She tilted her head toward the land ahead.
The ground sloped downward into a region where the air shimmered faintly, like heat above metal. Broken pillars jutted from the earth, half-buried and wrong, their surfaces carved with symbols Ren did not recognize but somehow understood.
"This place remembers," Nyxa said. "That is why the storm responded. You did not fight it. You redirected it."
Ren frowned. "That was not on purpose."
"That is worse," she replied. "It means you are learning faster than expected."
He looked ahead again. The Key at his side pulsed once, slow and heavy, answering something deep beneath the stone.
"So," Ren said, voice steady but tired, "how bad is the second one compared to the first."
Nyxa did not answer immediately.
When she did, her tone was honest. "If the first tested whether you could survive chaos, the second will test whether you can carry consequence."
Ren clicked his tongue softly. "Sounds fun."
He started walking.
