Six months have passed since Noctis' departure, and tensions in Flame's Crest are growing. News from the border is not encouraging; the conflict with the Shadow Viper Sect is heating up, and several Burning Sky Sect cultivators have fallen in ambushes.
Lumina, now a respected formation consultant, has been given the important task of strengthening the city's early warning system. This formation must be able to detect enemy cultivators from a distance before they reach the city walls.
One afternoon, Lux watches his mother from the corner of his study. Lumina stands in front of a large energy map that projects the entire city, her face looking tired and frustrated.
"It's not working," she muttered, staring at the points of light representing the formation nodes. "There's always a gap in the northwest sector."
Lux quietly activated his Möbius perception. He saw a complex network of coefficients stretching across the city, like a giant energy spider web. Most of the formation had coefficients around 0.99900-0.99920, stable and strong.
But in the northwest sector, just as his mother had said, there was a small but critical flaw. The coefficient was only 0.99910 low enough to allow infiltration by a high-level cultivator.
"Don't even think about it, worm," Mobius warned, as if reading Lux's intentions.
"But it's just a small distortion," Lux protested in his mind. "I just need to increase the coefficient slightly, from 0.99910 to 0.99915. Only 0.00005!"
"You don't understand the complexity of large-scale formations! It's not like distorting a cup of water! Every node is connected to hundreds of other nodes. Changing one point will affect the entire system!"
But Lux saw his mother growing increasingly frustrated. Lumina had spent three days trying to fix the gap without success. Her eyes were glassy, her hands trembling from exhaustion—this was the first time Lux had seen his mother so desperate.
"Mom..." Lux said, approaching her. "Are you okay?"
Lumina tried to smile, but it was forced. "I'm fine, dear. Just... a little tired."
She stroked Lux's head before returning to her work. Lux watched as his mother's Soul Pillar worked too hard, trying to sense every energy fluctuation in the vast formation.
"She'll destroy herself if she keeps this up," Lux muttered.
"It's none of your business! Let the worms handle worm problems!"
But Lux's heart was unsettled. He remembered his promise to his father to take care of his mother. He remembered how his mother had always been there for him, caring for him patiently even when she was tired.
When Lumina went to the kitchen to get tea, Lux saw his chance. He approached the energy map projection, his eyes fixed on the problematic node in the northwest sector.
Coefficient: 0.99910
It only needed a small distortion. Very small. He had been practicing for months, mastering controlled distortion on small objects. This wouldn't be much different.
"WORM, DON'T!" Mobius shouted, his voice more panicked than usual. "The formation is too complex for your current level! You don't understand the consequences!"
"But I can fix it," Lux replied stubbornly. "I just need to increase it a little..."
He concentrated, visualizing the Möbius Gauge. The glitch needle moved along the paradoxical surface, measuring the node coefficient.
0.99910... 0.99911... 0.99912...
The energy in his body began to drain, faster than he had expected. The city formation required far more power than the small objects he usually trained with.
"STOP! You current self won't be able to withstand the backlash!"
But Lux had gone too far. He saw the node begin to glow brighter in his perception, its coefficient rising slowly.
0.99913... 0.99914... 0.99915!
For a moment, everything seemed to be working. The node that had been dim was now shining brightly, matching the other nodes in the network.
Lux smiled, feeling satisfied. He had helped his mother!
But then...
BRRRZZZZT!
A low rumbling sound echoed throughout the house. The energy map in front of Lux suddenly flickered wildly, its colors changing from a stable blue to a fiery red.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Lumina shouted from the kitchen, running back into the room.
Before Lux could react, an invisible wave of energy burst from the map, hitting her and her mother. Lumina was thrown backward, slamming into the wall with a thud.
"MOM!" Lux screamed.
But that was only the beginning. Outside the window, formation alarms sounded in three neighboring houses, even though no threat was detected. Energy lights flashed uncontrollably along the city walls, causing the residents to panic.
"Idiot! I warned you!" Mobius scolded, his voice full of anger and... fear?
Lux ran to his mother's side as she lay on the floor. "Mom! Mom, I'm sorry!"
