The masked man nodded once and turned without another word. Instead of descending toward the city, he pulled out a small artifact. It shifted, expanded, then unraveled into a door. It floated mid-air, unsupported, its surface rippling like liquid metal.

Lexia raised a brow. “A portable gate? Fancy.”

The masked man didn’t respond. He just stepped through, vanishing into the shifting surface.

She shook her head, unimpressed. “No fun at all.” Then she followed.

The transition was instant.

One moment, she was stepping through the gate. The next, she was inside a room. Simple. Unadorned—except for the runes.

They were everywhere. Carved into the walls, the floor, the ceiling. Etched deep into the black stone, pulsing in slow, rhythmic waves. The air buzzed with their power, thick with old magic.

Her gaze swept across the chamber, taking it all in.

“Ah, the famous chamber of secrets,” she mused.

A dry chuckle echoed from across the room.

"Hardly," a familiar voice replied. "More like a humble testing chamber.”

She turned her gaze toward the figure who had just finished working on a crystal orb. Emperor Varian, the Innovator himself—or more commonly known as—

“Hobs, you know there’s nothing humble about this place.”

Varian—Hobs—set the orb down with practiced precision, golden eyes flicking up to meet hers.

“You always did have a talent for stripping away pretense,” he said, standing with that same effortless grace he always carried.

Lexia smirked. “One of my better qualities.”

He gave her a look. One that said he disagreed. But he let it go.

“Anyway,” he said, getting straight to the point. “To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from the goddess of the Hearth herself?”

Like a flipped switch, her expression hardened. “The Wanderer interrupted me on my trip.”

He didn’t react. Not outwardly. But she knew him too well. She caught the flicker of interest in his eyes.

"You know, switching moods like that creeps people out," he said. Then, after a brief pause, “The Wanderer?” His tone was measured. “That’s unexpected.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I was checking out a weird signal I picked up from that region.”

Hobs hummed in thought. “That does sound like something he’d do.” He studied her. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

Lexia leaned against the nearest table, arms crossed. “That signal was an immortal.”

Silence.

The runes pulsed.

He tilted his head slightly. “That so?”

Her smirk widened. “That so.”

The emperor didn’t move. Didn’t blink. But she caught it—the subtle shift in his stance, the way the runes pulsed just a little too sharply.

She had his attention now.

“And I assume he wasn’t just a regular immortal. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here.” He said, while tapping the table, thinking.

Then he stopped and snapped his head toward her. “A unique trait?”

She didn’t answer right away. Just held his gaze, watching the gears turn behind his eyes. The runes pulsed—once, twice—before settling into a slow, steady rhythm.

He was already working through it. Calculating. Measuring.

And that told her everything she needed to know.

He wasn’t dismissing it. He was worried.

She smirked. “Not just unique.” She took a step closer. “Unprecedented. He was barely corrupted by the void even after over a century there.”

His fingers tapped against the table. Barely a motion. But in this room, with him, it carried weight.

She tilted her head. “You already have an idea, don’t you?”

He exhaled through his nose. Didn’t answer.

She chuckled. “Well?”

His gaze flicked to the runes, then back to her. “How much does he know?”

Lexia rolled her shoulders. “Practically nothing.”

Hobs muttered something under his breath. Then turned, tapping the table again. Slow. Controlled.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He didn’t like this.

Then—

He abruptly stopped and let out a breath.

He turned back to her, expression unreadable. “We have to move up the plans.”

----------------------------------------

Back in Heaven, Elias let out a breath as he was finally released from the hands of the chucklers.

He grunted as he stood up on his own two feet—digging them into the earth.

‘That was awkward… and itchy.’ He cringed as he remembered the feeling of their fur brushing up against his bare skin.

‘Only realizing I’m naked so late is just… ugh. Definitely need to make myself some clothes as soon as I get enough creation mana.’

Now with a plan in mind, he quickly caught up with the Matriarch and fell in step behind her. She didn’t acknowledge him right away, her gaze fixed ahead as they walked through the forest.

“We are here.” She said as she stopped in her tracks. “You may speak now.”

“Finally!” He exclaimed, but was then confused. “Where are we exactly?”

He looked around and all he could see were trees. A lot of them were relatively bigger than previous ones he’d passed, but they were still trees.

The Matriarch gave him a sidelong glance, amusement flickering in her expression. "Look up.”

Elias frowned but did as she said.

He froze.

The trees stretched higher than he realized, and up in the canopy were a plethora of rope bridges and houses—some carved into the bigger trees, while others were separate structures altogether.

Then, movement.

Faint, almost imperceptible. But it was there.

At first, he thought it was the wind shifting the leaves. Then he realized—he was being watched.

Figures stood on the bridges, perched in the trees, moving between the trunks with impossible grace. They barely made a sound. Cloaked in deep green and gold, their forms blended into the light and shadow, almost as if the forest itself had shaped them.

Elias tensed. Not out of fear. Instinct.

The Matriarch didn’t stop walking. “They have been watching since we arrived.”

Elias exhaled. “Yeah, I got that.”

