When Arlo stepped into the lake of trial, he found himself within a space devoid of light. All around him was pure darkness.

Suddenly there was a small thin crack before him. In less than a split second, the crack widened to reveal an otherworldly place.

The only thing Arlo could barely make out was an expanse of pristine white clouds billowing and rolling like waves upon an endless sea. Each cloud radiated with a resplendent, holy light, casting a luminous glow that bathed the landscape in an ethereal brilliance. But soon, an object flew out from within the crack, and in his direction.

Arlo subconsciously raised his arms in a measure to raise a minimum of defense.

However, his efforts were unwarranted as the wide object simply phased through him, before streaking across the dark void.

Arlo turned back a moment later, 'An egg?'

He wasn't sure if the object was an egg as its shell was a mixture of vibrant colors, but due to its peculiar shape, Arlo could only attribute it to an egg.

"My dear daughter..."

Just when Arlo was lost in his thought, a voice that transcended the realms of mortal understanding- a voice that resonated with the power of the divine and stirred the deepest recesses of his soul rang beside his ears, causing his mind to shake and his body to quiver. Even though the voice was filled with sadness, the voice of ethereal beauty still captivated and enchanted him, as Arlo could feel the weight of infinite wisdom and boundless compassion hidden within. He had an almost instinctive feeling of bowing before the owner of such a divine voice.

Gritting his teeth, Arlo resisted his urge to kneel, but he failed greatly. It seemed he would kneel any moment from now.

Just when Arlo was about to succumb to the feeling, a malevolent dark ray charged out from the crack silently and without any warning. It was a wonder how such an evil attack could exist in such a holy place.

However, Arlo didn't care about that, as in less than half a split second, the dark ray appeared before him.

Before such an attack, Arlo felt himself minuscule. He felt like an ant about to be smashed by a mountain.

Simply put, he had no way of resisting.

Thankfully, just like before, the dark ray phased through him, and with a speed countless times faster than the speed of light, it smashed into the multicolored egg flying a long distance away.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The beautiful female voice from before shrieked in clear anguish.

Soon after, a deep male voice that seemed to resonate with the power of creation itself reverberated around him like thunder, shaking the very foundations of reality, "God of weapons, that was not the agreement we had! If I do not kill you with my own hands today, then I do not deserve the title of the DRAGON GOD!"

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

*ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR!*

As if backing the previous male voice, several roars which Arlo felt to be undeniably from Dragons shook the void.

However, amidst this roar, Arlo could still barely make out the sobbing voice of the previous female even though it sounded more like a whisper:

"My dear daughter...Seraphina..."

*Zooooom!*

The crack closed in an instant taking with it the ruckus coming from the other side.

While it sounded long, the series of events that played out from the opening of the crack till its closing barely reached five seconds. Yet to Arlo, it felt like a hundred years and within this time, he found his life in danger two times.

Arlo panted greatly, and even though he didn't know why he couldn't sweat, he didn't doubt it would have formed a pool below him under normal circumstances.

But once again, his attention was stolen by an unimaginably sweet voice of a little girl whom Arlo believed to be very young.

"...Mother?"

Turning to the direction where the voice came, Arlo squinted his eyes and caught sight of a colorful glint which he presumed to be from the previous egg.

Still squinting his eyes, Arlo suddenly found himself before the flying egg. It was almost as if it zoomed before him.

Pondering whether the voice truly came from the egg, Arlo's expression slightly changed when he heard a familiar voice he hadn't heard for a while and wasn't expecting to hear in such a place.

<< What a pity! >>

"You...how come I can hear you?"

<< Of course you can hear me. I am your soul artifact. >>

Ignoring the unfamiliar term, Arlo voiced his main confusion:

"Is this still the mind trial?"

<< Yes. >>

"Then just what is going on?"

<<... >>

Old bro remained silent for almost a minute before he responded:

<< Keep watching. You will find all the answers plaguing your mind. >>

Displeased from not receiving the answer he was expecting, Arlo decided to remain silent.

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Like this, he followed the multicolored egg through the endless void.

Now that he had more time to observe the egg more closely, Arlo realized that the shell of the egg which was a tapestry of iridescent hues, glimmering with an ethereal radiance that seemed to shift and change with each passing moment, was now marked with strange dark chain markings.

Arlo didn't know how long the egg had been moving silently through the void. But to him, it felt like a thousand years. Not able to bear it any longer, he grumbled outwardly, "When is this going to end?"

Sigh!

Arlo heard Old Bro's sigh in his head.

<< It's ten thousand years. >>

"What?" questioned Arlo with furrowed brows, but as the gears within his head spun greatly, he quickly understood Old Bro's words, causing him to gasp loudly.

"You don't mean..."

<< That is right. It is just as you think.>> Old bro cut him off.

However, Arlo's brows soon relaxed as he pointed out with a doubtful look, "But how do you know?"

Even though he knew Old bro was a great treasure capable of things he couldn't even imagine, he still felt it was far-fetched for him to guess the time the egg had been drifting accurately.

Accurately, because, he had felt the confidence in his voice when he stated the duration.

However, Old Bro's next words soon sent his thoughts into chaos.

<< Because I was there. Right behind the crack. >>

"Y-you...Just what are you saying?"

Sighing one more time, Old Bro continued, "That place you saw before was within the Realm of the gods. And at that time I was still with an owner...the only one to have wielded me to date.>>

Even though he had many thoughts floating within his mind, Arlo didn't know why he subconsciously blurted this particular one:

"Who?"

Old bro seemed reluctant to answer but after a few moments of hesitation, he replied:

<<...the Evil God. >>

A look of shock became plastered on Arlo's face. Even though he didn't exactly know who the Evil God was, it didn't take a genius to figure out his history from his title.

