Truly, if not for the draining effect of her Dream Gem, reminding her of its presence and purpose, there was no doubt that the Dream Gem would have been the very first thing flying at the wall.

Instead, what happened was that Hannah had almost no options to get back at her male parent for what she had gone through, at least without foiling everything she had already achieved.

After all, one could not get revenge on dead people. Moreover, neither could she take her revenge on the dead man’s family since that included her, and Hannah had no wish to suffer anymore. She had had enough of it in the last seven years, so there was no way she would go out of her way to add to that.

No, with the way Trauma and Dream Gems worked, even the consequences of that suffering were slowly vanishing from her existence by becoming something to be enjoyed.

“Yes… Once I am done with everything, I am going to enjoy this as much as possible.”

With the resolved promise, Hannah awaited the last transcendental phenomena to hit her.

This one was called Soul Fusion and it opened Hannah’s awareness to the part of the Soul responsible for change, from its refusal to its allowance. However, it was within this part of the Soul that Hannah finally realized just why her Ability Potential, or better said, why she had accrued so much Trauma within the Alteration Ability Principle category.

Honestly, now that she was seeing it, it was so obvious that it made her wonder why she, and her mother by extension, had not reached this conclusion sooner because it was so obvious that refusing to allow one's Soul inherent change meant that, no matter how it was damaged or for how long it had been damaged for, it would always return to its preferred stated, and that meant every Soul was capable of recovery.

That was why Hannah’s Alteration Ability Potential had been so high, and why it was taking so long to get rid of it with the Dream Gem’s help.

Almost every Night, for the last seven years, she had been injured by the monster inhabiting her Dream Instance, and every following Night her Soul had healed itself to its prim and proper condition.

It was that very function that facilitated the process of Trauma build-up, in the first place, since all the incurred damage was pushed away from the Soul and into the Dream Body which, if compared to an onion, as the comparison made sense to Hannah, a Dream Body represented the last outer layer of her Soul, thereby preventing outside grime and dust from penetrating and damaging the precious insides.

Unfortunately, Trauma was not that easy to get rid of hence why a build-up occurred. Over time, that build-up inched its way into the inner layers of the Soul, so that when there was no choice, a natural cleaning process was initiated.

It was that very natural process that Dreamers took advantage of to create and perfect the Awakening process, and now it was Hannah’s turn to do just that. Only, even without having done anything, she knew that there would be very little achievable in this stage even when this stage presented her with the greatest amount of available energy.

That being the case, all Hannah did in this stage was apply the Utility Feature of the Alteration Ability Principle.

Specifically, she managed to establish a connection between her Soul’s ability to refuse or allow changes to occur with the fifth Enchantment Engram holding the Change of Form Aspect, the Fourth Evocation - Rapid Mutation using that very Engram and Aspect, and the third Domain which regulated the behavior of that Engram, Aspect, and Evocation.

As a consequence, all of those Utility Features slowly built up their individual effects into a cumulative phenomenon that transcended their quantitative nature into a qualitative one.

It was like building a pyramid, with one first building a base on which to stack more stones before eventually reaching the last stone, which was the capstone that completed the wonder of the ages.

In Hannah’s case, two transformations represented the capstone.

The first Transformation allowed Dreams to evolve up into a Dreamon, while the second one allowed Nightmares to evolve sideways into a Dreamon.

That was it.

There was nothing else, but because there was nothing else it also meant there was nothing else to dilute the Alteration Utility Feature and its wondrous power.

Right after Hannah did what she was supposed to do, two things occurred simultaneously.

The first was that Hannah’s Great Dream began another status elevation. Nonetheless, because her Great Dream was already A-Ranked in nature, its progress was minute in the grand scheme of things since the gulf between A-Ranked and S-Ranked Dreams was just so enormous.

Either way, that was the first thing.

The second one, however, was something Hannah had not expected because it occurred right after the transcendental phenomena known as Soul Fuse ended.

