Adrian looked at Hestia, seeing the genuine concern reflecting in her eyes. He didn't want to hide it from her. She was his equal, his partner in this impossible path they were walking.
"I used the concept of fate to guide my path forward," Adrian began. "As I followed its threads, I stumbled upon an intergalactic hub owned by a Lesser Major Sect."
Hestia's breath hitched slightly, but she remained silent, letting him speak.
Adrian told her everything. He told her about the sprawling Outer Commercial Continents, the overwhelming pull he felt from the golden spire within the inner continents, and the reality of the Elyrians. He explained how he had witnessed a race of sentient beings reduced to nothing more than raw materials for the alchemy cauldrons of the rich and powerful.
When he described the Life-Blood Pills and the Elyrians being bled alive in extraction formations for decades to enrich the healing properties of a single pill, Hestia's expression twisted with pure disgust. As an alchemist who revered the sacred nature of life and growth, the idea of torturing a sentient race to fuel a recovery pill offended her very being.
Then, Adrian told her how he had clashed with Navira, the Anchor-stage sovereign of the sect, and rescued two Elyrians, which he later learned included the Princess of that race.
"An Anchor-stage sovereign," Hestia murmured, her hands tightening on her lap. "Adrian, you fought a Major Sect leader inside her own territory?"
"I had to," Adrian replied, his tone serious. "The Elyrians were being tortured by them, Hestia, and not a single soul within the hub stepped up to help. Even if you were there, you would have done the same thing."
Hestia understood it. "I understand, but still, there are things you need to consider when you are dealing with someone much more powerful than us," she said. "That Major Sect Leader is in the second stage of mastery of consciousness; how did you even survive the fight?"
Adrian didn't reply with words; he looked at the cup on the edge of the table. With just his mere thoughts, the cup floated in the air, gently moved toward him, and landed upon the table.
Hestia's eyes widened at this scene. She felt no mana fluctuation, and she couldn't see Adrian's willforce since she had not reached the chime of consciousness stage. But as someone who had awakened her consciousness fully, she could feel Adrian using his willforce!
The meaning of Adrian using his willforce to lift an object immediately brought her the realization, "You are already in the anchor-stage?"
Adrian nodded. "It's nothing to be surprised about. You know my willforce technique lets me connect with others and get a minuscule amount of willforce in exchange. When I connected with trillions of people back in the Milky Way galaxy, even if it was merely a minuscule portion of their willforce I received, the accumulation directly pushed my consciousness into the second stage."
He paused, a shadow crossing his features as he recalled the split-second exchanges within the Providence Hub. "But, this fight against Navira showed me one thing clearly. I have the power, but I don't have the experience. Against someone strong and experienced, I was forced to retreat, or else I would have died back there. Her willforce techniques were so powerful that even my current accelerated perception could only find the attack at the last microsecond. She could have shattered my consciousness if it had went too long."
Hearing this, Hestia didn't reply for some time, her eyes watching him with deep concern. The reality of how close he had come to annihilation settled heavily between them.
Then she said, "I think I need to restrict you from going out from now on."
"What?" Adrian asked, genuinely taken aback by the sudden shift in her demeanor.
Hestia rose slightly from her chair, her voice taking on the authoritative tone of a seasoned sect leader, though it was laced with undeniable fear for his life. "You possess a talent that defies everything, Adrian," she said firmly. "For someone of your age to wield such power is entirely unprecedented. But power does not equate to wisdom, and you are still dangerously inexperienced. You act on your emotions, plunging headfirst into the abyss without pausing to consider the consequences of those actions when you are in your emotional state."
Hestia continued, leaning slightly forward as her pale golden eyes locked onto his, demanding his full attention. "Just think about it. You planned so much for our future, mapped out the architecture of the Origin Sect, ensured it would remain hidden from the universe, and laid out plans for the willforce artifacts. Those are your brilliant strategies, the moves you calculate when you are in your normal, rational state. But then you also get emotional sometimes and don't even think of your own power before acting... what if you had been killed by Navira? You only managed to barely escape her stronghold. It is as though you turn off your brain the moment your heart takes the lead."
