Six months have passed since Noctis' departure, and tensions in Flame's Crest are growing. News from the border is not encouraging; the conflict with the Shadow Viper Sect is heating up, and several Burning Sky Sect cultivators have fallen in ambushes.
Lumina, now a respected formation consultant, has been given the important task of strengthening the city's early warning system. This formation must be able to detect enemy cultivators from a distance before they reach the city walls.
One afternoon, Lux watches his mother from the corner of his study. Lumina stands in front of a large energy map that projects the entire city, her face looking tired and frustrated.
"It's not working," she muttered, staring at the points of light representing the formation nodes. "There's always a gap in the northwest sector."
Lux quietly activated his Möbius perception. He saw a complex network of coefficients stretching across the city, like a giant energy spider web. Most of the formation had coefficients around 0.99900-0.99920, stable and strong.
But in the northwest sector, just as his mother had said, there was a small but critical flaw. The coefficient was only 0.99910 low enough to allow infiltration by a high-level cultivator.
"Don't even think about it, worm," Mobius warned, as if reading Lux's intentions.
"But it's just a small distortion," Lux protested in his mind. "I just need to increase the coefficient slightly, from 0.99910 to 0.99915. Only 0.00005!"
"You don't understand the complexity of large-scale formations! It's not like distorting a cup of water! Every node is connected to hundreds of other nodes. Changing one point will affect the entire system!"
But Lux saw his mother growing increasingly frustrated. Lumina had spent three days trying to fix the gap without success. Her eyes were glassy, her hands trembling from exhaustion—this was the first time Lux had seen his mother so desperate.
"Mom..." Lux said, approaching her. "Are you okay?"
Lumina tried to smile, but it was forced. "I'm fine, dear. Just... a little tired."
She stroked Lux's head before returning to her work. Lux watched as his mother's Soul Pillar worked too hard, trying to sense every energy fluctuation in the vast formation.
"She'll destroy herself if she keeps this up," Lux muttered.
"It's none of your business! Let the worms handle worm problems!"
But Lux's heart was unsettled. He remembered his promise to his father to take care of his mother. He remembered how his mother had always been there for him, caring for him patiently even when she was tired.
When Lumina went to the kitchen to get tea, Lux saw his chance. He approached the energy map projection, his eyes fixed on the problematic node in the northwest sector.
Coefficient: 0.99910
It only needed a small distortion. Very small. He had been practicing for months, mastering controlled distortion on small objects. This wouldn't be much different.
"WORM, DON'T!" Mobius shouted, his voice more panicked than usual. "The formation is too complex for your current level! You don't understand the consequences!"
"But I can fix it," Lux replied stubbornly. "I just need to increase it a little..."
He concentrated, visualizing the Möbius Gauge. The glitch needle moved along the paradoxical surface, measuring the node coefficient.
0.99910... 0.99911... 0.99912...
The energy in his body began to drain, faster than he had expected. The city formation required far more power than the small objects he usually trained with.
"STOP! You current self won't be able to withstand the backlash!"
But Lux had gone too far. He saw the node begin to glow brighter in his perception, its coefficient rising slowly.
0.99913... 0.99914... 0.99915!
For a moment, everything seemed to be working. The node that had been dim was now shining brightly, matching the other nodes in the network.
Lux smiled, feeling satisfied. He had helped his mother!
But then...
BRRRZZZZT!
A low rumbling sound echoed throughout the house. The energy map in front of Lux suddenly flickered wildly, its colors changing from a stable blue to a fiery red.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Lumina shouted from the kitchen, running back into the room.
Before Lux could react, an invisible wave of energy burst from the map, hitting her and her mother. Lumina was thrown backward, slamming into the wall with a thud.
"MOM!" Lux screamed.
But that was only the beginning. Outside the window, formation alarms sounded in three neighboring houses, even though no threat was detected. Energy lights flashed uncontrollably along the city walls, causing the residents to panic.
"Idiot! I warned you!" Mobius scolded, his voice full of anger and... fear?
Lux ran to his mother's side as she lay on the floor. "Mom! Mom, I'm sorry!"