Right after it ceased, allowing Hannah to once again observe the ceiling of her father’s office, five strange sensations manifested within her.

These five sensations were both familiar and unfamiliar.

Familiar because they made her remember the five transcendental phenomena she had already undergone, only dimmer and less impactful. Additionally, there was an order by which they appeared, with the first sensation reminding her of Soul Mend, the second of Soul Cleanse, the third of Soul Temper, the fourth of Soul Judge, and the last reminded her of Soul Fuse.

Indeed, the order of their appearance was her Ability Pathway Sequence, but that was where the familiar ceased its display. Yes, from that point, the unfamiliar took the stage because each of the five sensations reverberated in tandem with each other.

Witnessing the behavior made Hannah imagine the five brothers' she never had, getting together on one particular day to watch something entertaining together. At first, each of the five brothers sat on the sole couch available before quickly realizing there was only so much room on the couch, yet all of them desired to sit on that one couch.

As a consequence, one brother began to push away one of his siblings to squeeze on that couch. Nevertheless, soon enough, each of the five brothers did the same because there was no more couch space to be had. What ensued was a battle of the conquest of the couch, to see just who could occupy more space, uncaring of the consequences for the couch as these brothers fought for dominance.

Indeed, that was the game of the day for Hannah as the five sides of her existence warred for more space, yet not realizing that there was no more space to be had.

Anyway, it was not like these five sides of Hannah’s existence had a choice, or the ability of the choice, to find some other couch. No, there was only one couch, and they would either learn to squeeze on it or destroy the couch as a consequence. The problem was, however, that no matter how they pushed on each other they just could not seem to make themselves smaller. No, it was the opposite, in fact, as each of the five sides of Hannah’s existence seemed to grow in size, yet the couch remained the same, meaning that Hannah’s body refused to grow alongside them.

Or did it? Hannah wondered for a second before quickly recalling that each of these five sensations represented one Ability Principle, and each of the five Ability Principles represented one main Stat. However, there were six main Stats, not five, but only five were able to be freely upgraded while the last one, the Ego Stat, needed Special Action Points.

After remembering that point, Hannah's brown eyes settled on the office desk and what should still be lying on it. Nevertheless, just as Hannah wanted to stand up and reach for her D-Card, she found out the true depths of the problem because her body simply refused to respond to her needs.

“...”

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

With no ability to move and having no choice but to think, Hannah urgently began recalling everything she knew about the Awakening process.

That was when her mind settled on a few facts that could explain her current situation, yet that was only a rough explanation because they did not mention just what was happening to her.

No, if her suspicions were right, what Hannah had already gone through could not be truly considered Hard, and that was what her father’s ghost had called it, Hard Awakening Difficulty Challenge.

Yes, the first difficult thing was the Virtual Template Input, but that one she pushed through thanks to her father making the template in question. Still, while not everyone had the privilege of that, Hannah doubted that was the real challenge since Analog Template Input existed with its simplicity.

No, even during the Dream Gem draining process, aside from the second one as that one hurt her especially well, Hannah sort of breezed through that step as well. With that being the case, while it could be part of the challenge, it would not be a major blockage.

No, the true blockage at that step would be running out of Crystalline Hope, but Hannah was safe on that front because, despite having gone through so much already, her Dream Gem had still more juice to give thanks to her father’s gifts/curses.

No, what was currently happening to Hannah had to be the true test of the Hard Awakening Difficulty Challenge. Nevertheless, the problem was that Hannah had no idea what was happening and that was the problem.

Wait… What if that was the test? Hannah suddenly asked herself in her mind. What if… What if the test is me figuring it out and fixing it?

Yes… That has to be it.

Recognizing that not knowing and fixing it was the probable challenge, Hannah quickly recalled everything she knew, again. Though, this time her thoughts were centered on the five sensations rampaging through her body.

