There was a large bustling city near the western border of the Kingdom of Sarlez that contained buildings of many shapes and sizes, the most common building materials for the more significant buildings were stone and reformed metal, while the smaller buildings were comprised of mismatched yet architecturally stable and symmetric materials.

The city streets were lined with stalls that sold different things including trinkets, oddities, various foods, and clothing. Unlike the village of Roth, order was maintained within the trade district; as every stall & merchant required a special pass issued by the mayor’s office.

Among the many stalls that littered the city, there were those that sold myriads of crafted weapons and armor, hoping to one day be successful enough to expand their shop. The larger merchant stores were owned by professionals who had spent many years bartering and selling their goods. There were also many smaller shops and stalls that were neither part of the Highland Syndicate or the Consortium which had been banished from the planet.

“Mister Avrin, look! That looks interesting!” A child’s soft voice could be heard despite it nearly being drowned out by chaotic cacophony of vigorous chatter and energetic haggling. Wearing a white and blue flower patterned dress, Ilisia walked with Avrin and her grandmother.

Nearly a week or so had passed after Avrin interacted with the rulers of the various countries, but despite his busy plans, he kept his promise with Ilisia and took her out a couple of times over the past few days. It was simple to teleport both her and Calomia for a tour around different parts of the country, seeing different landscapes and goods.

However, there was also an issue of her eyes. Avrin learned that many mortals adhered to the superstitious notion that those within this and the neighboring kingdoms who had red or black eyes were the beloved children or followers of an evil deity who was known for creating massacres and destruction.

They also believed that his followers even worshiped him by performing many blood sacrifices. Avrin assumed that if this person existed, then he was probably just a crazy lunatic; but having read about the existence of magic rituals and blood magic from an old history book he purchased from a bookstore in the city, he grew increasingly curious about the various forms of magic.

In fact, within that book, there were many interesting stories that would read like some of the old religions and mythologies from Earth. In response, Calomia simply laughed at her and Ilisia’s bad luck of picking this country, but at the very least, they were pleased it was not a worldwide issue. Avrin could only see this as part of the thought process of the primitive masses who live in an era of superstition and magic, severely lacking experience in the broad world.

Calomia told Avrin that they had been to several areas around the country and even to a nearby region before they settled, but the result was the same. Ilisia’s eyes deterred people from her, claiming or thinking that she was a contagious child of misfortune. Avrin, of course, had a simple solution.

He noticed that glasses exist in this universe. Taking advantage of this, he materialized a special set of glasses from the first universe that could change the wearer’s eye colors via micro-laser technology. As long as she doesn’t remove the glasses for more than two minutes, no will notice her eyes’ true colors.

“If you like it, feel free to purchase it then.” Avrin now wears a body of an average human with no real discerning features other than possessing military demeanor, as he decided to use his previous human incarnation for the second time.

“You have good eyes, young one. This product is specially handcrafted from a pelt of a special beast only found in the frosty peaks!” The middle-aged merchant laughed as he tried his best to appeal his product’s attractiveness to his small customer.

“Oooohhh!” Due to her slight gullibility, Ilisia only became more fascinated with the product and enticed her to purchase a few more of the merchant’s goods, though Avrin found no real issue with her actions. The currency used by the more common mortals was simple, with Lucent Crystals as pure hard currency or coins ranging from gold, silver, and Iron to Copper. He understood that every one-hundred gold coins would be equivalent to one Haze lucent crystal. The price he had paid so far was a measly nine gold coins, but he had already exchanged one Haze crystal for one-hundred gold coins. It made him want to laugh at the currency exchange system as he knew the benefits were quite good.

“Avrin. Don't spoil her too much, or she won't work as hard.” Calomia grumbled as she saw Avrin spoiling her without much restraint.

“I owe you two much, considering the trouble that ensued ever since I entered your lives. This is the least I can do.” Avrin’s response was truthful in the sense that he didn't hide the fact that he felt bad for what had happened.

