“You too, huh?” Elric muttered, settling back into the sand. “That had to be one of the worst experiences I’ve had since… well, since the capital.”
We’d already compared his breakthrough to Thea’s. Their accounts matched closely—both trapped in that eerie stillness, unable to move or speak. Both surrounded by Precursor Energy, their Internal Force gradually restoring itself. And both of them saw that sa strange, not-quite-solid egg.
It was oddly comforting. A kind of internal consistency. Whatever they’d gone through, it was clearly part of sothing greater, a shared process. And while it made more than a little eager to test it myself, I had sothing else pressing on my mind.
“What should we even call it?” I asked, shifting my weight. “You’ve already got ‘Inner Realm’ taken.”
Thea gently squeezed the little green creature in her arms, her brow furrowing in thought. “Inner Nexus?”
I nodded, seeing the logic in it, but Elric scoffed almost imdiately. “That sounds like sothing Peter would co up with.”
“Hey,” I shot back, defending myself. “It makes perfect sense. It’s inside your Nexus. Descriptive and thematic.”
He raised an eyebrow, then just to be annoying, wore that smug, satisfied grin like it was proof he’d already won the argunt. “See? He loves it.”
Thea leaned over, looping one arm around my side and pressing a quick kiss against my upper arm. “Thanks,” she said sweetly. Then, glancing at Griffith with playful self-betrayal in her voice, added, “Any other ideas?”
Griffith frowned slightly, adopting a serious expression as he began to stroke his beard. Even for him, it was starting to get pretty long, and by the looks of him, he probably had a comb tucked away sowhere, maybe even a trimr. I’d have to ask him about it later, especially since I’d promised Thea she could cut my hair. Though, Vel's warning still played on my mind.
“‘Inner Realm,’ then ‘Inner Space,’” Griffith finally announced, giving each of us a brief look as if assessing our reactions. “Thoughts?”
I shrugged. “Clean. Seems good.”
“There’s a the,” Elric added, nodding his approval.
Thea gave a brief, satisfied smile, agreeing through expression.
With that, Griffith scribbled one final note, flipped the page with a soft fwip, then closed the notebook. The cube resting on his knee gave a faint glow, and just like that, both pen and pages vanished into it.
“Now that the important matters are settled,” he said with mock formality, “let’s talk next steps. I want to move in. Adjust to the pressure.”
Elric imdiately shook his head. “We should train as a group first. We’ve all had so solo experience, sure, but Thea hasn’t fought with us yet. Not as part of a coordinated team, and even then, we’ve only had a few real engagents together.”
Griffith leaned in, his tone sharpening. “I understand that. I do. And I’m glad to see all of you growing, but this ti I’m not budging. That thing needs to be dealt with. We can’t afford to hesitate. We also need to adapt to this environnt and figure out why it’s like this.”
Thea’s gaze narrowed, but not in offense. There was a subtle edge of suspicion in her voice. “Y—you know sothing, don’t you, Mister Ironscribe?”
Her voice ca out gentle, questioning, but not accusatory.
“Please,” Elric added, “if you’ve got sothing we should know, tell us.”
I reached over and clapped a hand onto Griffith’s shoulder. “Keeping secrets right now isn’t going to help anyone.”
Griffith rubbed his hands together slowly, like he was trying to warm up. Eventually, he let out a long breath and nodded.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “That’s the main reason I haven’t said anything. No point in stirring panic without proof. But…”
His gaze dropped to the sand as his voice lowered.
“When I was younger, I trained to beco a Starborn guard. One of my first assignnts was in the City of Stars—the capital of the State. They sent into a labyrinth there. A permanent one. There had to be over a hundred of us that day…”
I shifted my weight forward, resting both hands on my knees. “So… what happened?”
Griffith took a mont, gathering his thoughts before continuing. “Unlike the three of you, I wasn’t sent to one of those front-line camps, if you can even call them that. My path was different. I awakened my blessing… and my system... at fifteen.”
“Fifteen?!” Elric nearly shouted, jerking upright with wide eyes. “That’s impossible. Only a Star—”
Griffith cut him off with a calm hand and a shake of the head. “I was only suspected to be one. You think you'd know if I was?” He sighed again, and I could see the heavy mories stirring behind his eyes. “It was after that, the labyrinth, I started to understand the truth behind those training facilities. Or at least, I ford my suspicions. That’s why I joined. Why I beca an instructor. Try and give so real advice.”
Thea leaned in beside , eyes sharp with interest. Elric followed a mont later.
“What do you an?” Thea asked gently. “Those camps are to train us for war, aren’t they?”
Griffith rocked slightly, like the weight of what he was about to say had grown heavier with ti. “Maybe. I’m not completely sure, but I started to believe they had a different goal. One above everything else. To find people like . Recruits who slipped through the cracks, or Late Bloors. Candidates with Starborn potential.”
