Several days passed by in a flash, the new city of Frosthaven a swarm of activity. For five days Lothar let his orcs down into the barrows, the nearly one hundred raiders opening up many more stalls. 

Even Rebecca’s priests and priestesses got in on the action, and the first section was nearly completely open. There were a few deaths and close calls, but Nick was able to bring those that failed significantly back from the dead.

In truth, it felt like the challenges for the stalls were set up in a way that people could easily flee, or failure often did not mean death. The dummies were common, and Nick found that the creatures they faced would not go for a killing blow. 

The spawned enemies would seemingly go for knocking the person down or out, ending the challenge, as opposed to beheading or stabbing them in the heart. This left most able to be saved by a healer. The two that died, surprisingly, were those hit by mauls caving in their armor into their chest. The healers couldn’t remove their armor in time before they expired.

The wolflings and the orc scouts also spent time surveying the new surrounding area, drawing up maps and discovering the special features in the wilderness. The mines from his rewards had been discovered at the frosty mountain peak, and Nick now understood that this place was not for him quite yet.

The enemies there were in the second stratum, a type of frost imp. The scout just barely made it out with her life, a wolfling sensing the danger appropriately before it came after them, casting powerful ice spells.

The changes that took place within the orc’s Ordeal was somewhat shocking, in that the essence rewarded had increased by nearly half without increasing the difficulty significantly. The growth of Lothar’s warriors was surprising, the chief happy at the effect.

Nick also let Lothar send a party of ten through his Path of Kings Ordeal. The limit was two parties of ten per week, and they had reached the eighth floor on their first attempt and only taking three days.

He had wanted them to scout out the floors for him so that he could get his work done in a single run. Four of the orcs in the run even passed the Optional Test on the first floor, granting them traits. 

The traits earned were similar in strength to Kaya’s, but were clearly valuable. Combined with what they earned from their Tribulations in the Trial, Agatha thought many might be capable of upgrading their class rarity when they entered the second stratum.

The gains in loot and DP from their run was surprising, and encouraging. Nearly three hundred DP was gained all at once, and with the loot shifted to focus on skills like Nick wanted, they had made out like bandits. Lothar’s Ordeal earned him just barely over ten per run, so there was a qualitative difference between Nick’s Ordeal and the rest.

Combined with the hundreds earned in the barrows, it would clearly only take a few weeks to earn back some of his heritage or upgrade the genesis chamber. He was excited about what was to come, both increasing the efficiency and earning the special matrix.

Nick was now visiting Rebecca’s Crown Sanctum because she was worried about a detail she learned. She had spent several days trying to settle her church and put it in order after learning their paladin and priests were corrupted, and finally broached the subject of Seraphara’s Ordeal.

It turned out that the Ordeal had long been shifted away from Path of Seraphara’s Faithful, to the Path of the Divine Usurper. Nick was shocked to learn that Ordeals could produce a path that perfectly fit someone’s Concept, but realized it made sense. But that was not why Nick was here now.

Nick walked through the large doors, wearing an outfit he found in his wardrobe. They were a blue set of martial robes with black accents, that he thought were a decent mixture of function and form. They also fit well over his plastic-like armor, making them not all that different from how Rebecca’s habit covered her leather armor. 

The large doors were the same ones he entered with his large entourage of orcs and wolflings before facing the Bishop. The pews, floors and walls had been repaired and repainted, the damage from their battle removed.

The many priests and priestesses were kneeling in prayer on mats, including Rebecca at the front of the procession. There were not that many priests left in the cathedral, only those that surrendered and the handful of those that went along with Rebecca to greet Nick in the beginning to learn about the slavery situation first hand.

Nick nodded at Frederick, and walked to the rear of the cathedral. Rebecca was in front of an altar, a raised dais that looked like it was meant for giving sermons.  

Rebecca opened her eyes, and turned to Nick with a grateful, but small smile. “Thank you for coming, Lord Noblefrost. We… could use your help in solving this mystery.”

Nick wasn’t too surprised by her overly formal greeting. After all, her clergy were present, and there was certain propriety expected. As it was, the men lined one side of the cathedral, while the women lined the other. 

