Shen stood up to leave, but unexpectedly, E'livia told Habnor, "You don't want to dismiss us like that."

Any remaining trace of politeness instantly vanished from the high elf's face. He became dead serious and waved his hand. The door that Lariel had been eavesdropping through closed with a bang. The girl was uninjured but yelped.

Habnor said, "You have a single chance to explain what you mean by that. I hope you did not just threaten me."

E'livia raised her hands non-threatening. "I meant that Shen and I have potential. Didn't you say I'm a key figure in the Myriad Worlds? Well, I'm from the—"

Shen put a hand on her shoulder to prevent her from saying more. She looked curious at him. He smiled and said, "We don't know if Habnor was telling the truth about his connections to the Gardener. For all we know, he might've killed and replaced the real contact."

Habnor squinted his eyes. "You're offending me in my own home, which I already told you to leave."

Shen smiled apologetically at the man and bowed slightly. "My apologies, Esteemed Senior. I was just teaching her how to think." He turned to E'livia. "The actual reason we should leave is because of the girl. And we should tell Habnor as little as possible about ourselves so anyone looking for us won't look for him—and, thus, potentially bring trouble to the girl."

"The girl?" E'livia asked obliviously.

"Habnor said Karma is real in the Shaft, but he hasn't formed any Karmic ties with us or vice-versa. I believe him to be a Realization. A Dominator couldn't block an Axiom like that, but a Realization might, at least to prevent owing metaphysical debts. Not to mention Habnor would need some power for the Gardener to trust he would survive for long in this place without a way of contacting the Myriad Worlds. A Dominator wouldn't cut it."

E'livia frowned. "But if he's a Realizator, he can send messages back home."

"Not if he wants to avoid being traced."

"Because of the girl?"

Shen nodded. "Lariel also hasn't formed any ties to us, even though I haven't noticed any special item on her. I also haven't detected Habnor's Realization acting on her to assist her with that. This is the Overlord Realm, and I doubt a C-tier item could hide from me. Something far above our pay grade is happening here, and I suppose that's why Habnor insists we leave; our very presence here somehow risks her life. So, we must leave. In fact, we should do that fast, not just for the sweet girl's wellbeing. Habnor might decide getting paid to help two exiles isn't as important as his main mission: protecting the girl from the Alliance."

E'livia was slowly standing up, finally getting convinced to leave. "Alliance?"

Shen bowed to Habnor again and accompanied E'livia to the door. "Lariel is a high-elven Alliance name. Habnor isn't. Anyone with eyes can tell they aren't relatives. The Gardner sent us to the Shaft to help me, and I bet this wasn't the first time he did something like that. The girl is probably hiding from someone or something."

"Oh." E'livia looked at the closed door where the girl had been.

Habnor didn't move as they headed to the house's exit, but his squinted eyes worried Shen. The guy could sneak up on E'livia, and an ancient Realizator likely had a lot more combat experience and tricks than them. Even without a Realization, an ancient cultivator in a multiverse where knowledge equaled willpower had had many opportunities to grow. Shen doubted E'livia could beat Habnor in the meta-battlefield if both deployed their domains.

That was the most outstanding advantage old people got in the Shaft. The rules were heavily biased towards ancient people and organizations. The Shaft was a place of tradition. People born in gold cradles could quickly hone their willpower with secret knowledge, which gave them significant edges in their lives.

In the Shaft, the status quo was meant to be preserved, not contested.

Such local culture was another reason Shen and E'livia should leave quickly. Habnor might get very, very offended if they insisted on challenging his established position.

E'livia left the house first. Shen turned and bowed a third time. "Thank you again for your assistance, Esteemed Senior. This junior knows that Esteemed Senior doesn't want any ties to this junior, Karmic or otherwise, so this junior will forget the great favor that Esteemed Senior showed this junior. May we never meet again."

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"Wait," Habnor said, and Shen prepared to fight. But Habnor's face relaxed, and so did Shen. "Your girlfriend wasn't entirely incorrect. Helping you could benefit me in the long term. The very long term." He used his spatial piercing, which he wore on his nipples—an information Shen didn't want to know but could see all the same—and a C- infocube materialized in his hand. The metal object was pristine and brand new, with shining blue runes. "I gift the two of you with all local languages. Erase the cube after you're done. If you ever reach A-rank, remember the favors you don't owe me and come to this place." He paused, then added. "All three of us would benefit from what I have in mind."

