Niara turned to Darian, just as confused as he was. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. The moment they arrived, he felt a karmic connection really close to him. It was the same as that time he invaded that planet in another universe and ended up meeting Howlyn… something — or someone — was tied to him here.

Thinking about it, there were tons of possibilities. No way to tell which one it was.

He turned to the twins and said casually, "Let's go. What do you two wanna check out first?"

Darian took a step toward one of the nearby rental cars.

At the same time, Lucy looked at Silas, Lucius, and Veyle. The three of them seemed to get the message and nodded. Silas was already well-integrated with the clan and the group.

"Bro, let's split up," Lucy said, catching Darian off guard. "We'll be two groups: us here, and you. We'll meet back in twelve hours."

She said it fast, and then they all just moved past him and got into the car right in front of him.

The door shut. Without a word or even a second glance, the four of them were gone.

Darian watched, even more confused. And right then, Niara jumped off his shoulder. When he turned around, he saw a light wrapping around her.

She'd used her metamorphosis and taken on a form very close to her real body. The difference was that she didn't have wings or scales… and the clothes were completely different.

He stared at her for a second. Under his gaze, she picked up on something off.

"Wait... why do you look at me like I'm weird?"

"Hm?" Darian sighed. She could feel everything he felt and was great at reading him — not the type to hide anything. "It's just… now you look like a regular human girl, with bright blue hair and flashy eyes. Even your clothes… is this Lucy's doing?"

Niara huffed. Yeah, her look and outfit had been picked to make her fit in better with Earth's people. But feeling his disappointment hit her kind of hard. She gave a faint smile. Clearly, he preferred her true form.

Her body glowed again. This time, her shoulders, arms, and a few other parts had visible scales — much closer to her actual self. Still no wings, but now even her tight white outfit was identical to the real thing.

She looked him in the eyes and stepped in close.

Darian was still puzzled. What was this all about?

She could keep the transformation going all day no problem, without fighting or burning energy. But when they were home, Lucy wouldn't let her use it. Probably because she still didn't know how to act right — even Lucius got weirded out by how messy she was.

Niara got a little irritated seeing his confusion. "Dan, what's not clear? The little sister gave us the green light to go off and hang out alone for a bit."

He let out a small sigh. Did they really have to ditch him just for that? They could've stayed in a group. But seeing that sharp look in Niara's eyes, he didn't dare say that out loud.

She seemed relieved that he accepted it. Then she glanced down subtly at his hand, and just stood there, waiting.

Now he was even more confused. Was she actually thinking things through and holding back? What had Lucy done to her?

"Let's go," he said, sighing and heading for a nearby car.

Niara followed, got in, and sat quietly. They didn't have a destination in mind, but knowing her, Darian opened up the city's detailed map inside the car and searched for all the main facilities.

A few minutes later, they pulled up to a small building. Niara's eyes lit up the moment she caught the scent in the air. It was the biggest restaurant in the area.

Everything Earth had to offer — the best of the best — had been gathered into that one spot, so that off-world visitors and people from faraway empires could enjoy it.

Inside, Niara locked eyes with Darian. He smiled and gave her full permission. She smiled back, and immediately pointed to the first thing on the giant menu…

Orders were placed through a screen. While they waited, she turned to him, all excited:

"We're gonna try everything together, right?"

His eyes widened. Everything? So he'd have to keep up with her… but seeing how hyped she was, he felt a warm spark and nodded.

…

Hours passed, and she really did start going down the menu one by one. Darian just tasted a little of each, then ended up just watching, amazed at how she devoured everything with bright eyes.

After a while… everyone in the restaurant was kind of weirded out by her. People came and went, but Niara didn't stop eating.

Oddly enough, Darian noticed she didn't seem as wild as usual. She'd changed — more polite now, cared a little more about appearances.

Three hours later, everything had been "sampled" by her.

As they left, Darian saw her beaming with joy and gave a little wave, satisfied too. Then he felt her eyes on his hand again.

This time, he thought he got it. Without hesitation, he grabbed her hand.

Just like that, her face lit up with a brand-new glow.

Darian asked softly, "Where do you wanna go? I saw a place that plays old movies, like the ones you watch with Lucy and Lucius."

"Hm? Nah… you wanted to see the library, right? Let's go together," she said gently.

He nodded — they knew each other a bit by now. They hadn't even spent a full year together, but with everything they'd been through, it felt like years already.

The two of them walked into a large building. Everything in the capital was run by screens and surveillance — no staff anywhere.

It was a kind of library. Darian browsed the listings and saw that this place held knowledge about things from other universes — races and unusual places.

Sometimes, missions happened in the same universe. Other times, different universes had similar things that didn't exist in Earth's universe. That's why the empires recorded everything people saw.

Even random stuff — if it was out of the ordinary, it got added to the records for others to check out. Yeah, all six empires did that. Not out of kindness, but out of survival.

If one empire failed a mission, they'd be punished alone. But if all six kept failing too often, Earth itself would suffer — and the good missions would stop coming.

