Chapter 46

  Jimmy’s Eyes

  The last goblin was still warm when the river started whispering.

  Dan was yelling something about formation.

  Jimmy ignored him, absorbing Qi on autopilot.

  The water was wrong—ripples too even, like someone had drawn grid lines across it.

  He followed the data.

  Clarity Cascade flickered—half pain, half revelation.

  He crouched, looking closer.

  The flow bent north, uphill.

  Another pulse, tighter, cleaner.

  Something upstream was feeding it—four, maybe five kilometers.

  Cold.

  Potent.

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  His left eye strobed white.

  Throb.

  Throb.

  Like a drum only he could hear.

  Trap or treasure?

  He stood.

  Dan shouted again—something about not dying alone.

  Jimmy was already moving.

  The ground climbed from scrub to rock, the river narrowing, foaming.

  Every step, the pull sharpened.

  The drum beat harder.

  He didn't stop

  Time blurred.

  The terrain turned jagged, granite spires, and wind carved stone.

  The river shrank to a deep stream, feeding from a spring.

  At its source, a basin surrounded by rock.

  A glowing blue crystal at the bottom.

  Throb.

  A vessel burst in his eye, a warm trickle down his cheek.

  He smiled.

  Good data.