Nova held Millie's small hand as they walked through the hallway, feeling her grip tighten with each step. Her nervousness was understandable—nearly every adult in her life had been distant and uncaring, only supplying them with food and taking her older friends, never to be seen again.

Suddenly, she stopped walking, pulling Nova to a halt. "There's something scary ahead." Her voice trembled slightly. "Like… a dragon."

"I know." Nova squeezed her hand reassuringly. "But she won't hurt us. I made sure of it."

Millie's eyes widened. "She? How?"

"Magic." Nova smiled, glad to see a hint of curiosity break through her fear. "A special contract that makes it impossible for her to harm us."

They rounded the corner to find Sar waiting by the steel doors, her grey hair catching the light from the illusory windows. Millie immediately stepped behind Nova, using him as a shield between herself and the archbishop.

"This is the girl?" Sar's voice carried none of its earlier smugness. Something in Millie's demeanor seemed to soften her usual sharp edges.

Nova nodded. "She's been through a lot recently. Adults make her nervous, as you can understand." His tone carried a clear warning. ''Don't make it any worse.'

"I see." Sar knelt down, making herself smaller. "Hello, little one. I'm Sar."

Millie peeked around Nova's shoulder but didn't respond. Her fingers dug into his sleeve.

"She won't talk much," Nova explained. "Not until she feels safe. And that will take time."

"Of course." Sar straightened, brushing off her robes. "Shall we head up? The headmaster wanted to say goodbye."

They ascended the stairs in silence, with Millie staying close to Nova's side. The mechanical doors opened smoothly at Sar's approach, revealing the familiar wooden hallway above.

Headmaster Petiver was waiting in his study, surrounded by his usual chaos of bottles and beakers. His mismatched glasses glinted as he looked up from his work. "Ah! The prodigy returns!" He seemed genuinely disappointed. "And here I had such hopes for an alchemy student..."

"Sorry to disappoint." Nova kept his tone light, though his grip on Millie's hand remained firm. "Perhaps another time."

"Yes, yes..." The headmaster's attention had already drifted back to whatever concoction he was brewing. Red smoke curled from the beaker in his hands. "Do try not to die in Damascus. I'd hate to lose such promising research material."

"I'll do my best," Nova replied, not bothering to explain that he wouldn't be staying around after returning. He turned to Sar, eager to get going. "Are we ready?"

She nodded, producing a small crystal from her robes. "Hold onto each other tightly. Teleportation can be... disorienting the first time."

"That little thing can teleport us?" Nova asked, genuinely intrigued by the tiny object. The only method of teleporting he knew included a bunch of runes spread over large areas.

Sar smiled politely, but she waited suspiciously long to answer. "I'm not sure if this counts as a question about you two. Be careful, will you?"

"Ah, my bad. I'll watch my words in the future, promise."

"No worries; it's not a secret. This is a return crystal, which will take me back to the formation I came from earlier. It's a rather advanced type of teleportation. Stay close to me, okay?"

Nova felt Millie press against his side, trembling slightly. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's okay," he whispered. "I won't let go."

The crystal in Sar's hand began to glow. The last thing Nova saw was the headmaster absent-mindedly waving goodbye, already lost in his experiments again.

Then, the world dissolved into light.

Nova's head spun as the light faded, forcing him to steady himself against a nearby wall. His tiny body hadn't taken well to whatever magic they had just used. But beside him, Millie stood perfectly straight, looking around the new room with interest.

"You're not dizzy?" he asked her, still fighting his own disorientation.

She shook her head. "It felt nice!"

'Another sign of her talent, I suppose...'

"Mortimer!" Sar called out, drawing Nova's attention to a man standing near another doorway. "We're leaving immediately. Have the second chamber ready."

The man—presumably Mortimer—bowed deeply. "Of course, your holiness! Everything is prepared."

Sar gestured for Nova and Millie to follow as she strode through an ornate archway. This new room dwarfed the previous one, with high vaulted ceilings and intricate formations carved into every surface. Golden light pulsed through the patterns like blood through veins.

"Stay close," Sar instructed, leading them onto a raised platform in the center. "This jump is considerably longer."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Nova held Millie's hand tightly as white light enveloped them once again. This time, when it faded, they found themselves standing on an observation platform that seemed to float above an impossibly beautiful city.

Pristine white buildings with golden trim stretched as far as the eye could see. Elegant architecture was woven seamlessly into the natural landscape. Crystal-clear waterways wound between the structures like silver ribbons, while lush gardens and towering trees added splashes of vibrant green to the vista. The whole city seemed to glow in the tropical sunlight.

"Welcome," Sar said with obvious pride, "to the holy city of Damascus."

Before either of them could respond, she turned them around to face the true centerpiece of the city—a cathedral that put every other building to shame. It rose from the highest point of the city like a mountain of marble and gold, with spires piercing the clouds above. The morning sun caught its surfaces at just the right angle, making the whole structure shimmer like a mirage.

'So this is the seat of the church's power,' Nova thought, studying the magnificent building with mixed feelings. 'Beautiful... but how many corpses are stacked underneath it?'

Millie's grip on his hand tightened. When he looked down, he saw her staring at the cathedral with an unreadable expression. Was she sensing something he couldn't? Or was she just overwhelmed by the grandeur?

Either way, he had a feeling their week here would be anything but simple.