From what Nick understood, the priests and priestesses were kept mostly separate during worship and in their duties. The intention was that they were to focus on their knowledge and purity which included remaining celibate–until they established their Concept.

Rebecca’s mother had established hers early in the middle of the second Stratum, a true prodigy. She ultimately ended up pairing with the Bishop. The followers of Seraphara, after forming their Concepts, would be encouraged to pair up with other adherents and clergy.

But the Bishop hadn’t accomplished establishing his Concept. As the son of the Ordeal conqueror and owner, he had a special leeway. He hid away his debauchery somehow, having made connections with the evil merchant. Somehow he also hid away his jealousy of Irene, taking advantage of her and capturing her soul.

“I’m happy to help. What seems to be the issue?”

Rebecca frowned. “When we commune with the goddess, we can normally feel her presence. We give our essence, faith and prayer, and she returns her holy light and wisdom to us. However, her presence is missing. We cannot make the connection to Seraphara, but our energy appears to be going somewhere.”

The priestesses and priests' faces were marred with worry. Several of them muttered prayers asking for forgiveness for their failures to root out the evil, and it appeared they believed Seraphara was punishing them for that reason.

“Let’s see what we can find out in the Crown Sanctum. You didn’t search it?”

She looked to the back of the room, a troubled expression on her face. “I did, but, searching it was painful for me. Knowing my childhood home was where such horrible things happened, I only did a cursory look. I was hoping you could…at least search with me. In addition, I am not the true Ordeal owner.”

Nick nodded. It was entirely possible that unless he gave her access from within, she might not be able to reach special hideouts and others granted by the Orion system. That was, if the hideout was even created by such. 

Within Nick’s Crown Sanctum, even outside his Heritage structures, they had seen countless options. He hadn’t seen the reason to create a secret path, but the door security in his Sanctum left him without a true need, he imagined. That, or when one was keeping things from their own family members…

As Nick walked beside Rebecca to head into her Crown Sanctum, a priestess cleared her throat. “Archpriestess, it wouldn’t be proper for you to be alone with Lord Noblefrost. Allow me to accompany you.”

Nick turned to look at the woman in question. What Nick had noticed about most of the priestesses, was that they were all looked like young college-aged girls, with a few exceptions. He figured it was because of their worship slowly shifting them toward a desire of being pure and beautiful, but it turned out that it was a little more sinister.   

The bishop had gotten rid of any of the older, or uglier looking priestesses, by hook or crook. Whether putting in to have them transferred or sent on a pilgrimage, or somehow selling them off for slavery, he had made sure to surround himself with pure, young and unattached priestesses.

The priestess in question was probably the oldest among them, likely only a little older than thirty. Rebecca looked troubled, giving Nick a worried look. It was clear to him that she didn’t want to share this with outsiders.

Nick replied, “What’s improper about it? I am your lord here on official business with the Crown Sanctum, to try to help you get to the bottom of this issue with the Goddess. How about this? I give my word that I will observe propriety while inside today.” As Nick said the words, it was like his soul thrummed, and his voice carried out the weight of his promise.

Now the older woman looked troubled. “I… apologize, Lord Noblefrost, you may enter with the Archpriestess alone. It was just the principle of it. Ultimately, we do trust you, our savior. This whole situation just has us worried… after all…”

She looked at Nick’s shoulder, containing his soul blade’s hilt. “You were able to walk in without an oath, something is clearly wrong. I… please, help us to get to the bottom of this.” She bowed, and the many priests and priestesses did the same.

As a Lord, he would never be expected to be without his sword or armor, expected to protect himself in any setting. However, in a place like Seraphara’s Cathedral, it would normally require his Lord’s Oath to only use them in self-defense.

But Nick had just walked right into the church without any trouble, when Seraphara should have weighed on him from the beginning. He had been surprised at learning this detail, because clearly they all fought the bishop.   

Nick nodded. “You people are my followers, and the people of Zura are now my people. Rest assured, I’ll do what I can get to the bottom of it.”   

The clergy seemed satisfied at this, and Rebecca looked more than a little grateful. It appeared she didn’t want to air out her dirty laundry with the older priestess around. They entered the special path to the Crown Sanctum, a door with a long underground hallway. 

