"Alright, just a little more," Rory huffed, wiping sweat from his forehead. He had been hard at work for several hours now, but at last he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Heh, the 'sunlight' at the end of the tunnel.

With only one final stretch of thin conduit inlay needed, Rory placed the delicate chisel-looking tool against the breastplate, giving it a few taps with his hammer until the entire piece of armor seemed to hum.

"No inscription was the correct choice, clearly," Rory whistled after a moment. Taking a step back, Rory examined his work, hung on an armor rack within Astra's room. The armor was sunlight gold, and somewhat less bulky than one would expect from metal armor, with a closed visor and runic leather underlays. It resembled what someone out of a sci-fi story would create as a reinterpretation of classical knight armor with modern sensibilities.

Custom-Fit Daybreak Protector Breastplate

Quality: Rare (+)

Armor crafted from potent +1 Daybreak Ingots under the watchful eye of a highly-skilled artisan, its full potential may only be tapped into by those with celestial-aspect affinities and an anima body.

Akashic Record: Radiant Soul

Repairs and overcharges while exposed to starlight. Charge rate increases during daytime hours. Overcharge may be drawn upon by those with an anima body and celestial-aspect skills, allowing for skill and physical augmentation.

Examining each piece, they all had the same Akashic Record, something Rory wasn't all that surprised to see. Initially, his plan for the armor was to add detailed inscriptions. That plan had been before the 'spirit' of the armor made itself known. With its discovery, Rory considered it the perfect candidate to gamble an Akashic Record on.

And, boy, was he glad he had. The Akashic Record, while highly specific, was more potent than any inscriptions he could have added. At best, he could have mimicked the effects, but the more effects he added, the weaker the potency became. An Akashic Record, meanwhile, seemed to spit in the face of that general rule.

All in all, it was perhaps the best armor he'd ever made, his own armor included. While his own armor was damn strong, it was also, in large parts, carried by the materials used. Apostolos's armor, meanwhile, was made up of much more 'mundane' materials, promethium, solarite, and a few other lesser ingredients. It was his literal skill that was leaps and bounds beyond what they'd been when he had made his own armor.

Which tells me I'm probably due for an armor upgrade soon as well, but I might just delay until tier eight… Which I've also been delaying. Lots of delaying.

It had been bordering on a year since he'd returned to Ehkorrus, and even when he'd arrived, he had only been two or three years off from A8. While he hadn't been fighting nearly as often in that time as during his time spent delving the Deep Chambers with Zoey, he was doing far more crafting and experimental work, especially his work on the creation and establishment of a Bound Space.

All of that was to say, all that he really had to do to break through into tier eight was a final faceoff against his bane.

But my bane is also an evil bastard, so I'd rather delay a bit longer.

"Anyway," Rory huffed out loud, forcing his thoughts to redirect back to the armor in front of him. "It's done at last."

For a moment, Rory considered bringing it straight to Apostolos, but a moment of internal timekeeping put the idea on ice, as it was currently the dead of night.

With nothing else to do, Rory let himself out of Astra's room, otherwise known as the Stellar Forge, as he crept out from the now quiet foundry.

Making his way back home in the dead of night, Rory let himself enjoy the quiet atmosphere; it wasn't often that he went for night walks. If he was awake at night, it was because he was deep in his Mind Palace or working on something.

Reminds me of walks home from the bar in college.

Smiling briefly at the memories, Rory shook his head a moment later.

Except that I can't exactly get lost now.

A single look upward made it impossible to miss the massive tree that was his home.

Also, not much of a college kid anymore.

On Earth, he'd be in the hunt for the world record as the longest living human ever.

Or at least, I've got to be close.

"Also, I somehow ended up with a kid, so…. Yeah, not much of a college student."

Speaking of kids.

Having spent several minutes walking back home, when he arrived, he could instantly sense that all was not asleep. Creeping up the stairs, Rory paused one floor below his own, where Roxy had her 'room,' though it was more like an apartment in size rather than a single room. Giving a knock on the doorway that separated the main staircase from her personal lodgings, Rory waited several seconds until the door swung open.

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" Rory asked, quirking his eyebrows up at Roxy.

"I was busy," Roxy yawned. "Did you just get back?"

"Yes, I did."

"Then you aren't able to talk," Roxy crossed her arms, giving a weak glare at Rory.

