That night, the celebration at the Scion's estates was lavish. But Senan refused the invitations, claiming he needed to "commune with the void" (sleep).
However, back in his room, he found Patel Zola waiting for him. The Albino boy looked terrified.
"Master," Zola whispered.
"What is it, my student? Did you overheat?"
"No, Master." Zola pointed out the window at the night sky. At the stars. "When I used the White Sun Scripture today... I looked up."
"And?"
"The moon," Zola said, his voice shaking. "It has a health bar."
Jamal froze. "Excuse me?"
"A red bar. Above the moon. And it's draining."
Jamal looked at the system interface. [Alert: Disciple Zola has high Insight. He has perceived the World Barrier Durability.] [Current Durability of World Boundary: 74%.] [Reason for Decay: Something is eating the Ase from the outside.]
Jamal swallowed hard. He wanted to be a scammer. He wanted to teach these kids Dragon Ball Z moves and get paid. He didn't sign up for an existential crisis.
"Master?" Zola asked. "What does it mean?"
Jamal put a hand on Zola's shoulder. He couldn't say 'I don't know.' He was the Sage. "It means, Zola," Jamal said gravely, "that we are going to need a bigger gun."
"And Jomo..." Zola hesitated. "Jomo is sinking into his bed. We had to move him to the cellar."
"Right. Mass accumulation issues. I'll patch that in the morning."
Jamal looked at the moon. Great. Just great. I'm not just a tutor. I'm the admin of a crashing server.
"Go to sleep, Zola. Tomorrow, we start arc two."
"What is arc two, Master?"
"We are going to find a Dungeon," Jamal grinned, though he was terrified inside. "Power leveling."