The bottom dropped out of Lukas's chest.
Not gradually — suddenly, with the specific, wrenching quality of hope that has been climbing steadily and has just had its footing pulled out from under it. The empty pages sat in his hands with the particular cruelty of something that had shown him exactly enough to understand what was missing and nothing more.
If there was no technique — if the book was hollow past its opening — then he had navigated a sealed ancient chamber, fought a Legendary grade lightning serpent, endured temperatures that had been turning bone to powder, and resisted killing intent old enough to have no name attached to it, all for a fragment of something that couldn't be used.
The thought lasted approximately three seconds before he shook his head and cut it off at the root.
No. This is not possible.
