A secluded corner of the metropolis had quietly become their unofficial meeting spot.
Far from the noise, the area overlooked a peaceful stretch of elevated walkways and distant towers.
Lucia sat comfortably beside Alice on a bench, lazily sipping a cold drink.
Alice maintained her usual composed posture, though the unnatural blush across her face had become a constant whenever Ashen was near. And right now, he was seated on her other side, their hands loosely interlocked.
Meanwhile, Seraphine sat beside Maria.
Or more accurately, Maria sat while Seraphine leaned far too close. It was unknown what they were whispering about, but Maria looked as nervous as ever.
Her round glasses slightly reflected the afternoon light, making it hard to read her eyes.
Seraphine, meanwhile, looked completely at ease.
"I've already dealt with Lapis' matter. The moment the third theater arrives, she'll move straight to our army." Lucia suddenly broached the subject of Ashen's sister.
"That's great. I can always count on you to keep my mind at ease, darling." Ashen's relaxed demeanor softened even further upon hearing the good news.
Lucia glanced sideways at him. "You look a bit too merry; did something good happen?"
"Aside from Lapis' news, I mean."
Before he could answer, Seraphine lifted her face and looked at him with a mock glare. "Well, our crazy lover got another power-up recently. Perhaps that's the real reason."
"It happened at the cost of frying my nerves with worry, though…" Then she grumbled under her breath, "And literally almost frying his own brain."
Maria's face flushed even deeper when she heard Seraphine say our lover so confidently.
"So it's true..."
"Oh? Is that where the new mystical aura is coming from?" Alice inquired curiously.
"I have a mystical aura now…? Then it must be, hehe..." he grinned foolishly.
"You always had one, thanks to the Sloth concepts, but now, whenever you move, it feels as though the world itself is assisting you. It's almost like... you're free from the pull of gravity."
Alice, who had already documented nearly everything about him, was naturally the first to notice the changes.
"And on an unrelated note, it's making you... sexier."
"Thanks, love. You're plenty sexy even without any magical glow." He snickered, deciding to hold off on explaining things until they were in a more private setting.
"Well, I'm going to ascend soon as well, so maybe I'll gain something that can match you." Alice also dropped the subject after getting the hint, and Lucia did the same, contenting herself with simply caressing his thigh.
"God forbid. Do you want to make it even harder for us poor folks to focus on anything aside from your devastating magnificence?"
"Oh, you~ stop exaggerating."
"I'm really not." He let out a helpless sigh. "Lola is suffering from that same success. Now she can't even show her face without driving people crazy. Poor woman."
"Well, you've seen her, and you're still plenty sane." Lucia quipped from the side.
He lied with a straight face. "I have three stunning beauties such as yourselves to desensitize me, but alas, not everyone is blessed with the same fortune."
"His mouth is sweet as ever, alright." Alice laughed as she narrowed her eyes.
Lucia showed her appreciation by gently caressing his cheek.
Ashen allowed himself a smug look and decided to bask in their affection, though before long, his mind drifted back to the system's latest notifications, prompting him to check them out.
He called forth the interface, making it visible only to the two beside him.
As they leaned against him with curious looks, he decided to bring up the descriptions of his new Innate Skill and Trinity Harmony.
==============================
Name/Arrival date: Ashen Hart - 2025/02/11
Sex/Age: Male/131
Height/Weight: 195 cm / 90 kg
Current condition: Healthy
Pathway: Step IV: Bearer of Stillness
Thema: Bellator
Affiliation: Count of the Wrath Domain
Title: Paradoxtide
[2. Traits]
—Titan's Grind
—Insightful
—Soul Bastion
—Inner Chorus
[3. Physical Level]
Strength: C+ | Endurance: B | Agility: B-
Perception: C+ | Stamina: B | Mana: B+
[4. Abilities]
4.1 Innate Powers:
—Beholder's Eyes
—Twin souls
—Mana Imperium
—Equivalent Exchange (0)
4.2 Path Skills:
—Lucid Dreamweaving (Masterful+)
—Hollow Resolve (Masterful)
—Somatic Autonomy (Beyond-)
—Vital Stillness (Zenith)
—HourVault (Zenith+)
—BlindStep (Zenith+)
—Sensory Lull (Basic-)
4.3 Other skills:
—Way of the Spear (Zenith+)
—Trinity Harmony (Masterful+)
—Spear Harmony (Zenith+)
—Riven Convergence (Skilled +)
—Time Magic (Zenith+)
—Blood Magic (Skilled+)
—Arcane Circlecasting (Skilled+)
[5. Conceptual powers]
—Sloth Efficiency (Resonance)
—Inertia (Resonance)
—Slothful Transcendence (Glimpse)
—Lethargy Of Time (Resonance)
[6. Cognitive Depth (Thoughts, Mindset, Disposition)]
— Relaxed / Endure, Overcome / Absurdist
==============================
==============================
Trinity Harmony
A custom-made mana circulation method created through extreme self-modification and unimaginable precision.
