The star-iron beneath Kaelen Vance’s right palm felt like greasy slate pulled from a stagnant winter ditch.
Crimson runes squirmed against his calluses, hissing like scalded worms as they fought his contact. They spat sparks of caustic Spirit Domain fire, trying to drill into his bone marrow.
Kaelen did not push back with force.
He merely settled his weight deeper into his crouch, letting his left shoulder drop into an easy slouch.
Inside his sea of consciousness, the translucent slate chimed with a steady, dry ring.
[The Fallow Slate] [Track 4: Dragon-Vein & Fortress Array Rewriting] [Burst Window: Minute 2 in Progress] [Active Multiplier: 18,010x] [Comprehension Influx: 18,010 Baseline Hours per Minute]
A torrent of pure spatial geometry poured through his meridians. After seventy-five days of total stillness, his mind absorbed the structural schematics like dry garden soil drinking an autumn shower.
Thirty feet below the observation crystal, Grand Chancellor Vaelen stood behind his obsidian console. The Chancellor’s aristocratic sneer twisted into a panicked grimace.
