At the final breath of dusk, Spire #2 sizzled—like a burning iron tree.
Purple sparks twisted in a tightening helix of black static at its base, coiling toward a singularity. A lightning egg.
> Internal Surge: +300 QP/min
The shell pulsed—dangerously close to rupture.
---
With the Memory-Sight, the scene unraveled: an elemental halo in blue, entwined with a chaotic purple ring.
Where the two halos met, a thin line shimmered—the maturity threshold.
When the egg's radius reached the metal root, the drake would be born.
---
He ringed the base with a miniature Grav-Seed, tuned for inverted pressure.
A temporary gravity insulation field activated.
> Energy Flow Reduction to Core: –15%
Countdown to collapse: 9 minutes
---
From his pouch, he retrieved the crystal of The Sprite's Laughter.
He fused it with a shard of heated emerald, once part of a Steam-Salamander's soul.
The emotional tone: pure delight—an irresistible flavor for lightning-born creatures.
Infused with 200 QP, the bait emitted a stream of green photons—twisting like laughter caught in light.
The air sweetened—a roasted resin scent.
---
With a reverse-weight Grav-Rush, he launched upward.
At the arc's peak, he clipped the crystal atop the lightning egg.
Then released a Pulse-Focus—a surgical vibration.
Crack.
White flash.
Three bolts.
Birth.
---
A line of light—spear-headed, 1.5 meters long. Its movement: twitching static.
It scanned the air for chaos—consumed 0.3%, 0.5%, 1.4% in seconds.
The Soul-Eye opened—markings along the drake's body glowed:
> Ancient lightning runes, each a memory of a thunderstrike.
The spire's history written in bolts.
---
He whispered into a Pulse-Thread—the story of saving the snail.
The thread kissed the drake's flank.
A pause.
The creature's electric spines shimmered… and shifted—to pale green.
> Link initiated.
Core-Bond Option: Inject 300 Emotional QP → Replace chaos root with Bolt-Drake Heart?
He confirmed.
---
A rogue spark cleaved the sky.
It struck the spire—raw lightning.
The drake flinched. It turned, drawn to the wild current.
Before it fled—
He activated Past-Trace on a scorched tile nearby.
A vision bloomed—
A memory: A crystal cultivator reduced to shards by untamed lightning.
The drake recoiled.
Returned to the green crystal. A tremble in its glow.
---
He coiled a Grav-Seed thread around the drake—forming a loop.
The energy flow reversed inward.
> Bolt-Drake Core ▸ STABLE (γ-grade)
Output: +8.5 QP/min
Chaos Drain: 0.3%/h
The spire pulsed—not with danger, but rhythm.
---
He sealed the cracks with liquid lightning resin.
The spire's integrity rose:
> Structure: 41% → 66%
Mistfall shifted—what was once chaotic rain turned into gray glow, drawn into the drake's mouth.
---
The link hummed.
For a moment, the Soul-Seed pulsed with pride—a rare electric emotion.
> Soul-Seed: 80% → 82%
Vision Drain stabilized: 0.3 QP/min
---
He sat beneath the spire.
The Bolt-Drake thumped in its socket, like a drum of lightning in a ribcage.
(⧼ Sky-Grid restored. Net energy flow: 40 QP/min. Chaos: 0.5% ⧽)
He closed the soul-eye to conserve power.
But even through the red of his eyelids—he saw it:
A distant shimmer to the south.
A memory-thread, glowing across the plains of Shining Bonefields.
He whispered:
> "The eye sees.
The foot will follow the light."