The Pyre Wyrm's Heart Core glowed on the apartment table, casting warm orange-gold light across the room.
Nathan sat before it, the curtains drawn against the morning light, watching the pulse ripple through the crystalline surface. The core was warm, as if the Wyrm's heart had never quite stopped beating. Lucy was at school. The apartment was quiet.
Mirko and Kuro were in their small forms on the bed, watching him. They'd been watching for the past ten minutes.
'You've been staring at it for a while,' Mirko observed. 'Are you expecting it to do something?'
"I'm expecting me to do something." Nathan opened the Bunny Girl System interface. "System. Can the Pyre Wyrm's Heart Core substitute for the Dragon's Heart Core as the catalyst item for the third summon?"
The response was immediate and clinical.
