Priam blinked. The workshop was stifling, barely lit, and thick with the sll of sap and sweat, making it hard to breathe. Alain had dismissed the idea of digging an air vent, citing a potential security flaw. The underground bunker was designed to be a hidden workspace for secret projects, and even the smallest opening was a risk no one was willing to take.
“It reeks,” Jasmine grumbled, stepping out of a portal ford by the roots of Log-a-rhythm. It was the only way to access this place, carved directly into the bedrock by one of the tree's features.
“I’m trying to create an array to purify the air, but... it’s complicated,” admitted Rose, clapping her hands. A dozen lights flickered to life, revealing prototypes that could one day revolutionize Oasis.
Priam moved closer to one of the lamps, a wooden orb etched with rudintary runic circles, hovering at eye level. It gave off a faint sll of burning.
“It’s a work in progress,” the teenager blushed.
“The design is interesting,” Priam complinted her.
He could do better, but the competition was rigged. His ntal attributes were ten tis higher than Rose’s, and if that wasn’t enough, his add-on had copied the runic formations of dozens of objects during his stroll through the tribal camp.
“Ambient aether absorption into a storage unit, then converted into light energy upon recognition of a specific sound frequency,” he analyzed. “Why not just keep the light on constantly? Ambient aether is abundant.”
“Constant drain creates energy currents in the room, which could ss with the more sensitive prototype rituals.”
“There’ll always be so interference.”
“We are working on an isolation system, but it’s taking ti,” Alain said, grabbing a carved wooden block and so tal tools. “I have got everything I need; the rest has little value.”
“Try not to break everything!” Rose laughed as she made her way to the exit, her latest project in hand.
Priam waited until his father and the teenager left the workshop before sealing the entrance. In the dim light of the makeshift bunker, the three rivals stared at each other.
“It feels like you’re planning to trap a dragon,” Kazuki remarked, glancing around. Without Log-a-rhythm’s permission, no one could leave this place without tearing through twenty ters of bedrock. Priam’s Breath couldn’t affect that stone, so anything less than a Tier 4 would struggle to escape. “Is there going to be a problem with Sphinx?”
Priam shook his head. "I guess it's ti for an explanation. Sphinx is being held captive by Bastard in the sa cage as one of our rivals, Ève."
“Whose clone you're controlling with a sub-system.”
“Exactly. When I freed Sphinx last ti, Ève escaped too. The problem is that her mory manipulation is a notch above her clone’s. She vanished without anyone noticing. Honestly, I didn’t even rember she existed until I rewound ti. I was convinced the clone was the original and that she'd died detonating a nuke against the Fallen.”
“Ève probably ordered the clone to kill herself. The death severed your spiritual connection, erasing the last proof of her existence. Cruel but brilliant,” Kazuki admitted.
“A hidden enemy is dangerous as hell. What tipped you off?” Jasmine asked.
“After activating Back in Ti, the System asked what to keep from which tiline. When I saw that I’d lost mories despite my eidetic mory, I synchronized them.” Priam growled in frustration. Without his reward, he never would have suspected a thing. “The only difference was Eve’s existence. I figured she used Sphinx’s escape as cover to flee.”
“That bitch!” Jasmine spat.
“You want to trap her here with us to force her out,” Kazuki realized.
Ève hadn’t tried to harm him in the following battles, but that didn’t an they were allies. After Seth and Arnold’s double betrayal, Priam wasn’t about to leave a third wildcard loose near his family. Back in Ti was over, and he couldn’t afford any more mistakes.
“That could be dangerous,” Jasmine warned. “If she can ss with mories, she could make Kazuki turn on us.”
The hoplite conjured a spear of wood. “By fusing Spear Mastery II with [Spear Virtuoso], I can temporarily beco one with my weapon. In that state, I’m pure instinct. She’ll have a hard ti affecting .”
Jasmine whistled in admiration, and Priam smiled. Kazuki may have failed his Tribulations, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. Opening a portal in the air, Priam retrieved Taishi’s legendary spear from Concepts Archipelago. He weighed it in his hand before tossing it to his friend. “This’ll do better than a wooden spear.”
“A gift?”
“From your future self.”
The hoplite ran his hands over the weapon before executing a few katas. “It’s even better than the one I was planning to buy. It feels like it was made for .”
“It’s the spear you’ll earn: Taishi’s weapon, forged by the System for a ninth Tribulation.”
The hoplite champion’s eyes widened. His spear arm trembled, a sign that the news rattled him.
“... We need to talk.”
“Once Sphinx is safe,” Priam promised.
“Very well.”
Priam turned to Jasmine. “Think you can resist mory manipulation?”
“No,” the assassin answered honestly. “But our souls are linked by your system. She’d have to manipulate both of our mories at once to screw with us, and if I’m hidden deep in your shadow, she’ll have a tough ti reaching .”
“Then you’ll be my anchor. Let’s get started.”
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