The bridge was a ruin of twisted metal and glass. David sat on the railing, breathing hard, knuckles raw and stinging.
He'd done it. Three circles, one star, and one terrified magician pretending he had a plan.
Police sirens wailed in the distance. He stood, wiped the rain from his face, and muttered,
| "Time to disappear before bureaucracy finishes what Lucien started."
He walked home through the storm, every step echoing a strange calm. He wasn't stronger—just aware. The world felt larger, deeper… alive.
A week later, headlines read:
"Unexplained Light Phenomenon Over London Bridge." "Experts Blame Electrical Malfunction."
David snorted.
| "Sure. Electricity."
He spent his nights training quietly in an abandoned underground station. The place smelled of rust and old smoke, but the ley-line pulsed faintly beneath the tracks. Earth's mana behaved differently—thin, but pure, like distilled air. When he breathed through his star and circled his mana, he could feel the two systems learning to coexist.
It wasn't power. It was progress.
One evening, during meditation, a soft knock echoed through the tunnel.
| "Uh… Mister Solomon? Please don't vaporize me."
David opened one eye. A young man in a hoodie stood by the stairs, clutching a tablet. Bright eyes, jittery energy—the kind that belongs to people who believe the Internet can explain anything.
| "Name's Elliot," the stranger said quickly. "I might've seen that light show on the bridge. And, uh… I think I just found a ley-line map on Reddit that matches where you're sitting."
David sighed.
| "Wonderful. The Internet found magic before the scientists."
| "So… you are a magician?"
| "I'm a guy who's very tired and slightly radioactive."
Elliot grinned.
"Cool. Can I learn?"
David looked at him for a long moment. Maybe he saw a bit of his younger self—the one who still believed in possibilities.
"Fine. But if you explode, you sign the waiver first."
Above them, London slept. Below, mana whispered through the ancient veins of the Earth, carrying the echo of a name once worshiped and forgotten.
And somewhere far away, Lucien sat alone in the ruins of a church, whispering to the darkness:
| "I will find my faith again… even if I must relearn it from him."
Lightning flared. The ley-lines pulsed in answer. The world had started to wake.