Specifically, Hannah tried correlating how they were connected to the Ability Principles and the Stats tied to them.

In the end, after a thorough mental search of her current knowledge base, Hannah’s mind settled on one factor. A factor her father had mentioned on why she had been attempting the challenge in the first place. Once she had that one, it easily carried her thoughts through her memories to that very first attempt at utilizing her D-Card to summarize her existence.

During that attempt, Hannah had learned that all of her Stats had the number zero attached to them.

With that as the angle, it came to her.

Yes… That's it.

It can't be anything else.

But… How am I supposed to manually apply my Stats?

Stuck with the conundrum, Hannah entered another thinking frenzy.

When she did, it quickly came to her that the problem was not the upgrading of the Stats, since if her interpretation of the problem was right, they were already attempting to do so. No, her problem was that the last one, the Ego Stat, was not doing the same.

There must be a reason as to why only Ego can be upgraded with Special Action Points. Hannah noted in her as her body continued warring with itself. What could it be?

Naturally, the answer did not pop up, but soon enough she had a lead and it had to do with the fact that each transcendental phenomenon had revealed a side of her Soul.

Vessel revealed her Soul's Quality, the integrity and purity of the substance making up a Soul.

Instinct revealed her Soul’s Efficacy, the automatic adjustment of the pattern determining the Soul’s precision and performance.

Logic revealed her Soul’s Patterns, the storing, processing and information comprehending side of the Soul and the patterns making it up.

Will revealed her Soul’s Status, the refusal or allowance of the Soul to change the base nature of the substance defining said Soul, whether through natural growth or foreign introductions.

Insight revealed her Soul’s Malleability, the perception, the conception and the manifestations of the patterns making up the Soul, whether inside or outside said Soul.

Quickly reviewing her knowledge, Hannah wondered what she was missing, only the more she thought about the more she realized that she was getting nowhere.

What am I missing? What is my Soul missing?

When no answer was reached, Hannah suddenly realized a big glaring problem.

Even if she figured out what part of her Soul Ego represented, she had no idea how to upgrade. With that being the case, Hannah instantly understood that she was following the wrong trail of Logic.

No, the solution had to be simple since the most likely cause of the challenge was doing it blindly and succeeding.

Following that line of thought, by ignoring what she knew to settle on what she felt, Hannah sensed something. What she felt was parts of her Soul expressing their need to grow yet something was preventing that growth, and that something was the body.

No… It's not my body that is the problem… It's me… I am the problem.

Yes… I am the problem, not what was going on.

Finally having come to the root of the hindrance, it clicked to Hannah.

At the same time, a memory flashed to her thoughts. The memory of her mother comparing the Ego Stat with the Charisma Stat from the D&D game discovered after desperately seeking an answer for her daughter's problem.

Somewhat desperate for the answer and the solution, Hannah quickly remembered that Charisma was about the force, the strength, the expression of the individual, of the personality, of the consciousness inhabiting a body.

With that as the building block, Hannah quickly understood why the five sides of her existence were tearing each other apart. However, while the answer was found, the solution was not, at least it was not before Hannah urgently figured out why those five sides were doing what they were doing, and when she had that, a partial answer emerged from the depths of her mind.

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

With that as the first stepping stone, Hannah tried her best to manually interact with the five sides of her Soul instead of relying on the transcendental phenomena. Naturally, since the fifth phenomenon held the greatest amount of energy, it reverberated the strongest and clearest out of the five sides of her existence. As such, once she had the right sensations down, Hannah actually managed to grab onto that part of herself.

What followed was Hannah mentally grabbing each side of her existence, going from the most obvious to the most secretive, namely the reverse order of her Ability Pathway Sequence.

Once Hannah managed to grab all five, however, that worked, she slowly began to adjust the reverberations of the five forces inside her according to some sense of rightness she never knew she possessed. As a consequence, the reverberations ceased damaging her Soul. On the contrary, the moment Hannah managed to achieve a good enough equilibrium between them, it was as if a lightning bolt struck her.

