“Nature isn’t fair, is it?” Achilles asked as Jerome opened his eyes.

“No…no, it’s not,” Jerome answered, “For every advantage it gives, it takes away some freedom from you. There is a sort of wisdom in that.”

He had just watched the conversation between Csala and the old crone, and many delicious secrets were revealed from it. Now he understood why Csala was embarrassed when she had to drag him with her body on display through tunnels. She had never truly known a man, even though she had brought many men pleasure. Jerome didn’t know what to think about that.  The thought of it didn’t sit well with the image of the succubus in his mind.

“This revelation is both a relief and a discomfort. Well, how can this pod of yours be of great importance to me?” Jerome asked, changing the subject to something more comfortable.

“You should bond with it. It would help your perception in ways no sacred artist could ever dream of.”

“Isn’t it like a part of your system?”

“It is. But the moment she captured it, I released another one into the void.”

“Huh. So you’ve got backups. How did she even do that?... And how can you do that…Put things and take things out of thin air?”

“The principles around that skill are very similar to what was used to create your storage ring — although those who create storage rings in your world don’t have the full knowledge of it. They just use bindings and scripts they found here, and in void worlds they raided on your planet.”

“But she’s not even a sacred artist…she can’t wield essence,” Jerome said, flustered and a bit frustrated.

“She doesn’t need essence, Xerae. Anyone with a powerful enough psychic energy can rip open space to hide something or cross great distances. With such powerful psychic energy, space becomes as one of the elements; feelable, touchable… accessible.”

“Access,” Jerome muttered. This was the second time the word was shoved into his face, reminding him of the one thing he didn’t have in his world because he was the fated Dark One. Jerome massaged his temples to ease his nerves as he thought about the magnitude of what he’d just heard. 

He chuckled, feeling a little dejected and angry at himself. “And I’m here playing timekeeper. I wanted to design a piece of technology that could help me calculate speed, and then perhaps patterns, and then maybe predict the future. But guess what? Apparently, people can just punch holes in the world and get to me if they want to.” 

Jerome sighed and raked his hand into his hair, “Can the Sovereign of Vorthe do this? That’s a stupid question. Of course, he can. Who else can do it?”

“I have stretched my senses beyond the veil of this world, Xerae. I’ve counted eight such people in your world — including Vorthe’s Sovereign.” Achilles’ voice sounded gentle, empathic as if he was trying to give Jerome a pat on the back.

“Eight? I’m guessing they’re all Transcendents,” Jerome said. The doom and gloom in his eyes and voice faded rapidly.

“Yes, they are, Xerae. Only Transcendents can achieve such a feat in your world because sacred artists are like Warriors of the fae. If there ever was a mage, they’d be able to rip open the fabric of space and go wherever they pleased before they reach Transcendence, except specific action is taken to lock down space in an area where portalling isn’t wanted.

“But hey, there’s one such mage here with me right now,” Achilles said, his voice sounding jovial.

Jerome chuckled as he sat down on the ground to think. 

“Thanks, Achilles,” he said with a smile.

He absently pierced the tip of his index finger with Suzie and touched the drop of blood that welled up to the surface of his skin to the floating cube. The cube seemed to sublimate a second later and dark black gas filled the air which was then sucked into his body the next moment. Jerome sat there as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

“Fascinating,” Achilles said as if he had found a new form of entertainment.

“What?” Jerome asked. “And that was a good ‘Spock’ impression.”

Achilles ignored his words. “I must say, Xerae. You’re as much a mystery to me as the succubus passed out in the lab.”

“How so?” Jerome asked. Now this was new. Achilles only found everything fae-related fascinating. Anything human-related was beneath him.

“The cube was not supposed to be absorbed into you — nothing should be, because artifacts don’t work like that. It was supposed to shrink and fit in the palm of your hand as any normal artifact would. Which means you’re the mystery.”

“Huh,” Jerome humphed with a smile, curiosity and discovery coloring his face. That was a new one. He remembered bonding with Suzie, and it sure wasn’t like this. But since Suzie had fused with his body, he didn’t give this merge a thought. This had something to do with the mind-calming stone. And for some reason, Achilles couldn’t read his thoughts right now. He could tell. He knew it, like a profound truth that didn’t need to be reasoned. 

Achilles doesn’t know about the mind-calming stone, he thought.

Jerome held his hand out and Suzie slowly bled out of it before transforming into a glistening, red spear.

“Okay, how did you do that?” Achilles asked, sounding flustered.

“You sound very human right about now, Achilles,” Jerome said with a smirk. “Unsure of yourself.”

The AI hated being compared to humans. It was demeaning to him. He was created by the great and ancient fae of times past after all.

“Hmph! I’ll have you know, Xerae, that I can figure out whatever it is and even help you increase its performance by over a thousand percent!”

“Well, good luck to you then, cos I am an enigma. Can you read my mind right now?” Jerome asked.

