Demon continent Alsace in the year 237 in the 7-month Yasum on the 30th day after the shattering of the empire.

After one day he had woken up again, if he wasn't mistaken, it was hard not to lose time in a steep climb. That's why he wasn't sure if it took two or three days, so from now on he had to assume that his time calculation was wrong by a few days. And that instead of going up one level, he had gone up two levels and was now at level three.

This morning he had woken up with huge hunger and had eaten a huge amount of his supplies. He would have to hunt and gather from now on to feed himself out here in the wilderness. Which brought him back to his find, which was in front of him. It was one of the Hangistkata, which had been finished off by another predator and lay gutted before him. The core, as well as the internal organs of the animal, were scattered over the forest floor, whatever had killed the Hangistkata had been scared away by him. The animal lay dead and pitted before him, all visible and pitted.

Slowly, he bent down to the dead animal and reached for its core. It was a round ball with no color and didn't really seem to be in her hand either. However, as soon as it was in her hand, it took on the color of it and exuded its own Arcane Energy. With his other senses, he could detect a mandala of runes stretching across his palms, interacting with his own Arcane Energy. It appeared to him that the mandala was hiding under his own Arcane Energy and directing it from the hidden. Or at least the mandala was trying to do so without success. He contemplated the runes for a few moments, letting them sink into him to sense their purpose and hear their sound. The runes were neither human nor demonic, as he noticed, but he could recognize some similarities of both runes in these runes. For a few more moments he looked at the mandala on his hand to see how it would behave if he tried to influence it with his own energy. It did not let itself be influenced by it but seemed to swim along like a cork under the surface of the water, adapting to everything.

Then, after he was sure that he had sufficiently studied the runes and also the mandala, he set about replicating it. It took a few attempts, which he had to find the reason why the mandala had collapsed. First, he simply tried to copy it exactly as he had seen it, which was only moderately successful. After trying for a few minutes and comparing it again and again with the original, he saw the problem. The rune that directed the energy was not large enough to withstand his flood of energy. So he had to enlarge the rune or adjust its mana flow. After some back and forth, leading to attempts to do just that, and working his way closer and closer to the solution, he finally had the right size rune that would keep the mandala from consuming itself and burning up.

However, he still had to work on his mana output, as he could see, because what if he wanted to change the mandala once, in the future, or the rune could not be enlarged. Just as he had to learn with his spells, or was that because of his level advancement.

So he tried it for quite a while on his way back to Lerna and the cave of Hangistkata. He managed to create the mandala more and more often and to keep it running stably. However, the speed and habit would come only with time and he would have to practice this mandala many times.

On his way back, he was still on the lookout for edibles with which he could replenish his supply. He found a few mushrooms and berries, which he packed into the respective bags. Arriving at his current camp, he set about looking for the mandala in the living Hangistkata, it didn't take him too long to spot it now that he knew what to look for, and the marks the mandala left in the Arcane Energy were easier to see now that he knew what they looked like.

He spent the next few days practicing the mandala and the individual runes he had learned from the core of Hangistkata and also thinking about how to observe his next level of ascent. Since he did not feel that this had been a normal step ascent. He also checked again if his body had any flaws, but to his relief, there was no problem and his human physique did not seem to be in conflict with his demonic nature.

After he had learned everything from the Hangistkata, he set off again for the inland, also because he was gripped by a certain restlessness, which he could not seem to get rid of, unless he was heading in said direction. So, with an immensely increased Lerna, he set out to continue his journey.

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After the conversation with the queen and the king, he had gone back to his villa, on the way he had discussed with his daughter possible further steps. How they were going to get Cali back and what they were going to do with her then. "Don't you think she would come back to us as soon as she is strong enough? Also, I wonder what would have happened if we had let her accumulate in the forest as she wanted. Possibly she would have become level three earlier and she wouldn't have run away." Sia thought aloud, which made the other two fall silent. In the resulting silence, the other two occupants of the carriage were busy thinking about what had been said. "And, if there is anything to it that Cali is Caleb, then we have a human genius running around in a body superior to humans. Which, on top of that, can look back on a long life in the military." Into the renewed silence, Abraxas spoke next. "We may have to kill her..." "No, I will not let that happen, father. Sia and I will not let you KILL our daughter. My loyalty is to the gods to you, my wife, and Cali. I will still do everything in my power to protect Cali." Interrupted Sappho with a heated voice. "Forgive me, daughter, I know how you. -" He looked back and forth between Sappho and Sia. "You both have taken Cali to your hearts, you must still understand what I must do as chancellor of this land. Not to mention what the gods have to say about it."

