Satoshi is sitting in front of an illuminated slab of crystal, there are weird symbols floating in and out of existence on its surface. His hands move here and there over an integrated control unit, each time hitting individually unique input nodes. More and more weird symbols fade in and out every time he does this.

Suddenly he hears the sound of laughter from outside of his room, it sounds ecstatic. Curious, he stands up and goes to check. The laughter comes from a woman, she's watching two cats playing with each other.

The woman notices Satoshi, and says "Look at them fighting, doesn't look vicious at all, but very cute instead."

Satoshi watches as the two cats play-fight with each other. It is true, they try to act mean or vicious to intimidate the other, but come up looking very cute instead.

"Hehe, silly cats, what are you even doing…" looking at them Satoshi can't help but laugh.

—

"To actually go and decide on such a thing, you really don't consider your older brother at all! Am I still even alive in your eyes?!" Mulah looked at Satoshi with a look of grievance and anger.

His voice sounded bitter and full of disappointment. It was just early morning but it looked like Satoshi had managed to incite his wrath.

"There is no discussion about this! If you still consider me your older brother, then you should immediately go, if not, consider our relationship over!" he threatened.

Satoshi, seated on one of the many pavilions within the mansion, calmly looked at Mulah. He could see that Mulah was obviously seethed right now.

When he saw Satoshi keep being silent, Mulah grew angrier, "Say something!"

Satoshi calmly asked Mulah, "What are you doing?"

"It should be my question, what are you doing??" Mulah asked

"Seeshh..not this again." Satoshi felt frustrated.

This all started last night during their dinner together. After a couple hours of sleep, a servant came to Satoshi guest house and informed him that he had been invited to dinner. When he arrived, Mulah and his small family were already there.

It was a wide open pavilion that was quite secluded from other buildings within the compound. Before Satoshi even arrived he could already hear the sound of laughter and conversations. Since the pavilion was quite secluded, and it was the master of the mansion himself that was being loud, other family members that also lived within the mansion wouldn't mind.

Mahalini's extensive family actually consisted of many members, but it looked like Mulah intended this dinner exclusively for them. It was understandable, since Mulah had just got back, he must have wished to be with wife and daughter the most, undisturbed by the presence of other people.

To be included in this dinner, Satoshi felt quite honored.

The dinner was a sprawl, and various dishes were served on exquisite plates. There were also various choices of drinks and desserts. There were servants standing by, ready to take any order in case anyone wanted a different kind of dish that wasn't already served.

All kinds of formality were dropped, Mulah, Mahalini and Ashya treated Satoshi as if he was part of a family. Mulah recounted the details of their travel together, he even jokingly admonished his wife and daughter to be careful not to anger Satoshi. He also talked alot about his life and work in Xinjia-kor, even about things that could be considered government related secrets.

Mahalini talked about life in general, how the big family had been faring, the family business and so on. Ashya talked about her studies, her friends, and the current trends and going-ons that girls her age followed. Satoshi mostly listened and rarely talked, he wanted this family of three to have their time.

When it got to a subject about study, Ashya suddenly threw a question toward Satoshi.

"Have Uncle decided on which school to join? I could help you with going through them if Uncle needs it."

Satoshi was startled by this question, he didn't know what gave her the impression but he didn't want to make her feel bad for assuming.

"I actually don't plan on joining a school" Satoshi answered strictly.

Ashya was surprised by the answer and spontaneously looked at his father. Mulah was also caught off guard by Satoshi's answer, it seemed like he had misunderstood something.

"Satoshi, you are not here to join a school?" Mulah asked.

"I am not. I am actually here looking for work. Forgive me, I should have told you instead of letting you assume." Satoshi apologized.

"No no no, it is okay, it was my fault. I saw a brilliant young man going to Istindi from Mhasgara and automatically assumed he must be looking to join a school. Now that I recall, you didn't even plan to go to Golden Ayodhya in the first place."

"That's true, if you didn't invite me I would probably still be out there right now trying to figure out where to go." Satoshi wryly smiled.

