He was still falling when the Divine Seed was filled to the brim. More power seeped into the Divine Seed, but the excess was repelled and violently spread through his body.

  Time around him seemed to come to a crawl; however, that might have just been his mind working faster than normal.

  Regardless of what it was, David had more than enough time to focus on his advancement. He reached 2-Star, expanding the Divine Seed, and earned the corresponding rewards. First and foremost, his physical strength surged. His muscles constricted, and he winced in pain as raw power surged through him, forcing Body, Mind, and Soul to grow—to keep up with the standards of a 2-Star Ascendant.

  No, wait a moment… David recalled something.

  Zachariah thought I was already a 2-Star Ascendant. And that was back when he attacked me. He was certain I was a 2-Star Ascendant…

  Did he recall the Regressor’s words correctly? If he wasn’t delusional, which he hoped he wasn’t, and Zachariah hadn’t been wrong either, David had to be stronger than the average Ascendant. Zachariah, being the Regressor he was, likely encountered dozens of Ascendants—possibly hundreds—meaning he knew what he was talking about.

  “[Reinforce] and Serene Ego’s Class Skills are that powerful, huh?” David mused to himself. Then again, he also had Vitae, which augmented his physical strength and other attributes permanently as well.

  The more he thought about it, the more he loved what he had achieved. Spending months on [Reinforce] to improve Body and his Energy Pathways, while also creating a firm foundation with [Mind Palace] and [Soul Domain], had been more than worth it. Not to mention the Modification, Promethean Constitution, which had likely contributed to his growth—David couldn’t help but be satisfied.

  “Show me what you got for me, System!” he growled through gritted teeth as the power of his 2-Star Divine Seed settled. His Body, Mind, and Soul were sore, exhausted, and in pain, but pain was no stranger to him.

  [Congratulations, Ascendant! You not only created Path-related bonds with mortals but you succeeded in the creation of a planetary bond!

  Your Divine Seed has been filled to the brim. The accumulated Might fused successfully with your Divine Seed, following the completion of all ascension requirements.]

  [The second threshold has been crossed.

  Second Arcana has been unraveled.]

  [Blood Symphony – 1]

  David’s eyes narrowed as the Arcana of his second Star settled within the Divine Seed. He waited for his Trait to trigger, and it did—fortunately.

  [Trait, Devourer, has been activated. The Ascendant may or may not remove the Arcana, Blood Symphony, to replace it with another Arcana.

  Remark: The Ascendant’s first Arcana can also be devoured and replaced with a more suitable Arcana.]

  The ‘more suitable’ part gave David pause. Everything he knew suggested that the Divine Seed’s Arcanas were highly suitable to the Ascendant’s set of powers. He was sure Blood Symphony would be highly useful for him as well—if he didn’t have something else up his sleeve. Was the System aware of his plan? How?

  Regardless, David willed Devourer to consume Blood Symphony, whereas Cycle’s Embrace remained. A catalog of Arcanas and Traits that once belonged to William and the Champions his old friend devoured unfolded before him. Still, David had already made his decision.

  [Devourer successfully consumed Blood Symphony.

  The Ascendant has concluded his selection.

  Arcana, Passage, has been imprinted into the Ascendant’s Divine Seed.

  Be aware that Arcana and Traits imprinted with the Trait, Devourer, can no longer be removed—without damaging the Divine Seed.]

  That was good to know, though David doubted it would matter. His new Arcana had been annoying when William used it, and David was confident in transforming the Arcana into a worse nightmare.

  Since it was William’s spatial ability, David knew what to expect, but he was positively surprised when he received an influx of information regarding Passage’s functions and restrictions.

  I can teleport to every place I’ve been… after Passage’s Arcana settled? That’s unfortunate. It would have been fun to randomly visit Seraphine’s home world, scaring her a little. He snickered while devising plans on how to exploit Passage’s ability.

  It would take some time to travel across the Earthen Union, and even longer to increase Passage’s level, which was a necessity to travel across large distances with manageable energy and Might consumption.

  He’d considered various other options—Arcanas that sounded as impressive as they were useful—but the ability to travel through space was essential. It was a necessity if he wanted to travel to the other side of the Earthen Union, Rifts, and other worlds, while retaining the ability to return to Orhain at the first sign of danger. Sure, longer distances required more energy—for now, at least—but David noticed that he could charge the Arcana.

  Passage accepted all kinds of energies, though it favored Might, and it retained the invested energy. Occasionally, traces of pure Blood leaked—roughly a droplet per day, which was more than acceptable.

  Once the Arcana had settled, and the rest of his very being no longer felt like a mess, David noticed that he was close to the ground. He could have used his control over the Weave to slow his fall but chose Passage instead. Space around him distorted as the Arcana teleported him exactly two meters above his previous position.

  The teleportation repurposed his momentum and drained it almost entirely. He slowed down, happy with the result of his first use of Passage, and he activated it once more when the ground was close enough to smell the plowed land to his left. His feet touched the ground with no difficulties, until the remaining energy infused into Passage released at his command.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  It was an accident, but he activated the Arcana again, teleporting him two meters into the air.

  “Looks like we have a sensitive one here,” he mused to himself as he landed on the ground once more.

  David had a few abilities that required precise control, but Passage seemed even harder to manage. That did not transform the Arcana into a bad ability to have. If anything, it allowed David to tweak the Arcana as he pleased—once he learned how to wield it with precision.

  He felt the attention of dozens of people on him and looked up to see some Farmers, Botanica Sorcerers, and other Classers who had been working in the fields now staring at him.

  “Hey there,” David greeted them with a faint smile. “I’m back.”

  He had to put on his best poker face as they stared at him. Some glanced at the sky where he came from, probably expecting more people to fall, while a few younger Classers looked at him as if his fall from the sky had mesmerized them.