"I'm impressed. Does the water flow through portals to trickle down the city like that?"

"No, I think it's a mechanical contraption of sorts. But the purifying is done by a formation," Sar replied, waving them along toward the cathedral. "Half of the city is built over ocean water, but this way, everyone can get clean water from the artificial rivers."

"Very convenient. And everyone here is part of the church?"

"It's open to visitors, but most areas above this point are off-limits. I'm sure nearly everyone is part of the church in some way, though."

Nova studied the infrastructure as he walked up the incline, curious to see what this world had achieved when given near-limitless resources. It was an inspiring sight, though he knew what it was based on.

'Indoctrination and child abuse—great ingredients for a steady organization. As long as nothing rocks the boat, I guess…'

They neared an entrance at the cathedral's base, but it was clearly not the main entrance. It seemed more like a side entrance for those who had permission to enter.

The massive doors swung open at the sight of Sar's black letter. Two guards in gleaming white armor bowed deeply as they passed, their golden amulets catching the morning light.

"Those guards were strong!" Millie noted, looking back at them with wide eyes.

"That means we'll be safe inside, right?"

Millie nodded, but she still seemed bothered by something.

'Is her trait picking something up? I doubt she understands why this place is dubious. I'll ask her once we're alone.'

A priest in elegant robes met them inside, introducing himself as Brother Xavier. He guided them through corridors that seemed designed to overwhelm—every surface adorned with intricate carvings and precious metals, every window crafted to cast patterns of colored light across their path.

Their destination turned out to be a spacious common area, where about a dozen young people sat in scattered groups. Despite the luxurious surroundings, they all shared the same listless expression.

"These are our other candidates," Brother Xavier explained, gesturing to the room. "All of them blessed with incredible talents."

Nova studied the group carefully. Most seemed to be in their teens, though a few looked closer to his physical age. Their souls radiated power, but their spirits seemed... dimmed.

A boy who couldn't have been more than seven approached them, curiosity briefly breaking through his gloom. "Are you new candidates?"

"Just me," Nova replied, still looking through the room. "The atmosphere feels dampened here. Did something happen?"

"What? Your dialect is weird, can you speak slower?"

"Room feel sad," Nova replied, overcorrecting his language to something a four-year-old might say. "Why?"

"Oh… Uhm, nothing bad exactly. A new candidate joined last week, and now…"

"The church's pride and joy." Another candidate joined their conversation—a girl in her early teens. "She's only four years old, but with traits that could make the gods jealous. She learned to sense Soul Power in an hour and gained expert mastery of a tier four skill the same day she learned it!"

"Yeah!" the kid agreed, arms raised to the sky. "It's hopeless for the rest of us."

'Oh? So that's what a prodigy among prodigies is like? It sounds incredible, but… Millie can probably do both of those things as well. Although, her trait is focused on magic, so it might be unfair to compare it. The learning to sense Soul Power has me intrigued, though.'

"Where is she now?" he asked.

The older girl shrugged. "They keep her separate from us most of the time. Protected, they say." Her tone suggested she had other thoughts on the matter.

Before Nova could probe further, Brother Xavier cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should show you to your quarters? You must be tired from the journey."

"We teleported," Millie told him, not understanding his intentions. "Not tired at all."

Seeing Xavier's strained face, Nova squeezed her hand gently. "We should probably find our room either way, Millie. I'll see you guys later," he told the candidates, waving with his available hand.

They both waved back before returning to their pity party.

The trio from Taurel Kingdom followed Brother Xavier down another ornate hallway to a wing filled with private rooms. Each door bore intricate carvings that seemed to shimmer with protective magic.

"This will be your room," Xavier said, opening one of the doors to reveal a spacious chamber with a large bed by the wall. "And yours is just next door," he added, gesturing to Millie.

Millie's grip on Nova's hand tightened. "I want to stay with Nova."

Brother Xavier's brow furrowed. "That wouldn't be appropriate—"

"It's fine," Sar cut in, forced by the contract to let them stay together. "They can share this room. The girl needs him." She whispered the last part, but not low enough to keep Millie from hearing it.

Xavier looked like he wanted to protest, but thought better of challenging an archbishop. "As you wish. I'll have a second bed brought in."

Nova smiled in Sar's direction as a silent thanks. He wasn't about to leave Millie alone in this strange place, especially not after what she'd been through.

"We'll leave you to settle in," Sar said, grabbing Xavier's shoulder and turning to leave. "I'll go meet the Signus to learn more about the situation, then I'll come back here in a few hours. You'll be safe here since I doubt any of the other candidates can threaten you."

"Sounds good," Nova replied right before the door closed.

As soon as they were alone, Millie's shoulders slumped with relief. She walked to the window, looking out over the magnificent city below. "It's so… pretty," she whispered. "But something's wrong."

Nova joined her at the window. "Wrong how?"

"Not sure." She pressed her hand against the glass. "Just... wrong."

Nova nodded, trusting her intuition. If there was one thing he'd learned across nine lifetimes, it was that things that seemed too perfect usually only hid the ugly parts from the surface. But with a single poke, the veneer would fall apart.

'Well, it's not my problem. I'll use this week to grow my strength, and to figure out my new fragment. I don't think my body will be able to handle it yet, though, considering the Noctis fragment is close to my limit. So, blood cultivation is number one on the list!'

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