[STATUS UPDATE]

[Affinity Changes]

Light: 90%

Fire: 90%

Wind: 90%

Earth: 90%

Water: 90%

Darkness: 92%

Bahamut lay on his bed in his and Sel’s shared residence, looking at his current progress, and it was pretty good. He had reached 90%+ in all of his affinities. He hadn’t gotten it on a silver platter. He had worked for it, fought for it, and that was the result he got: 90% elemental affinity.

Anyone with this would immediately push for a breakthrough, but Bahamut was different. He wanted a full 100%. Fortunately, his speed had been very good so far, most likely from the chimera cores inside him, because just the environment couldn’t help him achieve these results that fast.

Bahamut’s gaze lingered on the fading system screen long after it disappeared, as if the numbers were etched into his very vision.

Ninety percent.

All of them.

His fingers tapped lightly against his stomach, slow and rhythmic, like he was counting something only he understood.

"It doesn’t feel complete..."

The words slipped out quietly, almost instinctively.

To anyone else, this level of affinity would already be enough to shake the foundations of their cultivation path. It was perfection in the eyes of most. A stepping stone to power: a gateway to Tier 2. But for him? It felt... unfinished.

Like standing at the edge of something vast, knowing one more step would change everything, yet being unable to take it.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

"If I break through now... I’ll lock it like this."

That thought alone made his jaw tighten.

Bahamut wasn’t someone who liked limits, especially not ones he placed on himself. The Chimera inside him stirred faintly, as if agreeing. Multiple affinities. Multiple cores. Multiple paths. He wasn’t meant to follow a single, clean route like everyone else.

He was meant to deviate.

"100%."

He whispered it like a promise, a dangerous one. Silence followed. The room felt... suffocating. The walls seemed closer than usual, the air heavier, as if it resisted his thoughts. He shifted on the bed, turning to his side, and closed his eyes, only to open them again.

"Nope."

Sleep wasn’t coming. Not like this.

With a quiet sigh, Bahamut pushed himself up and swung his legs off the bed. His bare feet touched the cool ground, grounding him slightly, but not enough. He looked around. Sel wasn’t around. The room lacked that usual background presence, that subtle noise of another person existing nearby. Ren was fast asleep as usual, a typical trait of rabbits and bunnies.

It made things quieter than he liked.

He stepped out.

The corridor was dimly lit, silent, with only the faint sound of the night wind slipping through cracks in the structure. His footsteps were soft, unhurried, yet purposeful.

He went up the stairs until he reached the rooftop balcony. The moment he stepped out, the air changed. It was cool, open, and alive. Perfect!

The wind brushed against his skin, slipping through his hair, carrying the faint scent of earth and night. It washed over him like something cleansing, something... freeing.

Bahamut paused for a second, taking it in. Then he walked forward. The rooftop was wide, empty, and untouched. No one else was there.

Good.

Without hesitation, he dropped onto his back, arms spread slightly at his sides, his body hitting the cool stone floor with a soft thud.

His eyes turned upward. The sky stretched endlessly above him, vast and indifferent. Stars scattered across it like fragments of something broken yet beautiful, glowing faintly in the darkness.

"Huh."

His breathing slowed. For once, nothing was demanding his attention. There were no system prompts, no battles as much as he hated to admit, no voices, just... this.

His thoughts drifted, unstructured.

Affinities, cores, the Chimera, Exildra, Lily, and Alana. Fragments of memories brushed past his mind, vague and incomplete, like reflections on water disturbed by ripples.

He didn’t chase them. He didn’t try to piece them together either. He just let them pass.

"Two months."

He murmured softly. That was how long he had lasted here, longer than any of his past lives. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

"Guess I’m improving."

The wind picked up slightly, causing his hair to shift across his face. His eyes softened, and they flickered.

Lily, her stubborn expression, her fire, the way she clung to him without hesitation. Then Exildra, her warmth, her calm, the quiet understanding in her gaze.

"Troublesome."

But there was no annoyance in his voice. Just... something lighter, something unfamiliar. He exhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

"Not bad..."

The words were barely audible. His body began to relax, tension slipping away piece by piece. The coolness of the stone no longer felt sharp. Instead, it grounded him, anchored him in the moment. His eyelids grew heavy, the stars above blurred slightly, and his thoughts slowed...

Faded...

"Tomorrow..."

He murmured, though even he didn’t know what he was referring to anymore. His breathing evened out, and just like that... Bahamut fell asleep on the rooftop under the endless sky.

...

The night was quiet, too quiet.

Far beyond the reach of the Shadow Fang Sect, past its towering structures and watchful elders, past the lands where disciples clashed and grew, the world shifted... subtly, yet undeniably.

Something had begun.

...

High above another land, where the skies burned gold and white, a figure stood at the edge of a floating citadel. Wings stretched behind them, vast and radiant, their feathers shimmering with an almost blinding brilliance. Their gaze was fixed far beyond the horizon, piercing through clouds, through distance, through the unseen.

They had felt it, a disturbance- no, rather a presence.

"It has begun."

Their voice was calm, yet heavy with meaning. Behind them, others gathered silently, their expressions tense, their auras restrained yet immense.

"Do we move?" one asked.

The winged figure shook their head slowly.

"Not yet... But watch closely."

Their eyes narrowed slightly.

"The balance is shifting."

...

Back at the sect...

The rooftop remained still. The wind passed gently, brushing over the lone figure lying beneath the stars. Bahamut slept, unaware of whatever was happening around him. But even in sleep, something about him felt different; the air around him shifted faintly, almost imperceptibly.

A presence. It was not oppressive or violent, but vast, as though something within him was stretching... growing... awakening, far beyond what he currently understood, far beyond what anyone could comprehend.

The stars above flickered, or perhaps... They were watching.