The road didn't change.
No sign marked the moment.
No feeling rose to announce it.
They just kept walking.
Kael noticed that first.
He almost smiled.
Lira felt it through the bond.
"You're thinking about the number," she said softly.
Kael didn't deny it.
It doesn't feel different.
She nodded.
"That's good."
They reached a low ridge as the sun climbed higher.
From there, the land stretched wide—familiar and new at the same time.
Sera looked around.
"So… this is it?" she asked.
"One hundred?"
Jon laughed quietly.
"Doesn't feel like an ending."
Kael felt the truth settle.
Because it isn't.
They moved down from the ridge and stopped near a quiet stream.
Water moved steadily over stones, unchanged by how long it had flowed.
Kael sat first.
Lira sat beside him.
The others settled naturally, no one waiting for instruction.
Lira dipped her fingers into the water.
"I used to think milestones mattered," she said.
"That reaching something meant you became someone else."
Kael felt her thought clearly.
Now we know becoming happens in motion.
She smiled faintly.
"Yes."
They didn't talk about the Empire.
They didn't talk about the heir.
They didn't need to.
What mattered had already moved past opposition.
The Seer stood nearby, watching the water.
"A hundred steps don't make a path," he said quietly.
"Walking does."
Kael stood again.
Not because the moment was complete–
but because movement felt right.
The others followed.
No pause for celebration.
No reflection heavy enough to slow them.
As they walked on, Lira felt it—steady and calm.
The bond wasn't pulling forward.
It was carrying them.
Behind them, there was no line drawn at ninety-nine.
Ahead of them, there was no promise waiting at one hundred and one.
Just the road.
Just choice.
Just the quiet certainty that whatever came next—
They would meet it the same way they met everything else.
Together.
And the number—
Meant nothing at all.