Lumina slowly opened her eyes, rubbing her aching head. "What... what happened?"
"He senses it," Mobius whispered in Lux's mind. "Elder Feng... he senses the disturbance from the sect headquarters."
Lux felt his chest tighten. He just wanted to help, but instead he made everything worse.
A few minutes later, the guard cultivator rushed into their house. "Lady Lumina! There's a strange disturbance in the city formation! Elder Feng has ordered a lockdown!"
Lumina stood unsteadily, still dizzy. "I... I don't know what happened. The formation suddenly became unstable."
She looked at Lux, who was pale and frightened, then hugged him tightly. "Don't be afraid, dear. Mother is fine."
But Lux knew this was no coincidence. And from the expressions of the cultivators who had arrived, she knew this was serious.
"They'll investigate," said Mobius, his voice low and dangerous. "And if they find you... you know what will happen."
Lux shivered, realizing how foolish she had been. Her power wasn't a toy; it was a double-edged sword that could destroy her and everything she loved.
From afar, he heard more alarms sounding as the sect's emergency response team arrived. The energy lights still flickered erratically in the night sky, a stark reminder of his mistake.
He saw his mother's confused and worried face, and for the first time, Lux truly understood the meaning of Mobius' warning.
The world wasn't ready for his power. And he wasn't ready for the world.
The chaos that unfolded that night left a deep scar on the entire Flame's Crest. Within an hour of the incident, an investigation team from the Burning Sky Sect arrived at the Noctis family home. Lux watched with a piercing sense of guilt as experienced cultivators examined every corner of their house.
Elder Feng himself led the investigation. His face was creased with worry as he stood in front of the energy map that was still flickering erratically.
"This was not an attack from outside," he muttered, his hands covered in subtle energy tracing the air around the map projection. "The energy... is strange. It's as if someone tried to manipulate the formation from within."
Lumina, who was still a little dizzy, stood protectively beside Lux. "I was trying to repair the breach in the northwest sector when suddenly everything went haywire."
"She's protecting you," Mobius whispered in Lux's mind. "But it won't last long once they start investigating deeper."
Lux bit her lip, trying to hold back tears. She wanted to admit her mistake, but the fear of the consequences kept her silent.
The investigation team worked through the night. Lux watched as they used techniques he had never seen before: scrying crystals that could record energy traces, spiritual dust that revealed Qi flows, even a spirit bird that could detect disturbances in space.
"Primitive, but effective for their level," Mobius commented dismissively, though Lux could sense the tension in his voice.
As dawn broke, Elder Feng announced their preliminary findings. "It wasn't an enemy attack. It seems there was... spontaneous energy instability within the formation. Like interference waves whose source we couldn't trace."
But Lux knew that wasn't the whole truth. He could see how Elder Feng's eyes occasionally looked at him with a questioning gaze.
The next day, the consequences became apparent. The number of cultivator patrols around their house tripled. Everyone who entered and left their house was carefully recorded. Even the neighbors began to keep their distance, looking at the Noctis family with suspicion.
Lumina, feeling responsible for the incident, worked tirelessly to repair the damage. She spent the following days at the city command center, overseeing the repair of the damaged formation.
"Lockdown mode active," Mobius declared the night after the incident. "No distortions, no experiments, no use of my powers whatsoever until I say it's safe."
"But"
"NO 'BUT'! You nearly destroyed everything because of your impatience! Now they know something unusual is happening. They may not have found you, but they KNOW."
Lux had never heard Mobius so angry and... afraid? The arrogant entity was genuinely worried, and Lux sometimes wondered what this proud Mobius was so worried about.
In the days that followed, Lux fully realized the consequences of his actions. Every time he saw his mother come home with a tired face, every time he heard the cultivators whispering about the "strange incident," every time he saw Elder Feng's questioning gaze, it was all the result of his careless decision.
"I just wanted to help," Lux muttered one night, staring at the sky from his bedroom window.