It was like a private path toward the tower, which in itself should be a red flag if you were asking Nick. It was like treating the church as an extension of his own home. Their steps echoed down the long corridor, until they arrived at an ornate door at the top of a set of stairs.

“That lady didn’t want us to be alone, huh? This mean that I’m the first man you’ve been alone with?”

Rebecca blushed. “Y-yes. That lady was Marissa, and she is the one closest to the Archpriestess position if I was not around. Seraphara wants us to focus on enlightenment, rather than love until we’ve obtained our Concept. She believes it’s important for us to learn about the world and to love ourselves and others, before we should find the love of our lives. Segregating the men from the women helps us maintain this focus, and keep ourselves pure on the path of wisdom.” 

Nick nodded. He had heard a lot of this over the past few weeks as he learned more about the clergy of Seraphara, and realized it was pretty reasonable. After all, the biggest hurdle for one to pass in reaching immortality was probably the creation of a Concept. If they achieved that first, they were bound to have a longer, more fulfilling life.   

They entered Rebecca’s home, and it was a mostly mundane looking home. Nick gave it a critical eye knowing he was looking for something hidden, but the room ultimately wasn’t all that different from anyone’s home or apartment. 

Rebecca pointed off to a door on the right. “My room where I grew up is over there. I’m assuming if there’s anything, it’s either in the Crown Sanctum itself, or within his study.”

They entered the Crown Sanctum, and Nick was surprised at how simple it was. A pedestal with a statue of Seraphara stood in the center of a room. The Angel Goddess was definitely beautiful, and she didn’t really wear a habit like the priestesses. She wore scholar’s robes, her wings flaring out behind her.  

“Uh, how do I use this?”

Rebecca chuckled. “Just will the Menu to appear while near it. I heard yours was different with the many slates and options, but there are not nearly as many here.”

Nick triggered the Menu, and went into the Crown Sanctum options. Sure enough, there was a special room listed. “It looks like there’s a Concept Chamber. But since there’s no map or design thing like my Sanctum, there’s no hint on where it is. I also can’t really do anything with it from here, except to destroy it.”

Rebecca nodded. “I… we may ultimately do that, but we should check it first. I believe you are just supposed to will how you want things to be created, and it quotes you the cost in the Menu.” 

Looking at the number of DP, Nick was somewhat shocked. It had thousands saved up, and it appeared the Bishop was planning on upgrading his Concept Chamber. Unfortunately, he knew that transferring them to his own had a pretty large penalty. 

Not only that, but these were the DP that the people of Zura earned with their blood, sweat, and tears over the last few weeks and months, perhaps even years. Lothar had mentioned that the minor Tribulation of the Trial, each wave of enemies had earned him many.

Nick would actually be able to shift or upgrade either Ordeal soon, from the looks of it. Either that, or create some other special themed buildings for his budding city.

“Show me to his study?”

Rebecca nodded, and they returned to the main living room. Just like in Nick’s home, the bishop’s room led to the study. Rebecca’s steps became wooden, the girl pushing herself to accompany him. It was clear she didn’t want to be there, as when they opened the door, Nick recognized the room.

It was where during the Judgement, he had witnessed the bishop killing Irene, her mother. It was a simple study, with books lining the many bookshelves, and a desk against the wall.

Nick saw where Rebecca likely tried to find any hidden entrance. Several bookshelves were pulled away from the wall or at least slightly askew, and many books were removed from the shelves and placed on a table.

“I see you worked hard.”

Rebecca nodded, clearly troubled by once again returning to where her mother was betrayed.

Thankfully, Nick got a hint, and not from what he expected: his Soul Sense. There was an entity of some kind underneath the room. Looking at it with his eyes, he thought it was a different from nearly anything he’d seen up to now. Rather than a soul core, it was like a humanoid shape had a small haze covering the entire body. 

He walked into the room, and began knocking on the floor. He found where the wood clearly made a different sound, but couldn’t find a way to open it. There was no real markings or way to open something that he could see.

Nick tried a few different knocks, then decided to try to speak out loud. “Uh, open the path.”

Rebecca looked at him like he had gone crazy, but then he heard a loud click, before the panel slid open in front of him. She was shocked, but she followed him down the stairs. When Nick opened the door at the bottom, she gasped. 

