"Impossible."
Dominic took another step back, one hand rising slightly—as if putting distance between himself and what he was sensing might make it more believable.
"This doesn't make sense," he muttered. "It shouldn't be possible."
Kael didn't answer. He was still staring at Damien, brow furrowed, the lines around his eyes deeper now—not from age, but from calculation. Trying to fit this into any framework he knew. And failing.
Dominic turned to him. "Stabilizing a core in fifteen hours is already absurd. But this—"
He gestured toward Damien, toward the impossible truth humming beneath his skin.
"This is beyond that. His core isn't just aligned—it's full. It's circulating. It's flowing. That's not stabilization anymore."
Kael's voice was quiet. "It's cultivation."
Dominic nodded grimly. "Exactly."
Cultivation. The process after awakening. The real work.
