The doorway reopened with a faint hum, folding back like mist.
Leon stepped through.
The Hollow greeted him not with silence, but a breeze—real, gentle wind swirling across the stone corridor. A flicker of firelight curled upward from the torches Kael had set. The walls no longer hummed with uncertainty.
They recognized him now.
He didn't look different.
No glowing aura. No golden eyes. Just Leon.
But the others knew the moment they saw him.
Aris straightened. "It's done?"
Leon nodded.
Roselia tilted her head. "You don't look any stronger."
"I'm not," Leon said. "Not like before."
Kael raised a brow. "Then what happened?"
Leon thought for a moment, then said simply, "It's not about adding more."
He looked at his palm, then closed it gently.
"It's about not needing to."
That silenced them more than any speech could have.