Naturally, there was no lightning bolt, but it may as well have been because, in one single instance, the five sides of her existence found an outlet for their burgeoning and overflowing energy, and that outlet was Hannah, the real Hannah hidden within the depths of her Soul that had been gestating her existence just for this moment.

A moment that was perfectly described with many names.

Emergence

Awakening

Genesis

Birth

Or the simplest and most favored of all, Hatching.

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

A few hours prior.

Across the current Blackwood family residence, which was in truth just a single apartment, another apartment complex could be seen. However, the way it was built, it faced Hannah’s and Hailey’s apartment, hence why two people were taking advantage of said vantage on the flat roof of the building.

Though, in truth, only one took advantage as his vision penetrated through the concrete wall hiding Hannah and Hailey from plain view.

In said vision, he watched a distraught Hailey stager to the bedroom due to finally figuring out that her life was not as it seemed to be.

At the same time, the man watched Hannah being distraught as well from seeing her mother in her current downtrodden state before finally getting that last nudge to do what should have been done sooner, much, much sooner. That being the case, the man watched Hannah lay down on the couch and close her eyes in her attempt to fall asleep and return to her own Dream Sanctuary.

Observing and searching for the signs, the man nodded when he witnessed them. When he did, he turned his head to the other individual sharing the flat roof.

Her name was Melinda, and she ignored everything in favor of meditating when, all of a sudden, the man by her side spoke up.

“It's starting.”

Despite having broken her trance, she did not open her eyes.

No, Melinda just nodded and began what she had been hired for by focusing her awareness on the small red jewel caught in between her hands that were placed horizontally to each other right above her belly button.

Even prior to the man’s callsign, Melinda had been familiarizing herself with the sensations of the red jewel, but it was only now that she truly focused her power on it and the existence tied to it. The moment she did, also became the moment she instinctually became aware of the greatness of the existence the jewel was tied to.

It was that very existence she was calling on to possess her as that was the deal she had made with the men beside her.

To call on that great existence and let it possess her for a short while because she was a Channeler, a Psychic attuned to the Will of Greater Beings.

Thankfully, for her and all the other Channelers, the process of being possessed was nothing too dangerous because a Channeler does not actually get possessed by the called Great Being, as that was Forbidden by Gaia’s Terms and Services under which all Channelers were hired.

No, the truth was much simpler because all a Channeler does is share his or her own sensations with the Greater Being which then in turn does the same to the Channeler. Naturally, because a Channeler was a much smaller existence when compared to a Great Being, it was the number of sensations shared that became the number one problem of consideration upon which Great Being to call upon.

In today’s case, the Great Being called upon was neither malevolent nor benevolent, at least if the man’s words were taken for granted because she was unfamiliar with the being tied to the red jewel in her palms.

Still, the man had a certain credit, and Melinda was banking on that credit for the Service she was about to do because the possible promised reward for the Service she was about to provide demanded she provide more than a simple Call.

Mortal… You desire a Commune with SinDrax of Crimson CloudFall!

I do Great One.

Only not on the behest of myself but another person wishing for your Presence through my Service as a Channeler of The Great Ones.

Another?

Very well, Mortal.

State the price of your Service.

Unrestricted Access to everything shared during the provided Service, Great SinDrax.

Denied!

Channeler Service is not that expensive. Besides, I will not have Gaia’s Ire for accidentally breaking you by spilling a secret not meant to be shared with Mortal’s.

State your true price Mortal, or I am hanging up?

That was my true price, Great One, for I am extending a Commune to one, not on the Safe to Call List, although you are not on the Bad Call List either. Regardless, the person seeking your presence has informed me of your possible denial and has henceforth suggested for me to up my Price for the initial denial of the upcoming Service I am about to provide you, Great One.

How… Interesting!