“Wha-what…what do you mean? Of course, I can.”

“You can’t, can you?” Jerome chided but was also a little fascinated.

He had been training his mind ever since he siphoned psychic energy from Csala. Since then he had sensed more of the mind-calming stone. It was like a living being inside him — he had a feeling it was feminine in nature — which was a little weird because it was a stone. But a unique stone nonetheless. Jerome had felt its…her presence bloom in his mind when he thought about her. 

It was as if she didn’t want Achilles to know about her, protecting herself. Whatever it was, Jerome was glad to have a respite from the AI peeping in on his thoughts — Achilles could still check his vitals and tell if he was horny though; there was nothing he could do about that.

“At least your thoughts are geared towards helping me. That’s nice to know,” Jerome said.

“It’s my purpose to serve, Xerae,” Achilles said, his voice filled with integrity.

“I don’t want a servant, Achilles, I want a friend who can have my back…even when — no, especially when things go bad. And I’m about to annoy a lot of powerful people, Achilles. Are you with me?”

“Till death, Xerae.”

Jerome breathed out a sigh of relief. “So, this pod. What’s it called?”

“It’s just one small portion of an advanced surveillance system I call, Hezvar.”

“Vision,” Jerome said with a nod, “It’s a fitting name. Can I rip open holes in the world, though?”

“Not yet but soon. Your succubus is waking up, Xerae.”