He threw the cube at Shen, who picked it up and nodded one last time. "Thank you, Esteemed Senior." He left.

Outside, E'livia's domain was deployed, and she was looking around with a frown. She looked surprised and relieved when Shen appeared. Shen smiled as he noticed why: as soon as he stepped outside, the house disappeared. He couldn't detect it with his aura, domain, or Allvision.

As Shen had guessed, Habnor did have something big going on. He also assumed he and E'livia would be at risk if they became associated with the high elf or got entangled in whatever mess Lariel was involved in.

"He gave us a gift," Shen said, sending a qi tendril to the cube. The cube formed a connection to his mind, which he allowed, and dumped twenty languages on him.

One language was the Shaft Common, which could be used everywhere. It had almost a million accents from different regions. Of the twenty-one remaining languages, each set of three was unique to each Realm. These Realm-exclusive languages also couldn't be self-learned, only taught by someone who knew them. The Shaft's High Heavens confused your mind if you tried to learn by yourself.

The Realm Languages were meant to identify whether you belonged to a Realm and your status in it. Each Realm had a True Language, a High Language, and a Low Language. There were extra rules about who you could teach them to, though said rules weren't enforced by the High Heavens. The people in it had created and enforced them.

That showed how right Shen had been about how tradition and the status quo were crucial in the Shaft. It made sense that a multiverse where knowledge was power would use the very way they communicated to form strata.

The Low Language could be taught by anyone with a Local Realm ID to anyone with the same Local Realm ID. Each Realm and a specific ID. Said IDs weren't physical things you carried with you but linked to your soul and stored in a special database. Some organizations with the proper permissions could access it. Said organizations also determined among themselves the requirements to get a Local Realm ID. Usually, it involved time spent in the Realm and money. Shen and E'livia had an Overlord ID.

The High Language was meant for people of great status. Big established forces could learn and teach the local High Language among themselves. The High Language was relatively widespread among the important organizations. The organizations themselves determined which others could join their ranks, and as long as an individual was a part of them, they had the right to be taught. Each organization decided who they taught it to.

The True Languages were meant to show you had a lot of power or the right connections, usually both. Only the top dogs in each Realm were meant to speak them. Only direct descendants of the main line of any organization could be freely taught, and even then, only a limited amount was allowed every set period. But of course, you could get permission to teach more people. The more distant to your bloodline they were, the more challenging it was to obtain consent, which had to come from the majority of the other top dogs. Teaching two outsiders legally, as Habnor had just done, must've required a lot from the guy.

Shen and E'livia had only received permission to learn the languages. They weren't allowed to teach anyone any Realm Language except the Overlord Regular Language to someone with an Overlord ID. Shen could disobey but would be killed if found out. Maybe not for teaching the Low Languages, but even that was somewhat risky. Whenever questioned, you were meant to answer who you learned a Realm Language from. Some people would check if you were lying and spread the word if you were found guilty. There were rewards to ensure people would follow the rules. The more exclusive the language, the better the rewards.

Shen wondered if he should teach other people anyway just to gain bragging rights for fighting the Grammar Police. That sounded simultaneously stupid and cool.

He gave the infocube to E'livia. After everything was pushed into her mind, they shared a single look before deciding to erase the data. They didn't want to make enemies in a new multiverse for no gain. A single strand of qi was enough for the item to understand they wanted the information inside to cease.

"Now what?" E'livia asked as she stored the C- item in her storage artifact, a tiny bead that she kept under her skin.

"It depends. We could head towards civilization to seek help. I need to figure out if I really want to learn alchemy." His tribulation's current stage might have nothing to do with learning more about himself. He had to find someone to help him with that. "Or do you want to take some time to meditate on the Shaft's Axioms? You need to adapt your Path to breakthrough, right?"

She shook her head. "If Habnor weren't lying, my current power level is enough for this Realm. It's better to slowly adapt to the local environment, anyway. I'll feel things out for a few weeks, then meditate for another few before I try to change anything in my Path."

"Sounds good. Civilization it is, then. I saw a big city this way when we were trying to reach the moon," Shen said as he started flying. E'livia followed.