Getting out of his ride, Ben felt the wind once again.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed nature before turning back and talking to the creature that brought him here.

"This is so much better than being holed up."

"If you need evacuation, I'll stay around waiting for the call. I can get you out of here." The winged Spirit creature replied.

"I heard you got children? A miracle."

"The integration of my family with the < Dragons > has been a success. And the experiments have already come to fruition. I'm so delighted."

"So, don't stay near. Don't kill yourself. You don't need to. Dinna already armed me, so my body won't stay on those grounds even if they find me."

"Do you think I'm that weak? I'm one of the divine beasts of Spirit!"

"Just a random name. It might sound incredible, but you're only so divine."

"For someone who helped codify my divinity, you're quite skeptical."

"You might be fitting for this world. But this organization can still kill you. They didn't live this long for nothing."

"Alright, if you don't want my help, I won't force it."

---

"Alright, if you n//eed my help, I'll do m\\y best."

"If on//ly you cou\\\ld go back and take care of your children."

---

"Go back and take care of your children. It was a challenge to have you experience such a thing. Don't stay close. They might notice you if they detect me."

"Please, be careful. Eden would kill me otherwise."

"Don't worry. You'll still see me even if things go south. I'm not completely falling apart yet."

After saying his last words, Ben walked down this hill as he began to shape-shift.

'Ah. It's been a while.'

Despite the ride, Ben's travel time alone was still long.

They couldn't get him closer without the city noticing it. And they didn't want a conflict yet.

So Ben did what he knew best. He changed his shape and energy emission.

He became someone else and began harmonizing with his new temporary identity.

His dissonance began sprouting again, but Ben didn't mind since this was what he knew best.

Over the next few days, he quickly got used to his new life and built a new routine.

Those events became blurry in his mind since he didn't focus on remembering them. He just focused on being this tired, unassuming worker walking around.

And < Dragons > preparation paid off since Ben soon was within Srok's capital.

Ben didn't skip his work and carefully noted what his overloaded senses could read. But as the hours passed in this city, it became almost impossible for Ben to remain sane.

So, rather than following the slow and reserved withdrawal, Ben decided to fire up his emergency procedure.

Once he had enough information, Ben calmly walked to the center of a plaza and released Dinna's complex Array from within his chest.

The event caused a commotion immediately, but Ben disappeared in an instant as he teleported away.

In his place, there was only a chaotic plaza and a few too many worried cultivators.

---

Ben arrived at Sunset City not long after.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He anchored to his old lab, which they had refitted for Eden's use.

Once he saw Eden's worried face, Ben could easily confirm he was at the right place.

"Are you alright?" Eden asked.

"Yes. I merely didn't want to take the long route. I'm fine."

"What did you find?"

"Come to the meeting. Anyway, ask Dinna to refit this last small patch. With this, I've emptied the room fully."

Before Ben even left the room, a couple of his friends had already arrived to look how he was.

The meeting happened immediately. And despite Ben's wavering consciousness, he still presented the dire situation on Srok.

...

"If they succeed, it won't only be that region."

"We ought to move soon, then."

"The ritual looks better than the last. So, take Dinna with you."

"That's..."

"I'll take her place. Just put me in a temporary seal after. Being awake hasn't been that comfortable lately. Also, Eloise should go with you and leave Eden in her place."

"This..." Eden whispered.

"Ah. I know you'll think it's about your safety. But come on, you are the safest when you hug your father's legs. So that's not it. Instead, you're fit for this job because you have a lot of energy."

Ben's voice was quavering.

"Anyway, that's about all I can do. I'll be on the lookout. But why don't we step a bit outside in the salon? I have one last thing to show."

Ben slowly walked out of the room.

It was a challenge to keep focus, but he did.

Once his friends created a circle around him in the salon, Ben began talking again.

"Given my reads, you all will be fighting, not only Srok but most of Latwelia too, later.