“Don't worry…it's nothing special.” Calomia spoke out. Avrin also understood this: Both Calomia and Ilisia shared a unique hidden history. He wasn't sure just how deep or profound it is.

After spending another hour in this region's largest city, the three returned to Shaded Moon. Asura had gone off to explore and hunt for a little bit since he didn't need to worry about protecting the other two.

When they returned, there were several stacks of items that they had purchased to the side. Ilisia was ecstatic as she looked at her belongings.

“I've never bought so much in my life… Thank you!!” She couldn't help but hug Avrin. Clearly, her mood had improved since the events before the battle with Wolven.

“Work hard, girl. Don't let Avrin here down. Hehe” Calomia reached over to rub Ilisia’s head.

“I will!” She spoke with a firm tone. With a thought, Avrin then Divine Stepped Ilisia’s belongings to her room since it wouldn't be good to let her carry it all. “It's all in your room. Please feel free to enjoy yourself.” Avrin responded to her words.

Ilisia nodded before smiling and walking off. Glancing at Calomia who also had also received a few things from him, Avrin confessed some of his next plans.

“I will tell you what I plan to do next Calomia. I wish to start branching Shaded Moon, but I’m also certain that we won't have major trouble like before.”

Avrin's tone was serious yet respectful, but Calomia merely responded nonchalantly. “Oh? What's that have to do with me? Hahaha. It's your business. I and the child are just here for the ride.”

Avrin smiled. “I hope you can train the new staff I’ll bring in later.” He finally spoke his intention. Calomia grumbled out. “I see! So that is your plan. You lazy bum, I already have to deal with that big guy, and now, I got juniors to teach? Hmph! Maybe we didn't make you spend enough today.”

Avrin softly sighed and then gave a gentle laugh. “I'll make it up to you again later on. For now, I need to visit someone.” After talking for a few more moments, Avrin left. At this stage, using Divine Step was as easy as breathing. In but a moment, he appeared within the underground colony of Spectrals to see them tidying up the rubble along with other tasks.

The Spectrals had significantly improved the architecture of their buildings, even going as far as to tear down and rebuild them. It honestly looked like an underground city, leaving Avrin with some fascination, but glancing at the design, he knew this was not something they could think of. In fact, it was a familiar design of someone he knew.

Focusing on a particular presence, Avrin turned his eyes on a stubby dwarf ordering some of the high ranking ants around in the distance with a thundering voice.

“Eitri!” Avrin then called out to him. Although Avrin’s sudden appearance shocked some of the Spectral Ants, the Ants were already used to the teleportation, seeing Spectrals disappearing or appearing out of thin air, and simply gave curious glances while continuing their work and not disappoint their leaders, even though Avrin was still in his human appearance of course.

“Heh?” Eitri glanced over to see a human had called out his name. “Who the hell are you?” The dwarf’s right eyebrow raised with curiosity. Avrin looked at the confused Eitri for a moment. “It’s me, Avrin…” He spoke. He didn't want to reveal his appearance as the ants here already knew what their so called leader looked like, but not many knew his name.

“Oh, it's you! I didn't recognize you. Damn, you need to teach me how to properly do that trick. You have used it for so long that it must be fun. I know of it, but I never knew it was this handy!” Eitri showed a curious joy as he seemed to come up with some uses for later on.

“It does. Visit the surface one day. I'm sure your Divine Step has improved?” Eitri gave a dry cough as he heard Avrin’s words. “Mm…I haven't practiced techniques much…I’ve been busy.”

Avrin blinked and frowned a little. “Well,…it can't be helped. Just don't neglect it. It's also a life-saving ability. Speaking of which, I see you have been adding your touch here?” Avrin stepped closer. The high ranking Spectral Ants near Eitri all knew of Avrin's name but didn't dare speak as they wore a face of reverence while fighting the urge to kneel. At the least, they were smart enough to understand Avrin didn't want the attention at the moment.