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After that, the carriage had fallen back into silence for the rest of the ride, and each of the occupants hung on to their own thoughts. Which continued into the mansion, where each went his own way. Abraxas led him immediately back to his study, wherein one of his chairs in front of his desk another demon was already waiting, together with a servant, who went out after his arrival and took a position in front of the door. He went to a small bar behind his desk and took a glass full of schnapps before dropping into his own chair behind the desk.

He looked closely at the man in front of him to see if any traces of curiosity or other emotions could be read on his face. Like the other times, however, this time he could read nothing. The man in front of him was something his daughter would not approve of and something Sia would only use as a last resort. For him, however, the assassin in front of him was nothing more than another tool he could use to direct the demons' paths as he saw fit. Which happened more often, as he had to realize right now, and elicited a light, exhausted laugh from him. Which made the assassin tilt his head.

"If I were to ask you what is different tonight than usual, what would you answer?" The Assassin considered for a few moments, in which he looked at him without blinking until he finally began to speak in a voice that seemed unaccustomed to speaking. "As always, you have been cautious of me and let me reveal information first, but well, I would like to entertain your request. What is different tonight? That some shadows served some other powerful ones, as I am serving you right now, among them some of your allies. But also that some messengers have reached the city more than the nights before and not all of them on legal ways but in the shadows. That a cell of resistance has settled in the capital. All this will not be unknown information to you, I assume?" After a nod from the chancellor, the man continued. "Since it will also not have to do with, for armies of the renegades or their surprise attack of one of the renegades, that leaves only a few things which are different tonight than they are on Sundays. There would be, of course, your late-night visit to the royal palace and what you discussed, so the reason for your meeting and that would be, I guess, related to a new star."

"Yes, as always you are well informed. I won't have to remind you how you killed a person of the Empire and brought him back with his soul in the artifact of Ken. This soul had shown no signs of its former human potential, as you surely know. But thanks to the artifact of the Ken, you also brought me the blood of the basilisk. Now, however, the only source, as you know, has run away, and although I initially gave little priority to this person and expected her to die, she has proven me wrong and has ascended to level three and has been recognized as a royal member. What I want from you is that you bring this person back to me and keep her away from the imperials as well as the loyals, who will no doubt have sensed this awakening." The Assassin nodded and got up to leave the room, when he was almost at the door Abraxas called something after him. "Should this be possible only with her dead, then kill her, understand?" The Assassin turned to Abraxas once more. "Understood sir, all in the service of the Goddess." With that, he was gone.

The kiss of Lilith was a holdover from the old days and one that served the same deity as he did as well, giving them some common enemies as well as goals they both seek to achieve.

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Meinoume felt the tremor that ran through the continent when the Titan reached level three. Only he could not locate him and his servants had lost sight of him. But somehow he had to find him, he still wanted his power for himself. But how would he find him, the Titan's servants had all intercepted his servant, it had been too expensive to send more kidnappers after him. Until a few weeks ago, he had not even known which of the Cirkati children of the Hand of Alsac it was. Until one day his servant was able to penetrate the camp of the Hand Alsac, after that, it was only important to determine which members of the group were missing and then to verify this. Actually an easy thing for him and his servants, but then this revolution had broken out against him and he had his hands full to save his followers and to think about which figures he wanted to leave in the game and which he wanted and could sacrifice.

The rise of the Titan, however, had brought it back to his mind and that with its power he might be able to defeat the Demons more easily. Which gave him the idea that he could just use the other Titans on Alsace because why have only one Titan when he could have three Titans.

A new plan took shape in his mind.