Crazy Awakening: My luck can copy Talents.

At ten-thirty that night, Ishtar led Adrián down to the basement.

They descended all seven floors in the cage elevator.

Adrián noticed that Ishtar was quieter than usual.

Not less observant.

Not less present.

Just quieter, as if the atmosphere itself demanded a certain amount of respect.

They stepped out of the elevator into a hallway Adrián hadn’t seen during his first visit.

This one didn’t lead toward the training room.

It went in the opposite direction.

The walls were made of rough, unpolished stone.

The air smelled mineral and ancient, like incense that had been burning for centuries.

At the end of the hallway stood a pair of dark wooden doors, their bronze handles shaped like serpents.

Ishtar stopped before opening them.

"Okay, brother-in-law. This is the room. There’s a circle carved into the floor inside. You’re going to stand in the center. You’ll place the parchment on the altar at the far end. The parchment will activate on its own. And then you’ll hear the voice."

"...Okay."

"Not his literal voice, all right? It’s not like Nikolás Ríos is actually going to be talking inside the room. You’ll hear the echo of his plea. Like the air itself is speaking in his voice."

She looked at him.

"It’s weird. Intense. Most reincarnates get dizzy the first time. Don’t be embarrassed if you need to hold onto the altar."

"Okay."

"You listen to everything he has to say. Don’t interrupt. When he’s finished, you say either ’I accept’ or ’I reject’ out loud. Nothing in between. The circle understands those two answers and nothing else. If you accept, you’ll disappear from the circle and reappear at the human’s location."

"Like teleportation?"

"Like teleportation. Welcome to demonic magic. It’s useful."

"Okay. And what do you guys do?"

"Kael already left. He’s outside the human’s building right now, keeping his distance and staying out of sight. He’ll remain there for the entire execution. I’ll stay up here in an observation room. I’ll use my Talent to watch you the whole time."

"Your Talent lets you see me from a distance?"

"My Talent lets me do more than most people can, brother-in-law."

Ishtar tapped one finger against her temple.

"The Empress is forced empathy. I can tune myself to you and feel what you feel. And if you’re feeling what you’re seeing, I can see it too. Think of it as a direct connection."

She smiled faintly.

"You’ll feel me at the back of your neck the entire time. Just a light presence. Nothing invasive. If anything goes wrong, I’ll know immediately."

"And then?"

"I activate Kael."

"..."

"Don’t worry about that. Focus on the human. Listen carefully to what he says."

Her expression became more serious.

"Especially what he offers in exchange."

Adrián looked at her.

"The payment always tells you more about the human than the request does."

Ishtar placed a hand on one of the double doors.

Then, without turning around, she added:

"And, brother-in-law."

"Yeah?"

"This is an important contract. Not just because it’s your first."

Adrián already knew what was coming.

"The missing girl is one of the five cases you were investigating in connection with the Fall. Rhea knows. I know. You know."

She looked back at him.

"This is more than a test."

A pause.

"It’s your first real lead from inside the system."

"Yeah."

Adrián exhaled.

"I figured that out."

"Good."

She pushed the door open.

It moved with a low creak.

Adrián stepped inside.

---

The summoning chamber was circular.

Polished black stone covered the floor.

At its center was a magic circle carved directly into the stone, its lines filled with raised silver inlays.

Adrián didn’t recognize the symbols.

His soul apparently did.

Because the moment he looked at them, something inside him vibrated ever so slightly in response.

The circle was roughly ten feet across.

At the far end of the room, against the opposite wall, stood an altar made of dark stone with a wide base and a smooth surface.

Three black candles burned on top of it.

Nothing else.

No windows.

No other doors.

Only the circle.

The altar.

And silence.

Adrián breathed in.

He walked toward the altar.

Then he pulled the parchment from the inside pocket of the coat Rhea had given him that afternoon.

Black.

Long.

Embroidered with details he still hadn’t taken the time to examine closely.

He placed the parchment on the smooth stone surface.

The parchment moved.

Barely.

As though it had taken a breath.

Adrián stepped back.

Then, very slowly, the red thread tied around it loosened by itself.

The parchment unfurled across the altar.

The characters written across its surface began glowing with a soft red light.

And from the center of the parchment rose a thin column of black smoke.

No smell.

No heat.

Adrián backed into the circle.

He positioned himself directly in the center.

The circle beneath him activated.

The silver symbols lit up with the same red glow as the parchment.

Adrián felt a vibration begin beneath the soles of his feet.

It climbed through his legs.

His torso.

His arms.

Until it reached his fingertips and seemed to spill out through them.

It didn’t hurt.

It felt more like standing too close to a massive subwoofer playing something so low that you felt the sound more than you heard it.

The air itself became heavy.

And then—

he heard the voice.

Not with his ears.

With something deeper.

Somewhere behind them.

Somewhere deep inside his skull.

The voice arrived as though the air itself were vibrating with it, with no identifiable source, surrounding him from every direction at once.

It belonged to a man.

Tired.

Broken.

The voice of someone who had already cried everything a human body was capable of crying and was now speaking from that dry, empty place left behind afterward.

"Listen to me, whoever you are. Please. Just listen to me."

Adrián grabbed the edge of the altar on instinct.

Ishtar had been right.

He was dizzy.

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