Chapter 318: Following The Pulse.

However, just as that thought crossed her mind, Nora felt something shift against her palm. It was the pendant, and it was pulsing.

Nora’s eyes widened as she immediately lowered her gaze to her hand, where the tiny fragment of Prime Ore had begun to glow.

It was faint at first, barely visible through the gaps between her fingers. But the glow rapidly intensified, and with each passing moment, the fragment pulsed more violently.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Nora’s breath caught.

"This..."

She abruptly rose from her chair, the sudden, almost violent movement sending it skidding backward across the floor, but she paid it no attention whatsoever. Her eyes remained completely fixed on the pendant.

The Prime Ore was reacting.

It was actually, finally reacting!

For several long seconds, Nora could do nothing but stare, her mind struggling desperately to process what she was witnessing. After all, she’d carried this fragment with her for years, through every disappointment, through every empty search, without once seeing it stir like this.

She had brought it near countless individuals, including some of the most talented Hunters she could find.

She had tested it against people with extraordinary abilities and unusual energy signatures.

And through all of those encounters, across every city and every failed lead, the fragment had remained completely inert, not once had it displayed even the faintest flicker of reaction. Yet now the pendant was reacting, and she could hardly bring herself to believe it.

The pendant, however, kept pulsing, and the intensity of its reaction only continued to grow, strong enough that Nora’s fingers began trembling slightly against the metal.

"Impossible..." she murmured in shock, but she quickly shook her head.

No.

It wasn’t impossible, not really.

This was exactly what she had been waiting for, exactly the phenomenon her mother had once told her to watch for, all those years ago.

Nora slowly loosened her grip, revealing the glowing fragment resting within the pendant. The tiny piece of Prime Ore was now radiating an unmistakable light, its pulses so strong she could feel the vibration traveling through the metallic frame itself.

Nora stared at it, her earlier exhaustion completely forgotten, a mixture of shock, disbelief, and rapidly growing excitement spreading across her face. For the first time in years, she felt something she had almost forgotten how to feel.

Hope.

And as she stood there, staring at the glowing Prime Ore, only one question remained, echoing louder and louder in her mind.

Could the person they had been searching for, all this time, finally be here?

Nora didn’t waste another second.

The moment she confirmed the Prime Ore was reacting, every other thought was shoved to the back of her mind, she needed to locate that person, now.

And considering how long they’d waited for this chance, Nora had absolutely no intention of letting it slip through her fingers.

Without wasting another moment, she hurried toward the office entrance.

The doors slid open as she approached, and she stepped into the hallway with the pendant still clutched tightly in her hand.

Ordinarily, Nora maintained a composed and professional demeanor whenever she moved through the Guild.

Even when dealing with urgent matters, she rarely let her emotions show. But right now, she couldn’t care less about appearances. Her pace was unusually quick, her eyes fixed firmly on the glowing fragment of Prime Ore.

The pendant seemed to respond to her movements. Whenever she turned in a particular direction, the intensity of its pulses shifted, sometimes the glow weakened slightly, other times it grew stronger, letting her tell at a glance whether she was heading the right way.

Nora immediately changed direction, following the path that caused the pendant to react more strongly.

She moved through the hallway and entered a private elevator, and a moment later, the doors slid shut as it began its slow descent. Nora watched the fragment carefully, its glow fluctuating slightly, flickering faintly brighter and dimmer, as she passed each successive floor.

Then, at a certain point, the pulses suddenly grew stronger, far stronger than before, causing Nora’s eyes to narrow sharply.

Is the person on this floor?

She immediately selected the appropriate destination, and the elevator slowed before gliding to a smooth stop.

Ding!

The doors opened, and Nora stepped out, hurrying down the corridor without hesitation. The further she walked, the stronger the pendant’s reaction became, each pulse more urgent than the last.

By now, the Prime Ore was pulsing so rapidly that its glow seemed almost continuous, a steady, unbroken shimmer of light.

Nora tightened her grip around it.

She could feel a faint pulling sensation radiating from the fragment, as though it were straining to move toward something, drawn forward by a force she couldn’t quite name.

The source was definitely close by now. She was getting closer, close enough that her heart had begun to race.

Nora continued following the reaction until she eventually arrived before a familiar section of the Guild building.

Her footsteps slowed.

"This is..."

She recognized the area immediately, it was one of the Guild’s restricted engineering facilities, more specifically, the section containing several reinforced chambers used for testing advanced equipment.

Nora glanced down at the pendant once more.

The Prime Ore pulsed again, its reaction stronger than she had ever seen it, causing Nora’s eyes to flicker with growing disbelief.

The source is inside?

She approached the heavy metal door at the end of the corridor, each step carrying a faint trace of hesitation.

Ordinarily, access to this chamber required proper authorization through the security panel, but Nora didn’t bother with any of that. She didn’t even reach for a keycard, instead simply extending her hand and pressing her palm flat against the cold metal surface of the door.

The moment her skin made contact, a faint ripple spread outward across her finger.

For an instant, the surface of her hand seemed to separate, breaking apart into countless microscopic particles that shimmered faintly under the hallway light.

A subtle wave of energy traveled from her palm directly into the door, spreading through its internal mechanisms like water finding every crack.

Beep!

The security panel flashed green, and a series of mechanical clicks followed in quick succession as the locking system disengaged completely. Then, slowly the thick metal door began sliding open.