Chapter 40: I Copied Her Power—and Somehow Made It Stronger

Adrián’s right palm opened.

And instead of the weak little violet bird he had generated the previous afternoon—

an entire swarm poured out.

A hundred birds made of violet light.

Two hundred.

Three hundred.

They erupted from his palm in a continuous torrent, flying in every direction, crashing into the illusionary forest, tearing apart the false walls as they passed, creating a storm of visual chaos neither Adrián nor Lira had planned for.

Lira, who had been dropping from the ceiling, turned her head in midair with genuine surprise.

"...Darling, what the fu—"

One of the violet birds grazed past her face.

Another shot past her side.

Five more flew between her and Adrián, completely blocking her line of attack.

Lira landed ten feet away from him.

Straightened.

And looked around with her violet eyes wide open.

It was an expression Adrián had never seen on her before.

One he would later interpret as:

This was not supposed to happen.

"...Darling."

"..."

"Did you do that?"

"...I think so."

"..."

The birds were still pouring out of Adrián’s palm.

He had no idea how to stop them.

He raised his other hand in a useless attempt to cover the first.

The birds simply streamed out between his fingers.

The forest illusion was completely collapsing under the collective impact of what had now become three hundred—

four hundred—

violet manifestations.

Silvano—whom Adrián could finally see again now that the forest walls were dissolving—stood against the training room wall with his arms crossed and an expression of intense analysis.

Not surprised.

Analytical.

Beside him, Ishtar’s mouth was hanging open.

A piece of popcorn remained frozen between her fingers, completely forgotten.

"..."

"Brother-in-law."

"..."

"Brother-in-law, are you listening to me?"

"..."

Adrián concentrated.

Closed his right hand.

The birds stopped coming.

Those already flying through the room began dissolving one by one into faint violet sparks that faded above the stone floor.

Within ten seconds, the entire illusion was gone.

Only four people remained inside the basement training room of the Alastor building.

And a faint scent of jasmine lingering in the air—

the last trace of Lira’s magic.

Silence.

Lira stared at Adrián.

Silvano stared at Adrián.

Ishtar dropped the piece of popcorn.

Adrián looked down at his palm.

"...Okay."

A pause.

"That happened."

Lira walked toward him with the calculated slowness of someone trying not to frighten a wild animal.

"Darling."

"Yeah?"

"What you just did."

"Yeah?"

"That is not what I taught you yesterday."

"...Okay."

"Yesterday, you created one bird."

She raised a finger.

"One tiny bird."

Another.

"It lasted two seconds."

"Yeah."

"Today, you created four hundred."

Adrián looked at his hand again.

"They lasted almost thirty seconds."

Lira’s expression grew more serious.

"And they destroyed my forest illusion in the process."

A pause.

"And that, darling, is not normal progress."

Her violet eyes narrowed.

"That is something else."

"..."

Silvano approached as well.

He removed his glasses—which Adrián hadn’t even noticed he had put back on at some point—and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Boy."

"Yeah, Silvano?"

"What did you feel immediately before generating the birds?"

"...Panic."

"And what did you do with that panic?"

"Nothing."

Adrián shook his head.

"I tried to generate the bird. I couldn’t. It wouldn’t come out."

He looked toward Lira.

"Then Lira attacked me from above and something inside me opened."

"And?"

"And they all came out."

"What opened?"

"...I don’t know."

Silvano looked at Lira.

Lira looked at Silvano.

They held each other’s gaze with an expression that very clearly meant:

You’re thinking what I’m thinking too, aren’t you?

Adrián had no idea what they were thinking.

"Silvano," Lira said quietly. "Do you think...?"

"The same thing you do."

"In his first week?"

"In his first week."

"Silvano."

"Lira."

"Rhea needs to know about this immediately."

"Yes."

Adrián looked from one to the other.

"Uh."

Both turned toward him.

"Can somebody explain what’s happening?"

Silvano adjusted his glasses.

Then spoke in the calm, pedagogical tone Adrián had already learned meant:

I’m about to explain something important in very simple words.

"Boy. Copy normally works like this."

Silvano raised one hand.

"You witness a Talent."

"You survive it."

"And over time—days, weeks, sometimes months—your card digests that fragment and integrates it into you as a reduced ability."

Adrián listened.

"Thirty percent of the original."

"Forty percent if you’re lucky."

"With extensive training, perhaps fifty."

"Okay."

Silvano lowered his hand.

"What you just used was not a reduced Copy."

Adrián went still.

"..."

"It was an amplification."

Silence.

"You used a version of Lira’s ability that was more powerful than Lira’s own ability at its lowest output."

Adrián looked toward Lira.

She nodded.

"Four hundred simultaneous manifestations is something Lira can do after centuries of experience."

Silvano looked back at him.

"You did it on your second day."

"..."

"And you didn’t do it because you knew how."

Adrián swallowed.

"You did it because your Thief’s Mask and the Fool synchronized for the first time under pressure."

A pause.

"And the combined result exceeded the theoretical limits we had calculated for your potential."

"..."

Beside Silvano, Lira slowly nodded.

Again.

And again.

"Darling."

Her eyes remained fixed on him.

"Darling, darling, darling."

A slow smile appeared.

"You are something else."

"..."

From the wall, Ishtar finally reacted.

She picked up the piece of popcorn she had dropped.

Put it into her mouth.

And spoke while chewing.

"Brother-in-law."

"Yeah, Ishtar?"

"I withdraw the three-week prediction."

"...Okay."

"I also withdraw the two-week prediction."

She pointed at him.

"You’re going to generate your second illusion—correction, your four-hundredth illusion—on your second day."

She stared at him.

"And that, brother-in-law, is disgusting."

"Thanks."

"That wasn’t a compliment."

She chewed.

"It was a clinical observation."

Another chew.

"You’re disgusting."

"Ishtar."

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

"I’m trying."

Adrián sat down on the floor.

He was shaking.

Not from fear.

From pure exhaustion.

It felt like something inside him had just operated at maximum capacity for ten straight seconds and was now demanding payment.

His right arm hurt.

His head buzzed.

His mouth was dry.

Lira crouched beside him.

She placed one hand against the back of his neck—

the same gesture Rhea had used on him the first day.

Adrián noticed the similarity but didn’t comment on it.

"Darling. Breathe."

He did.

"You’re okay."

Another breath.

"It’s normal to be exhausted. You just did something extremely unusual."

Her voice softened.

"Something very far outside the normal curve."

"Your body is processing it."

"...Okay."

"We’re stopping for today."

Lira looked toward the others.

"You need rest."

"Silvano? Ishtar?"

"I agree," Silvano said.

"I agree," Ishtar said.

She pushed herself away from the wall.

"Brother-in-law, upstairs."

She pointed toward the door.

"We eat. Then you sleep."

Adrián nodded weakly.

"Rhea will probably want to talk to you tonight, but first you need food."

Adrián nodded again.

Ran a hand over his face.

And at that exact moment—

the training room door slammed open.