“My brain must have been on a strike when I decided to listen to you, Nexus.” Gaius twitched violently, spewing out curses and expletives that any eleven-year-old — maybe twelve — shouldn’t have known or found it in them to verbalise until they were drunken men yelling around workplace abuse for the next hour or two.

Or whatever passed as workplace abuse in Orb, anyway.

The boy’s practice had gone well. He had been tackling the obstructions that blocked the sole pathway that linked the heart and the network of pathways that surrounded it. He’d done this slowly and steadily, but Nexus pointed out that at his current pace, Gaius would never clear out the pathway by next week.

And so, the artificial intelligence had suggested an alternative.

Why not just bulldoze through the entire pathway in a single blow? Sure, it would hurt, but it would be a one-off event. And somehow, this logic had gone down well with the Gaius of that time, and so the boy decided to “bulldoze” the obstructions.

The boy rolled on his back as the pain finally began to subside, and his running mouth began to slow down. His entire lower body felt like it was being chewed by ants with who had sharpened their teeth now, which was a great comfort compared to just being on fire.

His heart was still burning, however.

The door creaked open as the boy massaged his chest, which was no mean feat given that his arms felt like chopped sausages. A little wooden head peeked around it, and after confirming that Gaius wasn’t speaking, it entered the room.

“So, erm, feeling better?”

“Yeah,” said the boy. “Totally. A drastic improvement from being dunked into lava into being chewed out by ants. Give me another hour, and it should just feel like salt sprinkled onto a rather bad burn wound.”

“Mm. That’s a rather fast rate of recovery,” Nexus said, and Gaius’ lips tightened as the artificial intelligence missed the entire round of sarcasm altogether. “At this rate, you should be up and walking two hours from now.”

“Joy.” Gaius decided not to say anything else, and instead turned his attention to whatever brought the sculpture here. “Did Isabelle come back? Or did some new development happen in the Southern Continent that you think I should see?”

“Isabelle’s back. I give her one hour or so before she enters the Library,” Nexus replied. “I don’t think you’re in any...fit state to speak to her, though.”

Gaius noted the apologetic tone in the artificial intelligence’s voice, and smiled. “I can still float. And as it turns out, floating doesn’t really cause all that much strain, compared to standing and walking.”

“I see you’ve taken some experiences to heart,” Nexus quipped back. “If that’s your wish, then I won’t impede her as she makes her way back to the Library. I suppose you’re more interested in hearing about the Altar than anything else, eh? Especially after what Nox said.”

“Don’t want get caught off guard.” Gaius turned his head slowly to regard the unmoving Nakama, and he immediately began to wonder about what the little girl was dreaming about. Was her dream situated in a world like Orb? Or was it some inane landscape, filled with the odd physical laws and joys that children on Earth had the tendency to come up with?

Gaius winced as he turned his head back. Almost anything was better than his current state, actually.

After rolling his eyes at himself, the boy levitated off the bed, resettling himself into a more comfortable position.

“She’s here,” said Nexus.

“You said she’d take an hour, no?” Gaius replied back. With a hint of reluctance on his face, he floated off his bed, and made his way towards the Map of Stars, with Nexus in tow.

“That was if she went on foot, Master Gaius.” The sculpture shrugged. “Maybe she got a family inheritance or something, because she’s flying now.”

“Flying?” The boy smiled weakly. “She most likely got an Engine, then. ‘bout time she did; she was going to lose out to the other Knights I’d seen outside.”

He gestured, and qi flooded out of his outstretched arm to open the door that led to the Map Room. Without waiting for his nerves to cool off, the boy hurriedly settled himself into a sofa, trying to create the impression that nothing was wrong with the boy’s body.

It didn’t take long before Isabelle’s knocks echoed throughout the Map Room, and the boy gestured at the door, opening it from the inside. It was still well within his range to do so, but the boy hadn’t seen the charm in moving things around with his powers until now.

Isabelle walked into the room before Gaius could bask in his newfound hobby, and the boy was forced to steel his face.

“Welcome back, Isabelle.” Gaius waved his arms, ignoring the pain that came with doing so. “How was the Republic?”

She smiled. “It was a place that I never thought was possible. Everyone there carried artefacts, many people were flying without an Engine or a Paragon-level cultivation…it was like a world where everyone was happy.”

“For now, at least.” Gaius responded on instinct. “Eventually, someone’s going to become discontent due to what he or she perceives as inequality, and the whole game’s going to restart again.

The Map of Stars’ newly unlocked functions…or unsealed, for a more accurate term, meant that the boy could now observe any place of interest in person, to some extent. Sure, he was limited to a small globe, but it was more than enough for him to see the fanatic expressions of the fliers hovering about the Republican infantry.

Gaius had no doubt that they would do anything to uphold the words of their leaders, from the looks on their faces. Forcibly pulling himself away from what he remembered on Earth, the boy said, “I’ve a few questions to ask, actually.”

Isabelle was silent, and Gaius took that as consent.

“First,” said the boy, “tell me everything you know about the Altar of Gods. A Demigod’s using Lumari for some big event, and I’m feeling rather antsy about it.”

She hesitated for a moment, and the boy found himself pressing the Knight for more information.

“Anything you can tell me. Please.”

Isabelle bit her lip, and began to talk.