Tell me Mortal… Who seeks my Presence?

I am unaware if you are familiar with this Individual, but he has a good credit score within Gaia’s Protectorate, hence why I am taking this risk in contacting you, Oh, Great One.

The individual goes by the name Heinrich Blackwood.

Not a name I am familiar with, yet he’s daring enough to call upon me to foot the bill of your Service?

Fine!

Now I am curious enough!

State your True Price, Mortal!

A-Ranked Sponsorship for my upcoming Awakening!

Phew… That is a steep price… Alright.

But I hold the Right to deny the actual Rank of the Provided Sponsorship based on the degree of cooperation of your upcoming Service plus the results of the outcome for meeting this Heinrich Blackwood.

If he offends me, I will outright deny any Bill for this Service!

If that is acceptable to you, accept it now because there will be no other!

It is, Oh, Great SinDrax.

With the agreement in place, Melinda began her performance by withdrawing from her own body, though not fully since it was closer to falling asleep, and deeply at that, such that a vacuum gets left behind.

A vacuum a Great Being could fill with his own essence to descend into the Mortal world.

Naturally, having done it before, Melinda had easily accomplished this part. And when she was done, it was not Melinda who opened her eyes, but SinDrax of Crimson CloudFall.

When he did, and SinDrax was a He, no doubt about it, he/she observed the world through the Channeler's black eyes. What he/she saw was not entirely unfamiliar to him/her because he/she had taken brief vacations in Gaia’s Womb before.

Nevertheless, he/she was not familiar with this particular layer of the Rift since he had never dared dive deep, even after possessing a Mortal’s Shell.

Setting her/his eyes on the sole individual present near his/her summon spot, SinDrax knew this man had to be Heinrich.

“Mortal, You have Called upon SinDrax of Crimson CloudFall!” SinDrax stated, somewhat unfamiliar with the female tone of his voice. “State your reason or face the Consequences of your actions!”

“Hmph… Barely here and already bitching about it.” The man answered with a grub tone, yet even SinDrax, unfamiliar as he/she was with his newest vessel, noted a hint of familiarity from the man. “Settle down your Ego, Little Brother, or I will exercise you back to your Rift causing you to dearly wallow in grief and misery for missing your niece's Hatching.”

“Eh… Little… What?” Stumped by what he/she was hearing, SinDrax somehow had a tough time processing everything the man called Heinrich told him.

“What? What?” Heinrich expressed before turning to face the newly descended being. “I know your Shell is somewhat young, but her Services should not have left you dumbed down that much. Could it be that your Summoner Status has made you an imbecile?”

“Eh… Wait… Wait, a goddamn second… ” SinDrax heard his/her Shell utter out without any of his/her input, yet those very words perfectly described his thoughts when he/she suddenly found his/her bearing to process the words the man before him/her said, and when heshe did, suspicions arose within his/her mind.

“AnuDrax?” SinDrax voiced out a name, long lost within the dustbin of his/her memories.

“Took you long enough, Little Brother.”

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

“Took you long enough, Little Brother.” Heinrich declared with a smirk on his face. “Though, I have abandoned that Name, and I have yet to choose if I am to pick it up again or take a new one.”

“It is you, AnuDrax?” SinDrax stated before quickly processing his/her Elder Brother's words and realizing their truth, because the Name; AnuDrax, should have been ringing with power with just its pronunciation, yet when he/she focused just enough, he/she sensed the hollow ring to the Name. “Oh… My… GOD… I can hardly believe it. My Elder Brother in the flesh.”

The very second, SinDrax voiced it, his/her sudden emotional state influenced his/her Shell causing it to instantly dash toward Heinrich to hug him as strongly as possible. Never mind the fact that the Shell he/she was borrowing clearly lacked the desired strength of the hug he/she wished to portray.

