Lucien turned his gaze back toward the facility.
Below them, Sahrin and Khasari were still on the first layer. he Body Tempering Chamber.
Their muscles trembled as gravity fluctuated without warning. Heat licked at their skin. Pressure reshaped bone and tendon in slow, rciless incrents. Every breath was labor. Every movent demanded adaptation.
This was only the beginning.
Lucien gestured, and the view shifted.
They rose to the second layer. the Mind Tempering Chamber.
A vast space of mirrored corridors unfolded before them. Overlapping reflections. Recursive perspectives.
No enemies. No attacks. Only selves.
"I haven’t brought them here yet," Lucien said. "This layer is still incomplete."
Marie studied the space closely.
"These reflections..." she murmured.
Lucien nodded.
"I tried to reconstruct what we faced in the Ruins of Stillness," he said. "The reflection arrays. The journals from the library called them self-observation loops."
He extended a hand, and the chamber rippled.
"These formations are based on the Eternal of Stillness’s annotations. They force the mind to confront contradiction without resolution."
Marie frowned slightly.
"...That would be brutal."
"It would," Lucien agreed. "But it still needs experintation. If the balance is off, the mind fractures instead of clarifying."
He lowered his hand.
"That’s why they’re not here yet."
They ascended once more.
The highest chamber awaited them. It was empty.
A vast, silent space where light and shadow existed in perfect equilibrium.
"The Soul Chamber," Marie said softly.
Lucien nodded.
"I won’t touch it until the first two are complete," he said. "The soul can’t be forced. And I still need to study the journals more. There are ntions of soul tempering, but not enough detail yet."
Marie glanced at him, understanding.
"And you brought here because..."
"I want your help," Lucien said plainly.
He looked back down at the facility.
"Sahrin and Khasari won’t progress the sa way."
Marie smiled faintly.
"You’ll assist Sahrin," Lucien continued. "She’s steady, but she carries weight she doesn’t acknowledge."
Marie nodded once.
"I’ll handle Khasari," Lucien added. "He needs reassurance more than discipline."
They stood in silence, watching the two below endure.
"When they finally enter the Mind Chamber," Marie said quietly, "and then reach this place..."
Lucien finished calmly.
"Then all that remains is Spiritual Saturation. From that point on, they’ll need enlightennt more than training."
He paused, then added,
"I want to create a layer dedicated to enlightennt as well. It’ll take ti. If you have ideas, tell ."
Marie smiled.
"Alrighty then."
Lucien nodded.
"They’ll be indispensable to the nation we’re building. We’ll need more people like them."
He glanced at her.
"I’ll leave Sahrin to you."
And this ti—
They didn’t rely observe.
They stepped forward, each guiding one path as two mortals began walking toward a future that would no longer be small.
•••
The following day passed quietly.
Several factions ca to pay Lucien a final visit.
Lilith and the Starforge Cartel arrived first. She offered a faint, knowing smile and a simple farewell.
"Fate has a habit of folding paths back together," she said. "If it does, I look forward to seeing what you’ve built by then."
The Obsidian Collegium followed soon after.
"We will rember this encounter," Arctyz said. "That alone ans we will et again. And... I won’t lose next ti."
They did not linger.
What they had co for was finished. Now, they were returning to their continents to digest what they had gained and what they had witnessed.
Not long after, the Celestial-Realm seniors made an announcent to the Verdant Veil.
"It’s ti for us to depart as well," one of them said. "An urgent matter has arisen at the Verdant Veil Headquarters. We’ll be moving to the Maereth Region imdiately."
Lucien nodded, but his attention drifted to the Waystone fragnt in his hand.
Eirene’s marker remained steady. No fluctuation. No distortion. No sign of movent.
Which ant only one thing.
"She’s still in the ruins," Lucien murmured.
The seniors noticed his gaze and smiled faintly.
"She’ll return," one of them said with certainty. "If anyone can walk out of that place unhard, it’s her."
The others shared that confidence.
With departure imminent, Lucien made a decision.
Sahrin and Khasari’s training would have to pause. For now.
He ca back to his personal chamber, first.
When he withdrew them from his inner world, the difference was imdiate.
Their presence felt... heavier.
Both of them had reached the fourth level of the tamorphosis Realm.
Not through reckless advancent but through perfect bodily refinent and stabilized ntal fraworks.
Their bodies had been tempered continuously. Any further advancent in that regard would be smooth, unhindered by instability.
Their minds had already been exposed to the second layer. Though incomplete, the conditioning had taken root.
Only the soul remained untrained. And that could not be rushed.
Lucien was satisfied.
Marie, too, had given him valuable insights, especially regarding the flaws in the Mind Tempering Chamber. The next iteration would be safer, more precise, and more effective.
If not for the fragility of the soul, the two would have already climbed far higher.
But Lucien refused to cut that corner.
...
They prepared for departure.
Sahrin and Khasari now carried themselves differently. Their backs were straighter and their steps were steadier. Confidence radiated from them without the need to be declared.
