breaths came shallow and measured, each inhalation a reminder of the bound figure he had left behind. Memories not his own clung to him like smoke, sparks of lives erased and timelines abandoned forcing themselves into his thoughts, refusing to loosen their hold. His steps slowed, dragging slightly over the cracked stones of the courtyard, and Kael walked beside him without comment, attuned to the quiet gravity of his companion’s presence.
They passed through the old western wing of the academy, a corridor long locked away after the first arc had ended. Students whispered tales of collapsed walls and ruined classrooms, of a wing destroyed during sieges, though the System claimed it had been sealed for security. Lucien knew the truth now. The halls weren’t broken, just hidden, folded into
