The change didn't happen all at once.
It unfolded.
Slowly.
But undeniably.
Adrian felt it first—not in the space around him, not in the shifting balance between worlds, but within the connections themselves.
The core links.
They weren't just stable anymore.
They were—
Reacting.
Lyra stepped closer, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"…Something's different again."
Kaelith's voice followed immediately.
"Core connection activity increasing."
Seraphine tilted her head, her voice soft.
"…It feels… deeper."
Aria blinked.
"…Stronger too…"
Elara didn't speak.
She was already looking at Adrian.
And he—
Was looking at her.
Because that connection—
Was the strongest.
And it was changing the fastest.
The system pulsed.
Not outward.
Not inward.
Between them.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Core Bond System Activated
Primary Anchor: Elara
Secondary Anchors: Lyra, Kaelith, Seraphine, Aria
Synchronization Threshold: Rising
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Adrian exhaled slowly.
Because now—
