Soren remained still for what felt like an eternity. His mind was racing to contemplate everything it had seen… Every visage and every word he had heard played endlessly within him as the chaos storms raged on inside his Echo of Mind.

Opening his eyes once again, he was met with the reality of his situation. His body… It had become mangled and torn… Blood spilling from his mouth, eyes, ears, nose… His limbs had been twisted. His bones were crushed—as if his sudden movements were so violent, he had almost ripped his very muscles apart.

Laying in his own blood, all Soren could do was smile. A maddening smile filled with rage and indignation.Moving around had become impossible.

This was the cost of his curiosity. This was the price he needed to pay for his transgressions.

Gazing upon a god didn't come free… Even dead ones invoked punishment from beyond the grave.

Above him rested the flame… Its shriveled form spoke volumes of what it had seen. After all, for it to transfer those visions to him using [Record], it needed to gaze upon them itself.

But beyond that, what surprised him most was the damage to [The Faerie Court] itself. The pillars were cracked and the dome of the marble canopy had been destroyed… Its ancient stones were now rubble laying upon the mysterious round table.

Even the crayon painted night sky seemed different… There was a vibrant layer of chaos shimmering throughout the incandescent stars. As if the very fabric of this space was wounded…

"How absurd…" Soren laughed as the rest of his memories returned to him. Seeing him conscious again, the flame overhead flickered unevenly. Rage building within its sparks.

"Are you happy now?" It said sarcastically. "Has the destruction you caused satisfied you enough?"

Hearing its words, Soren gazed up at the shrunken flame. Butterflies danced within his irises as his smile continued to widen. Soon, he burst into laughter. Laughter at the absurdity of it all… Whether it was meant for him or the flame mattered little now.

"What could be so hilarious, Mr. Traveler?" The flame insisted in its blind rage. Soren eventually calmed down—he wiped his tears as the vessel slowly repaired itself with [Fictionalization]. Soon, the rest of the space would too…

"Nothing, really," He replied while stretching his now corrected limbs. "Just the fact that I finally found your weakness… If I perform another divination like this one, you will definitely die, right?"

"You fool!" the fires within raged and grew for a few moments, basking the entire canopy in bright light. "If you perform another divination similar to this, you would die too!"

Soren shrugged, "Perhaps. But contingency plans rarely take note of such insignificant factors."

"....."

He was met with silence. Not that he hated it—thay silence was something that he needed in that moment. He leaned back against the cold seat as his eyes trailed up into the stars above. The shimmering chaos was slowly shrinking as the wounded space of the Faerie Court repaired itself.

Even the stone canopy was slowly being restored. [Fictionalization] got to work moving the broken rubble back into its original place. It was all so mystical to look at.

"Since you were able to see the visions too, you should know now as well, right?" He stared directly into the shimmering flame. "That the Tower of Runes—no, the very gods themselves wield an ability to manifest their mysteries across the world…"

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The Records shined brightly, though, it remained shrunken for a while longer unlike everything else that was being restored. It was clear that some damage to his Runic Existence had happened… A mortal soul could only handle so much, after all. However, judging by the flame's now calm demeanor, Soren guessed that it wasn't yet critically serious.

The flame answered back, "Indeed… The information you read in the Axiom Codex mentioned something similar.

"Divine Authorities."

Soren nodded. That section in the book… It was very short. The only reason it was covered at all was due to its relation to one of the two main branches of magecraft.

As outlined by the book, magecraft was divided into two schools of thought: sorceries and incantations.

Sorceries are regular magecraft that the majority of magi utilize—these are spellforms made of axioms related to that individual's affinity. That means that the spell itself was fueled by the individual magi's willpower—the faith they hold in themselves.

Most magecraft in this area rely on known grimoires used in certain organizations.

Incantations on the other hand are vastly different. Instead of relying on material runes and axioms related to that person's affinity, they instead call upon a 'Divine Authority.' These are spellforms made of runes related to a patron deity, and rather than using their willpower (anima) for their own sake, they instead put their faith in that deity instead.

In such cases, the incantation scales not based on the number of channels or circles, but entirely upon the faith that individual holds with that god. The only restriction of course, would be that the god in question would also need to hold that individual in high regard…

And this now brings us to the topic of Divine Authority. Back then, Soren had no clear understanding of what it was. The topic was easily glossed over in most of the magecraft books he had read, and there was also the fact that the orthodox churches rarely revealed their magecraft to the outside world… It was mainly reserved for trusted members of the clergy.

However, now that he had the opportunity to dive deeper into these rune pages, a lot of things started to make sense in his head.

Divine Authorities… They were simply a manifestation of a high-level Mystery that could be shared with one's own believers. Each one was highly unique to that deity, and could even be formed into a proper language for invocation. Likely, this was also related to how Holy Phantasms serving each church were created.

Although the Axiom Codex glossed over most of the information on this subject, it did however, mention the names of each Divine Authority held by the Orthodox Gods:

The Argent Mandate, which was commanded by the Mother of Silver, holds authority over shaping morality and just clarity in society. It holds dominion over Humanity, Justice, and Righteous Hierarchies.

The Blooming Covenant holds power to command fae spirits and give beauty to Her forests. This was likely what the Flower Maiden used during Yasini's Paradise. It holds dominion over Fae, Sleep, Beauty, and Dreams… There was also the Greenfather's Verdant Accord which commands ecosystems, forests, and animal migrations… The rules of nature itself.

The book also mentions the Slumbering One and HIs authority—The Veil of Rest. Though, not much was said about it… Soren found His entry to be very strange since his authority somewhat overlaps with that of the Flower Maiden. Information about this deity has always been plagued with misinformation—likely a result of what occurred during Yasini's Demise…

Aside from that, there was the Gold-Giver's Gilded Chain. Blesses merchants, thieves, and kings alike—if they play the game correctly… Embodies the transactional law of value and desire and holds dominion over Wealth, Commerce, Contracts, and most important of all—Ambition.

But nothing screamed suspicious more than the Beast of Knowledge's Divine Authority: The Glyph Eater… Dominion over Forbidden Knowledge, Secrets, Thought, and Wisdom. The reason why was due to what he had just learned about the Tower of Runes.

The Old Gods as they were now called—The Heavenly Loop, The Serpent of Untruths and the Tower of Runes—were all said to have disappeared by the end of the First Age. Almost all information about them was lost—all that remained was bits and pieces left behind from the relics uncovered in the Avalon Ruins and elsewhere…

But with the divination he had just conducted, Soren was able to learn of the Tower of Rune's Divine Authority… Something named The Eternal Glyph. What was even stranger was its connection to Arcane Structure and Runic Law… These were the domains He governed over.

The connection here was obvious. While the Tower of Runes governs over the creation of forbidden knowledge, the Beast of Knowledge commands dominion over gathering said knowledge…

Is this just a coincidence, or is it hinting at a colossal secret? Soren thought as he stared silently at the three pages of human skin.

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