She continued, unconcerned. “The Elders wish to judge you before we proceed with our deal.”

He scowled. “Judging me? For what?”

The Matriarch didn’t stop walking. “The Elders do not deal with outsiders lightly.”

He exhaled through his nose. “Yeah, again, I got that.”

Suddenly, the air in front of him shifted. One of the cloaked figures had come down. They hadn’t jumped. Hadn’t landed. Hadn’t made a single sound. One moment, the space in front of him was empty. The next, it was filled.

Elias didn’t move, but his muscles tensed. Whoever this was—they were dangerous.

He fired off a scan of [Identify].

[???]

‘That’s just fucking great.’

“Desippe, this human you’ve found is a bit rude isn’t he?”

Elias barely kept his expression in check. ‘Guess he felt that.’

The Matriarch nodded. “He is. But he is perfect for our needs.”

The cloaked figure let out a soft, amused hum. “Perfect, you say?”

Its head tilted slightly, and though Elias couldn’t see its eyes, he could feel the scrutiny.

Without warning, the elder plunged an arm into his stomach and withdrew it in the same second. He couldn’t even follow his speed.

A sharp, wet sound filled the air.

“What just—"

Elias stumbled, eyes widening as he looked down. "… no wound?”

His skin was unbroken, his body whole—but he felt it. The phantom pain of something inside him being ripped away.

The elder raised his hand, inspecting it. Something shimmered between his fingers—something invisible, but undeniably there.

Essence. His essence.

The elder hummed, rolling his wrist. “Good. It resists. Now—”

With a swift motion, it crushed the essence in his palm.

He gasped, nearly dropping to his knees. It felt like his soul had been stepped on. The world swayed, nausea crashing into him like a wave. His body recoiled, rejecting the absence of what had been taken.

He clenched his teeth, forcing himself to breathe and steady the tremors running down his spine. Something was wrong—deeply wrong.

The elder wiped his hand clean against his cloak, as if nothing had happened. “He’s tougher than expected too.”

Desippe nodded, as if that explained everything.

He ground his teeth. “What the hell—”

“Just a test, human.” She said.

Elias forced himself to stand straight, even as his body screamed at him to collapse.

A test?

That’s what they called ripping out a piece of his soul?

He took a slow breath through his nose, forcing the trembling in his limbs to settle. His eyes flicked to the elder, who was still watching him with unsettling amusement.

“Some test,” he muttered. His voice came out hoarse.

Her expression remained unreadable. “You survived. That’s all that matters.”

He clenched his jaw. He really hated these people.

“And you’re already healing.” She added. “We needed to see if your ungodly regeneration included your soul.”

“Now we know.” The elder said as he turned around and nodded to one of the other elders in the canopy. “Our deal can now be formalized.”

|Ding! A representative of the Mirthbound clan has extended a system contract!|

|Examine?|

He exhaled sharply, eyes flicking to the system prompt hovering in his vision. He didn’t trust these people—at all. But refusing wasn’t an option. Not unless he wanted to fight what he assumed was a group of cloaked Tier Threes.

‘Yes.’

|Contract opened|

[The Mirthbound Accord]

Terms:

* The signee will provide assistance in exchange for a safe refuge and temporary protection under the Mirthbound Clan.

* The signee will fulfill a single request, to be determined at a later time.

* The signee will not act against the interests of the Mirthbound Clan while under its protection.

* Violation of this agreement will result in immediate forfeiture of all protection.

|Accept? Yes/No|

His jaw tightened. ‘This is entirely one-sided!’

Elias’ fingers twitched. ‘A single request?’ That could mean anything. And forfeiture of protection was just a fancy way of saying they’d kill him—or at least try to—if he crossed them.

His gaze flicked to Desippe. She was watching him with that same unreadable expression, waiting. Testing.

He clenched his jaw, eyes shifting between the contract hovering in his vision and the Mirthbound surrounding him. He had no leverage, no real choice. Either he accepted, or he risked making enemies of an entire clan.

His finger hovered over “Yes.” Then—he hesitated.

‘Am I just gonna roll over and make myself their slave?’

That single request in particular. Too vague. Too dangerous.

‘No. Fuck this.’

He exhaled through his nose, meeting Desippe’s gaze. Then the elder’s.

A pause.

Then, with a steady voice, he said—

“No.”

The air stilled.

A tense silence spread through the clearing, and every pair of eyes locked onto him. The weight of it pressed against his skin, thick with unspoken threat.

Then, a slow, deliberate applause came from the Matriarch.

The elder nodding in unison. “Good. You have a spine” He shifted in his place and suddenly disappeared, leaving behind the words. “You will need it.”

Elias looked questioningly at Desippe, looking for answers as to what just happened.

“A test.” She said.

“And?”

“You passed.” She grinned, then walked deeper into the woods. “Come, we’ll get you what you need for the tasks ahead.”

He exhaled, tension still thrumming beneath his skin. He wasn’t sure if he had just avoided a trap—or stepped into something worse. But for now, he would celebrate this small win.

He ran up to the Matriarch’s side. “About the needs.”

“Yes?”

“Get me the best rocks.”