That hit Thea and Elric like a strike to the chest. Their expressions tightened, and I could feel the subtle shift in the air around them.
? I just nodded.
I’d apparently killed a Starborn before in that illusion. Assuming the girl had been one, but whatever she was, she’d been powerful. Powerful enough that, if she really wanted to, and knew where I was, she could probably incinerate with a fireball traveling faster than sound. Reduce to ash. Or, if I was lucky, a pile of very crispy regret.
“So,” I said, redirecting the focus. “You still haven’t told us about the labyrinth.”
Both Elric and Thea turned toward , blinking like I’d skipped the part where the world had just tilted.
“Seriously?” Elric said. “You’re not shocked? I’m a prince and even I didn’t know about this.”
I gave him a shrug. “You were a failed prince, rember? Got sent to a front-line camp, and honestly, whether we’re surprised or not doesn’t matter right now. This kind of info, we need to shelve it until it’s useful. When we’re safe, we can dig through the rest.”
They nodded at that. Reasonable or not, it was the kind of practicality we needed right now.
Still, sothing had planted itself in my mind. An idea. One that kept growing the more I thought about it. The state—maybe even Voxter, but considering how Synthia talked about it, I wasn't too sur, but either way, they lacked training infrastructure. Real training, and if these facilities were really just a net to catch Starborns…
Now you’re thinking like a king, Wyrem chid in, sounding almost proud. But you’re right. Don’t let the idea distract you now. Focus on the brat. Push it back if you have to, but don’t kill it.
I held up a hand to the others, motioning for a pause. “Hang on. Just give a second. I need to check sothing.”
What the hell do you an, don’t kill it? I snapped ntally. Sure, pushing it back is one thing, but you’ve seen that thing. Holding back might not even be an option!
Luna pulsed against my wrist, a soft pale-red glow spreading through her petals. You’ve been paying attention to him, right? Co on, Peter. I know you’re not an idiot.
I drew in a steady breath. Don’t tell … you know it?
Wyrem pulsed in my mind, faint at first, then stronger.
Its appearance resembles sothing in my mories. A very, very distant descendant of the dragons. Diluted near beyond recognition, but still... sothing remains.
I paused, thoughts swirling.
I’d never actually tried using my Beast Force to pass control, but maybe I could do it. Maybe I had enough influence now. I focused. You want to take it over?
WHAT?! Wyrem practically scread, his voice like thunder through my skull. Gods, no! I don’t want to dominate it. I want to talk to it. Convince it to join you.
My heart jumped at that sentence. Sothing that powerful joining us? It sounded absurd, but if Wyrem could actually pull it off?
“Peter?” Thea’s voice broke through gently, her hand pressing lightly against my shoulder. “Everything okay?”
I nodded, still half-locked in thought. “Just one more mont. Sorry.”
How exactly do you plan to do that? I asked Wyrem, zeroing in on the core problem. If it’s intelligent—and I think it is, why would it agree to join a bunch of walking entrees?
Techniques, he replied simply. mories. Knowledge of True Dragons.
And just like that, the excitent drained out of . Dragons? Seriously?
Even Luna’s grip loosened on my wrist, her petals curling with visible disappointnt. I finally get him to listen, she muttered, and that’s what you go with?
I’m serious! Wyrem protested, sounding genuinely wounded. I know I’ve only ever offered you wings, but what do you think I’ve been doing all this ti?
Eating, Luna and I answered in perfect, unimpressed unison.
Exactly, he declared with pride. Eating every type of energy your body can provide. Think about that. How many creatures have you ever seen that can absorb all forms of energy?
And that’s when it clicked.
Luna, yes. But also that thing. The one at the base of the Dragon Vein, taking in everything it had to offer. It was... eating. Just like Wyrem. If Wyrem had a body, one like the serpent’s, if he had limbs and a mouth big enough to rival that creature, would he do the sa?
You want to share your thod? Luna asked cautiously. But you just said it already knows how.
No, Wyrem shot back. It’s mimicking or sothing else. There’s no way it can retain all that energy. Not permanently. That’s the difference. Creatures like you are too rare. Much too rare to encounter one in a single lifeti, let alone two.
You're thinking it can't just because you haven't seen it? Just like how you assud I couldn’t, Luna replied, skepticism thick in her tone.
Her words echoed in my mind, echoing my own doubts.
Yes, Wyrem admitted, though not begrudgingly. And I still don’t fully understand how you can. But this creature... it’s not like you. I think it learned sothing, or maybe it inherited it. Either way, I just need one chance, one conversation and I can convince it. I know I can. There’s so much potential in it. Maybe Marcus could bond with it too, if he keeps growing.
His voice dropped slightly at the end, less persuasive and more pleading.
I’d heard enough.
“New plan,” I said aloud, cutting through the morning haze. “We’re going to defeat the snake… but we’re not going to kill it.”
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