Lumina slowly opened her eyes, rubbing her aching head. "What... what happened?"
"He senses it," Mobius whispered in Lux's mind. "Elder Feng... he senses the disturbance from the sect headquarters."
Lux felt his chest tighten. He just wanted to help, but instead he made everything worse.
A few minutes later, the guard cultivator rushed into their house. "Lady Lumina! There's a strange disturbance in the city formation! Elder Feng has ordered a lockdown!"
Lumina stood unsteadily, still dizzy. "I... I don't know what happened. The formation suddenly became unstable."
She looked at Lux, who was pale and frightened, then hugged him tightly. "Don't be afraid, dear. Mother is fine."
But Lux knew this was no coincidence. And from the expressions of the cultivators who had arrived, she knew this was serious.
"They'll investigate," said Mobius, his voice low and dangerous. "And if they find you... you know what will happen."
Lux shivered, realizing how foolish he had been. His power wasn't a toy it was a double-edged sword that could destroy her and everything she loved.
From afar, he heard more alarms sounding as the sect's emergency response team arrived. The energy lights still flickered erratically in the night sky, a stark reminder of his mistake.
He saw his mother's confused and worried face, and for the first time, Lux truly understood the meaning of Mobius' warning.
The world wasn't ready for his power. And he wasn't ready for the world.
The chaos that unfolded that night left a deep scar on the entire Flame's Crest. Within an hour of the incident, an investigation team from the Burning Sky Sect arrived at the Noctis family home. Lux watched with a piercing sense of guilt as experienced cultivators examined every corner of their house.
Elder Feng himself led the investigation. His face was creased with worry as he stood in front of the energy map that was still flickering erratically.
"This was not an attack from outside," he muttered, his hands covered in subtle energy tracing the air around the map projection. "The energy... is strange. It's as if someone tried to manipulate the formation from within."
Lumina, who was still a little dizzy, stood protectively beside Lux. "I was trying to repair the breach in the northwest sector when suddenly everything went haywire."
"She's protecting you," Mobius whispered in Lux's mind. "But it won't last long once they start investigating deeper."
Lux bit his lip, trying to hold back tears. he wanted to admit his mistake, but the fear of the consequences kept her silent.
The investigation team worked through the night. Lux watched as they used techniques he had never seen before scrying crystals that could record energy traces, spiritual dust that revealed Qi flows, even a spirit bird that could detect disturbances in space.
"Primitive, but effective for their level," Mobius commented dismissively, though Lux could sense the tension in his voice.
As dawn broke, Elder Feng announced their preliminary findings. "It wasn't an enemy attack. It seems there was... spontaneous energy instability within the formation. Like interference waves whose source we couldn't trace."
But Lux knew that wasn't the whole truth. He could see how Elder Feng's eyes occasionally looked at him with a questioning gaze.
The next day, the consequences became apparent. The number of cultivator patrols around their house tripled. Everyone who entered and left their house was carefully recorded. Even the neighbors began to keep their distance, looking at the Noctis family with suspicion.
Lumina, feeling responsible for the incident, worked tirelessly to repair the damage. She spent the following days at the city command center, overseeing the repair of the damaged formation.
"Lockdown mode active," Mobius declared the night after the incident. "No distortions, no experiments, no use of my powers whatsoever until I say it's safe."
"But"
"NO 'BUT'! You nearly destroyed everything because of your impatience! Now they know something unusual is happening. They may not have found you, but they KNOW."
Lux had never heard Mobius so angry and... afraid? The arrogant entity was genuinely worried, and Lux sometimes wondered what this proud Mobius was so worried about.
In the days that followed, Lux fully realized the consequences of his actions. Every time he saw his mother come home with a tired face, every time he heard the cultivators whispering about the "strange incident," every time he saw Elder Feng's questioning gaze, it was all the result of his careless decision.
"I just wanted to help," Lux muttered one night, staring at the sky from his bedroom window.
"Good intentions don't change bad outcomes, worm," Mobius replied, his tone softening slightly. "You must understand that our powers are not toys. They are abilities that can change reality itself. And every change, no matter how small, has consequences."