The lake lay quiet beneath the dwarven sky.
Its surface was smooth as polished glass, reflecting the copper glow of distant forge-smoke drifting lazily across the horizon. Stone reeds lined the water’s edge—mineral growths shaped by centuries of mana saturation—while faint warmth radiated up from the ground, keeping the air comfortable despite the mountain chill.
Luca walked slowly along the shoreline.
Not training.
Not thinking too hard.
Just... waiting.
His footsteps were asured, unhurried, crutches no longer in his hands. The black bracelet rested against his wrist, dormant and silent. Every few steps, he glanced at the lake as if expecting the water itself to speak back.
Then—
Footsteps.
Not heavy.
Not hurried.
Luca stopped and turned.
She stood a short distance away.
White hair caught the light like fresh snow, loose strands stirring in the warm breeze. Dark violet eyes watched him calmly, unreadable as ever. Her posture was composed—no tension, no hesitation—but there was a quiet alertness in the way she stood.
"You wanted to et," Selena said.
Not a question.
Luca smiled faintly and nodded, then gestured toward the path along the lake.
"Walk with ?"
She hesitated only a fraction of a second before falling into step beside him.
For a while, neither spoke.
The sound of water lapping softly against stone filled the silence, along with the distant hum of dwarven industry far beyond the hills.
"It’s quieter here," Luca said eventually, glancing at the lake. "Compared to the forge zones, I an."
Selena followed his gaze. "Dwarves don’t build near lakes unless they have to. Too reflective. Mana behaves... strangely."
"Figures," Luca said lightly. "I just thought it was peaceful."
She nodded. "It is."
Another stretch of silence.
Luca scratched the back of his neck. "...Weather’s been stable too. No sudden mana pressure shifts."
Selena slowed her step and looked at him sideways.
"You’re bad at small talk," she said flatly.
He winced. "That obvious?"
"If you wanted to talk about the weather," Selena replied, "you wouldn’t have chosen a lake."
Luca sighed, shoulders dropping slightly. "Yeah. Fair."
They walked a few more steps before he stopped altogether.
"Selena," he said.
She stopped too, turning to face him fully.
"If there’s sothing you want to say," she said calmly, "say it."
Luca took a breath.
"What have you decided?" he asked. "About what you want to do now."
Selena’s eyes narrowed just a little—not in suspicion, but confusion.
"...What do you an?"
He t her gaze steadily.
"After the mana disassociation," Luca continued, voice even, careful. "How much of your power can you actually use now?"
Understanding flickered across her face.
Slowly, Selena raised her hand.
Mana gathered at her fingertips—hesitant, restrained. A faint crackle of lightning sparked into existence, thin and unstable, dancing between her fingers for barely a second before dispersing into the air.
Gone.
She lowered her hand.
"...That’s about it," she said quietly.
Luca nodded once. "I figured."
He didn’t sound disappointed.
Just confirming.
"I wanted to be sure," he said. "Because this journey won’t slow down. There’ll be danger. Movent. Uncertainty. And I am not sure when you will fully recover."
He hesitated for a heartbeat.
"I just want to know what you want," Luca finished. "Do you want to continue traveling with us... or—"
"—or take ti to recuperate and go back to mage tower," Selena said, completing the thought.
He nodded. "Yeah."
Selena looked away.
The lake reflected her silhouette as she stared at the water, her expression unreadable. For a long mont, she said nothing.
Then—
"...I’m sorry," she said softly.
Luca frowned. "For what?"
"For causing you trouble," Selena replied. "If my presence is a burden, I—"
"What are you saying?"
The words ca out sharper than Luca intended.
He stepped closer, brows drawn tight.
"That’s not what this is about," he said firmly. "Not even close. I’m not asking because you’re a burden or because you’re weak or any of that crap."
Selena turned back to him, startled.
"I just want you to choose for yourself," Luca said. "Not because you think you owe us sothing. Not because you’re afraid of being left behind."
He exhaled slowly, steadying himself.
"Do whatever you wish," he said. "That’s all I’m asking. You are not a tool selena, you are our friend and companion with whom we have faced many difficult situations."
Selena studied him.
Really studied him.
Then she looked down again—this ti, not in sha, but thought.
"...If that’s the case," she said quietly, "then I would like to continue traveling with you."
