The following morning in Old Bastion was less of a militaristic drill and more of a celebration of potential.

  Under the shimmering, solid dome of the upgraded Prime System Shield, the transformed courtyard was on full display in the bright daylight. It wasn’t just a defensive holdout anymore; it was a high-capacity academy for a species realizing it had claws.

  We gathered in the open testing fields beyond the inner keep. Leoric had cleared a wide radius, fencing it off with a mana-barrier that pulsed a soft warning rune every few seconds.

  “Okay,” the Artificer announced, adjusting his multi-spectral goggles and holding a clipboard that seemed archaic next to the floating runestones he usually employed. “Singularity Test: Phase One. Item retrieval via Quantum Projection. Master Eren, if you would?”

  I stood twenty yards away, clad in light training leathers. My core felt stable, humming with the integrated weight of the Singularity Chamber. It sat in my mind like a quiet room, a heavy, silent archive I could step into with my Will.

  “Let’s see if I can pull this off,” I said, rolling my shoulders.

  “Project.”

  I visualized the Armory of the Veiled Path. A specific section I had in mind.

  The air in front of me folded. It wasn’t a tear; it was an imposition. A shimmering, translucent overlay of the Sanctum appeared, ghosting over the trampled dirt of the training yard. It looked like a memory made semi-solid, the shelves flickering in and out of phase.

  I reached into the ghost-rack and grabbed a spear made of Star-Iron.

  “Careful,” I cautioned the observers — Eliza, Silas, and Lucas stood nearby, watching with intense interest. “Mass transfer might create a vacuum displacement.”

  I pulled. The spear slammed into existence in the real world with a metallic clang and a sudden rush of air that ruffled Eliza's hair and knocked over an empty crate.

  “Successful retrieval!” Leoric crowed, scribbling frantically on his slate. “Zero latency. Mass integrity is perfect. Master, try the anvil. I want to see if thermal properties transfer.”

  We spent the next few hours pushing the boundaries. I projected the Mana-Forge. Leoric struck a piece of scrap metal on the ghostly anvil, sending real sparks flying into the Bastion grass. The heat radiated outward, warming the faces of the curious onlookers.

  “Can you project... yourself?” Silas asked, appearing from stealth near the cooler of drinks. “Like, keep your real body in the Sanctum but walk around here as a ghost? Ultimate spy technique.”

  “I think that’s just astral projection,” I mused. “And currently, no, I tried it with a Clone. The Singularity moves objects, nothing alive. If I tried to step out of myself... pretty sure I’d turn inside out.”

  “Ew,” Eliza wrinkled her nose. “Please don’t.”

  “How about storing people?” Silas pressed, grabbing a skewer of meat. “If I need a nap, can you just put me on a shelf in the Void? I sleep curled up anyway.”

  Leoric smacked Silas’ arm with a conjured stick. “With your biological integrity, you want to go inside a sub-dimensional pocket? You’d dissolve into jelly! Only non-organic matter until I run the bio-scans!”

  I laughed, watching them bicker. “We’ll stick to weapons and potions for now, Silas. But hey, if you need a place to hide your snacks from Rexxar, let me know. I also really hoped we could somehow duplicate our stores by accessing them through the pocket Sanctum and “copy” them by retrieving them that way but it seems they instantly disappear from the original Sanctum. Some form of Essence based quantum entanglement I guess.”

  “That makes sense, but it would be world breaking if you could. Imagine, infinitely duplicating our materials...” Eliza replied.

  “Yeah, it definitely would have been too powerful, but one could dream... On the bright side, our tests on the level of stealth seem to be a resounding success. I could barely detect any ripples, even within the Lattice while maximizing my Void Perception. It opens up so many options for remote silent transportation.” I said.

  After a few more hours of various tests, we broke for lunch, the nearby field turning into a sprawling picnic. The smell of roasted lizard-tail — seasoned with a spice blend Mrs. Gable had invented — drifted over the training grounds, mixing with the scent of pine and rain.

  I took the opportunity to activate [Prime Axiom’s Nullifying Veil] and walk among the people. I always felt the need to feel the pulse of the city without the weight of my presence.

  The mood was intoxicating. It was a mix of exhaustion and exhilarating growth.

