forced himself to swallow. He gently touched her forehead, and her eyes immediately fluttered shut.

He positioned his right palm, not touching, but hovering a few inches above her lower abdomen—the location of the Soul Core. He closed his eyes. Instantly, the outside world vanished. There was only his spiritual perception.

The air around his hand began to vibrate as he channeled a thin, pure thread of his spiritual energy into his sister's body. The energy was a pale gold, imbued with the life and tranquility of a cultivator. His face was a mask of concentration, sweat beading on his temples. But the landscape he witnessed within his ‘vision’ was a living hell.

He traced the energy pathways in Raelyn’s body. The pathways that should have been rushing rivers of light were now little more than cracked, dry ditches. The flow of her energy was stagnant, murky, and nearly dead. With great effort, he pushed his senses deeper, toward the epicenter—her Soul Core.

The center of her vitality, the foundation of life that should have been a small, warm, radiant sun at the core of her being, was annihilated. It wasn't merely cracked or damaged—it was shattered. Like an exploded star, it had left behind a field of sharp, black, crystalline fragments. These shards didn't just lie dormant; they radiated a cold, deadly, negative aura, actively rejecting and destroying any life force that tried to approach.

This was why she couldn't heal. Her own body was rejecting life.

"Shhh," Rayden hissed between his teeth.

Worse, he could feel the faint residue of a foreign energy, a spiritual poison, still clinging to each black shard. It was an energy thick with hatred and jealousy, ensuring this wound could never recover naturally.

‘A Cursed Seal?’ The realization struck him with the force of a physical blow.

But just as he focused his will to begin dismantling the seal, the malevolent energy flared, rejecting his intrusion.

Srrkkk!

The connection was severed.

He needed a massive amount of spiritual energy to break the seal and restore fertility to her Soul Core. The ambient spiritual energy here was pitifully thin. His own spiritual crystals were not nearly enough. He would need, at minimum, three thousand-year-old divine plants, or perhaps two high-grade spiritual crystals.

Rayden pulled his hand away from Raelyn's body, and a strange, cold smile touched his lips.

If the Bramasta family had a cultivator like Vania, capable of shattering a Soul Core and placing a Cursed Seal…

Then it was highly likely they also possessed spiritual treasures of that very nature, wasn't it?