Only one more round of charging remained before the Covenant of Pathless Sovereignty would hold enough reserve for a direct leap to the West Continent.
Which meant Lucien had only one more day left in the Liberators' branch.
The mood across the hidden base had shifted.
It was subtle at first.
Training still continued. Patrols still moved. Research still progressed. But beneath all that motion, there was an awareness hanging in the air, a quiet reluctance that no one spoke of too loudly.
They knew he would be leaving soon.
Some were sad. Some looked oddly lost. Some wanted to convince him to stay.
None of them tried.
They knew better.
Lucien did not belong to places that could keep him by asking.
And right now, he was inside his divine energy core.
•••
Marina had settled in more smoothly than he expected.
Not socially.
That would have been a miracle.
But functionally.
