The sound of gears shifting echoed softly across the dark room. Hours had passed since Soren's visit, and yet, it felt as if his shadow still loomed over her. As the telescope reconfigured itself back in place, Solyara couldn't help but gaze curiously at the white and red marble painted ominous across the lens.

Just as I had assumed… Her gaze remained sharp as the holy light radiated off the exotic planet.

"There was indeed a reaction…"

Astrea, the Silent Judge, has shifted slightly from its usual orbit, drawing closer to Yarian. However, this change was still rather subtle. After a few months, it would likely bounce back to its usual path.

Either way, this was still an ominous sign… One that was brought about through Soren's brief interaction with the celestial body. Her test of having him gaze directly at the planet had certainly brought about some unique results.

"Planets they may be, they still hold astrological symbolisms. The constellations they project cannot be taken for granted.

"Sienna was indeed correct in her choices…"

She shook her head slightly, as if to forget the pain. "The poor child truly isn't destined for plentiful rest…"

Suddenly, the subspace alerted her to a presence requesting entry outside her room. She shifted slightly and granted the permissions with a sigh.

Entering inside was a robed woman with silky smooth crimson hair that cascaded past her shoulders.

"Venissa." Her cold voice carried fragments of warmth.

Strangely, Solyara didn't receive the answer she was expecting—she was met with silence. The usually tall and confident eldest sister looked rather pitiful this time. Her twisted frown was obvious even amidst the shadows in this room.

Solyara remained silent, patiently waiting for Venissa to compose herself. It was obvious from her mood that the news she was bringing was likely… undesirable.

Eventually, Venissa glanced up at the High Mistress and bowed respectfully.

"I bring news regarding Cassia. After a thorough examination, we found no evidence of possession, mind attacks, or any kind of curse. Her condition seems to stem from a genuine desire for suicide. However, thanks to her Soul Weapon's abilities, any type of self-inflicted injury or wound heals itself automatically.

"She has now resorted to a hunger strike. Sister Carol has decided it was necessary to sedate her in order to administer the food with… less resistance. However, even that isn't fully working—due to her Soul Weapon's skill, [Eyes of the Serpent], she has constantly broken free from our magecraft."

Solyara's frown grew even wider. "Have you found her motive? Surely the brat would have spilled something by now."

"... Nothing concrete as of yet." Venissa lowered her head with disappointment. "However, it seems clear that her goal is also tied to not just ending her own life, but also Soren's. If I had to assume, it's likely tied to that prophecy in some way."

"The prophecy…" Solyara mumbled to herself. "A dream revelation from her ties to the Serpent of Untruths?"

Venissa nodded. "That is the consensus we've come to."

Hearing this, Solyara sighed while glancing back at the telescope. "That is indeed likely… After all, the Serpent of Untruths, unlike the other two Old Gods, is known famously amongst scholars for his one and only commandment:

"A lie requires another lie to hide itself."

This rule was intrinsic to his miraculous powers. Although a lie could twist reality and create an Untruth, that fabrication was still a fabrication—one that could still be disproven if given enough evidence. The moment a lie unravels, history itself returns to its usual order, just like in the Nagashi village.

Holes will always exist within a lie. No Untruth could ever be perfect.

The Serpent of Untruths knew this. That was why that commandment was born—because the only solution to covering up the blemishes in a lie was by creating more lies. Usually, the task of covering up such things would be given to his most faithful believers. The Holy Shrine Maidens were almost always the most sensitive to such revelations…

"If Cassia was receiving dream revelations, it has to likely be tied to some form of lie… A lie that is somehow connected to Soren's ascension of Mount Tolarion."

Venissa paused for a moment, as if trying to picture such a connection…

"Wouldn't that imply that the Serpent of Untruths is somehow involved with the Orbits of Fate's machinations?"

Solyara shook her head. "It's hard to say for sure. Perhaps the Orbits are using the Serpent's Divine Authority in some way to further reach its goals. Keep a vigilant eye on Cassia—there may be more to her role in the prophecy than we had initially assumed."

Across the void, in a space layered with imaginative scenes, Soren sat plainly before a radiant flame. The marble finish across the round table's surface reflected his somber mood.

To think I would stare at a dragon of all things… Even now, hours after his probe into the Materials of Influence he required, the images were still burned into his retinas. The Dreamfire Lord was a Dragon who's myth he had personally heard from Myrin many months ago, during his first weeks in this world.

Although he was struck with fear, it was the awe of witnessing such a legend unfold before his very eyes that left him frozen. Though, the ending to the confrontation did leave a rather sour taste in his mouth…

I hope He doesn't hold a grudge…

Sighing, Soren glanced up at the flaming pillar, now plagued by a "disease." The mushrooms he had seen earlier had certainly grown in number, to the point where even tiny spores were flying in the air, launched eerily with every flicker of the fiery monolith. Small vibrations could be felt around him, as if each spore had its own rhythm and dance.

Ignoring its ailment, Soren went straight to the point.