"But I'm an adult, and not a growing child," Rory shot back as Roxy frowned.

"I'm not a kid, I'm a preteen."

Oh god, how did that term follow us from Earth?

Sighing, Rory shook his head before pointing at her door.

"Can I come in?"

Sure, it was his home, but Rory believed in allowing Roxy her boundaries and her space; he wasn't about to barge in and trample on that.

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Roxy copied his signature frown before sighing. "I guess,"

"Smart butt," Rory rolled his eyes as he tousled her bead-like hair. "So, what has you staying up so late?"

"My year-end project for school."

Oh, right, the city year 'ends' with the wave. Not quite a New Year's Eve ball drop.

"How's that been going?" Rory asked.

"Good," Roxy answered.

"You need any help?"

"You know what I told you already," Roxy said, exasperated as Rory raised his hands defensively.

"No helping on your projects unless you strictly ask for it first, I know, I know." Rory sighed. "Can I see it at least?"

"I guess," Roxy relented. Dashing further inside, Rory watched as she disappeared around a naturally formed groove only to return a moment later holding… something.

Is that a sundial?

"What is it?" Rory asked after a moment.

"A celestial attuner!" Roxy said proudly, before jutting her lip out. "Or it's supposed to be. I had an idea to make something that could draw in celestial energy and attune it into another form of cosmic energy, as long as it has some of the target energy."

"And?" Rory asked.

"I've had to start over like, eight times! First, the materials weren't right; then the energies collided incorrectly; then the energies corroded the attuner, even when it was working. I've had to make my own brew, work the metal myself, cross-reference my inscriptions, everything. So. Many. Times!"

"Welcome to life, kiddo," Rory laughed. "I can't even count how many times I've had to redo something only for it to blow up in my face just slightly differently."

"It's just annoying," Roxy grumbled. "All the others, they either chose to work on just a brew, or just some metalworking, or just some inscriptions, or just some gem crafting. Me? No one told me I had to go above and beyond, but it was pretty clear they wanted me to!"

It was a very uniquely Roxy problem. As Rory had suspected, within ten months of her education, she'd rocketed to the top of her class, scoring some of the highest marks in just about everything. Her ability to learn was second-to-none, especially given that she could dial into the unsaid 'feels' behind every word and action. Her most challenging subject was still math, but even then, she'd shown a high level of excellence. While she wasn't at the top of the class regarding mathematics, she was at least considered an 'elite' student in that regard.

Even without the physiological advantage that she had with her horns that could resonate with the intent of others, she was simply a damn disciplined kid. Rory had been told on several occasions already by several of her teachers that by the time she officially obtained tier one at eighteen years of age, she'd likely already be considered a higher-level crafter than the good majority of artisans who had been working away at their fields for years.

Eighteen. Wow. I don't even want to think of how fast that will come.

That had been a rather interesting discovery, Rory had only been informed of after visiting the school several times. Unlike the early years, when a proper 'tier one' acquisition occurred whenever Eon seemed to deem someone as 'ready,' it had apparently shifted so that one could either receive their first proper level at eighteen years old or put it off to twenty. Rory wasn't really sure why Eon had changed how that worked, but it was relatively low on his list of things to look into.

Eventually, but not now.

While one could wait until twenty to put off receiving their first level, it was apparently only something kids did if they felt they weren't ready, be it due to a lack of practical experience or some other reason.

Roxy, as Rory was sure of, did not need to wait until she was twenty, and so in only seven or so short years, she'd become a proper adult.

Ugh, no, nope, don't want to think about that.

"Dad?" Roxy suddenly poked him hard in the stomach as Rory returned to the present.

"Sorry, lost in thought. You were saying?"

"I was saying about how annoying it is. 'Oh, she's top of the class, oh, her dad is the Founder, so she must make something super cool!' or stuff like that! It's the same sort of feeling I get from all of them, even the teachers!"

"And is that too much pressure for you?"

"What? No." Roxy crossed her arms, frowning. "It's because they're right that it's so annoying!"

Rory couldn't help it, smiling, he pulled the sensen girl in for a fatherly hug.

"Ugh, Dad!"

"Sorry," Rory released her after a moment, still grinning. Nearly a year Roxy had been around, and in that time, she had really grown into her own person. She'd adopted some of his own mannerisms, and while once Rory might have tried to resist the thought of calling the girl his daughter, there really wasn't any other way around it. "You sure you don't need any help?"