“You guys, go busy yourselves.” Eitri glanced at the Spectrals who quickly nodded and bowed to both Eitri and Avrin before heading off. Eitri then looked back at Avrin. “I don't know why you didn't teach these primitives how to build better. Their homes were nasty! But I gotta say: They work quicker than the ones in Seleria, and these are hard workers! I like ‘em.”

Eitri folded his arms with a happy look, showing he had taken a liking to the Spectrals here. “It’s great that you have gotten used to them, though you're a bit too happy…I guess that is because you found the materials that were stockpiled?” Avrin couldn't help but grin, because after he had spoken, Eitri showed a nervous look.

“Yeah yeah…so you know. Look, I'll tell you now: I’m not heading back to Seleria… This place has great minerals. By absorbing so many, I can understand a structure and improve on my Arcane Smithing…”

Avrin was a little surprised by his words. “Arcane smithing? With Dark Matter, you should be able to use the tools with a bit more efficiency, as I have done before. In fact, I would think your progress would have skyrocketed.“ Avrin curiously spoke.

“Damn brat…Arcane Smithing wasn't that easy, to begin with. Sure, I can use dark matter now, but to start, this was a method that required magical ore. I couldn't find any of that on Seleria as quickly as before because of your little conversion thing. Sigh, at the least, I was able to make several breakthroughs because of all the years I spent making up for our lack of blacksmiths and working in the Northern Continent for our race.” Eitri rubbed his temples as he remembered his recent difficulties.

“Thankfully, this planet still contains a lot of ores, and I had already made a few disciples. Thus, we can learn a few things before it’s too late. However, if we Spectrals try to materialize objects beyond our personal power or dark matter control ability, it always comes out as mostly dark matter or polluted junk. Only by advancing our particles and gaining a better understanding of the mana particles within the scanned materials can we properly recreate it and no longer have trouble. Just absorbing things won’t cut it when working with higher level materials without appropriate strength.” He continued as he told some of what happened to Avrin.

“Don't get me started on the tools as well. A set of good tools and equipment were just so hard to get my hands on…and I can't replicate all of them properly yet either due to all troubles going on with the Spectrals… My progress came to a halt more or less, but despite that, I taught the others what I knew.”

Remembering the equipment always exploding, he felt both frustrated and relieved. His efficiency certainly went up thanks to dark matter overpowering the runes, but the endurance of the equipment couldn’t keep up with their demands which caused a lot of problems, especially for higher level equipment. As such, he just decided to help the disciples learn not to almost kill themselves to take a break and think of some solutions.

Eitri fumed a little as he calmed himself. “But I haven't given up; I'm sure that sooner or later, I will fix this problem and then bam! Equipment that is made from mana and dark matter! Hahaha. It's going to be something incredible, I tell you! Much better than the crappy Sigil weapons you and the others create! Also, the materials I made were only composed of dark matter at first…. But the more I made, the more used to the process I became.” He didn’t seem too bothered by the introduction of the Sigil weapons. In fact, he seemed to be more motivated now.

“Now, I can create bigger pieces of Legendary ores much better than you could when you first made that piece of Infernium. So, if I can absorb enough materials and figure out enough about mana, I can one day learn how to make those ores with a wave of my hand.” Eitri confirmed that he had not given up on his goals and his aspirations for Arcane Smithing.

“As I said, with the current state of Seleria, I’m at a bottleneck, but thanks to this place and the new materials, with some practice, I can finally manage to reach even higher understanding. Ah, you see, the more new ores and minerals I absorb, the more I seem to understand the general structure and composition of all magical ores and the mana that makes them up.” Hearing this, Avrin could only think a bit about the Periodic table and started wondering if the concept would help Eitri organize his observations and data a lot better.

