Chapter 57: The Grand ChallengeIn the dimly lit hall of the Holloway mansion, Elias Holloway rose from his seat, the weight of his contemplations pulling at his shoulders. His eyes locked onto the mechanical artifact before him—the clock. Slowly, his feet carried him toward the timepiece, each step measured as though the rhythm of his own pulse sought synchronization with the tick-tock of the device.The faint glow of enchanted lanterns cast soft shadows, making the intricate runes etched across the clock's surface shimmer with an ethereal light. As his fingers brushed against the clock’s frame, he could feel the subtle hum of arcane energy coursing through it—a pulse that seemed to resonate with the very flow of time itself. The more he studied it, the more his understanding grew, and soon, his sharp mind began to fathom the potential it held.After several moments of intense focus, Elias muttered under his breath, "This device... it is not just a keeper

Chapter 59 – The Forging of Wheels and WillOn the morning that followed, Elias stood beneath the celestial-drenched canopy of the Holloway Estate, heart alight with fervor. The sacred word had been spoken—his mother and father had granted him leave to chase the path he had always yearned to tread.Yet as with all sacred gifts, conditions came shackled to the blessing. The first decree was that he must commune regularly with the Holloway matriarch and patriarch. A trivial matter, really. For this, he had already entrusted Bubbles, the enchanted whisper-beast in feline form, and a wooden construct his mother had peculiarly named Elias Also, carved from soulwood and bound with mimicry glyphs. The puppet was eerily lifelike, and in recent weeks, Layla had taken to treating it as though it were more real than flesh.The second tether? Elias must return to the estate grounds for each seasonal solstice. A fair demand, easily accepted.The third and most

Chapter 61: The Sun-Sickened Kin of the Scorched SandsElias’s eyes lit with arcane curiosity, a rare glint of anticipation blooming within him like a flicker of starfire. One of the deeper motives behind his relocation to the Ashed Lands was this very possibility—the emergence of forgotten species, born from harsh climates and tempered by oblivion. Creatures unappreciated by the world, yet brimming with unawakened potential.Ever since he had discovered his rare ability to stir dormant talents in such beings, a forbidden library of possibilities unfurled in his mind.Most saw monsters and beasts as hollow vessels of instinct—fleshbound automatons meant to be slain or avoided. But Elias had encountered Bubbles, and in doing so, he shattered that flawed myth. Monsters were not lesser. They were latent. And beneath their wild forms hid talents rivaling any sage or spell-slinger.So, when this sudden presence tugged at his senses, Elias did not hesit

Chapter 63: The Dawning of Hidden FlamesA hush swept through the cluster of simian folk, known across the Ashen Veins as the Golden-Tufted Mankari. Their wide eyes, glimmering with the primal starlight of disbelief and reverence, remained locked on the newly transfigured figure before them—Kong, once frail and feeble, now radiant with a majesty none among them could reconcile with memory."Are you... still truly... Mankari?""You... you seem changed... so much has altered!""Fur is strange... body unfamiliar... but spirit still ours?"Kong let out a hearty laugh that rippled with deep mana-infused warmth. “Indeed,” he declared, his voice resonating like a bell in the fog. “I am as I once was, born of your tribe, kin to your struggles. Yet I have passed through the sacred threshold and returned greater. I have... evolved.”They surrounded him now—these childlike creatures of the wild—with eyes wide and limbs twitching in awe. The

Chapter 65: The Yellowblood Giftsmiths and the Awakening of CraftIn the dawning twilight of the Ashed Lands, a place of fractured beauty where magic crackled through the air like dormant thunder, Elias moved silently through the sprawling congregation of Yellowblood Mankeys. These creatures, once deemed unremarkable, now stood as the seeds of a new order. Beneath his outstretched palm, the arcane energy of the Celestial Being surged—his blessing seeping into their very beings, igniting within them dormant potential. A sacred endowment that hummed within his soul, now shared among them.Elias’s fingertips brushed against the foreheads of these Mankeys, igniting a cascading ripple of shimmering light that enveloped their forms, binding them with the ancient magic of the land. Their skin, once so fragile, began to glow faintly—golden veins of energy pulsing beneath their fur. It was as if the land itself had responded to Elias’s call, offering its boon to these creat