The notification faded, and for a heartbeat, the chamber was silent. Leonhardt's breath misted in the cold air, anticipation humming under his skin. Power was never cheap, and this could cost him... maybe everything.
A faint ripple distorted the space beside his desk.
One after another, the monster cores materialised, tumbling out of the void and onto the polished obsidian.
They weren't just stones.
Each one was a crystallised, beating heart, a tiny universe of hunger and violence, radiating power even dormant.
The Fae cores shimmered with pastel lights, each pulse whispering of wild magic, beauty, and cruelty. The Djinn cores throbbed with stormy blue, promising the freedom and madness of elemental chaos. The Arachne cores glowed an eerie violet, dense with venom and the patience of a predator.