“Hehe, maybe one day us Spectrals will reach a point where we won’t need to absorb things to replicate them but do so just by observing them instead. Can you imagine creating Legendary ores just by glancing at them? Even understanding the structures as well? How crazy is that?! Maybe even higher level ores if I ever get my hands on some of that stuff. Hah, we can probably become the greatest crafting gods in the future as well!” Eitri was filled with anticipation and even greater aspirations than before.

Avrin was impressed. He also understood this before and even more so thanks to his understandings from the Deity dark cores. “That's impressive, but do you want just to pursue Arcane Smithing based on mana? You have dark matter now. Why not relax and take some time to think carefully? I'm sure you will reach a solution sooner or later.” Avrin curiously replied.

Eitri laughed and then grinned. “Just wait. I haven't given up on the dark matter part. My Arcane Smithing will be known all across the universe one day and will become a method to utilize both dark matter and mana. The stuff I create will be sought after everywhere!”

Eitri folded his arms as he gave a prideful look. Avrin couldn't help but laugh and shake his head at the dwarf’s dreams. He didn't doubt that one day, given time, Eitri would reach his dream and perhaps shake the world with his new inventions, but with Avrin’s new knowledge and experience, he now knows about some of the more powerful weapons and magic tools and even possessed multiple weapons made of God Essence.

He just hoped Eitri wouldn't underestimate things so easily. Avrin as he was now could at the very least create some makeshift Deity level Sigil weapons, but despite this, when compared to Eitri, he knows that he is still a novice. He has no doubt that if Eitri were in his shoes, his amateur Sigil weapons would be considered as trash. In fact, he has no doubt that the Spectral Dwarf probably made great improvements in his enchanted weapons and may have discovered something about the dark Sigil weapons.

However, he was still worried that if he told Eitri about the weapons he had created, it would either kill the dwarf's motivation as an insult to his hard work or enrage due to his lack of commitment, so he kept it to himself for now. Avrin’s skill in craftsmanship is inferior when compared with Eitri’s, but his power level is barely enough to make up the difference in quality for now.

“Why are you here anyway? Was it just to check up on us? As good as it is for you to visit, I'm sure with your Divine Sense, it would be very easy for you to look around.” Eitri spoke.

“True, but being here in person still feels better. I also wanted to tell you that I will be heading back to Seleria today to see how much progress was made. I will be bringing back the tournament winners and Kael as well.”

Avrin opened his right hand before forming a small Sphere of Knowledge, summarizing his plans for Tya’shara and somewhat beyond in regards to Shaded Moon. He also added a decent spring of his understanding of mana. He didn't want to make things too easy as he believed in hard work but he also wanted to give a helping hand to Eitri. He couldn't baby all the Spectrals because he was worried it would make them too reliant.

He handed the sphere to Eitri whom then glanced at with curiosity. “That's fine, shame I couldn't bring any of my helpers here. Oo, wait for a second!” Eitri opened his hand before creating his Sphere of Knowledge. He struggled a bit mentally before forming a small thumbnail sized orb.

“Please give this to my first apprentice. He will handle the rest.” Eitri spoke. Avrin took it and placed it away then nodded. “Also, come look at what we found!” Eitri excitedly spoke before motioning for Avrin to follow. The two of them left their current spot before spending a good two minutes of walking and talking about the progression of the Spectrals before they finally reached their destination. Within a long tunnel that was kept steady by dark matter goo, many Spectral Ants were working and absorbing the surrounding dirt and material surrounding a strange, glowing, boulder-like rock that seemed to weigh several tons.

The rock was emitting a fairly strange light blue glow as it had small clusters of crystals protruding from it. This boulder was a lode of Haze and Unclouded Lucent crystals. It was very odd to see them at first because they were all a set size, not one millimeter larger or different in shape, unless the Lucent crystal was a level above the others.

“Incredible, isn't it?” Eitri smirked as he showed it to Avrin.

“Oh? So this is the source of mana I felt before? This is great. It makes things easier for me.” Avrin responded to Eitri's words.