  Near the archery ranges, I saw a group of young women, Noren refugees, comparing their new bows.

  “My Body hit 150 yesterday,” one beamed, flexing an arm that rippled with lean muscle. “I put an arrow through a Stone-Boar at fifty meters. Clean through the plating.”

  “We’re all growing so much faster because of the increased Essence,” her friend replied, carving a rune into her quiver. “The air tastes different now. Sweeter. Every breath feels like drinking a mana potion.”

  Further down, near the heavy combat pits, the sounds of metal on metal rang out.

  “Shield up, Torian!” a veteran guard shouted at a teenager who was barely holding up a tower shield. “The beast won’t wait for you to catch your breath!”

  “I... I can hold it!” the boy grunted, sweat pouring down his face. A glow enveloped him — [Stone Skin] activating for the first time. “I did it!”

  The guard grinned. “Good! Now push back!”

  The boy roared, shoving the heavy training dummy back. The crowd watching cheered, a supportive atmosphere embracing the trainee. They were watching a boy become a warrior in real-time.

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  “He’s going to be a good Tank,” I heard someone whisper nearby. “He just needs a little more confidence.”

  I drifted toward the center ring, where the crowd was thickest.

  “Roar from the belly!” Rexxar was bellowing.

  He stood in the center of a group of twenty hopeful recruits. He was demonstrating a ‘Lion’s Pounce,’ leaping fifteen feet into the air and landing with a seismic thud that shook the dust from the walls.

  “Like this!” Rexxar dropped to all fours, arched his back, and unleashed a sound that rattled the fillings in my teeth. “GRAAAAAH!”

  The recruits, earnest and completely serious, dropped to all fours. They tried to mimic the posture.

  “Grah!” one teenager squeaked.

  “No!” Rexxar gently corrected his stance with a paw the size of a dinner plate. “You are vibrating your throat! You must vibrate your Soul! Find the lion within! If you do not believe you are a predator, then you will be the prey!”

  The recruits nodded solemnly and tried again, pouncing on wooden dummies.

  “It looks ridiculous,” I muttered, fighting a smile.

  “Don’t laugh,” Lucas murmured, appearing beside me as I dropped my Veil. “They took down a Boss Variant Tier 2 Stone-Bear yesterday using that formation. The bear was so overwhelmed it barely had a chance to swipe back. I am pretty sure I also saw a look of confusion on its face before it died.”

  “If it works, it works,” I grinned. “He’s a good teacher. In his own loud way.”

  I watched as a little girl ran up to Rexxar during a break, handing him a flower wreath she’d woven.

  “I inscribed it with something for you. For the King of the Forest!” she chirped.

  Rexxar accepted it with the gravity of a coronation, placing the tiny flowers on his massive golden head. “I shall wear it into battle, little cub! The enemy shall fear the flower crown!”

  Further down the line, the atmosphere shifted to deadly focus.

  Freja was dueling Anna.

  It wasn’t a fight; it was an art exhibition.

  Freja wielded Mjolnir’s Echo, her hammer wreathed in blue arcs. She wasn’t just swinging; she was controlling the battlefield. Every strike slammed into the ground, sending spiderwebs of electricity racing through the dirt to flush Anna out.

  I noticed Freja hesitating slightly on her flanks, struggling to find openings in Anna’s sweeping defense.

  Anna vaulted off a stone pillar, spinning mid-air. She fired three blunt training arrows in rapid succession.

  Freja raised her shield. Two arrows blocked.

  But the third arrow curved. Anna had imbued it with a ‘drift’ property using her Decision affinity. It bent around the shield and tapped Freja’s helm with a solid dink.

  “Dead,” Anna called out, landing gracefully as her arrows dissipated into mist.

  Freja lowered her shield, wiping sweat from her forehead. She grinned, fierce and proud. “Cheater. You bend the flight paths at impossible angles. It does not make any sense!”

  “I utilized the variable wind current you created with that last smash and Decided where it should go,” Anna countered, helping Freja up. “Thanks for the assist.”

  I walked over to them. “Impressive control, Anna. And Freja... you’re getting faster. Your recovery time between heavy strikes has dropped by a decent amount.”

