CHAPTER 42: NEW UPDATE

Lucen didn’t speak.

Didn’t shift.

Didn’t blink.

The window hummed quietly beside his shoulder. Outside, the city passed by in lazy, broken rhythm, cracked sidewalk, busted glyph lights, a collapsed courier stand still plastered with mana warnings from three years ago.

Senna was asleep now. Or close to it. Her breath made small fog patches on the glass.

Mira had her arm folded across her chest, one boot braced against the seat in front of her. Callen muttered something about soup and passed out fully vertical.

Gen was still humming. Not a tune this time. Just... tones. Notes with no order. Like a dying keyboard learning jazz.

Lucen tuned it out.

Mostly.

The system pinged again.

No sound. Just a quiet pulse in the side of his mind.

[Class Evolution Branch Available]

Spellcraft Sovereign Node Deviation – Recursive Core Detected

This path enables:

– Stored Runes

– Trigger-Based Glyphcasting

– Internal Chain Reactions

– Passive Multiphase Anchoring

Cost:

– All Current Spells Will Be Lost

Note: System will retain prior structural logic for reconstruction, but active arrays will be cleared.

Lucen stared at the line.

’Of course. You wait until I’m in a moving car and almost unconscious to drop this.’

The prompt hovered, translucent, almost embarrassed.

He didn’t reach for it.

Just read it again.

’Stored runes. Reactions. Multiphase triggers. That’s not a spell tree. That’s a landmine manual.’

He rolled his neck slightly, just to hear something pop.

The others were still quiet.

Taira drove like she didn’t care what they were thinking.

Lucen blinked once. Slow.

’Give up all my working spells. Go back to zero. In exchange for... god knows what. System’s not even showing the interface previews. That’s new.’

The window flickered again.

No pressure. No countdown.

Just the option. Waiting. Like it knew he wasn’t the type to decide out loud.

Lucen looked down at his hand. Calluses on the pads of his fingers. Bare traces of mana-stain from repeated casts. Muscle tension still lingering from the last glyph drop.

’They’re mine. My spells. I built them. But... they’re starter tools. If the system’s offering this, it thinks I’ve hit a ceiling.’

A quiet part of him muttered, ’Or it wants to see what I’ll do if it kicks the ladder out from under me.’

He didn’t select anything.

Didn’t even move his eyes.

Just sat still.

Option hovering. Faint. Patient.

Like it already knew he’d say yes.

Eventually.

—

Lucen didn’t tap the prompt.

He just looked at it.

Let it hang there in the dark corner of his vision while the car rumbled over a busted curb and dipped through another half-lit checkpoint gate.

Then he sighed once.

Not loud.

Just enough for his body to admit he was going to do something dumb.

The system accepted the decision the second his thought sharpened.

[Core Realignment Accepted]

Unbinding current array logic...

Purging active spells every active spell available to user.

Reset complete.

Spellcraft Sovereign – Branch Unlocked

[Sigil Memory Mode: ENABLED]

Note: Reconstructed spells will use direct elemental binds, single-activation arrays, and autonomous triggers when configured.

Lucen’s screen flickered once.

All his slots were empty.

A flat line.

Blank page.

He stared at it for a second too long.

’There goes a week’s worth of blood, sweat, and structural math.’

Then, under the blank slots, new shapes appeared.

Not spells.

Templates.

Six faint glyph archetypes hovered at the bottom of his screen. Just lines. No names. Like the system was giving him a set of loose puzzle pieces and saying, he should go nuts.

He tapped one.

It flared red.

Circular build. Tight loop. Two flow anchors and a combustion tag already in place.

Lucen blinked.

’That’s a fire spell base.’

His screen pinged softly.

Assign Name?

He smiled slightly.

Something about the simplicity made it worse.

Like buying your first sword just to remember you used to fight with a butterknife and a prayer.

He thought for a second.

Then typed in the name.

[Ignition Burst]

Slot 1 Assigned: [Ignition Burst]

Base Type: Elemental / Fire

Mana Cost: 6

Range: 8m

Effect: Creates a fast-launching projectile of compressed fire-mana with mild AoE impact

Cast Type: Instant / Single Sigil

Lucen leaned back in his seat.

The others didn’t notice.

Mira still had her head against the glass.

Senna was half-asleep again.

Callen mumbled something about soup and turned over.

Gen gave him a slow glance.

Didn’t ask.

Just smirked.

Lucen stared at his new spell name for a long second.

Then muttered, "Okay. Back to basics."

—

The road curved.

Not gently. Just sharp enough that Lucen had to press a palm to the ceiling grip and lean with it.

The old Aegion jolted over a cracked slab of forgotten pavement. No one spoke.

Lucen could hear the engine’s hum. Faint. Underpowered. Like it didn’t want to be awake either.

Taira was silent up front, one hand on the wheel, the other resting near a flat panel etched with soft blue runes. They shifted every few seconds, tracking road interference, mana pressure, weather pulse. The usual post-drift junk data that nobody read unless something exploded.

She didn’t look back. Just said, "Anyone dying still?"

Callen grunted from the front passenger seat. "Nothing fatal."

"Define nothing."

"No organs are falling out."

"Good enough."

Lucen leaned back slightly, head hitting the window with a soft thunk.

Cold glass.

Still humid against his skin from all the residual sweat and chalk dust in the air. The scent of blood hadn’t left the car yet. Someone’s armor, probably Senna’s, was still ticking faintly as the glyph filaments inside cooled down.

Mira shifted next to him.

Her voice was low. "I think my left kneecap is backwards."

Lucen didn’t look. "Then sit straighter."

"Thanks. So helpful."

A silence stretched.

Then Gen said, "We made decent time. Fifteen minutes inside. That’s a record for an unlisted."

Senna muttered, "Don’t say record like that. It means we’ll break it next time and lose someone."

Lucen blinked. "So optimistic."

"I’m bleeding out of a sleeve seam. Don’t talk to me about optimism."

Another silence.

Lucen let his head roll sideways against the window. He watched buildings drift past—flat tops, shattered ducts, torn banners from old mana auctions and booster trials. Nobody out there. Just dead windows and old ghosts with good timing.

His system pinged again.

Not loud.

Just a flick.

[Spell System Realigned – Simplified Elemental Mode Active]

[New Spell Slot Available]

Lucen exhaled through his nose.

’Right. Because this is the best time to design something explosive.’