Chapter 81 : Challenge Issued
Dirga didn't sleep that night.
He sat cross-legged in the darkened corner of the small, creaking inn room, surrounded by silence and the faint pulse of Zarion in the walls.
The glow of the Crimson Core had faded, but the pressure it left behind lingered in his chest—dense, warm, alive.
His eyes remained open for hours, not in tension, but in calm.
He didn't need rest.
Not anymore.
When morning came, light didn't spill through windows—it shimmered through the artificial crystal veins embedded in the ceiling.
A soft white-blue hue that mimicked dawn, humming gently.
Dirga rose without stiffness, body light, mind sharper than it had been in days.
No fatigue.
No fog.
The meditation had worked. His Concept felt solid now. Anchored.
His breath came easy.
His thoughts, clearer.
His body? Stronger.
He stepped over to the small mirror mounted on the wall.