Mulah went silent, he didn't know what to say, he actually felt bad because he had assumed those things and had told his wife and daughter as such. In his mind, Satoshi was a clever young man, and for someone such as him to decide to work instead of study he must have his own difficulties.

Due to his assumption Mulah had made his daughter unknowingly mention a sensitive topic, that was why he felt bad.

"Uncle doesn't like going to school?" Ashya innocently asked.

"Ashya!" Mahalini gently stopped her daughter.

"Hahaha, it's okay, I don't mind." Satoshi said to Mahalini.

"It's not that, of course Uncle likes going to school, but right now it's more important for Uncle to work first. You can think of it as preparing to go to school. After Uncle is ready, of course Uncle is going to school."

Ashya didn't entirely understand Satoshi's answer, why would someone need to prepare to go to school, which was essentially a preparation to join an academy. Preparing to prepare is such a weird thing in her mind, so she just nodded her head along.

Mulah looked at Satoshi in silence, he remembered how this young man pulled a con that fooled many people just a few days before, he wasn't sure if Satoshi was being honest right now.

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Mulah looked at Satoshi deeply and said,"You should really go. It would be such a waste for you not to go."

Satoshi looked at Mulah and could feel his genuine intent, he answered simply, "I will."

It was the morning after this dinner when Mulah suddenly went to Satoshi with an anger that soared to heaven. Satoshi was confused why Mulah would suddenly act like this, but he knew he wasn't actually being angry.

"You better not think about weaseling your way out of this!" Mulah screamed out.

"Drop it, anger is not a good color on you." Satoshi looked at Mulah and firmly said.

Mulah kept staring at Satoshi for some time before he relented, he deeply sighed,"I thought if I pretended to be angry you would listen and go. Alas…it was worth a try."

"What's your plan now?" Mulah asked.

"I'm going to look for work now. While I'm at it I'm also going to find a place to stay, can't be a homeless man after all." Satoshi answered.

"You could stay here, we have room to spare. If you don't like the one you are staying at right now, you can move to a different one."

"That won't be right, you are already good enough for me, I won't impose on you like that."

"I don't mind. I'm sure Mahalini won't mind too. Ashya would be happy to have you stay too."

"Hahaha, while you dont mind, I do. But thank you anyway."

"Don't mention it. But you should stay here at least until you get a job. I won't be able to rest at ease otherwise."

"...alright."

With that it was settled that Satoshi would stay with Mulah's family, at least for the time being. With that, came a brief period of quiet in Satoshi's life.

—

Year 6.011 of the Fourth Era, 2nd Day of First Seed

Continent of Terra-Esterna, Giava Territory, Golden Ayodhya district.

[BEEP! Playing message. BEEP!]

["...ah, hello team leader, where are you right now?]

So..the guys at work have been making, uh, a lot of noises, since you confronted the management and quitted last week. They think you were just trying to cover your ass and you really did take those bonuses.]

[I didn't believe it one bit tho, to me it's clear the management is trying to pin this on you with those gifts and what not, but I guess those guys are just too dumb to see it…]

[Anyway, since you quit I also have decided to quit. I think I would rather go with you if you decide to join another company, so if you have time could we meet up? We could have dinner and drinks while we talked… Anyway, that's all I want to say..ah, Good Sow by the way, almost forgot about that… Alright, I'll be waiting to hear from you. Thanks.]

[BEEP! End of message. BEEP!]

Satoshi put down his communication terminal and let out a sigh. That was the first message from his work colleague since he rage-quitted last week, and while he thought he already convinced himself fully the message still made his heart quiver.

"This came for you the other day." Mulah broke his thought when he suddenly came from behind, a letter in his hand.

"Thanks." Satoshi took the letter from Mulah. His previous worry melted when he read the sender name on the envelope, it was from Xiahn, it came all the way from Mhasgara.

Satoshi opened the letter and began reading it. He smiled while he read, then chuckled, furrowed his eyebrows, then smiled again. In the end he breathed a sigh

Satoshi then put down the letter on the table and began to ponder.

