So many things had obviously been going wrong for Elias.
Not big things though.
The small failures.
A sprout that should have bent away from his magic leaned into it instead. A vine that usually recoiled from dampening pressure twitched, then stilled as if waiting for further instruction.
He paused with his hands hovering over a tray of moonleaf cuttings.
'That shouldn't have happened.'
Elias felt a flicker of irritation.
He withdrew his magic entirely.
But the plants didn't relax.
They remained… attentive. Stiff.
Elias straightened slowly, the familiar pressure behind his ribs tightening just a fraction. Not enough to hurt. But enough to be irritating. Like an itch he couldn't quite reach.
"Don't." he muttered under his breath, more warning than plea.
He reapplied his damping field carefully—precisely—and the greenhouse settled at once. Leaves sagged. Mana smoothed. The world fell back into order.
But the delay lingered in his mind.
