It took time for Adyr to adapt to the new sharpness in his senses and his reading of the world around him. When he finally felt steady, he turned to his next target: [Resilience].

For him, this stat was more than toughness for body, mind, and soul. It was the foundation that let him bear every other stat increase without cracking, the footing of his entire build.

Although increasing [Resilience] didn't produce effects or side effects as strong as the last round, he followed the same method, raising it gradually and giving himself time to adapt after each step.

He started with 10.

The effect spread at once. His skin prickled as if waking from cold, his muscles settled into a firmer hold, and a clean brightness moved through his thoughts.

The feeling was like cupping hot coffee after standing too long in freezing wind—warmth pushing inward, easing tension from the fingers to the chest, setting his breathing and heartbeat into a steady rhythm. It calmed him from the inside out and hardened his confidence at the core.

As he continued, that earlier sense of smallness began to thin and wash away. With each careful rise in [Resilience], he felt more anchored, less exposed, as if the world's bite could no longer reach as deeply.

The thought came unbidden, honest and a little amused. "No wonder the Umbraens are so arrogant."

It wasn't only the stat that made them that way. Their culture, their teachings, and the Nether path also shaped them, making them feel superior and unbeatable.

Still, he could feel how the weight of [Resilience] worked on a person. When your body, mind, and soul all hold firm, it is easy to believe you are hard to move and harder to break.

Naturally, the shift ran deeper than thought. His body was set like stone; his skin had turned to a living plate, bulletproof and unyielding, a wall no mortal power could break.

When the last of the sensations passed and he felt fully adapted to his body's changes, he checked his stats.

[Physique]: 188

[Will]: 400

[Resilience]: 405 → 605

[Sense]: 225 → 525

[Energy]: 2518 → 3018

[Free Stat Points]: 1795 → 1295

"I still have many free stat points left, but this should be enough for Sense and Resilience."

His priority was clear: make the combo run more efficiently. If this covered that need, he would use the leftovers on other stats.

To confirm, he set up a quick test to see whether he could now endure the strain for longer.

He released his Presence in a rough, storm-driven wave, pushing it as far as it would go. With eyes closed, he fused his Gaze into it and let a new vision crystallize in his mind's eye, the landscape coming together in full.

The deep, endless void unfolded in his mind. Hundreds of islets—each with its own shape and ecosystem—filled his inner sight like a 3D map, sketching kilometers of terrain in crisp, vivid relief.

This time, it was not a still image but a live feed. Adyr could track motion in real time and hold the vision with far less strain than before.

Pressure built as the seconds passed. His head began to throb, his eyes stung, but he endured and let the flood continue.

When he finally hit his limit, the pain sharpened into something mean. His eyelids twitched as if his eyes might burst, so he cut the link, opened his eyes, and cradled his pounding skull with both hands, breathing slow and even until the ache settled.

"W-well…" A thin smile edged his mouth. By his count, he had held it a little over 10 seconds.

Watching the entire landscape from above like a deity on a high seat was, he had to admit, a very good experience.

When the pain ebbed, he straightened and fixed his gaze on a single point in a specific direction, as if the far edge of the dark were still mapped before him.

"Seems like there's a problem there." The clouds drifting in his eyes stirred as if calling a storm, and a small smile returned.

Having raised his power enough to push new limits, he now found a target to test them on.

—

Thalira kept her voice low. "Brakhtar, if you have any good suggestions, now is the time." The thing in the dark felt aware of them, and she did not want to give it a reason to look closer.

Moments earlier, the giant serpent had seemed asleep, hovering behind the book like a shadow pinned to the void. Then it stirred. Each slow ripple thickened the pressure until the Lunari and Gorathim Practitioners stood rigid, barely able to breathe.

"Keep still. Do not catch its attention." Brakhtar listened to the dark and felt the length of it sliding, scales shifting with a slick, cold gleam.

There were countless Sparks with violent instincts and others that were utterly docile. If this serpent only attacked intruders it judged as threats, they might survive by remaining calm.

That hope died almost as soon as it formed. This was not one of the gentle kinds.

The hiss came first, low and skin-crawling, a sound that combed the nerves. The pressure fell next, heavy and blunt, driving the breath from their lungs.

"Run."

They turned as one. This wasn't something to watch or weigh; it was already in motion, and the only thing left was to save their lives.

Sadly, the choice came a heartbeat too late.

Thalira, sensing a cold shiver run through her spine, risked a look back, and in that instant the void was nothing but a mouth.

She saw a long, dark tunnel inside a wall of red flesh rushing toward her. There was no need to think; it was the Spark's colossal maw, there to devour her.

But as fast as the Spark was, Thalira was no easy prey.

A fine seam of silver slid across her eyes. Lightning ran her nerves, and a crack like thunder seemed to pass through her bones. Her body broke into silver light and left a web of bright currents as she slipped aside.

The jaws slammed shut on the white bird left behind, and it vanished into the monstrous mouth without even a flicker of struggle.

"Be careful. It is fast." She reformed a short distance away, breath tight, but the warning could not outrun what followed.

"No!"

Before any mind could catch up, the serpent surged again. Its jaws opened and closed on another white bird, and it went down in a single swallow with its rider still astride.

They understood then that escape would demand a sacrifice, and they decided at once.

"Scatter and run." Brakhtar put words to what all of them were already thinking.

Even that failed, because swallowing was not the serpent's only way to kill.

Sensing too much prey trying to flee, the serpent halted mid-motion and slid a long, blood-red tongue from its narrow jaws as it hissed.

This hiss did not travel as sound. Instead, an invisible weight fell over them and pinned every limb where it stood. No one could move an inch.

"H-How?" Thalira tried to force her body to obey and felt it refuse. Fear spread through her like something seeded into every cell. Only her mouth would move. "How can it have mind skills?"

The same question formed in Brakhtar's thoughts. He could only stand there, locked under the sheer force of it, while the black length coiled in the dark and the air itself turned to stone.

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