  Freja beamed. “The new gauntlets Leoric made help a ton. The weight distribution helps the backswing.”

  “Keep at it,” I encouraged. “If you can layer a second pulse into the impact... you’ll break guards before they even realize they’ve been hit. I know you've been pushing for Tier 5 Freja, but take it easy. You should not rush through, building the Foundation is extremely important for the second Stage.”

  She looked at her hands, clenching them into fists. The sparks jumped between her knuckles. “I know. I will. I know I need to quickly get stronger, but I will not give up my future potential for it.”

  “Speaking of pushing,” Freja said, her expression growing serious. “The scouts say Noren is still standing. It’ll need a lot of work but I think we can rebuild it.”

  “The Settlement is intact?”

  “It is. And since the System designated Settlements as Safe Zones... Noren should be just as secure as Bastion. We want to reclaim it, Eren. We left our homes, our ancestral halls. If we can secure the route... we can reopen the mines. There are types of Dungeons in those mountains that Bastion doesn’t have.”

  “Diversity of resources,” I agreed. “It makes sense.”

  “We need to travel the route first,” she said. “Clear the surroundings. Re-establish the ley-lines for the portal. I want to lead an expedition in a week.”

  “I’ll come with,” I promised instantly. “Noren is part of this alliance. We don’t leave empty seats at the table. And honestly? I miss the mountain view.”

  Freja clasped my arm. “Thank you. A week then. We will prepare.”

  I spent the next hour moving between groups. I corrected a shielder’s stance, showing him how to angle his plate to deflect kinetic force rather than absorbing it. I helped a mage visualize the flow of mana for a firebolt, explaining that it wasn’t about throwing the fire, but guiding the heat.

  I watched a group of young children, too young to fight but old enough to want to help, running water skins to the trainees. They moved with purpose, their eyes glistening with motivation. I learned that they were orphaned since the Integration, permitted to return to Bastion after constant urging, demanding to be allowed the opportunity fight. Lucas told me he gave in when they said they wanted the strength to protect others, to make sure no one else loses their family.

  “Mister Eren!” a boy I recognized as Peter from Lucas' report shouted, stopping near me. “I found a strange rock! Mister Leoric says it might be magical!”

  He held up a jagged piece of quartz. I was surprised he could detect the very small amount of mana it held.

  “That's a good eye,” I told him, crouching down. “Keep looking. The best finders make the best scouts.”

  The boy beamed and ran off.

  I stood up, feeling a profound warmth in my chest. We were winning. Not the war, not yet, but we were winning the battle against despair.

  I walked past Lucas, who was drilling a shield wall formation with the elite vanguard.

  “Tighten the gap!” Lucas barked, sweating but smiling. “If you leave space, the beast tides get in! Shields locked!”

  His aura was dense. Heavy. Earth and Protection affinity saturating his very skin. He was at the very peak of Tier 4. I watched him effortlessly stop a charge from a trainee augmented with strength buffing skills. He didn’t even budge.

  “You’re also knocking on the second Stage's door Lucas, like Freja,” I murmured. “We just need to find you guys a key.”

  Late in the afternoon, after the training wound down and the sun began to dip, I retreated to the Sanctum via the internal gate.

  The day had been a good respite. But the memory of the Void Lord Korthos lingered. I needed more than just tricks and items. I needed more raw, overwhelming power.

  I descended into the deep caves below the Cradle. The air grew stiflingly hot, smelling of brimstone and dry ash.

  I reached the Hearth. A massive caldera of molten rock bubbled lazily in the center of the cavern.

  Bennu looked up, eyes burning. “Enki! You came to visit! Did you bring me any snacks?”

  “Of course!” I tossed him a few massive Tier 5 grubs I hunted, which he instantly devoured.

  “Delicious!”

  “I have some questions you might be able to help with,” I said, walking to the edge of the hearth. “I need to refine the Flame. To have absolute control. I want to be able to use it within the Void, at will. Do you think that is possible?”

  Bennu trilled, hopping down. “I think so, the Flame is Eternal after all! The Void just likes to be empty... must be lonely. Your hearth just has to be too bright to smother. We can go train and figure it out in the Arena, I'll show you where it is!”

  I flexed my Domain. “Perfect. Lead the way.”