— — — — — —
[No Na] Headquarters
Right next to the bathhouse, in what used to be a massage room. Ryo's figure flickered into existence, quickly sketching itself into reality from the void.
He looked around casually—the long bench had been cleaned and tidied up, and golden sunlight stread through the window.
Returning from the Strike the Blood world, Ryo let out a long breath.
"Already morning... fourteen hours later, huh?"
He had spent fourteen days in the Strike the Blood world. In comparison, only fourteen hours had passed here in Little Garden.
Not a long ti, really. Ryo figured that with such a short absence, nothing too dramatic should have happened while he was gone.
Still, sothing about it didn't sit right with him.
Fourteen days in Bleach, twenty-eight in Demon Slayer, and now fourteen in Strike the Blood—was there so weird pattern to the ti dilation?
With that thought, he opened up the Dinsional Forum and casually posted a question:
"Why is the amount of ti I can stay in other worlds so inconsistent?"
Almost imdiately, an official response from the system popped up:
[Answer: The duration of your stay is determined by the conceptual distance between Little Garden and the target world. The closer the connection, the longer you can stay. Minimum stay is 7 days, with no fixed upper limit.]
Ryo chuckled. "So it's basically like being a Servant in the Holy Grail War?"
A seven-day limit... sounded just like the rules in Fate.
Amused by the similarity, he typed in another question: "Does this fixed ti limit apply even if I travel to the sa world multiple tis?"
[Answer: Yes. Unless you use points to extend your stay or the target world has been fully registered into Little Garden's observation system, each visit to the sa world will have a consistent, fixed duration.]
"So unless I spend points or the world's been integrated into Little Garden, my ti per visit is locked..."
That cleared up a lot.
But just as he was about to close the forum, a new pop-up appeared—this ti, more attention-grabbing than the rest:
[Permission request: Allow Little Garden Central System to re-observe your divine spirit profile?]
Ryo narrowed his eyes.
Here we go.
The mont he'd been waiting for.
Whether or not the ten familiars he brought back could be strengthened... all hinged on what this observation would reveal.
If this worked out, then the familiars tied to the twelve constellations might be officially linked to the Zodiac itself.
And that ant they could potentially be connected to the Sun Authorities.
After all, in Little Garden, the Zodiac constellations fall under the jurisdiction of the Sun Authorities—one of the highest-ranking divine systems in the entire realm.
With that thought, Ryo calmly gave his reply: "Permission granted."
Hummm...
A faint, near-inaudible vibration echoed through the air.
In that mont, Ryo saw a phantom image of a massive celestial pillar stretching endlessly into the sky—and then, everything returned to normal.
He instinctively opened the Dinsional Forum again and tapped into the post linked to the Central System, scrolling all the way to the latest updates.
[First Judgnt: Classified as a symbiotic Gift with the potential for growth.]
[Second Judgnt: Correspondence found with inherited traits of the Zodiac constellations.]
[Third Judgnt: Previously exposed to fear-based worship, but has not yet t the threshold for full godhood.]
Reading through the detailed diagnostics, Ryo nodded with satisfaction.
He exited the system thread and tapped on his character profile in the forum. Skipping over all the older records, he jumped straight to the newest Gift listed.
[Symbiotic Gift: Familiar]
[Familiar: A spiritual entity bearing the legacy of the Zodiac signs, born from the embryonic form of a fear-worshiped evil god.]
[Rating: Four-digit tier (Elite) – Special Symbiotic Gift.]
Ryo couldn't hold back anymore—he broke into laughter.
"Hah! I knew it. Getting linked to the Zodiac really does make all the difference."
The Sun Authorities—Little Garden's most powerful system.
Anyone who controls even half of the Sun Authorities can literally reshape rules and bend the laws of reality.
And since the 12 Zodiac comprises half of the 24 Sun Authorities...
Having familiars tied to those constellations ant they'd naturally receive an elevated spiritual classification.
"Looks like my hunch was right on the mark."
He let the joy simr down and smiled, thinking out loud:
"If Strike the Blood were already under Little Garden's observation, then the Fourth Primogenitor's familiars would probably cap out at five-digit tier. Because once observed, the system evaluates them based on known information."
"But if there's no prior data—and they're carrying Zodiac inheritances like Avrora and the others—the system has to treat them as brand-new entities. Since they were created with divine blueprints and modeled after the constellations, it's only natural that they'd sync with the Sun Authorities."
The logic was simple.
Little Garden's Central System had never encountered the concept of "familiars" before. Without external information to limit its judgnt, it analyzed based on internal traits—Zodiac inheritance, divine origin, and structural design.
All of that pointed directly to a connection with the Sun Authorities.
And anything linked to the Sun Authorities in Little Garden?
Almost guaranteed to be powerful beyond reason.
It was entirely plausible that the familiars would receive four-digit ratings in one go.
And even if this gambit failed, Ryo had still left two of the familiars behind in Strike the Blood. They held all the magical signatures of the group. Worst case, he could revive the others through them.
That was one of the main reasons he'd left No. 10 behind—the one under ntal control.
Only it had the capacity to store the consciousness of the other "Avroras," acting as a failsafe for resurrection.
"The only downside is that once No. 10 and No. 12 get observed post-Strike the Blood, this bonus will disappear... but that's fine."
A confident grin spread across Ryo's face.
"Lady Shiroyasha already holds Capricorn and Pisces Sun Authorities. At worst, I just need to pay a little price to trigger another familiar evolution."
With that, Ryo spoke calmly, as if everything was right on schedule. "All according to plan."
And just as he was soaking in his small victory—
Smack!
A black fan suddenly sliced through the air from the void and cracked him across the head with a crisp slap.
A playful, youthful voice followed. "Was that smack also part of your plan?"
Ryo didn't react. He just smiled quietly, making no effort to explain.
From the void, Shiroyasha's voice echoed again—half amused, half scolding:
"You've got guts, kid. Trying to tap into my Sun Authorities? If I hadn't personally suppressed the automatic defense system, one of my Star Beasts would've already bitten your head off."
There were serious risks to trying to hijack a piece of Sun Authority.
The holders of these Authorities were all legendary powerhouses in Little Garden—and they'd definitely notice if sothing odd was happening with their domains.
Fortunately for Ryo, more than half of the Zodiac-linked Sun Authorities belonged to Shiroyasha.
So the backlash wasn't too harsh.
That's what gave him the confidence to gamble.
Sure enough, Shiroyasha seed to let it slide, grumbling:
"Co file a report with tomorrow. Gotta give those upper-level idiots sothing official to look at. Thanks to you, my paperwork has doubled lately."
Muttering under her breath, she withdrew her attention and cut the connection—though her tone clearly held a hint of fondness.
Once she was gone, Ryo finally let out a long breath.
Another wild gamble... and another win.
"If I pull a stunt like that again, my heart's gonna give out," he muttered, closing the Dinsional Forum and stepping out of the room.
Ti to find Leticia or Black Rabbit and figure out how to write a proper report for the higher-ups.
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