"Figment, have you prepared what I need?"

The shadows danced across the marble canopy. "Certainly. You already had most of the research completed, after all. Not a lot of work was necessary."

Soren nodded. "Then let us begin our trials once again."

As he said this, the space shifted again. Instead of the comforting and lonely marble canopy, a colossal room filled with numerous instruments formed before his very eyes.

The Faerie Laboratory, as he has come to call it. Though, it seemed the knowledge he had gathered over the past few months had certainly aided [Fictionalization] in its task. There were many more instruments for him to use—some he had only seen once or twice in Solyara's room and other places.

Regardless, he knew that this was all simply symbolic. His goal didn't require this many tools—only his intuition and a bit of luck. But seeing his progress presented in such a way still filled him with a slight feeling of satisfaction.

He smiled slightly. "I hope this mood persists… I am counting on you Regeis—don't let me down now."

Regeis was a very strange material rune that simply represented the structural stability of objects made of anima. From his analysis, it became clear that this rune would not have come to exist if not for his forceful merger with the Wards affinity. Solyara even remarked that the Wards affinity already possessed similar runes to it, but none fully took into account the geometric principles that a triangle represents.

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Although knowledge about such principles did exist in Yarian, it had never fully been solidified into a material rune in this way. The chaos within the Beyond had not birthed anything this specific. Or if it has, the rune was likely left undiscovered or was simply covered up by the annals of history.

Either way, this gave Soren valuable insight into differentiating between material runes that were born naturally and ones that were meticulously crafted through thorough application of Pendragon's theories. The former was akin to building a castle from unshaped stones found on the ground, while the latter resembled constructing that same castle from carefully molded bricks. His intentions had been etched clearly into the Regeis rune's very function. All he needed to do now was apply it.

But that was still easier said than done. Despite being a rune he had personally created through his own willpower, a lot of work was still needed. The current spellform for Fairy Blades only possessed three axioms. The five other axioms he had theorized required the presence of the new Regeis rune, but the anima ratios had still not been fully tuned to accuracy. Which meant… more trial and error.

Sighing, Soren walked to the nearest table and began to picture the proper spellform. The scene repeated for a while—with his Soul Realm expanded, the Fairy Blades would form above the table only to either crumble or explode violently in his face, spraying glass shards everywhere. Because he was using [Fictionalization] for each new simulated trial, the damage done was minimal, but it was still a pain.

Experiment log after experiment log rolled endlessly with each new entry being chronicled meticulously in his Soul Weapon. After a while, it became obvious that the newly crafted Fairy Blades spell required more tinkering than he initially thought. The new axioms he was trying to add to the spellform continued to present him with problems.

"What exactly am I doing wrong…" He scratched his hair. The irritation was fully present on his face.

Just like a math problem with multiple unsolved variables, Soren couldn't figure out how to make this spellform work with the parts he was trying to fit in. He was confident that the axioms were meant to be assembled together, but how…

After reshaping it a few more times and failing, he finally decided to take a break. Soren shook his head in frustration and stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"Going for a walk," he replied rather coldly. He was not in the mood for chatter. But just when he was about to leave the laboratory, a sudden flash of light hit the corner of his eye.

He turned to find a tiny glass shard sitting plainly on the table, reflecting the dim torch light in different directions.

"Is that?..." His eyes narrowed.

That glass shard was a fragment of the previous trial's Fairy Blade. Even after his mind had forgotten to maintain the illusive sword, the elements that made up its form still persisted…

"Figment, bring up Experiment Log #32."

A sudden holographic window popped up before him, formed from countless mysterious butterflies.

2nd Circle Spell - Fairy Blades (Magecraft)

Year 1367, 153rd day of the Vyak Calendar.

Experiment Log #32.

Hypothesis: Swapping the Mind Power Axiom with the Persistent Stability Axiom.

Result: Experiment failed. Switching the Mind Power Axiom—the core of the spellform—with the newly created Persistent Stability Axiom caused the sword to shatter instantly. The Axiom Sequence must be readjusted.

Crossing his arms, Soren reanalyzed the rest of the data presented before him. Although it was true that the sword shattered instantly, the axiom he had anointed as the core of the spellform still performed its job. The fragments left behind after the shattering were still present on the table, despite his mind ceasing all mental control…

In every 1st Circle spell, three axioms were almost always needed. One of these axioms becomes the core of the spell—the foundational principle for which it stands upon. In the case of both Fairy Barrier and Fairy Blades, Soren had used the Mind Power axiom as the core.

This axiom allowed for the swords or shields he created to be strengthened through the belief others held. If people believed that the blades were sharp or deadly, they would immediately begin to exhibit such qualities. And the inverse was true as well—if the enemy doubted the Fairy Blade's strength, then it would instantly become weaker.

Soren was fine with this arrangement because it allowed for more flexibility. His own belief in the swords made sure that, at the bare minimum, their strength was enough to cut flesh. Not many in a life or death battle would dare to underestimate a weapon their enemy was wielding.

