Regression: Reclaiming the End

Caelum Nihil's voice deepened, the faint swirl of silver starlight tightening in the Starveil.

"...But hear me well, Blank," he murmured, his tone shifting into firmer and colder. "Astral Overdrive is no ordinary power. It is not a toy. It is not a shortcut."

The air around me thickened, the invisible strands humming with tension.

"It is a blade that cuts both ways."

I swallowed hard, my hands curling slightly at my sides.

"I offer it to you because the path you walk demands it," Caelum continued, voice sharp as a blade's edge. "But you are not to treat it like some new skill you can flash in every fight, every challenge, every brush with death."

The Starveil pulsed once, dim and heavy.

"Use it only when necessary."

His voice dropped lower, a whisper that slid into my bones.

"Because every time you invoke Astral Overdrive, you invite me deeper into you."

I tightened my grip on the cup, the faint ripple of steam rising to my face.