“Aye… Flesh indeed.” Heinrich replied while looking down at the female face his little brother was wearing for the time being. Still, he kept his smirking expression, only there was a tiny bit of schadenfreude hidden within it. “It took me forty-three lifetimes, but I did it. I beat Gaia’s Challenge.”

“Forty-three?” SinDrax immediately focused on, yet not letting go of his/her Elder Brother's new form, so only his/her black eyes moved to gaze at Heinrich’s brown eyes. “That… is actually quite high in number, but considering how deep you Dived it is not bad either. Still… I must admit, Elder Brother, that I had written you off like the other Divers after not hearing a pip from you in… a long while, let's say.”

“Did you just awaken?” SinDrax inquired with curiosity a second after his/her last statement.

“Actually, no… It's been a few Mortal lifetimes since I recovered the first bits of my True Identity, but as I have yet to completely recover everything, I held on contacting you or Master.” Heinrich replied. “No… I probably would not have called for you anytime soon, but I could not forestall the Hatching tradition of your niece so I arranged a Channeler for you just for this moment.”

“Niece?” Once again hearing the word, a spark of curiosity arose within him/her. Ceasing his hug and retreating a few steps, SinDrax stared at the new face of his Elder Brother. “By niece you mean Niece-Niece?”

“Naturally, is there any other kind of niece?”

“Right. Just making sure… Where is she?” SinDrax asked because it was obvious that there was no niece on the roof of the building they found themselves in.

The inquiry sported Heinrich to point at a certain place. However, alongside the pointing gesture, a tiny bit of his power was shared with the Shell of the women his Little Brother was sharing.

This caused SinDrax to instantly recognize where to set his/her eyes. However, when he/she did, a reluctant sigh echoed from him/her. “Ugh… This Shell is blinder than a mole rat. Give me a moment.”

With that said, SinDrax closed his/her eyes for a second to enter a very brief talk with his Channeler.

Once he/she was done, SinDrax was allowed to Channel a larger fraction of his power, though he paid great attention to not fracture the very Shell he/she borrowed. In the end, when it was done, SinDrax managed to penetrate the concrete and find the location of his supposed niece.

“Ah…” With that, SinDrax observed two Shells in the, yet only one displayed signs of imminent hatching. “Found her!” Then, just as he/she confirmed the sight, SinDrax tried to peer closer only to run into a distinct wall that forbade him to. “Damn… Gaia’s Veil is preventing me from watching closer.”

“Don't worry about that.” Heinrich spoke up, now standing beside the Shell his Little Brother inhabited. “Soon enough, the restrictions will be lifted gradually so we will be able to observe close hand.”

“Right. Right… There was that.” SinDrax echoed out. “Then again…. Knowing you, Elder Brother, I am pretty sure that you can sidestep the restriction?”

“Hnn” Saying nothing, Heinrich waved his right hand and before them a square made of light itself manifested.

Inside that square of light, SinDrax saw a simple sight, of a simple house. Then, the image flickered causing the image to change and display one particular room of the house. Within that room, SinDrax observed a replica of the girl he/she saw just moments prior, interacting with her D-Card.

Still, as glad as he/she was to see anything, the sight left more unseen than seen. “Even you can't make it clearer under Gaia’s Veil, Elder Brother?”

“Hmph… Be happy you even get this.” Heinrich arrogantly remarked back. “You have no idea how many hoops I had to jump through to get even this much. Besides, the quality should improve soon enough.”

“Of course… Of course… Then again…” SinDrax delayed laying out his true thoughts. “A kid? I did not expect that one, Brother. You sure about this? I thought you said that you were not done recovering completely. Actually… Now that I am thinking about it, why are we here? I mean outside and not beside her?”

“It's complicated.” Heinrich replied with a slightly awkward tone. “Technically speaking, she is not my first. Over the various lifetimes, I've had many bonds, but even then, I doubt I would have cared that much about the Spawn left behind since they would have mostly been Divers like me. If I had my memories and knowledge at those times, at most, I would have tried to nudge them on the path of Awakening.”