  David turned away when nobody said anything, and he walked back to Orhain. On his way to the Sanctuary, he used Passage about a dozen times, teleporting himself several meters back at a time. He then moved to the left and right, overlapping the areas Passage had already mapped with a zig-zag pattern before resuming his work. David tried to teleport into the air but quickly noticed that Passage moved him to the ground instead—precisely where he had just been.

  “The altitude matters, too? I should have expected as much,” David mused to himself and continued with the experiment. He released pure Blood into the surroundings, creating a small domain that was wholly shrouded in crimson. Using Passage again allowed him to slightly alter his teleportation.

  The Divine Seed was still busy consuming the surplus power seeping into it, but David extracted it to fuse Might with the makeshift pure Blood domain. A moment later, he teleported into the air, to a spot he hadn’t been before—physically, at least.

  “So the presence of Might counts? That has to be good enough,” he said and released a pillar of Might which mapped out everything for Passage, be it above or below him. While not perfect, constantly consuming traces of Might, it removed one of Passage’s disadvantages.

  ***

  “I want a device that allows me to create portals,” David demanded as he barged into the workshop no more than a few days after his return from Seraphine’s home world.

  “It’s great to see you too,” the Tirac Artificer rolled her eyes.

  “You’re happy to see me? I highly doubt that,” David snickered. He didn’t even have to feel their bond to tell how she felt. Her clattering scales and deadpan expression were more than enough.

  “Not really. I’m just trying to be nice to the big boss,” she said without a change in her expression. “Anyway, you came here for a reason.”

  David nodded. “Yes, the portal device.”

  “It feels like you’re talking about it as if something like that already exists.” The Tirac Artificer cocked an eyebrow at him but relented when David stared back at her. “Well, devices like that do exist. They’re Relics, though, as they require spatially-attributed energy to be controlled. It would be even better if someone like your girlfriend used a portal device—not like Maja needs something like that anyway.”

  Maja told her about us? he wondered, shrugging inwardly. It was not exactly important to keep their relationship hidden.

  “Maja is busy. She’s working herself to the bone to help me, and I…I feel a bit odd to be on the receiving end all the time.” David saw no reason to hide how he truly felt. For one, the Tirac Artificer was kind and straightforward, albeit a bit odd. Second, even if she were to laugh at him, he wouldn’t care.

  One way or another, David wanted to help Maja… help him. Replicating her ability to create portals would be great, even more so since he was an Ascendant and thus unable to use the permanent portals in the Portal Hub. Taking a piece of Maja’s workload would help everyone—mostly himself—but it would also aid their rescue programs.

  Zachariah had already marked more than three dozen areas with settlements in dire need of help, and four of them no longer existed. One had been destroyed due to a Rift break—none of the Classers in the settlement survived. One was annihilated by another group. A third disappeared, and the residents of the fourth settlement had been kidnapped, if the Seekers’ findings could be believed.

  The Tirac Artificer regarded him for a moment and nodded. David’s bond with her rippled and appeared to have grown stronger. She seemed… impressed?… with what she saw.

  “Do you have a spatial attribute to utilize a portal device? If the attribute is strong enough, preferably stemming from a Basic Skill Rune or stronger, I might be able to create what you need. But you should keep the material price and energy consumption in mind. I highly doubt I can craft an efficient portal device. You will probably be disappointed given the amount of resources you have to invest.”

  “I don’t mind the price, and I do have a fairly strong spatial attribute. That is, if you can work with the properties of an Arcana.”

  David used Passage and teleported through the workshop, which was fairly simple now that he had mapped out the entire Sanctuary as well as most of Kamia. It took him a few days to create an efficient method to map out the surroundings for Passage, but he discovered and abused it relentlessly.

  The Tirac Artificer stepped forward with a small device David had never seen before. It made noises, one louder than the other, and began to glow golden.

  “That… works,” she said, her eyes resting on him for a few seconds. “An Arcana like that is rare. I think only Champion Mirachido had the trace of a spatial-attributed Arcana, and even that was something he worked for tirelessly. His Patron is a feisty Goddess—you know—and also very stingy.” The Artificer sighed deeply. “It is hard to believe how many good people died in the Dwarven Sanctuary.”

  She shook her head, a defeated look plastered all over her face. It didn’t last long, however, and her expression lit up again.

  “Anyway, we are in good hands here in Orhain. The Familia’s connection has been established, which you’ll have to visit to procure a bunch of materials for me—if you still want the portal device—and we will soon be visited by many more Protectors as well as Goddess Seraphine’s people.”

  The Artificer’s mood swings were a little out of character, but David disregarded them. He focused on the more important parts.

  Seraphine’s temple was being constructed, the World Gate seed had been planted and was being nourished. The Familia had settled a week prior to his return. It took the Familia no more than three days to integrate itself fully into Orhain. There had only been some minor issues, which had been taken care of quickly; too many Protectors wanted to join Orhain, yet they didn’t have any open slots for new bonds.

  That wasn’t a problem if they were willing to forsake one of their already established bonds, but most Protectors were unwilling to do so. For some, it was a cultural problem; for others, it was their lifeline. And then there were stubborn idiots, zealots, and so forth.

  David hired the triplets to interrogate all new Protectors and to send all those back who didn’t pass the Truthseeker, Soulseer, and Memoira tests. Those unwilling to take the tests were kicked to the curb—on the other side of the Familia portal, of course.

  That reminded him of the twelve siblings from Unitas. Their bonds had grown rapidly, and they were already among the strongest Favor bonds David had. He was not quite sure what had happened in the last few weeks, but Lukas took them in after touring the residents of Unitas through Orhain. Since then, things had changed a lot, and at the same time, they hadn’t.

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