The day at Luminous Rest carried a quiet calm.
Marie had sealed herself inside her private room, deep in training. The loot they’d gathered was proving useful. Each was an ally for refining control and enhancing combat flow.
When their usual visitor arrived, it was Lucien alone who went down to et her.
Eirene waited by the hall’s sunlit window. Her composure was as pristine as ever. Yet to Lucien’s beastman senses, sothing was amiss. The Floran Race carried fragrances that changed with their emotions... and hers, usually a tranquil blend of morning dew and soft bloom, now held a sharper tang like mint crushed beneath frost.
Lucien stopped before her with a calm expression.
"You sll troubled."
Eirene blinked... then gave a faint laugh. "And you’ve gotten even more direct. Yes... sothing like that."
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
She inclined her head slightly and shook it.
"Sigh... I’ve been busy these past days, assisting Senior Dawnbinder. First, the matter of the freed people. You must’ve heard about them from Miss Innkeeper? The way we handled their situation might cause friction between factions. Turbulent tis are coming."
Lucien said nothing, listening intently as she continued.
"We gave the forr slaves a choice whether to stay or leave on their own path. Most chose to remain. Senior Dawnbinder offered them shelter," Eirene said evenly. "They’ve been relocated to the Outer District. He even granted them citizenship, though with a condition: five years of work within Aurion before they can claim it fully. Of course, they’re paid and treated equally but Senior Dawnbinder must balance fairness. Too much generosity... and so citizens might protest."
A small smile curved her lips.
"In short... they’ve found a ho. Dawnbinder even decreed that no one may question their origins again."
Lucien narrowed his eyes slightly. He wasn’t sure how deep Eirene’s influence reached within Aurion’s rule. Even Dawnbinder seed to hold her in esteem. But one thing was certain... Eirene had pull within the city.
"He’s a good ruler," Lucien remarked.
"Fair, at the very least," she replied. Then her smile dimd and the sharpness in her fragrance deepened. "But that isn’t why I ca."
Lucien leaned back slightly. "Then what’s wrong?"
Eirene’s gaze turned distant. "I just received word from my network. Formidable powers are moving across the sea... toward the West Continent."
Lucien’s brow furrowed. "Formidable powers?"
She nodded. "Through the intercontinental teleportation array connecting the Five Vast Continents. The record keepers confird it: multiple high-level signatures entered the Western network within the last three days. Most were masked but a few... we’ve identified."
From her sleeve, she withdrew a crystal plaque and slid it across the table. Nas shimred faintly upon its surface.
"The Obsidian Collegium from the North Continent. It’s a large group of great scholars who only move when they sense anomalies in the Laws.
The Star-Forge Cartel from the East. They bid on anything void-related, no matter the price.
The Silent Monastery of the Ninth Bell from the South. It’s a sect of ascetics who appear only when fate itself begins to snarl.
And even so Celestial Race proxies have arrived."
Her voice lowered.
"Those are just the ones confird. Others are cloaked in concealnts so deep the arrays barely registered them. No aura trails. No traces. The kind of arrivals that even Celestial-ranked keepers hesitate to log."
Lucien’s gaze sharpened. "You think they’re here because of the slaves?"
"That’s the rumor the streets prefer," Eirene said softly. "But strong factions don’t cross oceans for morality’s sake. If this were about the slaves, the sects would’ve handled it diplomatically, not dispatched their elites. This feels larger... their attention has shifted here for a reason."
Her eyes flickered.
"...And I fear it has sothing to do with the Ancient Ruin."
Lucien fell silent, mind turning.
’The Ruin... the Eternal of Stillness.’
He rembered what Eirene had told him before. The Ancient Ruin is connected to the Eternal who vanished, leaving behind fragnts of its existence. Whatever lay within that ruin wouldn’t be ordinary. To attract such powers ant that the world itself was stirring.
Eirene continued. Her tone was composed but lined with tension.
"If these powerhouses have co to this region, it ans soone already sensed the Ruin’s coordinates. They may not know its exact location yet... but soon they will. And when that happens..."
She spread her fingers slightly.
"The West Continent will erupt into a storm of banners. Every faction will stake its claim. Even stepping outside could draw the wrong attention."
