Sunlight spilled through the gaps in the heavy velvet curtains, casting a warm glow across the bedroom floor.
Neo slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the canopy above his bed, waiting for the familiar ache of morning fatigue to set in. It didn't come. His body felt impossibly light, thrumming with a quiet, boundless energy.
However, there was a very real, physical burden pressing down on him.
He tried to sit up, but a heavy weight pinned his left side to the mattress. For a split second, his mind flashed back to the dark bunker. His muscles tensed, ready to summon a telekinetic crush to snap an assassin's neck.
Then, he looked down.
A mop of spun-silver hair was sprawled across his chest.
Nora was sleeping next to him. She was clinging to him like a lifeline, her head resting squarely on his shoulder. Both of her arms were wrapped tightly around his torso in a fierce, protective grip. Her breathing was slow and even, her face completely relaxed.
Neo blinked, the tension draining out of his shoulders.
He had completely forgotten. Last night, after the healers finished fussing over him and Cassian finally stopped pacing, Neo had dragged himself to his room. He had been so thoroughly hollowed out by the adrenaline crash and the mental toll of the slaughter that he had passed out the second he hit the pillows. He hadn't even noticed her slip into the room.
Of course she had been worried. The entire estate had been in an uproar, and he had been caught right in the middle of it.
He relaxed his posture and gently patted her back.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind. What if she could feel it? The dark, ancient presence of the Nameless God resting inside him?
He dismissed the worry just as quickly. Supernatural powers were not made of mana. They didn't emit a magical signature that an Awakener could casually sense. They were divine blessings, conceptual fragments granted by the gods themselves. Unless Nora suddenly bypassed the laws of reality and ascended to the Primordial rank overnight, she couldn't see through it. To her, he just felt like Neo.
He did, however, have to actively manage his actual mana.
He was an Adept now. If he let his true core radiate freely, it would feel like a tidal wave compared to the puddle he was supposed to be.
Thankfully, breaking through to the Adept rank had fundamentally altered his control. Before, managing his massive capacity felt like trying to force multiple thick threads through a single hole of a needle. It required agonizing, microscopic focus just to keep the energy contained. But now, it felt as though the hole had been significantly enlarged. The threads passed through effortlessly. His mana flowed with a smooth, obedient calm.
Still, he had to play his part.
Every few minutes, Neo deliberately let a tiny, erratic wisp of his mana leak into the air. A low-rank Awakener with a massive capacity would naturally struggle with control. It was like trying to hold water in a leaky bucket. If he suddenly exhibited perfect, airtight efficiency, Cassian and Sylvia would immediately suspect something was wrong. The higher you ranked up, the sharper your control became. He had to fake the clumsiness of an Apprentice to keep his disguise intact.
His progression was an anomaly. In this world, breaking through ranks required both mana capacity and control efficiency, limited by an individual's innate talent. If a normal person possessed Neo's current mana reserves, they would easily be sitting at the peak of the Expert rank.
But Neo's core demanded a staggering amount of fuel. His capacity was so vast that pushing to the next tier required an ocean of energy. It slowed his ranking speed to a crawl compared to his actual volume.
It was a fair trade. He might only be an Early Adept on paper, but his foundation was monstrous. In his own rank, he was an immovable wall. He could easily crush any Adept in the Empire without breaking a sweat, provided they weren't a walking cheat code like Nora or the protagonist.
A soft groan interrupted his thoughts.
The silver hair on his chest shifted. Nora slowly opened her eyes. Her violet irises were hazy, clouded with sleep. She looked up at his face, staring blankly for two seconds.
Her grip on his waist tightened. Then, she simply closed her eyes and buried her face back into the crook of his neck, intending to go right back to sleep.
Neo let out a quiet snort. He reached down, patting the top of her head.
"Wake up, sleepyhead."
Nora grumbled. It was a sound highly uncharacteristic for the terrifying Calamity of the North. "No."
"My arm is going numb, Nora."
"Heal it."
"That's not how healing magic works."
"I'll buy you a new arm."
Neo chuckled, shaking his head.
"Get up. I need to make sure my siblings haven't driven my parents insane yet."
Nora let out a long, dramatic sigh. She didn't let go of his waist, but she shifted her weight enough for him to sit up. She looked at him, her eyes finally clearing. The hazy sleepiness vanished, replaced by her usual sharp, calculating stare.
Her gaze dropped to his chest, examining him for any hidden injuries the healers might have missed. Finding none, she looked back at his face.
"You didn't use the Communication artifact," she noted, her raspy voice quiet.
"I didn't have time," Neo lied smoothly. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "The door blew open and I panicked. I just shot a blast of mana at it and hoped for the best."
Nora sat up, her dark dress wrinkled from sleep. She didn't press the issue. She just watched him stand up and stretch.
"My father is angry," Nora stated.
"He yelled at the guards this morning. He said someone let the assassins inside."
Neo paused, his arms raised above his head. That made sense. The Draven estate was a fortress. Shadow-mages couldn't just walk through the perimeter wards unless someone had disabled them from the inside. There was a rat in the mansion.
'I'll have to hunt them down later,' Neo thought coldly.
"Father will find them," Neo said aloud, grabbing a clean tunic from his wardrobe.
"Come on. Let's go see the twins."
Nora slid off the bed. She didn't bother fixing her hair. She simply walked over to him, reached out, and grabbed the edge of his sleeve.
They walked down the quiet, sunlit corridors of the guest wing. The atmosphere in the estate was tense. Elite knights stood at every corner, their hands resting on the pommels of their swords. They offered crisp bows as Neo and Nora passed, their eyes darting nervously at the silver-haired girl holding his sleeve.
They reached the nursery. The heavy oak doors were guarded by four vanguard knights.
Neo pushed the door open.
The room was a mess of toys and blankets. Cassian was sitting on the floor, his massive frame hunched over as he built a tower out of enchanted wooden blocks. Caelum was sitting across from him, critically analyzing his father's architectural choices. Lyra was happily splashing her hands in a small floating basin of water Sylvia had conjured for her.
Sylvia sat on a rocking chair, looking exhausted but relieved.
The moment the door clicked, Lyra looked up. A massive, toothy grin spread across her face.
She abandoned her water basin, stood up on her wobbly legs, and ran toward the door.
"Neo!"
She crashed into his legs, wrapping her small arms around his waist.
Neo smiled, reaching down to scoop her up. With his new physical strength, lifting her felt completely effortless. He settled her on his hip.
Caelum looked over from the block tower. He saw Neo. He saw Nora standing right behind him.
The boy didn't cry. He didn't scream. He just stared at Neo for a long moment, remembering the terrifying blast of blue light that had destroyed the bunker door. Then, he picked up a wooden block and threw it at Cassian's tower, knocking the whole thing down.
"Hey," Cassian laughed, grabbing his son and tickling his sides.
"I spent ten minutes on that."
Sylvia stood up, walking over to Neo. She pulled him and Lyra into a tight hug. She looked over his shoulder at Nora.
"Thank you for staying with him, Nora," Sylvia smiled gently.
"I know loud noises upset you. Last night was very chaotic."
Nora simply nodded, her grip on Neo's sleeve remaining firm.
Neo patted his mother's back. The terrifying ordeal of the previous night was over. His family was safe. He had gained a power that defied the very laws of the world, and his annoying, clingy fiancée was currently using him as a walking space heater.
Things could have been worse.
'Now,' Neo thought, looking over his mother's shoulder at the guarded doorway.
'I just need to figure out how to eat a traitor.'