The holocron's projection faded, folding in on itself with a soft chime like a whispered note. The cube floated an inch above Toren's palm for a moment longer—then dimmed and settled back into his hand.
But the air hadn't stopped vibrating.
Not around him.
Not inside him.
New System Update: External Artifact Linked.—Classification: Jedi Holocron—Analysis: Contains fragmentary historical records, ethical frameworks, and Force-interaction data—Interfacing… Complete.
Toren blinked as a ripple passed through the system's interface—cool and silent, like ink dropped in water. Then a new icon bloomed into his peripheral HUD:
FORCE POTENTIAL: DETECTED
Initiating Core Path Selection
Available Tree: Instinctual Awakening
First Ability Unlocked: Precognition (Lv1)
—Effect: Momentary danger-sense during combat or high-stress interaction.—Accuracy: 68%
—Cooldown: Adaptive
He stared at the entry. The words made sense.
But they didn't feel like they should belong to him.
He hadn't trained. Hadn't earned this.
Still, the memory of the beast charging, of Chirrissk lunging, of moving before he saw the tusks—those weren't just instincts. That had been something else. Something just outside the line of logic. He'd felt it then.
And now the system saw it too.
Toren exhaled slowly, the holocron still warm in his hand.
"The Force does not belong to the Order," the echo of the projection whispered in his memory."It belongs to the living."