I'm not worried about it. But I'm sure the fight won't stop anytime soon. And at first, the most you'll do is interrupt.

But once Dinna completes the Scanning Array, it'll be easier to hunt down those people.

At that point, though, I'll be on my beauty sleep, as you all know. So, I want to comment on the far future while I still have time."

In addition to his breakthrough, Ben had also worked with Dinna and Ginn on building a Scanning Array. They wanted to more easily locate those with the traces left by those wanting to refine the world.

The project would use Ben as a medium since he couldn't keep tracking them, and his next breakthrough would take too long.

"We've prepared so much. But there is still one thing so far into the future that was not worthwhile discussing much."

Opening his shirt, Ben removed a small wand from his chest.

"I still think this might be a good way to say goodbye." Ben smiled.

"I mostly got what I could from what I wanted. But what do you want?"

Ben played with this wooden-like stick.

"Power. How powerful do you all want to be? And the answer is a lot.

But is the answer for that to master your control over Spirit even further? Likely not.

Most of you will be going to a new world eventually. I'm sure Ginn will carry as much of you as he can. But then, what would you confront? How can you push your limits? Because you all will want more.

How? And I don't know the answer to that. But I did make a good question once. I might not be talented here, but what if I would be talented elsewhere in a different system?

I was privileged to hold the memories from my previous life. So, I could see further. I knew Spirit wasn't everything. It wasn't divine or absolute. Instead, it was merely a characteristic of this planet.

That's how I survived. At least, the main reason why I'm still here."

Ben opened his arms.

"But in addition to this. Once I got enough free time, I tried to look into phenomena and intentions. I don't think my path is something most would want to pursue since they do value themselves a lot. But I don't believe this is all that realization can achieve.

So, I did a few side projects, hoping I would succeed. And this is one of them, from the few, that wasn't a complete failure."

Ben pointed the wand at Matt, who stayed solemn.

"Raise your awareness, as I can only fire it once or twice every millennium."

As if replying, everyone in the salon raised their senses and focused on the object in Ben's hand.

"< Fireball. >"

His otherwise shaky voice was clear and precise.

From within the wand, a wave of energy fluctuated as if responding to Ben's voice.

From the tip of the tick, a small ball of fire built up, and after around two seconds, it flew in Matt's direction.

It wasn't fast or destructive.

Given Matt's fire mastery, he could readily stop it.

But he couldn't do it by controlling it with Spirit, and that surprised him. And so did everyone else.

"Phenomena manipulation with intentions is possible without the use of Spirit. Although, it's far from optimal on those grounds. On this planet, Spirit is king. But what about on the other side?

I can't get to know it since I rooted myself into this place to live. But once you break space-time, you might need to consider that whatever you use might not be optimal there."

After looking at the depleted wand, Ben threw it toward Matt.

"I couldn't get it to be useful, but you might. And once you're there, who knows, maybe you can finally catch up to Ginn."

Ben looked around at people's reactions and smiled.

"My intentions are clear. Maybe with this wand, Dinna can understand the meaning behind the Amber back then, too. My intentions are clear, although a bit < robotic >, but clear."

Ben then began walking toward Mirana while he took something else from his chest.

"I don't have much that was worth keeping, but a few things might be insightful."

In Mirana's hands, Ben put a tiny seedling.

Following, he walked toward Eloise and gave her the other < Misfortune > Dagger.

"Come on, don't cry now. No one is dying." Ben hugged her.

"Good luck, even if you fail," Ben whispered to her.

They had talked earlier about her future and reincarnation. And Ben hoped she could eventually achieve her wildest dreams.

"You're all too silly. I had a blast sticking around. And I do hope you can take good care of my body for a while."

Ben looked at Ginn.

"I'll be on the lookout. Ah, and don't forget to remove my Core. If you don't take it, I'll be angry when I wake up."

Ben walked out toward one of the Sunset Array controllers.

He would stay there while isolating the city until Ginn returned and could deal with the group close to this city.