The First Re-encounter

Leegna's feet echoed along the sidewalk, the dull thrum of his workday still lingering in his mind. Yet, something else had caught his attention—a presence trailing him. His heightened awareness, a product of his natural precognitive ability, signaled that something was amiss. He didn't turn around immediately, but his thoughts sharpened, calculating.

Moments later, he stopped at a corner, allowing the figure behind him to step forward. Out from the shadows came Aternos, with that unsettling yet familiar smile. It had been too long since Leegna had felt this presence—Aternos, Gestrong's altered persona, though Leegna had known for some time who he truly was.

-"Quite the night, isn't it?" Aternos said casually, his demeanor oddly relaxed. He looked at Leegna with curiosity, almost as if he was gauging him, trying to initiate a strange camaraderie. "I'm more of a spiritual guy, you see. I tend to guide those who might be... lost."

Leegna's eyes narrowed, his instincts immediately perceiving the underlying game Aternos was playing. He turned to face him fully, his cold, calculated gaze meeting Aternos's sly smile. This time, Leegna wasn't the naïve man he once was. He had changed, grown. And he knew the game had already started.

"Funny," Leegna said, "In a world full of lies, who is going to be the truth, after all?"

-Aternos gave a puzzled look, but Leegna saw right through him. His blue eye, the gift from Yuj, gleamed faintly beneath his closed lid, allowing him to detect Aternos's hidden motives. The power revealed the shadows lurking behind Aternos, the deceit woven into his being. But more than that, Leegna's precognitive power—the one that had always been with him, deep within—told him that this wasn't just a meeting of coincidence. It was a move in a larger game. One that had been set in motion long ago.

They exchanged a few more cryptic words, Aternos still playing the 'guide,' while Leegna responded with a sharp wit that concealed his growing knowledge of what was truly happening. Every step Aternos took, Leegna matched with intelligence.

As the night grew colder, Leegna's precognitive ability flared unexpectedly. In a split second, the world around him changed. A vision—brief, disorienting—of a cryptic message from his old apartment flashed before his eyes. A warning, a clue. And it was important.

He had almost forgotten about that place. But this wasn't just an ordinary memory. It was a message he had ignored, something from the past that would lead him to something crucial. A strange weapon, something that could deal with shadows and celestial beings alike.

Aternos watched him with growing suspicion, his playful demeanor flickering, as if he sensed Leegna's shifting focus. But Leegna offered no explanation, only a cold smile.

And with that, the scene faded, leaving Leegna standing alone, the cryptic message now clear in his mind. The next step had been revealed.

-As Leegna stepped into his old apartment, his blue eye flickered to life for a brief moment, scanning the room with an eerie precision before fading away, leaving him on edge. Moments later, his gaze fell upon the cryptic letter, a puzzle waiting to be solved—one that hinted at an ancient weapon, said to be wielded by the first holder of the ring, but whose design constantly shifted, as though it refused to be understood or tamed. This strange, ever-changing blade—hidden for eons—was now calling out to Leegna, its shape elusive and enigmatic, yet somehow resonating with his inner turmoil, as if it reflected his deepest emotions and his destiny as the Veil of the Shadow Hunter.