Three centers form the foundation of this system:
The Heart Core, responsible for refinement.
The Lower Core, responsible for storage and stabilization.
The Cerebral Nexus, responsible for calculation, control, and distribution.
This method greatly reduces inefficiency, lowers the burden of complex manipulation, and allows the user to exert extraordinary control over both refined and unrefined mana.
==============================
Mana Imperium
You are the emperor, and mana your most loyal subject. Rule it with wisdom, and it shall bless you with prosperity. Rule as a tyrant, and only rebellion awaits.
==============================
Ashen did not focus much on Trinity Harmony. As its creator, he daresay he understood it better than even the system itself, so there was nothing new to glean from its description.
He had pulled it up mostly for the two women beside him, and they looked positively intrigued, just as he had predicted.
As for Somatic Autonomy breaking through to Beyond—which was obviously the next stage of mastery—Ashen quickly understood the requirements after unknowingly fulfilling them.
'Entry, Basic, and Skilled can be accomplished simply by learning the basics and becoming fluent in the skill.' He began from the start.
'To reach Masterful, one must have already integrated a concept into the skill, no matter how slight.'
'As for Zenith… one only reaches it after mastering the skill completely and utterly.'
By that progression, Beyond was self-explanatory.
'One has to go beyond the skill's own limits.'
Somatic Autonomy had always been a skill that allowed his body to adapt by consuming mana.
He had long skirted the boundary of that definition by overloading it with mana colored by his own intent, but this time, going beyond adaptation and actively harming himself at the risk of death had utterly shattered that boundary.
And as a result...
'It reached Beyond…'
His eyes narrowed.
'The Innate Skill, though... It's much too vague.'
At least Mana Authority, despite being its older version, had a straightforward description.
More importantly, he couldn't understand where the upgrade lay. He reread the words several times before settling on a conjecture.
'I'm an emperor, and mana is my subject. That's obviously metaphorical... but I feel like it's more direct than that.'
He thought about an empire's most defining trait.
'It's vast.'
As for how that translated in this context...
'Will I be able to control mana across greater distances?'
And then another thought surfaced.
'Could I control mana refined by others as well if I push hard enough?'
He was the emperor, after all.
Why shouldn't he?
As he began daydreaming about all sorts of inconceivable delusions, Alice and Lucia noticed his state and could only shake their heads with helpless smiles.
Ashen was snapped out of his reverie only after overhearing something even more absurd than the contents of his own fantasies.
"As your relationship counselor, I can't help you if you keep holding back details out of shyness."
"So," Seraphine said with a sage nod, "tell me everything."
He ignored the sudden snicker beside him and looked at his dear Saintess strangely.
"Love… since when did you start giving counseling?"
"Huh?" Seraphine looked at him in mock offense. "What's with that tone, dear? You think I can't do it? I'll have you know, based solely on my advice, Maria's love life has progressed greatly!"
"Really now..." Ashen's gaze shifted to Maria.
She fidgeted under it.
"I-It's true…"
Everyone's attention fell on her, making her even more nervous, but she soldiered on.
"Even before personally meeting her, I had long admired the Saintess. In a faction where not a single nun could form a relationship, only she managed to break free from those shackles through her love and be with you, Your Excellency."
Ashen spoke gently. "There's no need to call me that here, Maria. We're not on duty—just Ashen is fine."
'Also, I hate to break it to you, but the very head of that faction is sleeping with my uncle, so those so-called shackles were broken a long time ago,' he added inwardly.