"Good intentions don't change bad outcomes, worm," Mobius replied, his tone softening slightly. "You must understand that our powers are not toys. They are abilities that can change reality itself. And every change, no matter how small, has consequences."
Lux began to understand this valuable lesson in the most painful way. He learned that:
1. Every Action Has Consequences: The small distortion he thought was harmless triggered an almost uncontrollable chain reaction.
2. Power Requires Wisdom: Having the ability did not mean he had to use it. Sometimes, not acting was the wiser choice.
3. The World Wasn't Ready for His Power: Even high-level cultivators he had seen, such as Elder Feng, didn't understand what was really happening.
However, behind all this chaos, there was a valuable lesson for Lux. While the investigation team was working, he carefully observed how they detected and analyzed energy.
He learned about:
· Energy Traces, Every manipulation of energy leaves a "fingerprint" that can be traced.
· Interference Patterns, Disturbances in formations follow specific patterns that can be analyzed.
· Masking Techniques, How high-level cultivators hide their energy traces.
"At least you learned something useful from this chaos, little worm," Mobius commented as Lux recorded his observations.
"How do they detect us?" Lux asked.
"They don't detect 'us'. They detect 'disturbances'. There's a big difference. They know something unusual is happening, but they don't know what or who."
Mobius explained that cultivators in this world understand energy through their limited framework of knowledge. They can sense when something is wrong, but without an understanding of Distortion, they cannot truly comprehend what is happening.
"It's like... they can feel the symptoms, but they don't understand the disease," Lux analogized.
"An apt metaphor for little worms," Moebius agreed. "They know there's a fever, but they don't know what caused it."
This knowledge gave Lux a little comfort, but it also made him even more vigilant. If high-level cultivators like Elder Feng could sense even the slightest disturbance, then he had to be even more careful.
Two weeks after the incident, life began to return to normal. The city formation had been repaired, patrols reduced, and Lumina returned to her routine. But something had changed forever.
Lux no longer saw his power as a pleasant gift, but as a terrifying responsibility. Every time he considered using distortion, he remembered the rumbling sound of the chaotic formation and his mother's face being thrown backward.
"Don't let fear control you, worm," Mobius advised. "But don't be reckless either. What you need is balance."
"What balance? I almost killed my mother and exposed my secret to the entire sect!"
"You're exaggerating. What happened was a minor accident that attracted unwanted attention. But yes, the point is correct you have to be more careful." Mobius grumbled.
That night, Lux made an important decision. He would continue training, but with a completely different approach. It was no longer about how much distortion he could create, but how subtly he could do it without being detected.
He looked into the mirror, staring into his silver-gray eyes, now filled with premature maturity. This six-year-old had learned a lesson usually understood only by experienced cultivators:
True power isn't about what you can do, but about when you choose not to do it.
And for Lux Noctis, that lesson had been learned at a price almost too high.
Two months had passed since the formation incident, and the atmosphere in the Noctis family home slowly began to return to normal. However, for Lux, now 5 years old, this new "normal" was very different from before.
One morning, Mobius initiated a conversation in an unusually serious and measured tone.
"It's time we re-evaluate your training approach, worm. The last incident proved one thing you are not ready for the power you possess," Mobius said.
Lux nodded bitterly. "I know, I almost endangered Mother and exposed our secret."
"Worse than that," Mobius said. "You almost revealed my existence to a world that isn't ready. But instead of dwelling on mistakes, we will learn from them."
Mobius then introduced a new training philosophy "precision over power."
"From now on, we will not measure success by how much you can distort reality, but by how subtly you can do it undetected."
New Target Distortion ≤0.00005 - a change almost undetectable even by high-level cultivators.
Timeframe: One year to master basic control.
Methodology: Focus on micro-distortions that do not affect the larger system.
Lux realized this was a much wiser approach. Instead of trying to become strong quickly, he would build a solid foundation.
The first change came in their daily routine. Mobius designed a series of new exercises that emphasized precision:
1. Micro-Distortion: Changing only one property of an object - such as making a strand of hair slightly stiffer without changing its other properties.