"Hmmmm," Roxy crossed her arms, her tail swishing for a moment before she sighed. "Can you let me visit Astra?"

"Need some more direct inspiration?"

"Yeah," Roxy admitted. "But it doesn't count as you doing it for me that way!"

"Of course," Rory laughed.

Astra was still kept far away from anyone lower than tier five, but Roxy was the sole exception. Likely due to spending so much time around one another -with Rory's supervision- but Astra's aura no longer reflexively attempted to draw Roxy in, the sole lower-tier safe from the star fairy's innate gravity.

"Thanks," Roxy yawned once more, stretching her arms overhead before shaking her head. "Maybe I should go to bed."

"Maybe you should," Rory agreed.

Yawning once more, Roxy stood up on her tiptoes before kissing Rory on the cheek.

"Good night, Dad."

"Good night, Roxy," Rory said as he retreated from her space.

Having said his good night to Roxy, Rory made no attempt to climb the stairs to his room. Instead, he made his way down the stairs, descending all the way into the basement dungeon. Ignoring the scourge mites, now joined by several more mites that had been born, Rory continued his downward path through the tunnel in the earth until at last he found himself in the Core room.

Well, I might as well work on something else while I wait for daylight…

When daylight finally arrived, or so Rory figured, given how much time had passed, Rory finally exited the deep underground chamber. Leaving his home entirely -Roxy had left at some point for school- Rory returned to the foundry. Already bustling with activity, there was a figure standing by the door that surprised Rory.

"Didn't expect that you'd beat me here," Rory joked as he waved at Apostolos.

"I figured when you never sent anyone to find me the rest of the day, that you ended up working into the night. I'm assuming it's complete?"

"That it is," Rory answered back. "Want to see it?"

"More like I need to. Hard to be the chief protector when you've got no armor."

"Fair enough, but I'm here so no big deal for now, right?"

"Sure, but will you be here a year from now?"

"Oh, stop getting all serious. I was playing around." Rory rolled his eyes as the pair entered the foundry. The once broken door had been repaired for some time now, sliding open as Rory admired it for a moment.

I do some good work.

Inside the foundry, only a few of the workers bothered to look over; if there was one place that Rory was seen more than anywhere else, it was the foundry after all. Heading back to Astra's room, the two entered as the star fairy, in her star form, made her presence known.

"You took forever last night," Astra said, her sun form's voice reverberating.

"Someone's armor was a pain in the ass," Rory snorted before jerking his thumb over his shoulder to point at a stand in the back. "There you go."

Apostolos was silent, approaching the stand with what Rory could almost imagine was reverence. Brushing a hand over the shoulder plate of the armor, Apostolos seemed to shiver, turning around a moment after.

"It's… It's the same armor."

"Huh?" Rory asked, confused. "No, it's not."

"No, I mean, I can feel it. It's new, but at the same time, she feels the same."

"She? Would your wife like it if you said that?"

"Oh, shut it," Apostolos flipped him the finger before turning back to inspect the armor. "Daybreak armor. Fitting. What does it do?"

"You know you can examine it, right?"

"And you know I prefer hearing it from a person first," Apostolos pointed out.

"Fine. Self-repair and overcharge while absorbing sunlight or anything adjacent to sunlight. When overcharged, you can draw that excess energy into yourself, using it to empower you and your abilities."

"Damn," Apostolos muttered. "And the metal itself feels pretty damn strong, not that I'm exactly an expert."

"Strength-wise, it's probably only behind +1 promethium, as it's been slightly watered down in toughness thanks to the addition of the solarite, but in return it obviously does all that cool jazz." Rory waved at the armor as if it were self-explanatory.

"Yeah, it's amazing," Apostolos said with another deep, contented sigh. "I was worried for nothing, it turns out. I guess all that is left is the tournament to select the final person to receive some gear from you, and then it's wave time."

"Uh-huh. Nervous?"

"A little, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't," Apostolos confirmed. "But, at the very least, I don't have the bone-wracking terror I felt for Ehkorrus's future like with the past wave."

"Good man," Rory said, thumping him on the shoulder. "Well, I have something else to attend to until the tournament."

"That is?"

"It's time to master Bound Spaces."

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