 

~~~

 

“You owe me,” Jerome said as Csala sat up on the lightspire table. She was a far cry from the proud succubus he had encountered on his first day inside Sanctum. Her red hair was in ruins—thick and unkempt, and riddled with leaves and dirt.

She also looked pale and sickly, the glow and suppleness of her skin had diminished greatly. The older succubus must have done a number on her.

Csala looked away from him not knowing what to say.

“Fortunately for you, I am a benevolent person,” Jerome said with a hint of a smile on his lips.

Csala looked at him with suspicion. She could sense something bad coming. 

“What do you want?” she said, her voice sounding cracked and painful.

Jerome moved closer entering into her personal space, and lifted up her chin with a finger to make eye contact. He truly wanted to hate her, but for some reason he didn’t.

“Don’t,” she said again. “You’ve taken so much from me already,” she finished with a sniff.

Jerome smiled at her and bent down to kiss her. Csala flinched and stiffened. She wanted to stop him but didn’t have the strength to do so. Something else happened though. Instead of siphoning more of her psychic energy as she thought, Jerome was pouring his vitality into her.

Csala was overjoyed. Her hungry cells threw themselves wide open and devoured the vitality he poured into her. She unconsciously moved her hands and wrapped them around his neck pulling him closer.

Jerome had never met a ‘supposedly’ experienced woman who kissed like it was her first time. He observed as she became bolder, testing the waters, leaning into him as he poured his vitality into her. He scanned his body quickly to make sure he wasn’t giving her too much — he wasn’t Santa after all.

Jerome broke up the kiss and leaned away, flustered and out of breath. Any more than that and he wouldn’t be able to hold back himself. Even looking as unkept and unhealthy as she was, Csala was still irresistible. A glance at her let him know he wasn’t alone in it. Csala was breathing hard and looking at him like a snack she wanted to devour. Her skin had regained some of its vitality and suppleness making her even more irresistible.

“That’s enough for now. I need my strength for other things,” he said.

“How — ahem — how did you get me out of there?” Csala asked, her voice sounding normal. Jerome had to hold himself back at the sound of her voice and she seemed to notice. Her voice was like a siren’s call.

“Sorry,” she said, “Succubi are born this way; I can’t help it.”

Jerome took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It was like being in the presence of a Sage — maybe she was as powerful as a Sage — but instead of feeling pressured, he was feeling aroused.

“She’s not,” Achilles said in his head. “She can only compare to a Spirit Realm artist—one at the peak of the Spirit Realm. I believe they’re called True Spirits, or True Spirit artists.”

So are there—

“Jerome?” Csala called out to him with a curious look.

“Sorry about that,” he said before helping her off the table. She tripped before gaining her balance. Having lost so much vitality, she wasn’t used to the weakness in her legs.

He could just imagine what he would have looked like standing there not saying a word and gazing into empty space as he discussed with Achilles. He held Csala by the waist as the portal formation lit up beneath them they disappeared in a flash and reappeared in a new chamber.

“I’ve never been to these parts of the mountain before. How did you do that?” she said looking around.

“I found something here. And I trust you’ll keep this a secret,” Jerome said, eyeing her with a hawk’s gaze.

Csala turned to him and nodded. “I swear by Terra Praeta’s moons that I would never reveal anything about you to anyone living or deceased,” she said, feeling bitter about it all. The oath took hold and settled in the depths of her soul and she flinched but then sighed afterwards. 

Jerome must have obtained some sort of good fortune and somehow had more power in his hands but she had been here for more than a century and all she could do was use this place as a safe haven because she couldn’t use essence. 

Jerome watched her watch him. The fear in her eyes was deep. He had almost forgotten about the effectiveness of oaths. From her reaction, he knew that the oath had taken hold. But that was a bold move on her path to express her sincerity.

Why the hell didn’t you get an oath out of that other succubus? He snorted as he watched Csala shake off her melancholy and focused on the room they appeared in.

“The other succubus would’ve refused to, Xerae,” Achilles said. “Or created loopholes that wouldn’t be readily considered. It‘s all about experience and abilities: if you don’t know the depths of one’s ability, you don’t know how much limits the oath has on them.”

Jerome nodded in understanding as he looked around. If one swears not to hurt you under oath but can get another to do it without breaking an agreement or said oath then…

He had a vague map in his head of the labyrinth that was Sanctum. They had teleported to a chamber where Achilles 3d printed things he needed—which was incredible. The room was as bright as the laboratory. There were boxes stacked on shelves by the walls. 

Jerome did a quick scan and found they were filled with spare parts for Achilles’ projects. There was a glowing light of a blue scripted circle at the center of the room which gave off a strange energy, non-threatening though it was. Achilles transmitted the procedure to activate the circle fully and direct it to print whatever Csala wanted.

“We’re here to make you some clothes—‘decent’ clothes,” he said that last part to Csala as much as to Achilles. The AI could do things to annoy him sometimes.

“Make?” Csala asked unsure. All the clothes she owned were stolen from female sacred artists who came to Terra Praeta from Jerome’s world, including the furniture Jerome had torched inside her room.

“How is that a strange concept to you?” Jerome said. “Never mind. Get in the circle.”

Jerome held her dainty hand in his and walked her to the glowing blue circle in the middle of the room. With a glance to his side, he couldn’t help but smile. Csala was looking like a fish out of water. He guided her to the middle of the circle and crouched down to activate the circle. It was pretty straightforward. Jerome slid his finger in an arc around the glowing circle making sure to transmit as much essence to the circle as possible, lighting up scripts in the process. With a pulse of essence from him, the circle was fully activated.

“We have to prepare for your next project, Xerae. Illyrah left strict orders to make sure this next project was completed before you left for your world.”

And what might this project be? Jerome asked, watching as Csala twirled her fingers in the air and patterns unfurled where her finger passed through the air, creating a design for what she wanted. He saw her smile and her lips move as if she was talking to someone which was a surprise. The inside of the circle seemed to be soundproofed as he couldn’t hear what she was saying.

Achilles, are you communicating with her? He asked.

“Not directly, Xerae. And the project is to create a spatial treasure—a void space to be precise. Large enough to hold anything you want, but small enough that it won’t be a burden to create or maintain.”

“That would be cool. Would living things be able to survive in it? Cos storage rings can’t hold living things,” Jerome said as he walked away from Csala, leaving her to do her thing. She seemed to be having fun creating the kinds of garments she wanted to wear.

“Of course, Xerae. That’s the whole point of a void space. You can hide in it as well, and hide things you don’t want others to know about.”

“Hmm.”

“Illyrah tried to think of everything. Should in case you ever lose your storage ring or it was stolen, this would come in handy. Also, there are things that can’t be kept inside a storage ring.”

“That’s reasonable,” Jerome said, nodding slightly. Living things couldn’t be kept inside storage rings. He didn’t plan to lose his storage ring though. “Wouldn’t it have been quicker if he left one behind?”

"True, but over a long period of time, it would erode and destabilize without a tether and collapse in on itself. And then there’s also the fact that a void space grows as its wielder does, becoming wider as your foundation rises. The early sacred artists that came to Terra Praeta found the first scripts and arrays for making storage rings. After them others tried to find something similar and they did. But what they found were of cheaper quality.

“The storage ring you wear now can be accessed by anyone, but ask Rihal when you get home about the storage rings the Royals and the members of the Great families wear.”

“That’s…so there’s a difference between storage rings,” Jerome said. He couldn’t be bothered by the fact that Achilles knew about Rihal.

“There’s a difference between many of the resources Scions and disciples get, Xerae, and I’ll make sure you get even better resources. But first, you’ll have to cleanse yourself of impurities, and rest.”

“Rest?” Jerome was transported to another chamber by Achilles himself.

“Yes, Xerae. It’s a different kind of rest — a comma if you will. It’s the only way to prepare your body for the torture it will have to endure to succeed.”

Jerome was taken aback. More pain? He was used to pain. Doesn’t mean he would love to experience it though.

“Wait a minute. How do I create a dragon avatar for the Dragon’s Wrath?”

“Firstly, you need to have a really good understanding of an adult dragon’s essence channels and core; muscle mass, and bone density too. And theirs is way more complicated than the Faes.”

“What is it, rocket science? Fine. What do I need to do?”