At first, when the elderly knight asked my parents to take over the region, the first thought that came to my mind was: can they even do that? I knew power was the final law of the world, and my parents could rule with a stick policy, but this region was still within the regime of the Alberan Empire. Granted that their hold in the backwater was beyond loose, but they were still the ones with the bigger stick.

However, as it turned out, the Knight Captain of the Order of Emberleaf had the power to appoint a city lord, given that they had built a city around Karmel and made sure it was well protected from the demonic incursions.

From what I understood, he wanted Mum to take over the project, even if she did not want to be the lord of the city.

Mum was as utterly befuddled by the situation as I was, though she managed to keep her composure.

"Does the Imperial family know of your choice?"

"Well, they were too impatient to throw off the hot potato into my hands to ask," Sir Gaius grinned.

"So, no then." Mum clicked her tongue. "What about the guild? I think they'll be happy to have a bite off the hot potato."

"They would, wouldn't they?" The elderly man laughed. "The way I see it, guilds are another term for sellswords, same as money-grubbing with a writ of legitimacy. There are a few groups with a good reputation, but you cannot expect guilds like Ares to leave all the comforts of Victoria to move to a new region.

"Serpent's Spite is not half bad, but their manpower is positioned elsewhere. Despite them appointing a new guild master and building new infrastructure, they'd still be too short-handed to deal with what we have with the rift-gate."

"Is the situation that grim?" Father asked, frowning.

"No, thank Nayan for that. The other side felt quiet as far as I have investigated, but you know how things go with rifts, whereas this one ripped a blighted hole through reality."

So far as I understood, rifts were like tumours in the very fabric of reality. They folded space from reality to create a pocket space, taking in all the flora and fauna and evolving them into monstrosities. Usually, when all the anomalies within a rift were dealt with, the tumour regurgitated all the folded space back into reality.

However, somehow it had turned into a hole in reality, opening instantaneous travel to another region. It would have been excellent if it were like the gates in Klaeron and any other major cities. It would have pushed Karmel into becoming another developed city. However, from what I was hearing, that did not seem to be the case.

What the rift did was open a gate into the Other Side, the realm wholly infested with demons.

I did not think they had any battle out there yet, not at the level of what the town had faced, but that could change over time.

"We need to build the wall as soon as we can," added Master Gaius, "and of all the people I know, you are the most dependable and free enough to take over the project."

Mum let out an exasperated breath. "I understand the construction part," she said. "But how do you think I will do better at the other stuff than anyone else?"

"There are more than a few reasons," the elderly man said, already prepared with an answer. "But the most significant of them all is because you chose to fight an immortal knight who had lived through the end of times instead of choosing to flee. There are many knights in the realm, but only a few understand the duties and responsibilities that come with it."

Like Magnus Daenerys, I thought. Instead of choosing to fight, the man tried his utmost to get away from the mess silently. It was only after my parents' victory that he showed up—not to help or reassure people, but to cause more trouble. People like that do not deserve the station or the honour of knighthood.

Mum stared at him deeply. "Would it make you think any less of me if I said the thought had surfaced in my mind multiple times during the fight?"

The elderly knight gave her a good-natured smile. "It wouldn't. Only lunatics would be fearless in a situation like that." He turned towards the tree shining in the luminescent echoes of essence. "Do not sell yourself short. Very few people in the realm could even attempt that. The last time I fought something like that, it fled, leaving a gaping wound in my torso that still hurts to this day."

He turned to give her an inquisitive look. "How long are you going to resist the advancement?"

Advancement? My eyes widened like saucers. Yet the person in question did not even blink. Mum exhaled softly before touching the slight bulge in her stomach. "I am not attempting anything risky before the baby is born."

Whereas Father's class had regressed, the battle with the daemon seemed to have tipped the scales towards Epic class for Mum. I guessed that if she could make the sun appear in the middle of the night, that was rightly so. Unfortunately, Father was merely able to keep his station of Fabled Class with the Legendary Honour.

"Respectable choice," Sir Gaius approved. "We can wait it out till then. I'm happy to offer some guidance. Meanwhile, can you think of anything I can bribe you with? I presume common riches won't do, and nor are you short of an Honour, eh?"

Mum laughed. "Unless you can hatch it at mythic class."

The Titan Sword let out a hearty laugh. "Still, take your time to decide." He looked towards the sanctuary. "With this Praying Hands here, you can easily be the best guardian of this region. Think about all the good you can do and the good that it can do for you. You may have all the legendary honours you need, but even an epic one helps in the long run."

