The group ventured deeper into the underground domain. With every step, the air grew heavier, charged with a palpable energy that thrummed against Gaël's skin like a silent threat.They halted before an arch etched with luminescent symbols, not a Lumen blessing, but an inverted seal, a barrier crafted to channel and shape the Umbra.
Valérian made a smooth gesture with his hand. The runes briefly glowed before melting into the shadows, opening a path into a vast circular chamber.
The Crucible.
At its center, a massive stone basin sank into the floor, its walls inlaid with black fragments that pulsed like beating hearts.
Brann let out an approving murmur. "So this is where you tame the Umbra…"
Valérian offered a faint smile, approached the basin, and stretched out his hand. An almost imperceptible ripple stirred the dark surface, and a vortex of shadows rose into the air, spiraling around his palm.
"Raw Umbra is a fickle, unstable material." His gaze slid toward Brann, sharp as a blade."You want me to shape this fragment? Then tell me… what's your intent?"
Brann fell silent, his steel eyes locked on the swirling maelstrom.
"A shield capable of absorbing the Lumen… and sending it back."
Maera, until now silent, arched an eyebrow, a glimmer of intrigue flickering in her amber eyes.
"Nothing less, huh?" A brief laugh escaped her lips, laced with mocking skepticism. "Not content to just counter the Lumen, are we? Draining the Umbra isn't enough, you want to forge a heresy. Ohohoh, I know some who won't like that one bit!"
But Valérian didn't laugh. His gaze lingered on Brann, weighing the full extent of his request.
"Absorbing the Lumen…" He tapped slowly on the armrest of his chair, thoughtful. "That goes beyond transgression. That's blasphemy."
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Gaël felt a chill crawl up his spine. He understood the opposition between Lumen and Umbra, but this… this was something else entirely. A shield capable of deflecting and absorbing the Lumen? It was a declaration of war in the eyes of the exalted of the Luminic Order.
Brann crossed his arms, unflinching.
"What else do you need?"
Valérian raised his eyebrows slightly, then, after a beat of silence, his eyes narrowed.
"The fragment you brought is an ideal counter to the Lumen, but an Umbra catalyst alone won't suffice. To absorb and reflect it, I need…" His gaze darkened."… its Lumen equivalent."
Brann said nothing. He simply slipped a hand into his coat and pulled out an object, tossing it casually toward Valérian.
The air quivered as it passed, slicing through the gloom like a streak of light. A bone. White, polished, etched with natural patterns and radiating a searing golden glow. As it landed in Valérian's palm, the shadows recoiled, as if the darkness itself refused to draw near. The heat from the fragment was soft yet commanding, a pure light, unmarred, violently contrasting with the pitch-black Umbra shard.
"A bone from a Radiant Beast…" Valérian murmured, a flicker of awe in his voice. "Yes… this will do perfectly."
Off to the side, Maera narrowed her eyes, a cold glint flashing in their depths.
"You killed a Radiant?" Brann barely lifted an eyebrow, his face unreadable. Not a word, just that half-smile of his, the one that hid far more than it revealed.
Valérian turned the bone between his fingers before pressing it lightly against the Umbra shard.
The reaction was immediate.
A surge of energy rippled through the chamber, a wave that rattled the lanterns and made the walls shudder. Lumen and Umbra, absolute opposites, struggling to repel and destroy each other at once. Gaël felt his breath catch in his throat. These two materials should never coexist, not without tearing the world around them apart. And yet, under the deft fingers of the Umbromancer, they were about to be fused.
"Will it be enough?" Brann asked.Valérian offered an enigmatic smile.
"Enough?" He raised both fragments above the Crucible, pure and dark energies swirling between his hands like two beasts ready to strike. "Brann… what we're about to forge…" A flash of satisfaction lit his eyes. "… will be a true masterpiece."
The Crucible groaned, trembling beneath the assault of the clashing forces. The Umbra seethed, thick as a sea of ink, pulsing with a hungry rhythm, while the golden light of the bone throbbed, not gentle, but wild, almost ravenous, clawing at every tendril of shadow that dared curl around it.
Gaël felt an immense pressure settle on his skull, a dull pounding behind his temples. What he was witnessing… should not be. Two opposing essences, forged to annihilate one another, now forced to coexist in a dance against nature.
Valérian stepped back and raised his hands toward the Crucible. His fingers lifted, precise, elegant, and from their tips emerged strands of darkness, thin as hair, hissing as they dove into the Crucible.
"You should leave."
His voice cracked like a whip, cold and sharp as a sentence passed, and the very air seemed to tighten around him. There was no room for discussion.
Brann didn't flinch. He pivoted without a backward glance, his coat brushing against his boots as he strode firmly toward the exit. Gaël, on the other hand, stood frozen.
He no longer saw Valérian. He saw an impossibility in motion, the Umbra screaming in silence, the Lumen blazing in blinding brilliance. And at the center of it all, this man, calm as a sculptor before chaos.
The shadows, like puppets without strings, swirled around Valérian, mirroring his gestures, bending to his invisible will. The room thrummed with a low rumble, a vast respiration that echoed inside Gaël's chest, choking his own breath.
It wasn't until a strange wave rolled over him, a caress of warmth on his skin, followed instantly by a chill biting deep into his bones, that he understood. The danger was no longer coming. It was already here.
A harsh jolt snapped Gaël back to himself.
He spun on his heel, hurried to catch up with Brann, and crossed the stone threshold without daring a final glance.Behind them, the murmur became a roar.