“Makes sense.” SinDrax commented on the side without taking away his/her sight from the floating image of his/her supposed niece. “Considering where you are going, I take it this one is different? Wait… Could it be that she is a Blank? A new Soul?”

“She is.” Heinrich affirmed before quickly shaking his head. “However, let me remind you that Blanks are not that rare on Gaia.”

“I know, Elder Brother. I know.” SinDrax added. “And it does not surprise me with how many Ancient Ones are still stuck within Gaia’s Womb. Anyway, you still have not told me why we are here, outside, instead of with your daughter?”

“Like I mentioned already. It's complicated.”

“How?”

“She generated a Supreme Grade Dream Gem.” Heinrich finally revealed. “And she has enough Potential to possibly reach above Supreme.”

“Wait… Wait… I know Blanks absorb Trauma like sponges do with water, but… S-Rank? You are serious?”

“Yea… No doubt about it… Checked multiple times through Divination.”

“I don't know, Brother.” SinDrax replied suspiciously. “Even at the best of times, Divination results within Gaia’s Rift are spotty thanks to her Veil. You sure?”

“Yes… Remember me saying I had to jump through many hoops to even get that much clarity?” With that said, Heinrich pointed at the floating image before them. In return, SinDrax nodded. “The first time I realized Hannah, by the way, that is her name, being a Blank, I did a Divination out of curiosity since I never actually had one before, probably.” A shake of the head added to Heinrich’s uncertainty. “The results, however?… Well, let's just say they were confusing, with downright evil in the worst case.”

“Like I said, Elder Brother. Spotty at best.” SinDrax added, still not taking his/her sight off his supposed niece. “Even I, as a Summoner, would not bother trying it, not that I could without actually being here, and I am sure you now know personally just how Gaia treats other Summoners.”

“Yes… Yes… No need to remind me of it, or your newly gained Summoner Status.” Heinrich retorted back. “Anyway, I've been long enough under her care that I've learned a few tricks while doing the Challenge. Through them, I managed to narrow down the good outcomes and what you're seeing right now is the best I managed.”

“Huh… I see.” That said, a prong of silence ensued between the supposed brothers.

Enough silence, that in time both witnessed Hannah suddenly grow still. As if something froze her in place. Luckily, the freeze did not last long, but moments later they witnessed Hannah desperately clutching onto the desk to route through the abuse she had just forced herself through.

Seeing her like that, a spark of understanding hit SinDrax. “Considering you called me to witness a Hatching, she has no Stats at all, right? Just what kind of Template did you give her that smothered her Shell like that?”

Just as Heinrich was about to reply, he and his brother inside the female Shell, watched Heiley, the mother stagger into the small living room.

On her face, there was a confused look, as if she did not know why she was there.

However, it only took a few moments for her to realize her daughter was not right. Not only was she fidgeting around on the couch, but her chest was collapsing and expanding rapidly. In the same instant, Heinrich noted her lost outlook, so he used a tiny bit of his power to nudge her into a certain direction.

SinDrax, being allowed to use some of his powers, caught on to his Elder Brother’s actions. Centering his gaze away from the floating image, he observed what could only be the mother placing a cold and wet towel on Hannah’s Shell to let it cool down since it went beyond its current performance ratings.

Witnessing this, SinDrax once again tossed aside the ridiculous notions behind the existence of walking, talking Shells unique to Gaia’s Womb because any Summoner who had tried mass replicating Gaia’s achievement had invited disasters to their Rifts. Instead, it was something else that sparked his curiosity, namely the fact that it took at least two Old Ones to generate a Blank, a new Soul into existence.

“Who's the mother?” SinDrax suddenly inquired, though even without being told, he/she could guess his Elder Brother’s answer.

“No idea.” Indeed, it was as he/she expected. “She is still Dreaming so I don't dare break her out of it due to Gaia’s First Rule.”