So yeah, sharing this kind of intel was crucial, especially for B-rank missions or higher. A lot of times, this info came in handy, so leaders of top-tier missions were given permission to come to the capital and study.

There were different sections, each with its own price depending on how long you used them. Since there was so much stuff, Darian decided to look for the most important thing: planets where those books his master mentioned might be.

He went through a bunch of Jade Slips and spent three hours digging into everything.

In the end, he found a few clues about planets visited in the past that could possibly have the books. If a Rank C mission popped up in the next three years in one of those places, he'd take it right away.

Niara noticed the subtle satisfaction on Darian's face and smiled.

After that, they went sightseeing — checking out historical buildings and monuments from past centuries in that area. Niara kept a firm grip on his hand, and the two of them felt way closer to each other.

But… she was just a metamorph form imitating her real body. It felt like he was holding the hand of a lifeless, cold doll. At some point, they both started wondering what it would be like to be together in their real forms.

When Darian thought about that, he let out a deep sigh. He really needed to find a way to heal her real body soon. Once they went back to that universe, everything would get more complicated and harder. He couldn't wait years for her to recover. Somewhere out there, there had to be a shot at fixing this.

Meanwhile, Niara was thinking about whether she'd ever be able to come to Earth in body and soul. Being just a spirit borrowing a body would eventually become a burden for both of them. Darian's power was still growing — hers would stay stuck without her real body. And besides… she wouldn't be able to get closer to him like this.

'That idiot's never gonna take me seriously...' she thought, seriously frustrated. She still felt like Darian only saw her as a really close and familiar ally.

...

The hours passed peacefully. They visited all the key historical spots, stopped by a few more specific libraries, and hit up a few exotic restaurants. Those were the kinds of places only people really curious about new experiences would go to.

Twelve hours flew by. It was already nighttime when the two of them were walking along a busy street, heading toward the big building with the patios where their teams would stay.

Niara walked calmly beside him, still holding his hand. Darian, on the other hand, kept getting more surprised by how well Lucy had trained her. Not once did Niara cross the line or act inappropriately... honestly, he even felt like he'd lost something because of it.

Meanwhile, Niara was smiling to herself. He was missing it — and at the same time, felt more connected to her. She preferred being direct, but holding back and making him want more definitely worked.

As they got closer to the building, four pairs of eyes turned toward them near the entrance. It was the rest of their group; no one else was around. Everyone else had probably already gone in — they were the last ones.

Lucy exchanged a look with Niara, who nodded. Her body glowed, and she canceled the metamorphosis, going back to the form that body originally had.

Darian stepped up to a screen and showed his leader emblem. It scanned and confirmed his ID.

The door opened, and they all entered, clearly excited.

A huge indoor courtyard full of rooms opened up. Everything was super fancy and glowing, but everyone ran straight to check out the three magic halls.

After looking around, it was unanimous — everyone wanted to spend their daily hour in the Divine Meditation Hall.

Darian nodded. "I've got a few things I wanna try. I'll use the Practice Hall for now."

He walked over to another door and went in alone. The other four headed into the Divine Meditation Hall.

Earlier, he and Niara had visited some libraries, and now he had some new ideas based on stuff he read about other universes. He needed to try them out physically — not just in some mental space.

He and Niara went into the hall. Then he focused and placed the little dragon on his lap. That way, he could start using her spiritual root.

Yeah — unlike every other Spiritual Guardian who had their spiritual roots awakened, Darian didn't have one. He could only use hers.

When he had his ancestral awakening, all that power got used by Meru to create the rings on his arms. After that, he poured everything he had into awakening Niara's spiritual root instead.

He never had one himself, but that had never been a problem. His two rings didn't need a spiritual root to function, and he didn't have a normal blessing like the others.

But here's the thing — all the techniques the Spiritual Guardians created, like the one used by the Red River Pact clan leader, were based on manipulating ring power through the spiritual root. Which meant Darian couldn't use any of those techniques on his own, even if he wanted to.

So when he read about a technique used by natives of another universe that worked with natural elements, he figured maybe he could create something new with Niara.

He kept trying and trying, staying deep in thought for over six hours.

In the end, he felt like he just wasn't good enough to pull it off. He stopped with a clear conclusion:

"...It's like there's a missing piece that should connect everything. Anyway, staying here won't help much now."

Niara nodded and climbed onto his head.

Darian looked around. No one had come into the hall this whole time… weird.

He stepped out and then—

"?"

He didn't see or sense anyone outside. High Humans like them didn't need to sleep every day, and no one would waste time on anything besides prepping for the tournament. If no one was in the Practice Hall, he opened the Regeneration Hall door.

Empty.

Darian frowned, confused.

He left and checked the rooms…

...nobody.

Suddenly, he stepped fast toward one last door. There was only one place left: the Divine Meditation Hall. But… no way they were still in there.

He opened it—

"!"

Darian was hit with a scene he didn't expect and almost jumped.

All four were there. But… they weren't meditating.

They were collapsed on the ground, eyes closed — faces twisted and pale.

Niara panicked: "LUCY AND LUCIUS! I CAN'T FEEL THEIR SOULS!"

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