Kaelen stood in the center of the silent chamber, ready to reverse the spell that had been their sanctuary. Reversing the Dimensional Lock was far riskier than casting it, as it required an uncontrolled burst of energy to break the dimensional seal, broadcasting their return across the Kingdom.
"The breach will be instantaneous, but loud," Kaelen explained to Elara, who was strapping the last of their meager supplies to her person. "The Aetheric rupture will feel like a massive earthquake to those in the capital, instantly alerting Valerius."
He placed the Codex of Echoes on the floor and laid his hands upon it, channeling his fully restored, purified Blue Rank Aether. Instead of siphoning energy, he was now forcing it—a massive internal pressure against the dimensional walls of the void.
The chamber began to hum, but the sound quickly escalated to a bone-vibrating shriek. The seamless, obsidian walls of the pocket dimension began to fracture, revealing faint, distorted images of the outside world.
"The moment we return, we must use the Temporal Foresight I mastered to locate the Sunstone Aether Bank," Kaelen commanded, his face straining with the exertion. "Valerius will have it guarded by his highest-ranked mages, likely the few remaining Archmagi loyal to the crown."
The pressure intensified until the air in the void became sharp, metallic, and impossible to breathe.
With a final, explosive surge of power, Kaelen shattered the dimensional seal.
The transition was violent. One moment, they were in the cool, silent void; the next, they were back in the geothermal heat of the Sunstone Caves. The sound of their return was a deafening, echoing Aetheric Thunderclap that rolled across the Northern Wastes and was felt instantly in the capital.
The moment Kaelen's feet touched the ground, he initiated the Subtle Scrying he had practiced in the void. He didn't wait for a visual confirmation; he reached out with his mind, using the Temporal Foresight to instantly map the capital's defense layout as it existed 3.2 seconds in the future.
He saw the immediate panic in Valerius's court, the rush of high-level mages toward the Sunstone Caves, and the single, vulnerable entry point to the Sunstone Aether Bank.
"Go!" Kaelen shouted, grabbing his Staff and the Codex. "The caves are being sealed now. We have less than twenty minutes before the capital's Archmagi arrive to contain the dimensional breach."
He led Elara through the tunnels, moving with the speed and certainty of a man who had already seen their next five steps. They burst out of the cave complex, leaving the shattered dimensional chamber behind them, now racing against a magical defense system that was only just beginning to react to their return.