Cassian passed the paper over.Lucian took it, his False Sight instantly mapping the lines of the parchment. It was a regional map, marked with four highlighted locations."You told me you were searching for the Night-Suns," Cassian said plainly.Lucian kept his expression neutral, though he was inwardly surprised. He had casually fished for information from Cassian a few weeks back, claiming he had business with the shadow clan, but he had never expected the Third Prince to actually deliver a map."The Night-Suns aren't easy to track. They shift coordinates frequently, and their primary headquarters remain completely hidden," Cassian explained. "But those four highlighted sectors are places where I've personally crossed paths with them, or heard distinct rumors of their gatherings.""What exactly will I find there?" Lucian asked."Mostly initiation sites and recruitment cells. They have no true strategic purpose," Cassian said. "That is the extent of the assistance I can offer."Luci

Lucian remained suspended within the endless blue abyss of Claire's Projection.Opposite him, Claire's figure began to slowly drift upward, defying gravity."The fundamental difference between seeing and Projection is simple," she explained, her voice echoing perfectly through the void. "Seeing allows you to perceive the world, to notice every hidden detail, every subtle shift in the environment."'True enough,' Lucian noted internally, keeping his guard up."But Projection? Projection is about creating your own world," Claire continued, a spark of genuine passion in her tone. "It is about bringing whatever you envision to life. That is precisely why I love it.""Why are you explaining this to me mid-fight?" Lucian asked, his curiosity piqued despite the danger.Claire ignored the question entirely, offering a mysterious smile instead. "Where exactly do you think you are standing right now?"Lucian swept his gaze across the infinite blue. 'Where am I, really?'He turned his blindfold

Four days remained before Lucian and Isabel were scheduled to depart for the Wilderness. The Dead Valley.Garrett had spent the entire morning drilling Lucian on everything he needed to know about surviving in the wilderness .The lectures had been going on for hours. Garrett stood beside a large, dark chalkboard covered in messy sketches of terrain, monster weaknesses, and scribbles while Lucian sat at a small wooden desk, his pen scratching against a notebook as he jotted down key points.'The Wilderness is way more complicated than I thought,' Lucian reasoned to himself, flipping a page. 'There's a lot to take in.'According to Garrett's notes, the Wilderness wasn't just a random, dense forest overrun by monsters. It was entirely bound by an ancient, structural barrier. A seal designed to ensure that absolutely nothing inside could ever cross into the empire.Lucian lifted his head from his notebook, tracking Garrett's movements. "So, what you're saying is... once I cross through t

The carriage wheels crunched against the dry earth, rolling slowly past a wooden signboard.'Trench Town.'The town was dusty. The wooden buildings and the uneven road looked old.The carriage slowed to a halt outside a rundown, windowless bar.Through the glass, Cassian kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead.The other carriage, the one that had sped past them earlier was still moving, its image shrinking into the smog without any sign of stopping.'That carriage had my family crest,' Cassian thought, his eyes narrowing.'Could it have been one of my brothers? And what business could they have in this place?'He let the thought stay in his mind. Then—"We've arrived, Master," Griess said.The carriage door swung open.Cassian stepped out, his boots hitting the dirt. His long silver hair swept down his back, resting against a pristine, short white cloak lined with gold and blue imprints.Against the filth of the town, he looked entirely out of place.Griess shut the door behind them. "

The carriage rattled heavily on the uneven road to the Dead Valley. It was a two-day journey from the Starlight Castle, pushing them straight toward the rough borders of the Imperial Kingdom to a lawless, untamed belt of land sitting between the empire and the White Rose Kingdom. Lucian leaned against the window frame, staring at the passing trees. He was practically filled with anticipation. He was finally going to get his Soul Weapon. He had read the lore and done the research. The concept of a soul weapon was straightforward but completely overpowered to him. A Soul Weapon was directly tethered to a person's soul. It allowed the user to cast greater, heavier, and far more destructive essence moves compared to any standard weapon. Better yet, they were indestructible. A Soul Weapon would only vanish when its master died. Lucian remembered his brutal fight with Claire. The staff she had used to beat him down was her Soul Weapon. It was the exact reason she could trap him in a