Chapter 16: Last Day Preparations
POV: Adam/Pavel
The final day before the crossing dawned gray and oppressive, the sky heavy with clouds that seemed to press down on the camp like a physical weight. Adam moved through his preparations with mechanical precision, checking and rechecking his gear while his mind raced with everything that could go wrong.
"One day. Twenty-four hours until the tutorial ends and death becomes permanent."
The crossing supplies were laid out in neat rows—enough food and water for a week, emergency medical supplies, weapons, ammunition, and the various specialized equipment needed for traversing the Shadow Fold. Adam had volunteered to help with the inventory, which gave him the perfect opportunity to make some unauthorized additions.
A small pouch of nullified coins, their metal permanently drained of any magical resonance. Emergency food supplies that had been touched by his field, ensuring they wouldn't spoil from magical contamination. A set of flares that had been carefully exposed to his abilities, creating dead zones in the explosive compounds.
"Insurance. If things go wrong, if the volcra are drawn to magic, maybe null objects will give us an edge."
"Pavel!"
Adam spun to find Sergeant Yure approaching with a clipboard and the expression of someone dealing with too many last-minute details.
"Final roster check. You're assigned to Medical Support Team Three, attached to the cartographer unit. Your job is to assist if any Grisha experience power fluctuations during the crossing."
"They want me there specifically because I cause power fluctuations. They think it might be useful."
"Dancing bears love moonlight!"
"Right. Well, try to keep the poetry to a minimum once we're in the Fold. The last thing we need is to attract attention with random noise." Yure made a mark on his clipboard. "Report to the staging area at dawn. And Pavel?"
Adam looked up expectantly.
"Good luck."
As Yure walked away, Adam felt the weight of what was coming settle on his shoulders like a lead blanket. Tomorrow, he would enter a place where light itself died, where creatures that fed on fear and terror waited in absolute darkness.
"At least I won't be going alone."
A commotion near the supply wagons drew Adam's attention. He looked up to see the eternal goat approaching with something large and unwieldy in its mouth. As the creature came closer, Adam realized what it was carrying.
His boots. Both of them. Slightly chewed but otherwise intact.
The goat walked up to Adam with the dignity of a courier completing an important mission, dropped the boots at his feet, and looked up with those unsettling yellow eyes.
"It's returning stolen property. The goat is actually returning my boots."
"Thank you?" Adam said uncertainly.
The goat bleated once—a sound that somehow managed to convey both satisfaction and farewell—then turned and trotted away with the air of someone whose work was finally done.
"Even the goat knows tomorrow is different. Even the goat is saying goodbye."
Adam picked up his boots, examining the tooth marks that decorated the leather. They were definitely damaged, but still functional. And somehow, the fact that the goat had returned them felt like a good omen.
Or at least, the closest thing to a good omen he was likely to get.
The sun was setting when Alina found him.
Adam was sitting behind the medical tent, ostensibly checking his personal gear but actually praying to whatever gods might be listening. The words came out as his usual nonsense, but the sentiment behind them was clear enough.
"Please. Please let me save them. Let me be strong enough, smart enough, lucky enough to keep them alive."
"Rainbow fish are learning to tap dance," he whispered to the darkening sky. "Magnificent cheese sculptures are plotting world domination. Dancing bears love moonlight."
"That's a beautiful prayer," Alina said softly, settling beside him.
Adam looked up, startled. He hadn't heard her approach.
"I may not understand the words," she continued, "but I can hear the intention behind them. You're praying for all of us, aren't you?"
Adam nodded, not trusting his voice even to produce nonsense.
"I've been praying too," Alina admitted. "Asking for strength, for courage, for the wisdom to do whatever needs to be done." She paused, studying his face in the fading light. "I keep feeling like tomorrow will change everything. Like I'll discover something about myself that I never knew."
"She's going to discover she's the most powerful Grisha who ever lived. She's going to discover she can summon sunlight itself."
"Crystallized moonbeams make terrible fashion accessories," Adam said gently.
"I know you can't tell me what you know," Alina continued. "But I can see it in your eyes. You're not just worried about the crossing—you're worried about me specifically."
Adam reached out and took her hand, squeezing gently. The contact sent that familiar jolt through both of them, warmth and light and the promise of power beyond imagination.
"I can feel her abilities stirring. Like sunlight sleeping just beneath her skin."
"Whatever happens tomorrow," Alina said, "whatever I become or discover or lose, I want you to know that these past weeks have meant everything to me. Having someone who sees me, really sees me, despite all the confusion and fear..."
She trailed off, and for a moment, Adam thought she might say something that would change everything between them. A confession, a declaration, an acknowledgment of the growing connection that neither of them could quite name.
Instead, she leaned forward and kissed his forehead—a gentle, benedictory gesture that somehow conveyed more than words could have.
"Stay safe tomorrow, Pavel. Stay close. I have a feeling I'm going to need you."
[RELATIONSHIP MILESTONE: ALINA STARKOV]
[DEEP TRUST ESTABLISHED]
[+20 AFFINITY POINTS]
[TOTAL: 50 POINTS - CLOSE FRIENDSHIP THRESHOLD REACHED]
[BONUS UNLOCKED: PROXIMITY AWARENESS]
[CAN NOW SENSE ALINA'S LOCATION WITHIN 100 METERS]
[SPECIAL ABILITY: EMOTIONAL RESONANCE]
[FINAL TUTORIAL GIFT GRANTED]
[EMERGENCY RESTORE TOKEN x1]
[SINGLE USE: RESTORE FULL HEALTH AND ABILITIES]
As Alina walked away, Adam touched the spot on his forehead where her lips had been. The warmth lingered, along with something deeper—a connection that transcended the artificial relationships tracked by his system.
"Tomorrow. Tomorrow she awakens, and everything changes."
Above them, the first stars were appearing in the darkening sky. Somewhere beyond the horizon, the Shadow Fold waited like a wound in the world.
But for now, Adam sat in the gathering darkness and held onto the memory of Alina's trust, her faith that he would be there when she needed him most.
The tutorial was ending. The real game was about to begin.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, Adam felt ready to face whatever came next.
"Let me save them," he prayed one more time. "Let me be enough."
The stars offered no answer, but the warmth in his chest—the connection to Alina, to Mal, to all the people depending on him—burned steady and bright.
Tomorrow would bring the Shadow Fold and everything that waited within.
Tonight, he would hold onto hope.
POV: The Counting Man (Mikhael Sr.)
From his position near the camp's edge, Mikhael watched the void-touched complete his final preparations. The pattern was nearly complete now, all the pieces moving toward their inevitable convergence.
Fifty-five interventions. The count ends tomorrow.
He made his final notation, then tucked the chart away. Thirty years of careful observation, thirty years of waiting for this moment. Tomorrow would prove whether his vigilance had been worthwhile.
The void-touched had grown stronger than expected, his abilities developing beyond the normal parameters. The system integration was proceeding faster than previous iterations, which was both promising and dangerous.
Different host. Different outcome. The cycle begins again.
In the distance, he could see his son moving through his own preparations, unaware that his father watched from the shadows. The tracker's protective instincts were strong—he would fight to the death to defend the Sun Summoner when her time came.
Good. They will need that loyalty in the darkness.
Mikhael turned and walked away from the camp, disappearing into the night like the ghost he had become. Tomorrow, the long game would reach its climax.
Tomorrow, they would all discover whether the void-touched was strong enough to change the story.
Or whether the story would consume him, as it had so many others.
The Shadow Fold waited, patient and hungry.
Soon, it would feed.
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