A few more days slipped by in complete silence.
Theo cultivated day in, day out, barely catching more than three hours of sleep.
His core's walls had turned a dark golden color.
It had reached the point where it was very hard to find the silver specks still remaining on them.
By noon of the third day, only a few hundred remained.
And early in the morning of the fourth day... even those had been replaced.
Theo slowly opened his eyes, a large smile on his face.
''It's finally done,'' he muttered, clenching his fist excitedly. ''And I made it just in time too!''
Somewhere today, the storm was expected to die down.
And he'd be able to break through just in time before that.
But before he could truly savor the feeling, a sudden, loud noise startled him.
Knock! Knock!
The door swung wide open only a second later.
''Theo!'' Owen rushed inside, slightly out of breath.
Sliding to a halt in front of him, he raised a finger and swallowed once.
