Chapter 74 – Echoes in the Blade
The dawn was silver-edged, casting long shadows across the Guardian Grounds.
Jean stood at the heart of the sparring circle, Luxclade gripped tight, aura flickering faintly. Across from her stood Silvia, blade drawn, her expression unreadable.
"You said the Second Spiral is about resilience," Jean said.
Silvia nodded. "It bends the force of despair back on itself. It isn't about winning—it's about enduring until your light breaks through."
The signal came in silence.
Silvia moved—a blur of controlled violence, her blade a storm of descending arcs. Jean activated the Spiral mid-strike, her body flowing like water, absorbing the force and spinning it outward in radiant bursts.
For a moment, she matched Silvia.
Then Silvia pushed harder.
Jean was flung back, crashing into a stone pillar. Her aura flared to absorb the impact—but not enough.
She gasped, blood on her lips.
Silvia didn't stop.
"You think the Bound God will hold back? That the Dragon Lord will pity your pain?" Her strikes rained down like judgment. "Get up!"
Jean forced herself up.
She spiraled again.
Once… twice… the air shimmered around her. She parried, not just blocking, but transforming each impact into a spinning tide that pushed Silvia back a single step.
It was enough.
Silvia halted. Lowered her sword.
"You're beginning to understand," she said.
Jean collapsed to her knees, sweat streaming down her face.
But she smiled.
---
That night, the dreams returned.
Only this time, Jean wasn't alone in the void.
She stood in the cathedral of chains again—but now the Bound God's head slowly turned. It had no eyes, but Jean felt its gaze.
And in that endless, echoing void, it spoke.
"Light bearer."
Its voice was not a sound, but a corruption. It burrowed into her mind, wrapped around her fear, twisted her doubts.
"You cannot bind me. You will become me."
Chains cracked.
Jean woke with a scream.
Whitney was already at her side.
"You saw it again?" he asked quietly.
Jean nodded, trembling.
"I need to master the Spiral," she whispered. "All of it. Before those chains fall."
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