It was an automaton that looked like an angel, its smile lines curving beyond its fake lips. It reminded Nick of a painted wooden puppet, and it was clear to Nick that it was designed to look exactly like her mother Irene, wearing what appeared to be a slutty version of the nun habit. 

The automaton kneeled on the ground, and spoke up at him with a smile. “Welcome, Master! Would you like to claim your faith, or maybe…me?”

Rebecca looked like she wanted to throw up, and even made a gagging sound. Nick hugged her to him, and patted her back to try to comfort her. “It’s alright, Becca. He paid for all the terrible things he’s done, and we’ll get through this. You can head upstairs if you like?”

Tears pooled in her eyes. “Even her voice… Thank you, Nick, I’m alright. It’s just so…disgusting. Just… give me a moment, and we can continue.”

Nick somewhat wanted to make a joke about splinters, but figured it really was not the time. Thankfully, the automaton just kneeled in silence, waiting for his reply.

After a moment, Rebecca retreated from his embrace with a blush and a small smile. “I… thank you for your comfort, Nicholas. While you’re such a strong warrior with a wild mouth, you also have a gentle, patient side too, don’t you? Let us continue.”

Nick kept his mouth shut. Now he was really glad he didn’t open it. 

They walked down the corridor, opting to leave the automaton there. If they needed it for the door, they would double back rather than have the creepy thing follow them. The corridor headed right back in the direction they came but further underground, heading back toward the cathedral.

The door opened without issue, and the first area was a simple, smaller room with one more doorway. Off to the side were some odd tubes heading into the wall. They reminded Nick of what he used at bank tellers, only a bit larger. 

Rebecca gasped. “Oh! I know what these are. They’re the dead drops for the assassins and tainted priests! We couldn’t figure out where they led, to think it was from here. We must really be beneath the church now. That means…” She looked over to the last door.

They walked over, and Nick looked over at Rebecca as he reached for the door handle, finding she met his gaze with her own determined look and a nod.

He opened the door, and found a room quite similar to the Crown Sanctum–except it had a throne in the center, instead of the statue. 

The Concept Chamber was sort of like the nexus core idea, but not quite the same. Rather than using essence for leveling up and forming the core, the essence would be applied to strengthen one’s concept. 

The energy came from the Ordeal, supplying pure essence to be captured and stored by the room. Then, the user would make the energy like their concept somehow, before absorbing and enhancing it. 

For the bishop, Nick guessed with the aid of the throne. Others would use different apparatus or magical items or energies, similar to Brutus’s Nexus Core being fed with shadows and fear. 

The big difference was that a Concept became a part of a cultivator, and it was not necessarily a part of a Core.

The throne was creepy as hell, but he continued inside with Rebecca following him. The essence within the room was palpable, him never feeling this level before. He reached out to the throne and touched it.

A connection between Nick and the throne formed, a thread of magic connecting to his soul core in his chest.

[Concept Chamber Claimed.]
[Faith Connection Restored. Faith and Essence levels now beyond Concept Chamber. Beginning emergency faith channeling.] 

The energy in the room surged, and despite not sitting in the throne, all the energy rushed into Nick. The pain was significant, him grunting in response to the energy crashing into his body. 

All of his body was filled with the essence and faith energy, the energy usurped by the bishop.

Nick couldn’t even hear Rebecca’s words as his entire world became pain, the energy heading toward his soul core. Seconds or minutes passed, Nick wasn’t sure, until something within his soul stirred: Irene.

Soothing light energy was released, her healing filling his body starting from his core. Watching with his magical senses and soul sense, he monitored the core in his chest spinning. 

The energy started heading toward her instead, her soul absorbing the energy and reducing the burden. If anything, it appeared to heal her soul for a minute, until it seemed to become full.

The energy began circulating in his body, building up to that painful amount once more. Now that he had his faculties somewhat back, he realized the energy in the room had only reduced by a third. 

Irene’s soul dug deep within him, bringing something to the fore from the depths of his soul. For a moment, he didn’t understand what she was touching, until it dawned on him: it was the purified concept from the bishop.

The pain returned, and Rebecca appeared to be trying to help him. He didn’t have much capability to give her a response, but her healing did appear to help. 