2. Temporal Control: Maintaining a distortion for a specified period exactly ten seconds, no less, no more.
3. Energy Masking: Learning to hide the "trace" of a distortion so it goes undetected.
"You will train like a craftsman sharpening his tools, not like a barbarian swinging a sledgehammer," Mobius said.
The first exercises with this new methodology frustrated Lux. It required much higher concentration to make small, controlled changes than wild, large ones.
"Harder than I thought," Lux complained after failing for the umpteenth time.
"Of course. Controlling fire is harder than letting it rage. But the results are far more useful."
That night, something unexpected happened—Noctis returned early from his mission.
"FATHER!" Lux cried when he saw the familiar figure standing at the door.
Noctis looked thinner and older than Lux remembered, but his smile was still as warm. He lifted Lux high before hugging Lumina tightly.
"I heard about the formation incident," Noctis said, his face creased with worry. "I begged my superiors to let me come home early."
Lumina shook her head, her eyes welling up. "You shouldn't take such risks. Your duty at the border"
"Not more important than you two," Noctis interrupted. "The world is getting more dangerous. We must be more vigilant."
From his father's embrace, Lux thought, "They don't know that the greatest danger is within their own home."
That night, their family gathered for the first dinner in six months. The atmosphere was warm, full of laughter and stories. Noctis recounted his experiences at the border about ambushes by the Shadow Viper Sect, about small skirmishes, about how he and his team managed to protect resource caravans.
But Lux noticed things his father didn't mention small wounds on his hands that he hid, the way his eyes occasionally stared blankly, and how he often checked the window reflectively.
"He's seen death, worm," Mobius commented. "It changes a cultivator."
As Lux lay in bed that night, listening to his parents talk in the next room, he made a promise to himself. He would master his power, not to be the strongest, but to protect those he loved.
The next day, Elder Feng visited them to discuss the final report of the formation incident investigation.
"We never found the exact cause of the disturbance," Elder Feng admitted. "But we detected a strange energy signature unlike normal cultivator energy."
Noctis frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It means there's a possibility this is related to... other phenomena." Elder Feng cast a meaningful glance at Lux. "Some senior elders believe this might be connected to the gray meteor incident that occurred several years ago."
Lux tried to keep his expression neutral, but in his heart, there was turmoil. "They're linking it to the meteor!"
"Calm down, worm," Mobius said. "They're just guessing. No one knows the truth."
Elder Feng continued, "We will increase monitoring for strange energy activity. And... we've decided to start the annual talent test earlier for children who show unusual talent."
Lumina looked at Lux with concern. "How early?"
"We'll start next year. For children aged six and above who meet certain criteria." Elder Feng's eyes fixed on Lux. "Your son might be invited."
After Elder Feng left, tension filled the room.
"This is a consequence of your actions," Mobius said. "But it can also be an opportunity."
"An opportunity?" Lux thought to himself.
"They will consider your talent as something natural perhaps an inheritance from the meteor. That will explain your oddities without suspecting me."
In the following weeks, Lux adopted a new approach to his training. He learned humility accepting that it would take years to truly master his power. And he learned patience understanding that consistent small progress was more valuable than dangerous big leaps.
One afternoon, as Lux practiced micro-distortion on a leaf, he managed to maintain a coefficient change of 0.00001 for exactly ten seconds without any detectable energy trace.
"Adequate," Mobius commented. "For a worm."
But Lux could hear a satisfied tone in Mobius's voice. For the first time, he felt that he and Mobius were truly working together as partners, not as master and servant.
He looked to the horizon, to the Burning Sky Sect tower. The talent test would come in a year. His father faced danger at the border. His mother worked tirelessly to protect the city.
And he... he would continue to train. Patiently. Carefully. Responsibly.
Because one day, when the time came, he wanted to be able to stand with his parents not as a burden, but as a pillar of support. Not as a child who needed protection, but as a cultivator who could protect.
With Mobius as his mentor and the lessons from past mistakes as his guide, Lux Noctis was ready for the next chapter in his journey.
The world might not be ready for his power. But he would make sure that when the time came, he was ready for the world.