Chapter 38 – The Alchemy of Flesh and ForceAfter their harrowing excursion to the Tower of Arcane Resonance, the Holloway family returned to their ancestral manor with little ceremony but great relief. Layla, still gripped by maternal dread, refused to allow Elias a moment longer in that mystic crucible where he had collapsed so suddenly. Her eyes betrayed fear, though the Tower Master Seberus had formally inscribed Elias's status as a Quadra-Talent Arcanist into the Grand Registry.Within the sanctuary of the Holloway estate, Elias sat in the radiant stillness of his chambers, fingers brushing over the brittle, timeworn pages of the tome gifted to him by the venerable Seberus. This book—an ancient relic titled The Endurance of Stone—contained the legacy of a forgotten cultivation art: a passive Earth-aspected spell with the whispered potential to evolve into a nigh-immortal defense. And yet, its fall from favor among modern arcanists puzzled Elias."Nexus-1," Elias intoned with curi

Chapter 40: Ascension at the Tenth Year’s ThresholdElias ascended the grand spiral staircase of the Holloway manor, his boots making barely a whisper against the ancient wood. He carried with him a singular thought: the acquisition of petroleum oil—volumes of it—for the culmination of his greatest invention yet. The promise of electricity, the heartbeat of the old world, pulsed within reach.Knock knock!He rapped once against the towering door to his parents’ chamber, then turned the handle and stepped inside without hesitation, his mind eager and eyes alight. But what greeted him was not a space ready to entertain a child’s engineering fervor. Instead, Bob and Layla stood mid-conversation, their faces drawn with a gravity Elias rarely saw in tandem.Instantly aware of his misstep, Elias halted. “Ah—apologies. I should have waited for your reply.”Bob offered a mild smile, his posture relaxing as he motioned him further in. “No need, son. In fact, we were just about to summon you.”

Chapter 42 – Harbinger of the Future: Baptism by DivinityThe Celestial Being—her countenance stretching across the heavens like a living constellation—pouted, her astral lips curling in playful dismay. “You’ve forgotten me already, Elias?”A gust of guilt brushed through Elias’s spectral form. “Forgive me… Back then I was nothing but a floating soul—conscious, but untethered.”Her expression softened into a smile that could ignite galaxies. [It’s fine, I suppose. I forgive you. After all, you’ve been quite the source of amusement since your rebirth into this world.]“You’re not mad? I’ve been cheating, you know. Subverting this world's natural growth by importing technology from my previous life…”The goddess laughed, a laugh that rang like wind chimes strung across the stars.[Mad? Hardly. My people have clung so tightly to magic that their progress has flatlined for millennia. You, Elias, are a much-needed fracture in the stasis. A ripple in a pond that has forgotten how to ripple.

Chapter 44: The True Owner of Lyta“Do you believe this endeavor is even within our reach?” Elias asked, his gaze fixed on the parchment plans hovering in midair, etched with shimmering mana lines.Bob Holloway stroked his beard, his mind turning gears like a seasoned general examining an invasion route. “There are… quite a few obstacles to this, son. First and foremost: funding. An infrastructure of this magnitude—a sewer system that stretches beneath the entire sprawl of Falconridge—would require an ocean of coin and an army of skilled laborers. It is no mere civic project. This is the reconstruction of a city’s foundation.”He paused, then added, “And above all else, we’ll need the cooperation of the Arcanum Spire. Their masons and constructionist mages are the only ones who can channel long-term reinforcement enchantments into city-grade stonework.”Elias raised his hand confidently. “The Arcanum will not be a problem. I’ll speak with the Tower Master myself. I’m sure he can be… p

Chapter 46: The Gilded Eye and the Gift of GoldAn hour had passed, drifting by like the golden petals of a lazy sunblossom in the breeze, as Bob and Layla continued to marvel at their son’s astonishing feats. The air in Christabel’s sun-charmed study was thick with praise and pride, until at last Elias gently guided the tide of conversation back to the matter that had first drawn them here.“Christabel,” Elias said, his tone now sharpened with intention, “the true reason I summoned you today is because I intend to channel the full weight of our influence into a project of unprecedented scale.”Christabel’s eyes shimmered with sudden attentiveness, her back straightening. “A project of great magnitude, my liege?”With a flick of his hand, Elias summoned forth a radiant illusion—an intricately detailed rendering of Falconridge’s sprawling districts entwined with veins of arcane piping and subterranean tunnels. It was a vision of the River Dames reb