By sunrise, Alder's backlash had cleared from the upper palace while Vella remained in the lower archive with the senior keeper and the expedition gathered at the last route door beneath the council branches.
Didi stood beside the sealed stone with five Shards above her shoulders, her glove torn across the palm while three unused points waited behind the Brand.
Aria raised the allocation notice near her wrist, keeping the unused points visible beside Didi's injury.
[Unassigned stat points available, three]
Hajin watched the dim Shards and said, "Will assigning them restore what the backlash took, or will the damage remain beneath the reward?"
"The points are separate from blood and mana, so the Brand can grow while the damage stays where I earned it," Didi replied.
Eirwen touched the edge of Didi's torn glove and said, "Assign them to what the next road requires, and do not spend them on the hope that pain should disappear."
