The Great Integration was not an event that ended with a signature or a ceremony; it was a living, breathing process that required constant tending. While Lorenzo and Sindy remained the symbolic anchors of this new world from their Spire, it was the Wayfarers—led by Valerius and Sera—who ventured into the "Static Zones." These were the forgotten reaches of the map where the Violet Pulse grew thin, where the echoes of the Old World's hatreds were whispered by the wind in rusted canyons and hollowed-out forests.
Ouroboros had been a triumph of mechanics and spirit, but the world was vast, and not every conflict could be solved by powering an engine.
Valerius adjusted the straps of his leather rucksack, the weight of alchemical vials clinking rhythmically against his side. Beside him, Sera
