Minaga was working on some ideas for the labyrinth in the next era, trying to find a balance between familiar challenges and adding just enough difference to ensure it wouldn’t be too similar. He definitely had a few new great inventions to test and a lot of additional safety measures he had to work on implementing after a certain someone had dominated the floors and Challenge Dungeon both.However, recently, Minaga—someone who had quite a few heads available to take his mind off things—found himself distracted. Seeing as wasting a few months wasn’t a big deal, he’d paused most things to watch the happenings in the First Universe, spending a lot of time with the Wyrmgod, who, while interested, clearly wasn’t as into it as Minaga.Frankly, that was really weird, as the Viper was his fellow Primordial, and they were clearly on friendly terms based on what had happened when Jake did Nevermore. Alas, perhaps the Wyrmgod was just trying to play it cool... or at least, Minaga thought this u

It had been a mutually beneficial relationship. One that had helped them both greatly to accomplish their respective goals, yet throughout it all, they’d kept each other at arm’s length. It wasn’t that out of the ordinary, though, as two beings recognized as supreme geniuses both tended to have quite the ego, but this had still been different.Ell’Hakan and Yip of Yore hadn’t respected each other like the Malefic Viper and Jake. They hadn’t considered each other close from the very beginning, merely using one another as useful tools to further their own interests. Everything was transactional, Ell’Hakan playing the role Yip wanted while reaping the rewards of his actions.One of the primary reasons their relationship could never grow beyond this was their limited interactions. They never spoke when it wasn’t purely about business, and the number of times they had met in person could be counted on one’s fingers.The cause of this was an emotion far simpler than respect... fear. It had

"Acceptable quality, but the production time was above the estimated average,” the overseer said in a slightly scolding tone, making the woman bow in apology.“I’m sorry...” she said. “The new apprentices assigned to me have taken more time than initially expected, meaning I didn’t have enough time to cultivate as I normally do.”“I don’t ask for any excuses; just make sure it’s better next time,” the overseer continued in his usual harsh tone. “Even if the speed is lower, you should make up for it with quality. Your level is pretty high, so the herbs you can produce shouldn’t only be of this quality.”As the sole C-grade in charge of this greenhouse, the overseer was known to run a tight ship, and the results of the workers reflected on him, so he couldn’t accept those who were mediocre. Especially not with how things had been recently.“I understand.” The woman bowed once more as she put her hand on her heart. “May the Celestial Child smile down upon us.”“May he do so eternally,” t

Jake surveyed the core room a while longer to get a proper understanding of the environment. After having done so, he got to work by making a simple set of magic circles to facilitate what was to come.Now, Jake had long considered how he could fuck with a Planetary Core, and the most obvious answer was the mythical Sin weapon he carried around. Using Eternal Hunger, Jake didn’t doubt he would be able to destroy an entire planet using his current ritual magic skills, but… he wasn’t dealing with a Planetary Core right now.Cores were unclaimed. Natural. Seeing as they were part of the environment, they didn’t possess any innate will or intent, which made them a lot weaker to outside influence. It was like the difference between a natural stone wall, and a stone wall summoned by a mage to block an attack.Once the Planetary Core became a Planetary Pylon, its defenses were heightened to an entirely new level. Someone like the Child of Loss wouldn’t be able to do much to a Planetary Pylon

A barrage of explosions filled the core chamber as Ell’Hakan dodged or blocked every attack Jake made, but he wasn’t able to find an opening to counterattack, either. At least, Jake assumed he couldn’t, but it turned out he was somewhat distracted by something else in the room.The Planetary Pylon was obviously an object of interest to Ell’Hakan—more specifically, the arcane-tinged black snakes that had wrapped themselves around it. This resulted in Ell’Hakan’s first attack being aimed not at Jake, but the core itself, as the nahoom was probing what would happen.A blast of deep yellow flames erupted from his trident and enveloped the large Planetary Pylon, doing absolutely nothing since a thin, nearly invisible barrier appeared around the entire Pylon, blocking any and all attacks.All it took was this one attack for Ell’Hakan to conclude he wouldn’t be able to do anything to the Pylon. Thus, he instead fully focused on Jake. It was evident that whatever was going on with the Planeta