Duke leaned back slightly in his chair. "You mentioned levels."
Isolde inhaled slowly, as though arranging thoughts that had taken years to assemble.
"Our world," she began, "is currently SSS."
Bruce's gaze sharpened immediately.
"At that stage," she continued, "a world is no different from an immense pocket dimension. Vast, yes. But still self-contained. Stable and limited. The laws governing it restrict growth beyond a certain ceiling."
Her hand gestured faintly toward the vaulted ceiling, as if indicating invisible boundaries encasing their reality.
"Above that," she said, voice lowering slightly, "is what they call Star System Level."
The term carried weight.
"At that level, a world evolves into a true planetary system. It awakens celestial bodies. A star. Additional planets. A self-sustaining cosmic flow. Mana no longer circulates merely within a closed boundary. It interacts with stellar forces."
Bruce's heart thudded once against his ribs.