Mulah looked at Satoshi for a while and asked, "May I?"

"Ah, sure." Satoshi answered.

Mulah then took the letter and began to read, he smiled and said, "It looks like they are doing fine, thanks to you."

"And Xiahn is going to graduate in a little bit. To be able to secure letters of recommendation at his age is rare. Looks like he really went all out in his study." Mulah continued.

Mulah put the letter back in the envelope and looked at Satoshi. He asked, "Was that from work?"

"Yes." Satoshi answered briefly.

"You really should have worked with Mahalini's uncles. You would be perfect as a manager, besides, they are all already familiar with you and seem to like you. But you wouldn't listen..."

"Let it go, it already happened anyway."

"Of course I'm going to let it go, what more can I do? But it's frustrating to see you worked hard for one and a half years for it to just…go in smokes like that." Mulah shook his head. It didn't happen to him directly, but he felt frustrated either way.

Satoshi didn't respond and kept his silence instead, he didn't know what he should say.

It had been one and a half years since Satoshi told Mulah about his plan when he arrived in Golden Ayodhya. Since then he had worked hard and did everything that he could. He really applied himself and was able to achieve great things. Thus, despite being new, he quickly moved through the corporate ladder and became a team leader of his own force.

He always reminded himself of his father's sense of duty, his mother's sacrifice, his uncle's flexibility, and his aunt's silent perseverance. This enabled him to quickly adapt to a new work environment and positively stood out among his peers. He got promoted several times in quick succession and became a considerable force within the company he worked with.

But it all came crashing down as fast as it came up. He fell to one of the most classic ploys of corporate politics: divide and conquer. As much as he deemed himself a good judge of character, Satoshi failed to realize how much envy he had garnered all around him, even among his closest aides.

He also failed to notice the ripples he created on his ascend toward corporate leadership would come crashing down in waves, as repercussions from those unwilling to change the status quo.

In the end Satoshi was left out-numbered, out-maneuvered, and out-witted. He fully realized now, while he was knowledgeable and adaptable, he had one glaring weakness: experience!

This lack of experience led to naivety! While Satoshi was naturally cunning, it was not enough. He was still clinging to the belief that people were naturally good. That's why he got crushed.

"What's your plan now?" Mulah asked, he suddenly remembered how he had asked this exact same question some months ago.

"Look for work. What else?" Musashi asked.

"Xiahn will be coming in half a year tho." Mulah recalled.

Satoshi already knew this, he read that from the letter Xiahn sent, but he tried to evade the elephant in the room. His mind reeled to the moment he was saying his goodbyes before leaving for Istindi.

While he was glad, he didn't think his white lie back then would catch up with him so soon. When Xiahn got here, he would find out that Satoshi wasn't really preparing for the Academia Scholastic Trials like he said.

Satoshi felt leerie when he thought how this would cause Xiahn to be disappointed in him, or how it would affect him moving forward.

"There's still some time if you really want to take the test, you know." Mulah asked.

"Let's not talk about that for now. Anyway, what's the matter with you, you seem out of sorts."

It had been more than one and a half years since they met and they had been in close contact ever since. Mulah had always treated Satoshi as he would a brother and his family also treated him as such.

When Mulah needed to get back to Xinjia-kor, Satoshi would help him with looking after his family while he was away. Ashya looked up to Satoshi like a sister would her older-brother, and respected him like a niece would her uncle.

Satoshi would sometimes send Mulah letters, assuring him that his family is doing fine and he should return home whenever he can. He also talked about his family back in Mhasgara and also the circumstances he faced at work.

Thus, even though the times the two of them could really meet were limited, now that Mulah get to return home for new year, there were no awkwardness between them.

Mulah sighed as he answered, "There's a little complication at work, I just got the news. One of our team got consumed and is no longer able to handle a node. Well, let alone handling a node, he could even die if he were not careful.

