Kelvin sipped the steamroot tea again, its heat spreading through his chest like a low flame. Lyra leaned against his shoulder, her presence quiet but steady.
For once, the silence wasn't awkward. It was… necessary. A reprieve.
That was when the door slammed open.
"By the Depths of the Abyss! You survived!"
Darius barged in, arms wide, his robes still streaked with dried monster blood and dust. "And I don't just mean physically—you're alive and smug about it. That's my boy!"
Kelvin chuckled, nearly spilling his tea. "You have the subtlety of a wounded frost boar."
"And you have the bedside manners of a half-dead phoenix," Darius fired back, grinning as he dropped onto the floor with a dramatic flop.
"Seriously, though. That fusion back at the Rift... The entire Sanctum is whispering your name."
"Yeah," Lyra added with a smile. "Riftborn Flame."
Darius groaned. "That's terrible. I was rooting for Kelvin the Cataclysm or maybe Xerion's Chosen. But nooo—people always go for a crap."
Kelvin raised an eyebrow and said. "You are jealous."
"I'm inspired," Darius said, propping himself up on one elbow. "You cracked open the gate to Obsidian Division, merged fully with a Tier 7 beast, and still came back with all your limbs. You are setting a damn precedent."
Kelvin nodded. "Precedents are heavy especially when they bleed."
Darius's anger faded away slightly, replaced by something more thoughtful. "I know because I watched the footage."
Kelvin blinked. "The footage?"
"Yeah. The retrieval team's crystal feeds were synchronized and every step all the way was seen. We saw everything, the full merge, the last stand and the… the Riftfire you spat across a hundred meters. Most impressive….."
There was a pause.
********
Then Darius asked, "What did it feel like? Merging completely?"
Kelvin glanced at Lyra, who nodded gently before slipping away with a smile and a quiet, "You boys talk. I will be back later."
When the door clicked shut, Kelvin set his cup down and lay back.
"It was… loud," he said finally. "Like every memory Xerion ever had burned through me at once. I saw worlds he's flown over. Wars he has survived. The moment he was chained... and the moment we broke the chain together."
Darius sat quietly, absorbing every word.
"And you?" Kelvin asked, turning toward him. "Still working with that obsidian gorilla?"
"Bruaka? Hah! That oversized ape saved my life last week. Threw a boulder bigger than a bison straight at a Rift screamer. I think we bonded after that. She even stopped trying to chew on my face during sync sessions."
Kelvin laughed. "I am in progress."
"But we are nowhere near full fusion yet," Darius added, more seriously now. "Bruaka is still wild, stubborn and she thinks that I am weak."
"You're not," Kelvin said.
Darius responded. "Maybe. But I have seen what it means now and what real fusion looks like. And I want that. Not just to be stronger but to survive what is coming."
Kelvin studied his roommate for a moment, noting the quiet resolve in his voice. The School softened no one, you either grew harder or you become cracked.
"I will help you," Kelvin said at last. "Not just theory this time. Practical. We will train together. Merge drills, mana resonance, and spirit alignment, you name it."
Darius blinked his eyes and asked. "Are you sure? I mean, you have got Obsidian work now. Deep Rift duty."
"All the more reason we should train together," Kelvin said. "If we are going to be fighting side by side in those hellholes, I want to know you have got my back."
Darius grinned again, fiercer this time. "That's right I will be a part of it."
Training Grounds In Obsidian Division
The next day, the two stood inside an underground simulation chamber rigged with artificial mana nodes and Rift-generated illusions.
Arcane constructs formed and dissolved in seconds, fighting beasts that are made from light and pain.
Bruaka materialized behind Darius with a deafening roar, pounding her chest and charging into the illusion. The beast's muscles rippled like boulders in motion, her obsidian-hide reflected a simulated lightning bolts.
"Merge!" Darius shouted.
Bruaka resisted for a heartbeat.
Then, with a rumble like shifting tectonics, she flowed into him like a dark essence merging with his spirit.
Darius's limbs bulked, his eyes burning like volcanic stone. His skin crackled with minor eruptions. He roared and leapt, meeting a constructed wyvern midair in a brutal slam.
From across the chamber, Kelvin watched, nodding.
He is learning fast.
"Your roommate has promise," said a voice behind him.
Kelvin turned to find Veyra watching with her arms folded.
"But he lacks discipline," she added. "The beast will overpower him if he pushes too soon."
"I will make sure he does not," Kelvin said evenly.
Veyra glanced at him, then at the scorch marks left from Kelvin's last fusion session. "You have bonded deeper than most ever will. But power unchecked still breaks bones and minds."
Kelvin nodded. "I know."
"You will train with me tomorrow. We are going beyond fusion."
"Beyond fusion?"
She smiled faintly. "There is more than one path to ascending, you will see."
Later That Night At The Dormitory Rooftop
Kelvin sat on the rooftop alone, staring at the starless sky above the Sanctum dome.
Xerion stirred within his soul. You are changing faster than I expected, warden.
Kelvin smirked. "Are you surprised?"
Not surprised but concerned.
"Why?"
Because power earned in haste burns too hot. The dragon fire within you is old… and hungry. Soon, it will ask more than just your body. It will test your mind. Your purpose.
Kelvin grew silent before saying.
"I don't think that I am ready for that."
No one is ever ready, Xerion murmured. But you are not alone.
As if summoned by fate, the door creaked open behind him.
"Of course you had be up here brooding under the fake stars," Darius said, holding up two plates of fried ration-crabs. "Midnight protein. You are welcome."
Kelvin took one with a chuckle and said. "Thanks."
They ate in silence for a few moments.
Then Darius nudged him. "You do realize we are in for something big over our heads, right?"
"Completely."
Darius laughed. "Then let's drown together, right?"
Kelvin looked at him, his first real friend in this broken, rising worldand smiled.
"We are not drowning," he said quietly. "But we will fly."