Leaving those words, the elderly knight departed. Apparently, they required someone dependable at the Rift-gate after the Legatus had taken off with most of the legionaries.

Finally, I posed the question to Mum. "So, you are going to advance to Epic class?"

There were no more than twenty such figures within the empire, and fewer than fifty if we counted the entire realm.

"It isn't as easy as it sounds, pumpkin," she said, tousling my hair. It would not be long, perhaps, before she would have to reach out to do that. "Yes, I have everything I need, but advancing may bring new complications that we do not need in our lives."

"But," Father interjected, "it may also solve many of the potential problems we face now."

"But then I will feel bad about not doing anything good with all the power I have," Mum countered. She shook her head. "Let's not talk about this until your little sibling is born. We have more important things to worry about for now. Choosing a name for him or her, for example."

I hoped it would be a girl, just because I had so many good names for her, although I hoped she would be a little less spontaneous than Lilian.

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Mum tapped me on the shoulder. "So, how are you finding your surprise visit to a mythic-class monument?"

"This is Mythic class?" The question blurted out of my mouth without thinking. Only then did I recognise that such a thing could only be of mythic class. Even if it had been Legendary when they constructed it, over the millennia, it must have reached the mythic rank. "You said there are eight more such colossal sanctuaries in the world?"

"Not all of them are as audacious as this Praying Hands." She paused. "Well, I have only seen two others, so I can't be sure."

"And those two are in?"

Mum considered the question and then grinned. "I am not going to tell you that."

"Why?" My nose scrunched up.

"Don't you think it is better to experience them instead of hearing about them from someone else?"

She had a point there.

"Although the other locations are much easier to notice."

If so, I could probably guess through some geological clues, but there were other questions still bugging me.

"I get that," I said, "but what is the actual purpose behind these sanctuaries?"

"To shelter us, obviously."

"Shelter," I muttered. "Well, I don't see how a couple of praying hands would help with sheltering. Don't get me wrong, it's mystifying, but why not something in a more conventional shape, like a flying palace, where people could actually live?"

"That, you have to ask the creators. As for what it does, I can tell you a bit about it."

With that, she took me on an exhibition, explaining parts of the rune formations that we could see. According to her, even she didn't understand how all of it worked, though their purpose was clearly evident in her eyes. The entire apparatus worked on the principle of aura resonance, which was how its power could echo across a planetary realm, and how the ward and camouflage were so effective and unnoticeable.

Mum brought us to the top of a finger vacant of any foliage. The runes there were most evident, as though they had been in use from time to time.

"There are two large functions of this apparatus," Mum explained. "The other two I have seen were shaped much the same as well."

"They create a large-scale ward of some kind, isn't it?" I asked, not lifting my head from the patterns of runes.

"Close," Mum said. Instead of giving me the answer, she posed the question to me, like giving me homework. "I'll give you another chance to figure it out?"

I spared her a look. There was no way I was going to figure it out. Still, I gave it more than a cursory inspection with Fractal Sight. Most of the formation eluded me, as I had imagined. How the scripts resonated beyond the scope of the skies was completely beyond my current understanding. Good thing I did not have to figure that out, just what it does.

But to my surprise, there were plenty of elementary runes inscribed in the innermost layers, although in such intricate and complex ways that their function went above and beyond their elementary uses.

However, their functions would still be an echoing effect of the elementary variants. Most I found seemed to resonate with nature, wind, the climate, and the ambient essence. Then I flew up to give all the other fingers a look, and my eyes widened sharply.

I returned to my mother, shock and awe evident in my eyes. "It's a global weather machine, isn't it?!" I exclaimed. "But we still have devastating storms, so it's a failed weather machine?"

Mum hid a smile, although evidently proud that I could even come to such a conclusion. "Most of its function is limited to controlling storms from wrecking the world beyond repair. Without them, perhaps this rock would not even be livable."

I took a silent moment to grasp her words. How did people live before they built these sanctuaries? Or were the storms not there? Wait, does that mean the storms are something supernatural?

"Also, the apparatus is not fully functional." She pointed towards the two pinkies wrung in chains. The left pinky was stunted at the top, dozens of its pillars broken.

"Can you repair it?" I asked. And would that make the storms go away once it was fully functional?

"Perhaps," Mum said, "though I would have to gain an authority to even attempt it. And that's another complication we do not need in our lives."

I believed fixing a weather machine takes precedence over anything. Sorry, baby sister or brother.