Like this, the silence returned as Arlo in the company of Old Bro followed the egg. Arlo couldn't feel the passage of time this time, as he had much food for thought.

Suddenly, a new change occurred.

The egg appeared within a cluster of large stars shining with different light.

Arlo thought there would be a new change, but he was soon left stunned as the egg continued to drift past these stars.

He saw some unknown creatures, some with grotesque appearance, big enough to span several tens of miles. Yet none of these creatures dared to approach the drifting egg. Once they sensed its aura, they all quivered in fear before taking off.

Like this, time passed and nothing changed.

After an unknown time, when Arlo was starting to feel pity for this egg which had remained alone for tens of thousands of years, something finally happened.

The egg as if sensing something drifted past the hundreds of stars clustered together and instead lunged toward a star shining in a milk-like light reminiscent of the moon.

It entered into the planet's stratosphere before colliding with the Earth.

*Booooooooom!*

Arlo gasped when he saw the lush forest within which the egg had fallen begin to warp, and with the surroundings followed the animals inhabiting it.

He saw several thousands of creatures forcefully pulled to a point before disappearing into a crack in space.

What was left behind was the desolate red ground covered in cracks, emanating an aura of destruction.

"The desolate plains..."Arlo muttered with pure shock on his face.

Now he knew how the desolate plains were created and understood why the Torkuns never left the crimson Forest where he had met Joe.

They must have been scared either by what happened or the aura of the egg that still lingered on the red plains.

"Is that how the Secret realm was formed?"

<< Yes. She must have used the small bit of the essence of Reality, the power of gods she had, to forcefully bend the laws of this weak world and create a small dimension. And from what I gather, she must have also fused the realm with her mental world. >>

"Mental world?"

<>

Arlo didn't argue with Old Bro's decision and simply shrugged it off.

But suddenly, his eyebrows creased into a frown, when he saw that before the crack closed, several hundreds of light streaked out, before scattering in different directions, some even leaving the world.

"What's she doing? " he questioned in bewilderment.

He had long decided to call her a 'she' after assuming her name was Seraphina.

<< She can't break out of her egg...>>

Arlo silently nodded his head. He could tell that she had been cursed by that dark ray. After all, even after so many years, she showed no signs of hatching. Not to mention those eerie chain markings were still etched on her beautiful shell.

<< She must have thought of a way to overcome her situation. >>

"Oh...to think she would be capable of such a feat even before hatching."

<< Hmph. >> Old bro scoffed, << Unlike mortals, gods are born with a high degree of intellect from the very beginning. Over there, you would see a new child speaking and even able to walk. Do not attribute normal human standards to such godly beings. >>

For some reason, Arlo felt offended by Old Bro's words, but before he could voice his displeasure, Old Bro continued:

<< But...even by god's standard, this girl is simply phenomenal. It's one thing to have such a degree of sentience after birth, but to be this clever even before hatching is simply unheard of. However, if you consider her identity as the child of the Dragon God, one of the only ten supreme gods, then it isn't that unusual. Not to mention she is one of the few beings to have an affinity to the unique Aether laws. >>

"A supreme god?"

<< That is right. >>

"Then what about this god of weapon?" Arlo could still remember the words of that deep male voice that had called himself the dragon god. For him to have no choice but to agree with this god of weapons, meant that the latter wasn't any lower in status.

<<...he is one of the only three sovereign gods. >>

Arlo's eyes slowly widened when he realized this god of weapons was even greater than he assumed.

However before he could ask more questions, Old Bro cut him off with a cold voice:

<>

Arlo swallowed the words he wanted to say. Hearing that his parents were in constant danger, a cold light flashed within his eyes. One that he barely suppressed.

<< You couldn't even pinpoint the more important things in the information I just passed across. >> Old bro appeared disappointed and Arlo could feel the displeasure in his voice.

"What?" Arlo was starting to feel annoyed by the artifact spirit's constant devaluation of him.

<< I told you that she was one of the few beings with an affinity to Aether. What does that mean?>>

Arlo's mouth opened as realization hit him.

Affirming his thoughts, Old bro continued:

<< You also have an affinity to Aether laws. But Aether is a unique law that can only be wielded by one being in the entire universe, dimensions included. As long as the egg remains, you will never be able to use your laws.>>

"Doesn't that mean I am in danger?"

Even as they spoke, Arlo continued to watch the situation before him.

He watched as after every decade, several geniuses would enter the secret realm to look for resources and develop their strength. And in each arrival, he could literally feel the disappointment emanating from the egg. It was almost as if she was searching for something...or someone.

Before Old Bro could even address his worries, something clicked within his mind as he watched the multicolored egg expertly utilize the essence of those who died to sustain the secret realm.

At the same time, she separated the beasts in order of cultivation to prevent any chances of a battle leading to the mass murder of the limited beasts, even though they continued to increase over the years.

It was almost as if she was rearing animals, and then using them as an allure to lure in several customers, to find what she needed.

After watching her for such a long time, Arlo noticed some subtle similarities between himself and the egg.

Ever since he could remember, he had never behaved like any normal baby or child for that matter. He didn't cry for stupid reasons, and while he couldn't talk either when he was born, he could always remember himself to be smart enough to think before acting.

Subconsciously, he blurted out his next words, stunning Old Bro who was about to answer his previous question for a long time.

"By chance...Am I also a god?"

After some time, Old Bro answered with his own question:

<< Why do you think I am sealed inside you? >>

It was Arlo's turn to get stunned.

AN: Thanks to all those who are following the novel. I hope we can all keep it up, <3.