The pressure felt like a heavy weight on Jonah's shoulders. The Headmaster's orders, Ariana's warnings, the Bureau's hidden threats, the decaying serum's dark secret. All of it swirled in his mind like a wild storm.
He needed to focus. His semi-final match against Draven was the next day, and beyond that, a potential final against Ariana. But every time he tried to strategize, his thoughts would drift back to the swirling, galactic essence of the Broodmother, to the dying hope of his entire nation.
He went to his workshop. He needed to touch that power again, to find the hope within the Broodmother's sadness, and remember his true goal.
He sat cross-legged on the floor, the door sealed by Vanessa's complex runic wards. He closed his eyes and sank deep into his Beast Space, past the sleeping forms of his Progeny, until he was face-to-face with the swirling nebula of the Alpha Broodmother Essence.