Lucien’s jaw tightened. "Then we can’t move yet."
"Exactly," Eirene said. "We’ll have to delay the expedition... at least until the first surge of chaos settles. With so many high-ranked beings prowling about, even a single misstep could get us crushed in a quarrel that isn’t ours. Strong or weak, it won’t matter. Offending anyone now would spell disaster."
Lucien exhaled slowly. The air between them felt heavy like the hush before thunder.
He couldn’t shake it... the faint unease twisting beneath her words. A sense that this shift wasn’t random. That it sohow tied back to the night the world forgot.
He didn’t know it yet, but when he invoked the effect of his title: The Unwritten One, a butterfly effect had been set into motion.
The world had forgotten one event... but in doing so, its attention had shifted elsewhere. And when the powerhouses looked toward the West Continent, they sensed it. Another echo pulsing through the Laws.
Stillness stirs.
From the depths of slumber, a faint, ancient aura leaked across the continent. The powerhouses believed it emanated from one of the sealed abodes once belonging to the Eternal of Stillness.
The Eternal of Stillness was a being shrouded in mystery. One of the few who survived the Millennia War and among the rare Eternals whose existence defied even the flow of ti itself.
Now, they were converging to confirm the truth—
Was the Eternal of Stillness still alive, quietly watching from beyond the veil?
Or was it rely one of her ruins, long buried in the folds of history, that had finally awakened for the world to find?
Lucien steadied his tone.
"Then we prepare quietly. In the next few days, I’ll focus on refining my Law and strengthening my realm."
"Good," Eirene said, relief softening her scent again. "I’ll arrange for extended permits for our group and have Senior Dawnbinder approve a delay on the expedition charter. Officially, we’ll say it’s for recalibration of equipnt. Privately..." —her eyes glinted— "we’ll watch what the world does next."
Lucien nodded. "And when the storm finally breaks?"
Eirene’s gaze t his, calm but sharp.
"Then," she said, "we’ll move before the dust settles."
For a while, neither spoke. The light shifted between them and the silence deepened like the pause between two heartbeats.
It was Eirene who finally broke the silence.
Her expression softened into a warm, heartfelt smile. Even her fragrance shifted—sweeter now, like early spring after rain.
"Wolf Brother."
Lucien smiled faintly. "Sister Eirene, you can just call by my na. Luc will do."
Eirene nodded. Her tone carryied sincerity. "Then, Brother Luc... allow to thank you properly for the items you gave before."
Lucien blinked in realization. She was referring to that day he’d asked her to bring materials for his Voidcraft. In return, he’d given her a storage ring filled with small treasures. Drops ranging from common to rare, with one exception: the Hourglass of Slowed Passage.
Eirene’s eyes softened though a curious glint lingered within them.
"I won’t ask how you ca by items infused with divine energy," she said evenly, "but that hourglass... it changed everything for . I’ve beco twice as productive... perhaps more. Even routine work feels effortless now. I can finish in hours what once took days."
A hint of guilt crossed her face.
"I even felt a little undeserving. The materials I exchanged for it weren’t nearly equal in worth. For a rchant, ti is our most precious currency and you’ve just erased that limit for ."
Lucien’s lips curved into a faint smile. "Well... that just ans I chose to trust you."
Eirene’s smile deepened. "Then I’m glad to have earned that trust."
They lingered in quiet conversation for a few more minutes.
When Eirene finally turned to leave, Lucien’s eyes followed her as she walked down the sunlit corridor. .
Yet as she disappeared from sight, Lucien found himself thinking...
’How is she related to the Eternal of Stillness? She beca... different when talking about it... more engrossed.’
He refused to believe that Eirene was motivated by greed. Her tone lacked avarice and her fragrance... wasn’t one of desire or hunger.
No. It was tinged with sothing else.
It wasn’t treasure she sought... it felt like it was sothing she’d lost.
And the way she had approached him and her invitations. It’s almost as if she knew more about the Eternal of Stillness than she dared to admit.
With one last glance down the hall where she had vanished, Lucien exhaled softly. "What are you really after, Eirene...?"
He turned.
Then in silence, Lucien returned to his room to prepare.
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