Adrian felt the truth within her words. "I get what you are saying, Hestia, but all sentient beings have emotions... empathy, rage, the need to protect the defenseless," he said quietly. "How can I just turn that off when I see such cruelty?"
Hestia's expression softened just a fraction, "You cannot turn it off, but you must learn to control it," Hestia replied softly. "You harness it, rather than letting it dictate your every move. That level of control is something you can only learn as you experience more of life."
She let out a slow exhale as she reached into her spatial ring.
Before Adrian could reply anything, Hestia pulled out an ornate scroll from her spatial ring and placed it gently on the table.
"I spent so much effort in a universal auction and purchased this First-stage willforce technique to gift you," she murmured, a trace of bitter disappointment threading through her voice. "But now it seems this is not much of use to you."
Adrian stared at the scroll, his mind racing as the implications of her words crashed into him.
"First-Stage willforce technique? Universal auction?" Adrian thought, figuring out the difficulty behind such an acquisition. The First-stage willforce techniques were exclusively for those who had reached the chime of consciousness, and it was notoriously rare to find such things in circulation. Such techniques were the ultimate inheritances of Major and Great Sects, guarded jealously to ensure their cosmic supremacy. It was even harder for someone to win an item of that caliber in a Universal Auction, where there could be billions of wealthy competitors bidding for it!
In the wider universe, auctions were divided into two major categories: galactic auctions and universal auctions. To participate in a Universal Auction, one needed astronomical liquid capital and also Privileged UNI-Authority, which they have now. But for Hestia to have diverted such vast resources, navigating the bidding wars of the universe's elites just to secure a technique for him... it spoke volumes of her dedication. She had likely drained a terrifying portion of their newly acquired treasury for this.
"How much did you spend for this?" Adrian asked, blurting out the question before he could stop himself.
Hestia suddenly glared at him, her pale golden eyes flashing with a mix of frustration and disbelief. "Is that your primary concern now?" she demanded.
"Hestia, wait, I didn't mean—"
She didn't let him finish. She spun on her heel, her crimson robes whipping through the air with a snap, and walked briskly away from the table. She crossed the chamber and stopped in front of the large transparent window, crossing her arms over her chest. She stared out at the sprawling gardens, her back turned to him in furious, impenetrable silence.
Adrian remained seated for a moment, his hand still half-raised in a gesture to stop her. He stared at her back, then down at the scroll resting on the table, and finally realized the magnitude of his blunder.
He had just reduced a gesture of care to a logistical expense.
"Shit!" Adrian thought, burying his face in his hands as a deep, sinking feeling of doom settled in his stomach. "I'm dead now."
He stood up and walked over to the window, stopping just a step behind her.
"I am sorry," Adrian said quietly, "That was foolish of me to ask."
Hestia didn't turn around immediately. Her gaze remained fixed on the garden. "I did not buy it for the sect's armory, Adrian. I bought it because the thought of you facing another entity like Hazel, or the monsters from the Major Sects, and having your mind shattered before you could even draw your blade... it is not something I am willing to accept."
Adrian stepped up beside her, gently resting his hand over hers where she gripped her own arm. "I know. And I am incredibly grateful, Hestia. Truly."
"Even if I am in the Anchor stage, my understanding of how to wield my consciousness is essentially nonexistent. Navira proved that to me today. This scroll... it is exactly what I need. If I can study the fundamental structure of a First-stage technique, I can learn how to weave my intent properly, how to optimize my defenses, and how to strike properly instead of just raw, overwhelming weight. You haven't wasted anything. You've given me the exact blueprint I need to survive the next encounter."
Hestia finally turned to face him, the frustration in her eyes softening as she saw the earnestness in his gaze. "You really think you can parse the logic of a First-stage technique and adapt it to the Anchor stage?" she asked, a faint trace of her usual curiosity returning.
"I will," Adrian replied.
Hestia let out a faint smile. "You really are an impossible anomaly, Adrian." She reached up, her fingers lightly adjusting his white-grey robes. "Just promise me one thing. The next time you decide to play the hero... You will use your brain before you draw your sword."
Adrian chuckled, a rich, warm sound that filled the quiet space between them. "I promise."