He planted one hand against the black stone and pushed himself higher, managing to get one foot under him before the weakness in his body reminded him exactly how much the breakthrough had taken out of him. The world did not spin, but it felt slightly delayed around the edges, as if his senses had returned faster than his strength. His mana was there, heavier and deeper than before, but his body had not fully caught up with what had happened to it.
Selene stayed close enough that if he leaned even slightly the wrong way she would have been the first to catch him.
Daemar stepped forward first. His usual composure was still there, but it had cracks in it now, thin visible ones that gave away how excited he actually was. His eyes moved over Noel with the intensity of a scholar standing in front of sothing he had spent years teaching about without ever expecting to witness directly. "How do you feel? This is an extraordinary achievent. Do you feel stronger? Do you perceive the world differently? Try casting a spell."
Noel looked at him for a second. For reasons he could not fully explain, the sight of Daemar saying all of that so quickly was almost funny. The man had always been asured, the sort of teacher who kept his reactions contained even in the academy. Seeing him like this, openly eager, felt strange enough that Noel nearly smiled despite the exhaustion. "Relax, Director. I feel pretty weak right now."
Marcus, Garron, and Laziel all watched the exchange with varying degrees of surprise. Marcus was quieter than the others, but the look in his eyes was clear enough. He had just watched Noel take another step forward, and part of him already felt the distance widening again.
Before Daemar could continue questioning him, Garron stepped in from the side. "Good. That ans you don’t get to argue." He bent down, lifted Noel with both arms as if the matter had already been decided, and threw him over one shoulder with enough ease to make the situation imdiately ridiculous.
Selene stopped. The look on her face said she absolutely did not like that. Unfortunately she had no real solution. Noel was far too heavy for her to carry the sa way, and using mana for sothing so unnecessary in a place like this would have been stupid if another creature happened to appear nearby.
Laziel watched Garron adjust Noel’s weight on his shoulder and let out a slow breath. "This doesn’t inspire much confidence for the final battle."
Noel turned his head slightly from where he was hanging and answered flatly, "Yeah, I hope not. I’d feel pretty betrayed if all my efforts turned out to be useless."
Selene’s expression tightened imdiately. Noel saw it and sighed. "I’m joking."
That eased nothing for about two seconds. Then Garron snorted, Marcus looked away with the faintest shake of his head, and even Daemar’s expression softened by a fraction as the group began moving out of the basin. Behind them the dead chira remained where it had fallen, and the hollow valley sank back into silence. The mountain had given Noel what he ca for, and now there was no reason to stay.
The climb out of the basin was quieter than the descent had been. Garron carried Noel without difficulty, one arm hooked securely around his legs while the other remained free. Marcus walked a little ahead, scanning the ridges out of habit more than expectation.
Laziel stayed alert in a more obvious way, glancing too often at the surrounding stone as if he fully expected sothing else to crawl out of the mountain now that Noel had already spent most of his strength. Selene remained close to Garron’s side, her eyes returning to Noel every few seconds, asuring whether he was truly recovering or simply pretending better than the rest of them could read.
Daemar was the first to break the silence. "What exactly does it feel like?" he asked, his voice calr than before but the curiosity unchanged. "Manacode, I an. Is it only a difference in quantity, or has the structure changed too?"
Noel was quiet for a second before answering. "It’s different. Not just stronger. Heavier. Denser." He frowned faintly, searching for the right words. "My mana doesn’t feel like it used to. It’s still mine, but..." He let the sentence hang for a mont. "I’m still adjusting."
"And your perception?"
"Sharper in so ways. But I’m not comfortable with it yet."
That part was the truth. He could feel that sothing had changed in him beyond simple output, but his body and senses had not fully settled into the new state. Everything was there. Everything worked. Nothing felt fully natural yet.
Marcus glanced back over his shoulder. "Do you think Roberto’s on that level too?"
The question hung in the cold mountain air. "Possibly." That single word was enough to tighten the group. "If he is," Noel continued, "then there’s no more ti for personal preparation. This was the last step I needed."
Garron adjusted Noel’s weight on his shoulder. "So the final fight’s close."
"Yes. Very close. I’ll call everyone soon. We’ll gather all of them."
Laziel visibly did not like the way that sounded, his hand tightening slightly at his side. "That’s... comforting."
Noel glanced at him from where he was being carried. "It wasn’t ant to be."
Garron let out a short laugh through his nose, but the tension did not fully break.
Selene still said nothing. She kept watching Noel quietly, and the longer she watched the more certain she beca that there was sothing he was not saying. Not about Manacode itself. Sothing else. Sothing that had happened while he was unconscious. She could feel it in the small pauses before he answered, in the way his gaze occasionally drifted for half a second longer than it should have. But this was not the mont to press him. Not here, not with the others listening.
Eventually the path widened enough for the return point to co into view, the mountain platform waiting in silence beneath the darkening sky. No one stopped or lingered. The group moved straight toward it, and a short while later the mountains were finally behind them. When the transition completed, Valon welcod them back with warmth.
The difference hit imdiately. The cold pressure of the mountains vanished, replaced by steady air, polished floors, soft light, and the quiet sounds of a lived-in house. Sowhere farther inside the mansion cloth shifted, a door opened and closed softly, and one of the maids lowered her voice as she crossed the hall.
Garron put Noel down once they were properly inside, and Selene stepped close enough that if his knees decided to fail again she would be there before he hit the floor. Noel steadied himself without complaint.
"Thanks," he said to Garron, Marcus, Laziel, and Daemar.
They nodded, then left the mansion to continue their own preparations.
Noel turned his attention toward the main sitting room.
They were all there. Elena sat near the window with Nicolas in her arms, the boy half-asleep against her chest. Elyra rested on the longer sofa with Elyria wrapped carefully against her, one hand supporting the baby with the sa natural control she brought to everything else. Charlotte sat nearby with Cloe, the smallest of the three, her little face turned toward the warmth of her mother’s body.
Charlotte was the first to look up fully. "You’re back," she said softly.
"Yeah."
Elyra studied him in silence for a second longer than the others. "Did you succeeded?"
"I did."
That answer should have settled the room, but Selene had not stepped far from his side. She stood close, her expression calm on the surface but not calm enough to fool him. Ever since he woke in the basin she had been watching him too carefully, and Noel had noticed every mont of it. So before anyone else could ask the obvious next question, he spoke.
"I saw Noctis too."
The room stilled. Selene’s head turned toward him first, surprise breaking through her restraint almost instantly. Elena looked up from Nicolas. Charlotte straightened slightly with Cloe in her arms. Even Elyra’s gray eyes sharpened. "What?" Selene asked.
Noel lowered himself into the nearest chair with a quieter exhale than he intended. He was still tired, still adjusting, but this was not sothing he wanted to keep from them. "When I was unconscious, I wasn’t just out. I ended up sowhere else. A strange place. And Noctis was there."
Charlotte blinked once. "Noctis... the sa Noctis we t before?"
"Yes."
Selene remained looking at him without speaking, waiting for more. Noel’s expression softened slightly when he t her eyes. "I’m telling you because you’ve looked uneasy ever since I woke up. So relax. I’m fine."
The directness of that left Selene quiet for a mont before the tension in her shoulders eased. "Thank you," she said.
Noel gave a small nod and continued, keeping the explanation simple.That it was not a normal dream, that Noctis had been there, that they had spoken, and that the eting had felt final in a way he could not ignore. The three won listened without interrupting, each surprised in her own way. When he finished, the silence that followed was gentler than the one in the mountains.
"It was a good farewell," he said at last, his gaze drifting briefly toward the children before returning to the room. "I just hope I can keep the promise I made there."
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