The wind was sharper than usual, or maybe the rooftop just felt exposed because they'd already cracked the perimeter barrier twice that week.
Lucien stood in the center of the concrete, feet planted, shoulders square.
"Control first," Seris reminded him, her voice tight.
"I am controlling it."
Gold light began to crawl along his arms. At first, it was steady: a low, rhythmic hum that vibrated against the air. Then, it just... went.
It expanded too fast. A shockwave slammed outward, hitting the group like a physical wall. Mira shrieked, ducking her head, while Garrick braced himself instinctively. The concrete beneath Lucien's boots splintered into a jagged spiderweb.
Kaida, leaning against a vent a few yards away, didn't even flinch. She just raised an eyebrow. "Very subtle, Lucien."
Lucien exhaled a sharp, jagged breath, the gold fading. "I barely pushed."
"You barely destroyed three levels of structural integrity," Garrick muttered. He knelt, pressing a massive palm to the ground. A faint, earthen glow spread from his touch, reinforcing the foundation before it could actually crumble.
Seris checked the readout on her tablet, frowning. "Your output spike was thirty percent higher than yesterday."
"I didn't mean for it to be."
"That's the problem," Seris said. "Intent isn't enough anymore. The power is outgrowing your grip."
Mira raised both hands. "Can we maybe try something a little less... end-of-the-world? My hair is literally standing on end."
Lucien shot her a dry look. "Fine. Your turn."
She straightened her jacket, a spark of pride in her eyes. "Gladly."
She closed her eyes, centering herself. A faint, intricate glyph shimmered into existence beneath her boots. Her Authority thread flared with a soft, amber light. There was a sudden, sharp pop—and a small white rabbit appeared in the center of the roof.
Everyone stared. The rabbit blinked. Mira blinked back.
"...Okay," she whispered.
Kaida smirked. "Terrifying. We're saved."
"I was aiming for a guardian construct!" Mira protested.
The rabbit hopped once, looked around, and began contentedly chewing on the toe of Lucien's shoe. Lucien looked down at it. "Why."
Mira waved her hands frantically. "Wait—wait—I can adjust the parameters—"
The rabbit glowed, then duplicated. Suddenly, there were two of them.
Garrick turned toward the stairs. "I am not reinforcing this roof for rabbits."
Seris pinched the bridge of her nose. "Mira, dismiss it."
"I'm trying!"
The second rabbit hopped toward Kaida's shadow. As it touched the dark patch on the floor, the shadow rippled and swallowed it whole. A second later, the rabbit reappeared behind Mira.
Mira gasped. "It's shadow-adapted?!"
Orion, who had been standing silently near the railing, finally spoke up. "You over-threaded the binding. You gave it too much autonomy."
Mira pointed an accusing finger. "Then why didn't you say something while I was casting?"
"You looked like you knew what you were doing."
Lucien crouched, gently lifting one of the rabbits away from his laces. "...They're actually kind of soft."
Mira groaned into her hands. "This is humiliating. We're supposed to be a legendary guild and I'm summoning pets."
Nox, who had been watching the city from the ledge, spoke up quietly. "You layered summoning with an autonomous response loop, Mira."
Mira froze. "...I did."
"You tried to compensate for the instability by increasing the construct's agency. You overcorrected."
She stared at him. "...You actually saw that? The thread-work?"
"Yes."
Lucien looked at Nox, his eyes narrowing. "You've been analyzing everyone's forms like that all week."
"Yes."
Lucien frowned. "You didn't do that before. Not like this."
Nox didn't answer. Before it got awkward, Garrick clapped his hands once. "Focus. Kaida."
Kaida rolled her shoulders. Her shadow began to bleed across the rooftop, stretching out like spilled ink. She lifted a hand, and the shadow split into three distinct tendrils. They moved like liquid—silent and precise.
Until one tendril lashed out a fraction too far. It sliced clean through a rooftop antenna with a sharp shing. Metal clattered onto the gravel.
Kaida blinked. "...That wasn't intentional."
Garrick stared at the fallen scrap metal. "I just fixed that."
She shrugged, her shadow receding. "Shadow doesn't really respect property rights."
Seris sighed, looking at the wreckage of the session. "You're all overextending. Every single one of you."
Lucien straightened up. "You're one to talk, Seris. You overchanneled so hard yesterday you had to sit down."
"That was a controlled test."
"You nearly fainted."
"I did not faint. I chose to sit down abruptly."
Orion quietly drew his bow. A faint silver crescent shimmered around the arrowhead. He released. The arrow cut through the air with a whistle, clean and perfect. It struck the section of the barrier that had been cracked earlier—and the force of the impact split the concrete completely.
Half the remaining guardrail gave way, tumbling into the dark. The wind rushed inward, suddenly much louder.
Silence. Everyone looked at Orion. He lowered the bow slowly.
"...Calibration error," he murmured.
Mira stared at the open skyline where the wall used to be. "Are we even allowed to be up here anymore? Legally?"
Garrick walked to the edge and peered down. "We're definitely going to get evicted."
Lucien exhaled, the gold light flickering faintly around his eyes. He looked at the cracks in the floor, the missing antenna, and the two rabbits.
"...This isn't enough anymore. We've outgrown this place."
No one argued. Seris nodded. "Our output density has increased exponentially."
"Too fast," Kaida added.
Orion glanced at the fractured concrete. "This location was never designed for this level of discharge."
Mira raised a hand weakly. "For the record, I did not discharge that much." A rabbit hopped past her foot.
Lucien looked out at the skyline, then back at the damage. "We need space; real space."
"Space costs money," Garrick said flatly. "And we're still locked out of our accounts."
They all went quiet.
Then, Orion cleared his throat. "There is a building."
Everyone turned. "What building?" Mira asked.
"I own one. In the warehouse district."
Lucien stared. "You're joking."
"I am not."
Mira pointed a finger. "You're rich? Like, 'owns-buildings' rich?"
Orion tilted his head. "My family manages assets. I have certain inheritances."
Garrick crossed his arms. "You manage assets? Since when?"
"I prefer to keep a distance from it."
Kaida smirked. "Of course. The stoic archer is secretly wealthy. This is getting annoying."
Lucien's lips twitched. "How large is it?"
"Enough."
Mira's eyes widened. "How large is 'enough'?"
"Eight floors. Reinforced concrete. Soundproofed. Empty."
Silence. Then Garrick: "Show us."
One of the rabbits squeaked. Nox stepped forward, looking at the broken rooftop.
Lucien glanced at him. "You're already calculating the floor plans, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"And the defense perimeter?"
"Yes."
Lucien studied him. "You're smiling, Nox."
Nox hadn't realized he was. Not until Lucien pointed it out. It was a very faint, very real smile. "Yes."
The rabbits vanished as Mira finally dismissed them. Kaida headed for the stairwell. "If we're moving, I want the basement. The darkest floor."
Seris followed. "We're going to need a rotation for the move."
Garrick followed. "I'm bringing the reinforcement kits. I'm not letting you guys break the new place in twenty minutes."
Orion walked ahead quietly. Lucien paused beside Nox. "You're sure about this?"
"Yes."
Lucien looked at the skyline, then back at his friend. "...We're not small anymore, are we?"
"No," Nox said softly. "We're not."
And for a second, Nox wasn't looking at a broken rooftop. He was looking at a fortress that hadn't been built yet, but was already home.