Lucian woke to silence.
Not the heavy silence of wounds and exhaustion, but the kind that came after storms—the quiet that lingered when the world had already broken and was piecing itself back together.
His eyes opened slowly. The ceiling of his quarters was the same steel-gray, the hum of the Nova Sanctum steady in his bones. His body still ached, but it was no longer screaming. The potion had done its work. Bruises faded, bones knitted, blood dried on his skin.
For the first time in what felt like forever, he could breathe without fire in his lungs.
Then the system flared.
[Notification: Legacy Path Unlocked.]
Lucian pushed himself upright, heartbeat quickening. A new panel unfolded in front of him, its glow softer than the others—white edged with silver, stretching into lines that curled and looped like they went on forever.
He frowned, reading.
[The Legacy Path is your soul's true evolution line.]