Luca’s shoulders relaxed.
He nodded. "Alright."
Selena took a step back, preparing to leave—but—
"Selena."
She paused.
Luca looked at her seriously now.
"Never think you’re a burden to anyone," he said. "Not to ."
He held her gaze.
"And I’m not just talking about myself."
Sothing flickered in her eyes—surprise, perhaps. Or sothing closer to relief.
She didn’t reply.
She just nodded once.
Then turned and walked away, her footsteps soft against the stone path.
Luca stayed where he was, watching until her white hair disappeared beyond the curve of the lake.
Only then did he turn back toward the water.
The lake remained calm.
Unmoved.
But sohow, lighter than before.
***
The new dawn broke quietly over the dwarven territories.
Warm light filtered through narrow stone apertures, slipping into the bath chamber in pale ribbons. Steam clung to the air, drifting lazily upward as water slid down Luca’s body, tracing old scars and newly healed skin alike. The sound of it—steady, unhurried—filled the space.
Luca stood beneath the flow, unmoving.
His eyes were unfocused.
"...So much has happened," he murmured, breath leaving him slowly.
The journey replayed itself without asking permission.
Kyle—standing in the trial grounds, battered and exhausted, yet refusing to fall. The stubborn set of his jaw. The way he kept getting up even when logic said he shouldn’t. Grit. Determination. A resolve Luca had expected—and had co to trust.
Then Aurelia.
The mory tightened sothing in his chest.
Infernal tamorphosis.
Fire not rely endured—but accepted. Her scream swallowed by fla, her body rewritten rather than broken. Rebirth. The best possible vessel for fire. The way she’d stood afterward, shaken but unbowed. As she stood with him inside the arena, looking at the whole world.
The water kept falling.
Selena.
Just the na pulled his thoughts inward.
Her father.
Mana Dissociation.
The helplessness in her eyes when power slipped through her fingers like sand. The weight she carried without complaint. The storm of thunder and ice that he had to go through, just to reach her. And his master—arriving like a storm, nearly tearing the dwarven halls apart, war almost igniting between races because of one unknown na and one stubborn girl.
Luca exhaled.
The water cut off.
Silence rushed in.
He stepped out, droplets trailing down his back as he reached into his storage ring and pulled out simple traveling clothes. As he dressed, his thoughts continued—layering one atop another.
Lilliane.
Quiet. Still. Hollow in a way that hurt to look at.
Trauma that hadn’t healed just because danger passed. Wounds that didn’t bleed but refused to close. She was still fighting sothing no one else could see. If she would recover or not still yet unknown, facing her demons unknown to the world alone.
Sylthara.
Defeating Elder Thrain’s trial.
Not just strength—but survival. Instinct sharpened by loss. She was no longer just a companion. She was a variable. One that bent outcos in ways Luca hadn’t yet fully grasped. The World tree alive within her, how it will bend the future nobody knows.
His hands paused briefly at the black bracelet on his wrist.
Then ca his own trial.
The Crucible.
The Thousand Hamr Trial.
His body shattered and reforged countless tis. The vision he saw that he still can’t make sense of. Space yielding. A new temporal authority awakening under unbearable pressure.
His master abducted, as Luca fulfilled his promise of her trust.
And now this armor.
Compressed. Enduring. Waiting.
Luca finished dressing and stepped out into the corridor, the morning air cool against his skin. He walked down the steps slowly taking in the hot air and sll of iron. The dwarven road ahead stretched wide and open, bathed in early light.
His friends were already there.
Kyle leaning casually, pretending not to watch the path too closely. Aurelia standing straight, fire steady within her and a spear in her hand. Selena quiet, composed. Sylthara alert, golden eyes scanning instinctively as her ears continued to flicker. Lilliane there too—still fragile, but present.
Luca’s gaze flicked to the side.
A dwarf stood apart from them.
Arms crossed. Expression unreadable. Presence like a mountain that had decided to walk.
...And how could I forget about him.
Durgan Blackvein.
Luca stepped forward.
For a mont, he simply looked at all of them—this strange, fractured, impossible group brought together by trials, blood, fire, and stubborn refusal to break.
Then he smiled.
"Let’s go."
And with the rising sun at their backs, they moved forward.
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