The last thread locked into place.
The mycelium network blazed. Threads that had been dim now burned with a fierce blue light that pulsed like a heartbeat across the map. Kaelen could feel it every filament, every connection, every node. The power was flowing, not from the water table, not from the sea, but from the ancient vein beneath his feet.
It was working. It was actually working.
But the vein did not want to let go.
[Warning: Energy overflow detected. Primordial vein resisting redirection.]
[Channeling stability: 89%. 86%. 82%.]
The runes around him began to crack forming deep fractures that split the granite with sounds like thunder. Blue light bled through the fissures, spilling across the quarry floor like liquid fire.
Kaelen's knees buckled. His hand began to burn.
