Standing on the Nightstone wall, Crow did some last-minute mental preparations and observations. The guards no longer stopped him because they knew him and his people. He even walked the wall a few times and helped repel the Scath. Because of the wall, they officially dubbed the new city Fade.

The other reason he came to observe the darkness was that it helped him hone his vision abilities. He’d focused on it recently because he was trying to redesign the Three-Head Crow and Ghostly Vision into something unique.

“The Fade Patrol will arrive shortly,” Guard Melten told him. “You going to fight if those Scath arrive?”

“Sure, but they won’t attack here.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Observation. This section of the wall has the least amount of attacks, meaning they haven’t found a path to the nearby tunnels. Their attacks are heavier in the north. So I believe the breach from the lower caverns is in the northeast tunnels.”

“The others were right. You and your allies are special, and we appreciate the knowledge you’ve provided our city. You’ve saved a lot of lives.”

Crow chuckled and clapped the guard on the shoulder. “We all do our parts.”

“You really going to sneak across this realm?”

“We’ll leave an hour after the fade tomorrow morning.”

“That’s an odd time—oh. That is smart.”

“You aren’t upset?” Crow asked.

“Naw. You’ve all killed many of those bastards, and it’s a solid strategy. I won’t jinx you with a negative comment,” Melten laughed in response.

Distracted by the conversation, Crow didn’t realize his blood temperature was rising until his eyes burned, causing his vision to blur. Ending the ability didn’t help, and he gasped as he stepped back from the edge.

“You okay, kid?”

“No,” Crow admitted and quickly turned for the stairs. “I should be fine, but I need to find my healer.”

Mostly blind, Crow eventually returned home and stumbled in through the door.

“Song Lin!” He shouted while blindly walking toward the back courtyard. Mara was the first to appear, and she caught the stumbling Crow before he fell to the floor.

“You are burning up,” Mara checked him over, and even without Song Lin, she knew what was happening. What was strange was her blood was reacting to his, and she felt her strength dwindle. Laying Crow on the floor, she nearly collapsed on top of him.

Song Lin and the others arrived shortly after, and it took her less than a second to diagnose the issue.

“Keep them together, but move them into the bedroom.”

“Same bed? Why?” Song Xue asked.

“Bloodline awakening. He triggered hers, and I don’t want to ruin her opportunity.”

“Both are going through an awakening? Is that common?”

“Common? Probably not, but it happens. It’s like gaining insight when seeing someone else breaking through. A residual trigger with higher chances of it happening because they share the same bloodline.”

Song Xue had also awakened her bloodline, but its only perk was a snow-based physique. It complemented her cultivation technique ability and made her impervious to cold. Still, most cultivators prayed their whole lives for a bloodline awakening event.

“What’s the second awakening for a Druid?” Song Xue asked.

“I’m not sure. No one ever really talked about it. Sage’s Mind was the most important.”

Almost simultaneously, both of them cried out in agony. Crow clawed at his eyes while Mara was holding onto her head.

“Otto, hold him down,” Song Lin commanded, but the big guy was already gripping Crow’s hands and preventing him from hurting himself.

Crow knew what was happening because he could sense it inside him. When his Sage’s Mind activated, he experienced a similar feeling and knew he was gaining the Sage’s Sight. All his vision-related abilities were melding and linking up to his Sage’s Mind, which was unexpected. The Druid Bloodline had several variations after Sage’s Mind, and Sight might be the most mysterious.

Vision abilities like the Three-Headed Crow and the Silver-Eyed Crow were layers of a more complex structure. As the bloodline awakened, he could see those layers falling into place, providing one superior template with features he could activate or deactivate. Ghostly Visage and other minor abilities he had developed or found were included, too.

Unlike the Celtic setup he had for his Auras, his Sage’s Sight integrated with his blood, which disseminated its information throughout his entire being. It wasn’t just ingrained in his Body like his Auras but etched into his existence the same way Sage’s Mind was.

Crow hadn’t realized he’d opened his eyes because he’d tried to split his consciousness from the pain to keep his sanity. The amount of information dumped into his Mind because of his Sight was scary and overwhelming. He wouldn’t have survived this awakening without the Sage’s Mind, which allowed him to split his consciousness into multiple parts.

“Look at his eyes,” Nadia said. The golden ring around his pupil had spread across the entire pupil but didn’t erase the emerald color. The two colors merged, and the golden-green band glowed with power, but it wasn’t a glow that would light up a room. It was more like the glow seen in a cat’s eyes when light hits it.

Beyond that, his Sage’s Mind also upgraded, but it was hard to describe how it was linked to the Sage’s Sight. The best way he could explain it was a domain created by Mind and Sight, but without experimenting, he couldn’t be sure. He felt it might become an illusion domain. Instinct told him utility was its primary use, not attack or defense.

There was one more perk, but Crow didn’t have a name for it because he hadn’t read anything about it. There was a mysterious energy in his blood that replaced his Mana Sense. Until he learned otherwise, he would call it Sage Energy which was replenished by his Source, Chakras, and his Druid cultivation. In other words, if used appropriately, he could stretch out his Sage Sight around him like he used to do with his Mana Sense and keep it active for quite a while. It was at least five times as efficient as Mana Sense, and he was sure it wasn’t as easily detected. Mana Sense used mana so those sensitive or more powerful could detect when someone was using it. However, this wasn’t mana, so he would have to test its capabilities.

“Whew, that was like a kick to the head,” Mara grumbled next to him but frowned when she saw the blood streaks around Crow’s eyes.

“I’m fine. Just really intense awakening.”

“Your eyes are pretty,” Mara claimed subconsciously and realized she’d said it out loud. The room gave her weird looks, except for Nadia, who nodded as if agreeing.

Crow smiled and flicked her on the forehead. “Remind me, once you’ve consolidated your new bloodline power, to share some techniques I’ve developed to help you maximize your Sage’s Mind.”

“Mmm, got it.”

“Alright, everyone, we are fine. Sorry for worrying you all. Better than fine, actually. This boon will definitely improve our chances of success. We are still leaving tomorrow.”