“Easier? What do you mean? Hey, we found it. It's mine!” Eitri seemed to panic a bit. He knew that if Avrin took interest, he wouldn't be able to keep it.

“Be fair, Eitri. This is something I promised to the unconverted on Seleria. The world isn't ours, and they are finding it hard to thrive because of the lack of mana, but this is great. You can feel the mana in the air. It's quite thick and is spreading like a cool breeze. If I bring this to Myra and the others, they may think slightly better of us.”

Eitri remembered the events of before and what had happened. He understood that they had done wrong so that he couldn't argue. “Fine…but the next one is mine…” Avrin nodded. In fact, the discovery of this reminded him to do something.

With a simple thought, his Divine Sense scanned the area before discovering three more Haze Lucent crystal lodes and even one that contained Unclouded and some Luminous Lucent crystals.

With his powerful Divine Sense, he engulfed the more powerful lode before divine stepping it up to the surface. He then pointed in two directions. “Keep digging that way for one more mile and this way for 3 kilometers. You will find two more lodes.”

Eitri was stunned as he looked at Avrin. “You shitty man, you could have told me earlier!” Avrin simply laughed. “I can't make it too easy. This is why you need to train and improve your Divine Sense. The stronger you become, the better. I'm heading off now.” With another thought, the current lodestone that the Spectrals were working on seemingly brightened before dissipating into ash, leaving those around it with shock and surprise. Some even scampered back.

Eitri still felt a little bitter as it vanished but knew it would be helping those on Seleria. “I'll handle the explanation…I’m guessing you're heading off now?”

“I am. I have my schedule to keep. Also, be sure to properly understand what I gave you. I hope you won't feel disappointed but will see it as motivation to push yourself."

Avrin then turned around, ignoring Eitri's confused gaze before divine stepping away. His words were simple. He reminded Eitri about the fact that dark Sigil weapons could become very powerful without a need for materials which would kill the need for smithing. His hope was Eitri would reach a point where his smithed goods would outclass dark Sigil weapons or even improve upon them.

When Avrin reappeared, he was on the surface with both the high-quality lode and the normal quality one to his side. He had wasted no time before his body seemed to distort as well as the two lodes of Lucent crystals; the surroundings around him also twisted slightly before moments later, he had shifted to the phantom/Spectral domain. Everything was eerily silent. He glanced up to see Seleria with a strange orb-like curtain of energy around it which was the barrier God had placed.

Avrin carefully extended his Divine Sense out to sense for any abnormalities. His heart was trembling with caution as he remembered the strange being he had fought with before. When he discovered nothing. He gave a sigh of relief before divine stepping towards Seleria using careful short distances as he was afraid something might happen to the two Lucent crystal lodes. Thanks to his advancement, his power over dimensional and spatial properties had reached a fair level, and divine stepping within this domain was easier.

When he appeared again, he was several meters away from the barrier. He let the two lodes float there before entering the aura that made it invisible and protected it from others but him and those that had already visited the planet. He began scanning Seleria with his Divine Sense to see if anything major has changed.

Little did he know that a strange entity had seen the lodes and thought of them as a delicious meal. This odd Apparition was part of the larger being that had given Avrin a run for his money and caused him to escape for his life. These things were so strange in fact that despite his Divine Sense spreading out, he had still not been able to detect them.

This phantom-like apparition quickly shot towards the Haze crystal Lucent crystal lode before attaching to it from behind, and a soft hue of mana soon engulfed around it as it began to absorb it bit by bit.

When Avrin returned, he engulfed both the lodes in Nebula Mist, completely unaware of the apparition that had latched onto one of the lodes. His detection ability had seemingly still not reached a level to detect this strange being.

Entering the barrier, he first glanced towards the Southern Continent. “The move seems to have transitioned smoothly, and they seem quite well. I'll visit them soon since I will need to have a lengthy discussion…” He spoke to himself before Divine Stepping towards the Northern Continent with both the two lodes and the apparition he was unaware of in tow.