"That other function is a lot more subtle and uses most of the resonance," she continued to explain. "What it does is wrap the world in an echo of an electromagnetic field. Also, the Praying Hands stabilises the dimensional fabric around it, which retroactively deters any rifts from forming near its vicinity. That's how Karmel and its surrounding region have not faced any rift incursions in millennia. I think they tried to crank that function on a global scale but had not found much success."

And even Karmel had faced a rift, although the situation was more complicated with it than with regular rifts. The semi-permanent gate into the Other Side would attest to that. Either way, even Mythic Class constructs were not without faults.

But Sir Gaius had indicated that with this Apparatus Mum could protect the region better. I could see some defensive mechanisms built into the monument, though that would make the sanctuary known to the common folk. And I guessed we wouldn't want nosey people tinkering with a weather machine, despite its defects.

"By the way," I said, pointing towards the chained little finger, "who's the figure in the chains? Half of the deities here I do not even recognise, but that image in particular gave such an ominous vibe."

"Another thing that still baffles me," Mum said. "I reckon they were the fallen. Most figures depicted here have returned to the Aether, or are in worse situations. I may have some clues about the other deities, though. The Tail Devourer, for example, apparently helped the Oracle in constructing the Spell, as did the Maker."

"And Ouroboros might have some connection to Them," Father said, resting his palm on the pommel.

"What? Really?"

Father inhaled sharply. "I have glimpsed some irksome visions while binding the relic."

"As far as myths went, the Weaver," Mum continued, pointing to the finger that depicted the spider, "disappeared along with the Snake. The Winterheart Deer is mysterious and depicts one aspect of Dream, whereas you know about the tragic fate of the Mother."

I sighed. We had a discussion about [Vigil of Protection] and what its specification entailed. Surprisingly, my parents were not too worked up about it, though they had given clear instructions not to publicise the knowledge or let anyone even inspect the relic. Well, for all purposes, I had it tucked within my Prime Seed at all times.

I guessed they already knew that bit of the history. I asked Mum about the prophecy below the goddess's painting. Only two of the paintings had anything written, and both were like epitaphs and ominous dark prophecies.

"Ultimately, we can only theorise," Mum said.

"Like there are carvings of nine gods instead of eight," I said, leaving the implication hanging in the air.

"There are nine paths, that I do not doubt," Mum said, her gaze piercing towards me.

Father gave a silent nod.

"And nine steps?" I muttered.

"Maybe." Mum exhaled before sitting down on the tip of the finger. "For most awakened, that matters little. The mortal path ends at the sixth step at Legendary class, and there are so few who have advanced beyond and truly transcended. We do not even understand how it operates beyond the Legendary class.

"You could have posed the question to Master Gaius, though I reckon his answer would be that he had left those thoughts centuries ago."

The only one who could give a clear answer was likely the Oracle.

"Now, though, I am worried about what you did with your essence seed." Mum's tone grew serious. "Ignoring the fact that I still do not know how you achieved it, a Primal Seed is still not something I would hope for you, despite all the benefits it possesses."

"Why?" I asked, a little nervous.

"It complicates things beyond what I understand or will ever understand."

"But didn't you say it's not that rare?" I asked.

"I said your case is not unique, but it's still extremely rare. I have known people who'd burn a city for a chance of achieving what you have achieved unconsciously, and I still do not think the issues that come with it outweigh the benefits."

I sucked in a frigid breath.

"I'm not trying to scare you," her voice grew softer as she pulled me into a side hug. "I know you could not have stopped the process even if you had known it. It's all that blighted Daemon's fault."

"I'm pretty sure it happened because of my Gift," I mumbled. The Somnus's Reverie merely blocked me from entering the dream realm, whereas I believed the Fractal Soul was the source of the visions in the first place. Even without the bell, I most probably would have ended up with nine aether roots.

"For now, all we can do is wait for Master Kaias," Father said. "He is the most knowledgeable man I know."

"I figured," Mum said, "he had some familiarity with Prime Seed as well, considering what he was attempting with Nero."

"As in, he had a Primal Seed of his own?" And he could help others construct one for themselves?

Mum did not have an immediate answer. "Probably," she said. "Though that was probably what crippled his path. You will know more about it once he arrives."

"Does that mean you are going to let me apprentice under Master Kaias?"

The most impression I got from the man was that he was thoughtful and weary beyond reason, and somehow still had not lost the spark to smile.

"Well, if you want to know more about aura resonances, he is the person to go to," Father said. "I am not the most capable or talented, but his teaching helped me reach where I am right now."

"He's also a master in ritual magic, runes, and shaping. Don't underestimate him just because he lost access to his vast reservoir of essence."

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