"Whoa, that sounds dangerous." Satoshi responded. Being consumed meant the mental energy within you to go haywire, and instead of keeping you alive, it rampaged and destroyed you from inside out. For people with metal-fire energy affinity such as Mulah and his colleagues it looked like being consumed by fire from within, thus the term.

"Yes it does, but the Imperial Descendants Hall of Research is doing everything they can to make sure he remains safe and in good health. They will even put his entire family on an inheritance program. But that's not the main issue. The main issue is, we can't operate the conduit with a missing node."

Satoshi heard what Mulah said and thought to himself, 'That is indeed a problem.'

Satoshi looked around him, even to this day, he would still be amazed at the sheer size and refinement of this mansion. To think that Mulah, an orphan boy out of Mhasgara, would be able to build himself a life like this in another province. Not to mention, the prestige he enjoyed as an important personnel under the employ of Xinjia-kor's Imperial Descendants.

While Mulah really worked hard, never slacked off, and used every chance he got to improve himself, a huge chunk of his success was owed to the fact that he got a rare mental affinity with metal-fire energy. A rare type of affinity that enabled him to work with a very precious metal, Verdant Steel.

Verdant Steel is a type of metal that required an entirely different level of effort to process. Due to its hardness and difficulty to process it is even said that Verdant Steel was forged by the universe itself. In a sense, that could be considered true because the Verdant Steel was created mainly during the Great Collapse, and also during the subsequent minor collapses.

When the Great Collapse happened, parts of the dimensions that supported our planes of existence folded and layered on top of each other. In the grand scheme of things this fold was miniscule in size, but it allowed the probability for something that had never existed before, to now exist.

One of them was the Verdant Steel. It was the very essence of metal elements, folded up on itself, by the very forces that allowed our entire reality to exist. Nothing would be harder than that.

Consequently, they also came with many attributes that put other variations of metal elements to shame. For example, there was no better metal than the Verdant Steel if you were going to make magical artifacts, weapons, armors, shields, and any kind of magical treasures in general. Including just a tiny bit of Verdant Steel during the process of refinement would make the quality of the final product to sky-rocket.

Thus, they are highly sought after despite being very hard to process.

Mulah and his team, as a part of Xinjia-kor's Imperial Descendants Hall of Research, were some of the most respected experts in the world in this field. That was because of their success in developing a conduit formation that utilized metal-fire energy to extract and process Verdant Steel. To get this metal-energy, they employed the help of experts such as Mulah, who would act as nodes of power in a formation array.

That meant the value of people like Mulah was very-very critical to the whole operation. Missing even one of them could potentially put them in a screeching halt.

"What if you make it vibrate?" Satoshi asked Mulah.

"Make what vibrates?" Mulah confusingly asked.

"You know, instead of depending on power nodes and the efficiency of the conduit to channel energy, why not make it vibrate at a higher frequency?" Satoshi asked.

"I mean, instead of trying to blast the molecules, forcing them to tear from each other, which would require a huge ton of energy, it would make sense to loosen their bonds first. You turn down the power output to a level that just barely knocks the molecule out of its orbit, but do that at an ascending frequency, until their molecular bonds unravel themselves." Satoshi explained.

"If you go in that direction, it could potentially lower the burden of the power nodes too, since you can supplement them with other types of energy as long as they are explosive enough, electric energy for example." Satoshi further explained.

Mulah creased his eyebrows with his hand over his chin,he was thinking really hard,"I mean…we won't know for sure until we actually try it, but that actually sounds very plausible. But won't we need to alter the conduit?"

"Of course. You don't need to alter the entire thing though,you only need to introduce an array that could act as a buffer for power capacity, manage loss of tension, and to transform the output in a higher cycle." Satoshi said, "but I'm not sure, I am not an expert after all. You should figure it out."

Mulah looked at Satoshi as if he was part of a freakshow right now. He felt sometimes it was very hard to get a feel of what he was thinking. In the end he decided to put it off until later. "Anyway, let's go eat breakfast first. You should come accompany me this evening, I'll take you somewhere interesting."

"Where are we going?" Satoshi asked.

Mulah said back, "The Palace Museum."