"O-okay, Ashen…" she stuttered.
For the life of him, the man had to wonder how such a timid woman had managed to survive this long in the war.
"I have someone I love dearly… but he only sees me as a good friend, and despite wanting more, I didn't want to destroy what we already had by being greedy."
A gentle smile graced her face, allowing some of the embarrassment to fade as she spoke of the person she loved.
"But thanks to Seraphine's constant advice, I've made some progress." She added with a light laugh, "We also became great friends in the process."
"He looks at me differently now, but the more real the possibility of us being together becomes… the more terrified I feel."
"I understand." Ashen leaned closer. "Can I ask what truly terrifies you?"
"I… uh…" Her eyes swam for a brief moment, unsure how to answer. But when Seraphine gently caressed her back and she met the look of reassurance in her eyes, she slowly calmed down.
"Huuh... It's… many things at once." Her tone turned subdued.
"Does he really love me? Or is it just my illusion? And what about me? Maybe everything I'm feeling is just lust, or mere infatuation."
"His family is also well off, while mine is just a humble one... Will they accept this union? What about marriage later on...?"
"Should I put special clauses in the marriage contract to prove I'm not greedy for his wealth? But will that make me seem too prudish? Will he misunderstand?"
"Also… we could all die at any moment now… is it really time for love? What if he suddenly leaves me? Will I be able to live on if he dies after we've confirmed our feelings?"
"Commitment terrifies me... I don't know if I'm even ready for the responsibilities that follow our union… especially when I'm already too busy trying to stay alive…"
"And most of all… he has many other women around him, so many choices… why would he settle for someone as gloomy as me?"
"I don't understand... I'm terrified... I don't know what to do..."
As she kept pouring her heart out with a downcast look, Ashen wanted to smack his past self for opening the floodgates.
He glanced at Seraphine and winked at her. 'Miss counselor, now is your chance to shine. Come on, do your job.'
Seraphine rolled her eyes at him in response and turned to the depressed woman.
"Maria."
She took her hand.
"You wound me."
Maria panicked.
"N-No! That's not what I meant!"
Seraphine immediately smiled.
"Then how can you take all my advice and start moping around like this?"
Maria lowered her head.
"It's okay… isn't this why I'm here? I'll say it as many times as it takes for you to truly understand." She grinned.
"Yes… thank you, Sera."
"There's no need for thanks between friends. Now, listen closely!" She waved her hands in a flourish.
"In love... I'm talking about true love here… there's no second-guessing." Her voice suddenly took on an utterly serious cadence.
"You either love, or you don't."
She moved to caress Maria's messy hair. "Being indecisive only wounds you both."
"It's the same for marriage. You either marry, or you don't. True marriage doesn't need a contract."
"Prenups are for amateurs. True lovers don't care about such things."
"Clauses? Those are for cowards. He's going to be your other half, a part of you, I daresay. Why would you guard yourself against a part of yourself with meaningless shackles?"
"As for being afraid of commitment... it's okay." Her voice turned almost maternal, and Maria visibly relaxed under her gaze.
"You're not the only one who is terrified of it. And in time, you will find the courage to face it bravely, as long as your devotion does not waver."
Then, teasingly, she added, "Just remember not to seek escape in commitment. That would be an act of con, not love."
"And escapists have no right to love."
She glanced at Ashen with a wink. "True lovers have no need for escape, right, love?"
Ashen returned the wink. "I believe you know my answer to that best."
The Time Magician never chose to run away, after all. She knew it better than anyone.
"I understand..." Maria finally lifted her head. "Thank you... thank you so much, Sera... I will do my best to live by your words."
That made Seraphine suddenly turn embarrassed. She hurriedly waved her hand in front of her face.
"No, no, no… don't be so serious. It's enough that you think about it earnestly; no need to make it your life motto or something..."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that. I've already engraved every word in my heart!"
Like some god had breathed into her a second life, Maria straightened, clenched her hands, and looked utterly invigorated.
'Well…? Where did the timid woman go? I'm sorry, Miss Counselor. I will never doubt you again,' Ashen thought amusedly, watching Seraphine struggle to douse the fire she had just ignited.
'But love, huh…'
Even he had been affected by Seraphine's view on relationships.
'I'm truly blessed to have you, my Saintess.'