Soren sat in silence as the last of his wounds finally healed. Even the blood that had been spilled across the sacred canopy was beginning to vanish, and yet, the trauma of what he had witnessed remained present in his mind. The urge to remain seated indefinitely overwhelmed him. His skin was still pale—sweat pouring out in droves.

"Regardless of what conspiracy occurred back then, what's more important is how useful this information will be today…" He said quietly as his eyes drooped more and more.

"Divine Authority… With it, a god can manifest magecraft with the powers of a mystery! Isn't that truly fascinating? If only I could get my hands on a grimoire belonging to one of the churches…"

His eyes shifted toward the three human skin pages. "But I guess I'll have to make do with these ones for now…"

The flame above flickered unevenly, "The mysteries utilized within a Divine Authority seem to transcend the concept of affinities entirely. As seen by that lich—although his affinity for blood and bones magecraft was significantly more related to the Tower of Runes, it was not the main component behind its effectiveness."

Soren nodded. "You're right about that… It seems that the script utilized within these runes are not affinity specific. As long as the Divine Authority behind them is something the magi holds faith in—the incantation will work. Even the effect itself might change—creating magecraft that could even go against nature itself."

"Does that not sound extremely familiar?"

Soren smiled. He leaned back against his seat and closed his eyes for a moment then nodded. "It seems Tazzith really considered everything."

Up above the radiant flame, the dome of the marble canopy had finally repaired itself. Soren's eyes gazed at the distinct patterns of a strange script etched into the very stone… It was a strange language that reminded him of mandarin in its structured calligraphy.

This was the language of [The Faerie Court]. A language he had seen be written and used by the mysterious fountain pen that his Soul Weapon utilizes whenever he commands it to activate [Record].

But much further than that, the script seems to be related to most functions within this enigmatic space. The portal gates leading to each realm holds writing above the gateway in this same language. Even this canopy and the very books lining the colossal shelves that levitate close to the stars hold writings that use the very same symbols…

Could it be that this space in of itself holds its own Divine Authority? Or something similar in nature…

The thought played endlessly in his mind as his eyes finally returned to their usual slumber.

Soren awoke a few hours later, relatively normal. Just as he had assumed—the dreams of Mount Tolarion had not plagued him this time… His hypothesis was correct—the effects behind that strange phenomenon only occur in Yarian.

"This space is isolated even from the flow of fate itself. The guiding light that was trying so desperately to drag me toward that place holds no effect here…"

It did get him to wonder, however. What exactly were those dreams? Although it was obvious what the goal was—to make him yearn more for what lies beyond the summit of that heavenly mountain—the reasons behind it still remained elusive.

For one, it didn't even make sense… He had already planned to head there to begin with. Whoever was behind it—why were they so desperately trying to remind him of that goal? Was it some kind of psychological manipulation—to make him more comfortable with the idea of heading there?

If he were to frame it in such a manner, it would indeed make sense. After all, even though Soren was heading toward Mount Tolarion, he was still planning on considering other options as well in case he ever needed to change course.

"Guntharion…" He mumbled under his breath. "What is it that you want from me?"

Although he had no evidence, a part of him believed that He was the one responsible for these nightly occurrences. With the Fairy Bind spell working around the clock—even when he was asleep—it should have been impossible for his dreams to be influenced by outside factors…

That would be the case unless the person responsible was someone as powerful as an Ascended Grade Phantasm… An ancient monster that's assumed numerous personas and identities and traces His origins to the First Age—the Age of Mysteries.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"How troubling…"

Hearing his words, the flame began to brighten once more.

"You've awoken."

"Indeed," Soren answered back with a sigh. He stood up and stretched—it may have been only a few hours, but the pain he had experienced throughout that time made it feel longer than an eternity.

"It's interesting, really… I don't remember being this resistant to pain."

The flame flickered unevenly, "Your pain resistance has grown a lot since the last time you were here. Likely due to what you had to experience during the 'Affinity Fusion' as you like to call it."

Soren nodded. "Not that I am complaining… I am almost certain that there will be more painful experiences I will need to deal with in the future. You might be one of those reasons a few months from now."

The flame remained silent this time. Seeing this, Soren couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Alright let's not waste any more time." He said swiftly while leaning against one of the pillars of the canopy.

"What do you plan on doing?"

He glanced at the flame curiously then smiled. "An experiment." As he said those words, a spark of light formed before him, growing in size as countless tiny butterflies swarmed into its radiant form…

A golden plaque was born—filled with symbols from that very same language clustered everywhere in this enigmatic space.

[Cards of Insight]. This was the skill he had obtained after his Abstract Rune's influence had grown.

"These cards," Soren said while holding it tightly. "In a way, they operate similarly to [Record]. The only difference is that they are able to be extracted and given to others…"

Listening to his words, the flame became slightly confused. "I don't understand what you are insinuating."

"Haven't you realized it yet?" He said indifferently. "Whenever you use [Record], the skill activates by using that strange language to transliterate the information into text… All those books above us in those colossal shelves… They are all written in that language. The information I see whenever I desire to recall something is all translated back into English for me to understand…

"And the same thing is occurring with these cards. The information inside them is written in that mysterious language. And yet, when absorbed, it begins to assimilate itself to the person so that it could be understood. When Myrin absorbed the card, for example, the information given to him about airplanes was likely translated into Vinuan…"

The flame flickered for a few moments. "You're going off of the interpretation that this language is some kind of Divine Authority… Are you saying that it's similar to the system used by the Tower of Runes to create those pages? That it holds instructions similar to how a magecraft's spellform holds instructions for providing the spell its structure?"

Soren nodded. "Yes—exactly. Those symbols—I still don't understand them. But, patterns have been emerging since the first time I have used these skills… Patterns that I have been keeping track of.

"For example, look at this," he pointed to one of the symbols on the golden card. It was shaped like a square with a circle inside of it that was inscribed in strange lines forming a cross. The horizontal lines even curved into a wing shape once inside the circle. "This symbol always shows up first whenever one of these cards is generated. We can assume it to be some kind of universal instruction, similar to how the core axiom of a spellform functions. Perhaps it holds the structure of the card itself, or how the information is stored within… We can't exactly tell yet, but it's obvious that there is a pattern present… One that we can slowly decipher."

"Indeed…" The flame continued to observe him keenly. "Judging by the fact that Tazzith had guided you to obtain these pages, it is also fair to assume that He had already formed this connection…"

Soren shook his head. "No, I don't believe so."

"How come?"

"Because if he did, he would have used that information as leverage against me. I think he was using this as an opportunity to obtain information about this rather than helping me. After all, what better way to confirm the properties of how this space operates than to feed me exactly what I need to discover those properties myself?"

"Are you saying he was hoping to gain some understanding through how you would react to obtaining those pages?"

"Yes," Soren chuckled. "Speaking of which, call upon that bastard here… We need to talk about obtaining that 'thing' for him anyway. We still have a bit more time before Myrin returns."

"As you wish." The flame flickered wildly as the connection to one of his Anchors expanded. Soon, an obsidian black figure made of fog manifested across the round table. He sat brazenly atop his sword, as if he owned the place.

"How arrogant." Soren said coldly as their eyes locked once more.

"You have finally called upon me again… I was starting to get bored, you know?"

Soren shook his head. "Isn't it time you finally tell me what your real plans are with that blood amulet? Asking me to steal something like that… You really are a demon."

A hoarse laugh echoed across the marble pillars and dome… After a while, He stopped then looked back at Soren with His hollow eyes and muttered:

"The first step of my return demands it, after all."

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