Chapter 45

Caleb Vance stood at the precipice where the rugged mountain slopes gave way to the hidden valley. He didn't move, his boots rooting into the dirt as he took a long, slow breath. The air here was different. It wasn't just the humidity or the scent of unfamiliar flora; it was the sheer weight of the cosmic energy pressing against his skin. It felt a whole tier higher than anything he had experienced on the peaks or in the lowlands. The density was suffocating, thick enough that he could almost...