The concept was originally divine usurpation, but the taint, some kind of parasite, had finally been removed. He didn’t know what it was now, but it felt more like a seed of something, rather than an actual concept on its own.

The energy around Irene’s soul flickered toward the concept, almost like Irene was drawing something into it–but she stopped, and then motioned it again.

Nick heard a faint voice in his mind.

“...Hero’s… reward… Take.”

He nearly stumbled at her using the same phrasing Winny used for giving him pleasure, but he understood what she meant. Nick was concerned about trying to use the energy at first, wasn’t it Rebecca and her people’s hard-earned energy? From their blood, sweat, and tears? Better Nick than the bishop, but for him to take it now would feel like a betrayal to their efforts.

He would…try to use the concept, it was his right to take the energy from her perspective. Her permission was enough for him, and besides–if he didn’t, he might just die, or the energy could be wasted if he ran out of the chamber.

Nick latched onto the concept and willed the energy into the foreign concept, but it didn’t seem to move at first. Thinking about it, he realized or understood that this thing wasn’t really his. He would need to think about what kind of Concept he really wanted to create.

Nick had spent the past few days on this topic, thinking about both his path situation and his potential cores. He wasn’t ready to create a concept in truth, but he did know that he wanted to walk the hero’s path. 

This faith energy he needed to absorb was a result of him bringing salvation to the people of Zura, redeeming them from the sins of the horrible bishop. Knowing that concepts fed on one’s actions and desires, he held on to these thoughts and willed the faith energy into him.  

The faith energy rushed inside and through the tiny orb, which was much smaller than Irene’s soul. It started to grow and be nourished, but it filtered the energy into his soul core, releasing a divine, spiritual light. 

Irene seemed to help with this, like the energy wouldn’t move without her help, despite all of this. The bishop had subordinated her soul to his somehow, and was a big part of the process in making this work for him, Nick guessed.

His soul core started to mend and grow, the effects of having the rampant energies in his body being restored. He swirled the chain constructs of his core as he grabbed the essence and weaved them into his core, not growing in size but increasing his soul’s purity. 

The strain of his captured enemy souls was reduced, and Nick felt a warm and pleasant feeling from the divine energies and the after effects. The remaining energy was mostly absorbed, though eventually, he felt like he was full once more–this was simply too much energy for him, in the first stratum, to take.

He gritted his teeth as the pain returned, desperately trying to do something with his cores and using his Will of the Frost King to hold on. But something in the room shifted once more, and the energy then rushed toward Rebecca. 

She was knelt in prayer, a serious look on her expression. The energy gathered around her and entered her, and Nick felt a significant surge of spiritual energy. A ripple of energy echoed from it out and into the room, her soul core brightening in his eyes.

The energy in the room returned to normal levels, and Irene’s soul retreated back to the depths of his own with the mysterious concept. It felt like it was now more his than it was before, but it wasn’t exactly a concept as of yet. 

He had read about fragments of concepts, that these would begin to appear by following his Ideal, or after he had formed his core. After that point, he could then nurture the fragment until it became one in truth. That he already had one was a huge boon.

From the looks of it, Rebecca had gained something similar. She looked absolutely exhausted, and troubled, her chest heaving from exerted effort.

“Thanks for the help, Rebecca. I don’t think I’d have made it through that alive without you.”

She opened her eyes, her eyes wide and eyebrows arched in worry. “Are you okay? Your shouts sounded terribly painful.” 

Nick smiled at her. “Thanks to you and your mother, I made it through. I think I gained a lot somehow, actually.” 

She gave him a grateful smile and a sigh of relief, but her expression quickly shifted to a frown.   “I… did something I probably shouldn’t have. I haven’t even established my faith core, but I believe I created a fragment of my concept.”

“That’s great. Is the connection to Seraphara restored now, or?”

Rebecca looked thoughtful and attempted to pray, and Nick actually caught a wisp of something in his senses, entering the throne.

He touched the throne once more, and sat in it. Nothing came up or was accessible within his Menus. 

“Well, now that the energy is absorbed, perhaps the only thing left to do is to destroy it. I was able to destroy the whole room from your father’s sanctum.”

He scratched his head. Would he really have to destroy it?