Unfortunately, Mána shrugged in denial, ”Can’t help you there, I’m afraid. The fact that you’re not already feeling a kind of pull, no matter where you are compared to the desire shard, means that the shard has a host, and the host has the aid of a patron spirit.”

Kane sighed with regret, but then nodded, “Fine. One last question about sin shards in general. How did you give me this lust shard? And how do these things normally end up with someone, anyway?”

Yet, Mána once again had to deny him an answer. “I’ve no idea,” she pursed her lips wryly. “My sister on your home planet took care of that, and I didn’t ask. We can’t really talk in long sentences, you know? It’s more like snippets of information whenever an unstable rift opens.”

Then she continued with something she actually could answer, sort of, “Although, in general, shards are gained by taking them from others, or from the universe handing them out. Although the selection criteria for that seem to be random.”

So, Kane just shrugged and decided to throw the issue of sin shards into the future, “Fine. I guess we’ll deal with this later.” Then he continued, “Instead, tell me about the lust shard in particular, and the bond between me and Luna.”

Mána nodded and started explaining. In the next few minutes, Kane started smirking, and it only became wider as the patron spirit’s explanation continued. By the end, his eyes were shining with excitement.

“I guess it’s a little more than just a ‘strange pink sex rune’,” he chuckled curiously. “I can’t wait to try that out. It will certainly make things easier.”

“Great!” Mána grinned playfully. “So, about my reward?”

But Kane rolled his eyes, and shook his head, “Not yet. First, tell me more about this world I'm on. You said it is an early phase world? What does that mean?”

Mána sighed regretfully, but started talking anyway, "Well, to be more specific: this is a second phase world. That means that the highest power people can achieve here is the fourth stage, whether through Mystic practices, or any other method."

Kane couldn't help but feel a little relieved. He was already on the verge of breaking through to the Core Formation stage, which was the second stage, so he was confident in being able to thrive in this world where no one knew or cared about him.

'This is perfect,' he thought as he started scheming in his head. 'I can use this world to grow in power, before I return to Riftshade. Maybe I'll even create a powerbase here… If I can bond with a patron spirit from this world, I can return here anytime I like. Then, if I can bond with one on Earth, I can move between these places at will!'

He was barely thinking about the situation on the outside world. He trusted Ella would be able to break him out, but even if she couldn't, he believed in his ability to create an opportunity.

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As long as his guards didn't exceed his power, he was confident in getting out, and since Ella claimed the boss of these people was at the top of the Core Awakening stage, like him, he didn't think there would be a problem.

Slowly, a plan began to form. But he needed more information first, "So what phases are Earth and Alfheim at?"

Mána answered quickly, "Earth is at the third phase, meaning the maximum power stage possible is the sixth, and Alfheim is in the fourth phase, so the power limit is the eighth stage."

Kane frowned, because he'd never heard of any sixth stages living on Earth, but he quickly shook his head and stopped caring about it. It's not like he was all that plugged in to the top echelon of Earth.

So he moved on to next important aspect of his newly made plans, "What about this world's patron spirits? If I wanted to bond with one of them, do you have some tips on how to go about it? How to even find them in the first place?"

Suddenly, Mána pursed her lips with a guilty look, "Oh, did I not mention? You can only bond with volfar patron spirits like myself. And there currently isn't one on this world. You should be the only volfar there."

Immediately, Kane's face sank as he thought his plans had failed before even really getting started on them, but then Mána provided a ray of hope.

"It's not so bad though!" she quickly continued, hoping to make up for her memory lapse. "It should only take 5-10 years for the local crimson moon to be born."

Kane felt both relieved and confused. He frowned, "Wait, Ella told me patron spirits only spawn on worlds with significant populations of a certain species, but you just said its only me here."

Mána shrugged with nonchalance, "Rules are different for shard holders."

The frown didn't leave Kane's face as he thought, 'Once again, the rules are stacked in favour of shard holders and their chances for marking patron spirits… it feels like intelligent design.'

Suddenly, he had a concerning thought, which he quickly asked Mána to clear up for him, "Wait, when a new patron spirit is born, would that alert the existing patron spirits?"

Mána frowned in confusion, "Yes, it would. But why is tha— ooooh."

She quickly interrupted herself when she realized what he was getting it, and nodded with a frown, "Yeah, when the new crimson moon is born, the desire shard holder's patron spirit, and thus, the holder themself, will know that either a significant population of volfar has arrived, or…"

Kane nodded as well, and finished her thought with a solemn expression, "Or a volfar with a sin shard has. And if they have any means at all, they should be able to easily eliminate the first option. Which means I have until the crimson moon is born before they start hunting me."

He shook his head, "But that's a problem for another time. I have a few more questions still. You said there would be plenty of unstable rifts leading to Riftshade from this world, but how do I find one? I mean, there's a reason they aren't used for regular transport, right?"

Mána grinned playfully, "Well how do you think we found the ones you used before? Patron spirits like myself can predict them! Well, I can't predict the ones on the world you are now, but the new crimson moon should be able to. You just need to wait for her to spawn, and convince her to bond with you."

"Alright," Kane quickly internalized this new information, and moved on. "Next question, what deal did you make with Irene exactly? I mean, why did she trust you would keep your end of it? And what about your sister on Earth?"

Now, Mána turned a little sad, "She made a vow on her domain heart, that she would treat volfar better on Alfheim if we delivered you to her. At the same time, she vowed to spare the volfar on Earth, when the super rift between Earth and Alfheim opens in the future."

Kane blinked, "The what now? "