However, this generated some drawbacks. Because the blades relied heavily on belief, they were extremely fragile and inconsistent. During battle, if Soren were to falter slightly in his belief, the entire sword would crumble to pieces or shatter. What's more, its very structure itself was highly unstable.

That was why he required a new material rune like Regeis to determine a more stable shape for the blade's structure. And from its union with two other basic material runes, the Persistent Stability axiom was born.

As common knowledge dictates, magecraft spellforms almost always manifest as rings. For Soren's 1st Circle spells, the core axiom would be at the center and orbited at a certain axis by the other axioms in the spellform. Adding another circle requires adding another core axiom to that "orbital" center, which could throw the entire spellform off, causing unwanted problems.

To solve this, ancient magi began to denote proper sequences for the core axioms. This concept was later coined as the 'Axiom Sequence.' The first in the sequence would always be at the center, and the second in the sequence must orbit the first. Of course, that meant that the other axioms that were linked to each of the cores must also follow on that path.

By following this method, all magi were able to insure that their magecraft was being cast through a step by step process, rather than have each of the axioms fire all at once.

Soren had also followed this standard logic. In his 32nd trial, he had decided to try and swap the sequences so that his Persistent Stability Axiom and its links were cast before the Mind Power Axiom. The result still ended in a failure, but it did prove that each of the axioms was properly doing their job…

Walking back to the laboratory table, Soren sat before the scattered shards, letting his thoughts run wild.

"The problem isn't with the axioms themselves. Nor is it an issue with the activation or anima ratios.

"The problem is with the sequence. Both runes want to go first, but fail anyway due to needing the other axiom's functions…"

Leaning back, Soren watched as the colossal bookshelves levitated freely overhead. The manuscripts they housed were constantly being reshuffled—some books were flying in and out of the shelves in unison.

"Unison…" He mumbled to himself. "Wait… In unison?!"

He jumped out of his seat, eyes widening.

"Hold on… Is the Axiom Sequence even necessary?"

"What a strange thing to say," the flame said mockingly. "Without the Axiom Sequence, your axioms will all activate at once."

"Yeah?" Soren smiled. "So what? Sequencing off the axioms is simply an arcane principle. There's no universal law that prohibits not using it. And from our analysis, both of these axioms want to go first in the sequence, so why don't we just let them?"

"The Axiom Codex that you read clearly advises against this idea. You'll need far more Channels of Willpower to effectively cast the spellform than if you had simply sequenced the axioms properly. Not to mention the risk of instability…"

Soren ignored the flame and began crafting the new spellform based on his idea. Since he was going to abandon any notion of order, the two core axioms will instead have to share a sequence and orbit each other.

Even as he began to illustrate the arcane geometries necessary, Soren couldn't help but agree with Figment's warnings. The mental drain this would have on his anima was astronomically more than what he predicted it would initially require.

But he didn't care.

Efficiency be damned. What mattered most was actually getting the spellform to work first.

"Gods… I wonder what kind of face Mistress Solyara would make if she saw this… monstrosity of a spell."

But then again, She did tell him to embrace his insanity. If anything, this was all Her fault!

Shaking away his worries, he glanced one last time at the designed spellform and smiled nervously. Soren's Soul Realm had expanded once more.

"Let us commence the 33rd Trial."

The anima shifted quietly as his mind's eye projected the necessary components. First the material runes grouped into the axioms, and then the axioms followed the arcane paths he had outlined. The spellform was quickly draining his anima just as he had assumed, but it wasn't enough to fully exhaust him.

Before his very eyes, Soren watched both the Mind Power and the Persistent Stability axioms orbit each other at the center. Their speed and anima drain was equalized for balance, and yet there were clear issues in how their linked axioms were behaving. This almost caused him to tangle his Channels of Willpower, which could have ended the casting in a failure. Despite this, the spellform was continuing to form as he had intended it to, albeit in a truly unhinged manner…

However, Soren knew that the only true indicator of whether this trial would succeed or not depended on the output of the spell. The results were all that mattered.

Just when he was about to question his own choices, he noticed something strange shimmering before his very eyes. It was as if he was looking through a clear liquid that was refracting the light in strange ways.

Soren's eyes widened. "Is that what I think it is?.."

The Fairy Blade… It had truly formed this time! Even more surprising—it was completely invisible. Even as he gripped it tightly, the blade stayed translucent. To anyone else, it would seem as though Soren was merely clutching at air…

But the most important quality was its stability. The Regeis rune he had obtained had finally fulfilled its purpose—so long as he continued to feed the spellform with anima, the blades would no longer shatter if his thoughts drifted.

He no longer needed to focus on maintaining the blade's shape or form!

As he continued to analyze his crystalized creation, Figment's voice echoed clearly in his ears:

"The experiment was successful. Fairy Blades has now become a 2nd Circle magecraft spell.

"You have reached the 2nd Circle."

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