He woke three days later.
To silence.
Not the peaceful kind.
The held-breath kind.
Halren's healer hovered nearby, grinding herbs.
Mira sat by the window.
Not asleep.
Watching the horizon.
"You almost tore your core," she said without looking at him.
"Did it work?"
"Yes."
He swallowed.
"And the figure?"
"Gone."
She finally looked at him.
"You bled for six hours."
He tried to sit up.
The pulse in his chest was… different.
Quieter.
Not weaker.
Stabilized.
He closed his eyes.
The threads were still visible.
But not overwhelming.
Flowing through him.
Not trapped.
"You were right," Mira said softly. "About sealing channels."
He smiled faintly.
"Was that a compliment?"
"Don't get used to it."
Silence stretched.
Then—
"What did it mean?" she asked.
"About not being the first."
He stared at the ceiling beams again.
"I think the System isn't unique to me."
Her jaw tightened.
"There are others."
"Yes."
"Where?"
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
But he felt something now.
Faint.
Far away.
Other pulses.
Awakened cores.
And some of them—
Felt wrong.