The Great Hall of Vergo was no longer a place of mourning; it had become a cathedral of living light. The restored vines pulsed with a deep, emerald rhythm, their bioluminescence casting a healing glow over the thousands of Faelis who had survived the blight.
At the center of the hall, the atmosphere was hushed. Roy lay on a bed of living moss and woven Flux-fibers. He had been unconscious for three days. His skin, once scorched by the Seed's radiation, had healed with impossible speed, leaving behind faint, shimmering patterns along his collarbone—lines that looked less like scars and more like the runes of the Dendron.
1. The Quiet Core
Taro sat nearby, surrounded by holographic displays. His face was a mask of confusion.
"His readings don't make sense, Jean," Taro whispered as the team gathered. "The SS-rank signature is still there, but the 'noise' is gone. Usually, an SS-core is like a jet engine idling. Roy's core... it's silent. It's like it's not even drawing from the atmosphere anymore."
Jean sat on the edge of Roy's bed, her hand hovering just inches from his. Her usual fiery bravado was replaced by a quiet, fierce protectiveness. "Is he drained?" she asked, her voice cracking slightly.
"No," Taro shook his head, pointing at a graph of steady, deep-well energy. "It's the opposite. He's not a battery anymore. He's become a Node."
Suddenly, the air in the room hummed. The moss beneath Roy began to grow at a visible rate, tiny white flowers blooming in the wake of his breath. Roy's eyes snapped open. There was no scream, no gasp. He simply sat up, his movements fluid and eerily calm.
2. Testing the New Bond
"Roy!" Jean breathed, her hand finally closing over his. She pulled him toward her, checking his face for any sign of the old pain.
Roy looked at his hands. He didn't feel the familiar itch of the Umbryon shadows or the jagged pressure of the Zephros wind. He felt... connected. "The Seed," Roy said, his voice resonant and clear. "It didn't just leave. It rewrote the 'code' of my core."
He stood up and walked toward a withered potted plant in the corner of the room. He didn't summon a Puls Burst. He simply placed a finger near a leaf. A thread of white-gold light jumped from his skin to the plant. Within seconds, the withered leaves turned vibrant green, and the plant tripled in size.
"You're not just outputting energy," Seris said, entering the room with a look of awe. "You are communicating with the life-force of the environment. You've unlocked Lattice Integration."
3. The Warden's Arsenal
Over the next few days, the team helped Roy explore his evolved abilities. Jean was always at his side, pushing him, her own flames dancing in response to his new stability.
* The Green Pulse: Roy could now "scout" an entire mile of forest by sending a pulse through the ground, feeling every hidden presence.
* Living Armor: Instead of just a shield, Roy could command vegetation to wrap around him, creating a suit of "Warden Armor" as strong as Neutron-steel.
* Resonance Healing: He could stabilize his teammates' cores mid-battle. When Jean's training flames grew too volatile, Roy could "tune" her back to safety with a simple touch, a gesture that often lingered a second too long for Lyra's comfort.
Lyra watched from the distance, a quiet crush burning in her chest. She saw the way Roy looked at Jean—the trust and the shared heat between them—and she buried her feelings in her training, her water-arts becoming sharper, colder.
4. A Gift from the Elders
On the final day of his recovery, the three Elders—now fully healed—summoned the team.
"The Academy will come for the Seed," the First Elder stated gravely. "They will find it gone, and they will look to you as the thief. But you are the Protector."
The Second Elder stepped forward, holding a hilt made of white wood and Pulsarite glass. "This is the Vergo Spine," she said. "A weapon that responds only to the Warden's frequency. It does not use a blade of metal, but a blade of woven Lattice-light."
Roy took the hilt. As his fingers closed around it, the device shimmered. It didn't just ignite; it recognized him. He realized the hilt was modular—it could split and reconfigure based on his intent.
5. The Shadow on the Horizon
The celebration was cut short by a frantic alert from Taro's scanners.
"They're here," Taro said, his voice flat with dread. "Six High-Orbit Skimmers. Retrieval Squads. And General Vance is leading them."
Roy deactivated the Vergo Spine, the white runes on his skin glowing with a steady, defiant light. Jean stepped up beside him, her hand igniting with white-hot flame.
"He taught me how to fight," Roy said, looking out at the approaching ships. "Now I'm going to show him what happens when the forest fights back."
Jean looked at him, a smirk playing on her lips. "Then let's give him a lesson he won't survive."