Marie observed them quietly and nodded in approval.
With her help, Sahrin had finally opened up. Once her mind was no longer weighed down, advancent ca naturally. Progress that once felt distant now followed with clarity.
That earned a praise from Lucien.
"As expected of an extrovert," he said lightly.
Marie had also taken an active role in the Mind Tempering Chamber. Whenever instability surfaced, she intervened without hesitation.
She watched them now with a faint smile. Like a proud parent.
Then, the group stepped forward, fully prepared for what lay ahead.
When the others sensed the change, shock spread quickly.
"It’s only been two days..."
"They’re not mortals anymore..."
"To reach tamorphosis so quickly—"
They praise the two. And also Lucien.
"You saw their worth imdiately," soone said in disbelief. "You didn’t waste them."
After all, talent ant nothing without direction.
Lucien just shook his head, not taking any credit.
Soon after, the Verdant Veil prepared for departure.
One by one, they boarded the Verdant Ark.
As usual, Marie took the reins.
As the massive construct lifted and turned toward the horizon, the Sareth Region slowly faded behind them.
Ahead lay the Maereth Region.
•••
The Verdant Ark cut smoothly through the skies. Lucien stood near the side deck, watching the shifting clouds.
Then he turned.
"Sahrin. Khasari."
The siblings straightened imdiately.
Lucien reached into his inventory and withdrew two identical objects.
They were scales. Deep crimson edged with black as if embers were trapped beneath their surface. The mont they appeared, heat rippled through the air. Not burning but commanding.
"Take these," Lucien said calmly.
The siblings froze.
"Th-that is—" Khasari swallowed.
Lucien nodded.
"They are called Scales of Dominion," he added. "One each."
For a mont, neither of them moved.
Lucien then explained its purpose and how it was ant to be used.
It was a living relic, sothing that grew alongside its wielder, strengthening its resistance to fire and magic.
And Lucien was handing out two.
"You are my first subjects in the Big World," Lucien said evenly. "I won’t be cheap with those who follow ."
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"And these suit your constitutions perfectly."
Sahrin and Khasari accepted the scales with both hands, bowing deeply.
"We won’t forget this, benefactor" Sahrin said, voice steady but thick with emotion.
"We’ll repay you, big brother," Khasari said quickly, grinning as he used the nickna Lucien told him to use before. "No matter how long it takes."
Lucien only nodded.
"Refine them," he said. "Make them yours."
He led them to a quieter corner of the Ark, shielding the area with a thin layer of divine energy.
The siblings sat down and began imdiately.
Essence flowed.
The mont their essence touched the scales—
The reaction was violent. A deep, guttural howl erupted from the relics.
The Scales of Dominion shuddered as if alive, heat surging outward in waves. The air warped. The deck beneath them glowed faintly.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed.
"...They’re responding."
Then sothing unexpected happened.
The tattoos etched across Sahrin and Khasari’s bodies... began to move.
They writhed. Shifted. Like living ink stirred by fla.
Before either sibling could react, the tattoos surged outward...
...and swallowed the scales whole.
The howling cut off abruptly.
Silence fell.
Even Lucien stiffened.
The energy did not explode. It integrated.
The tattoos flared with intense crimson light. their patterns rewrote themselves. What once looked symbolic now carried unmistakable authority.
Fire-threaded scales erged within the designs themselves.
The tattoos had evolved.
Sahrin’s eyes snapped open first. She raised her arm instinctively.
The tattoo flowed outward, forming a broad, curved shield, layered with glowing scales.
Khasari followed a heartbeat later.
His tattoo surged down his arm, condensing into a blade. It was long, edged with ember-lit scales that shimred with latent power.
Both weapons felt alive.
Lucien exhaled slowly.
"...So that’s how they adapt," he murmured.
Even Lucien was surprised by the transformation. He hadn’t expected their tattoos to swallow the scales.
Sahrin and Khasari could feel it too.
Their connection to their tattoos deepened instantly. The living constructs responded to thought, emotion, and intent. And sowhere deep inside, they both sensed the sa thing—
This was only the beginning.
The tattoos could grow, evolve, and beco more.
They turned to Lucien at the sa ti and bowed deeply, far more sincerely than before.
"Thank you, benefactor." Sahrin said quietly.
Khasari nodded hard. "This... this is more than a weapon."
Lucien simply inclined his head.
Around them, the rest of the Verdant Veil watched in stunned silence.
No one spoke. No one even tried to hide their disbelief anymore.
Treasures and living relics... granted without hesitation. Integrated in ways no one had ever seen.
They stopped counting how much Lucien possessed a long ti ago.
At this point, all they could do was sigh.
At least—
He was an ally.
The Verdant Ark continued its flight.
And ahead of them, the Maereth Region waited.
•••
A few hours later, they arrived at the border of the Maereth Region.
And beyond it...
...waited a danger no one had seen coming.
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