“It’s your turn, Mei,” Amei said, gesturing with a casual wave of her hand as she leaned back in her chair.
Mei sprang up without a moment’s hesitation, her seat scraping backward as she stood tall, all eyes now on her. Her gaze locked forward, violet and blue hues shimmering in her irises storing barely-contained energy.
“I’m Mei,” she declared proudly. “I was selected as the champion of the Engineers. My knowledge and strength are better than anyone else’s!”
Synthia, seated beside her, gave a playful snort. “Plus, all the other people strong enough to compete are waaay too old.”
Mei’s radiant grin faltered just for a flicker at having her moment undercut, but she smoothed it away as she pressed on, voice rising again with conviction. “There were plenty of older kids who couldn’t keep up. I was chosen from thousands!”
She panted slightly, as though the declaration had taken real effort, and turned her eyes on me with expectation.
“Wow… We got selected for the same reasons,” I managed, widening my eyes in mock awe to match her energy. “Guess you must be really tough.”
“I’ll show you soon,” she replied with a sly smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Her ancestor clapped her hands, snapping us out of our theatrics and pulling everyone's attention back to her. “Why don’t you take him out? This part of the city doesn’t offer much to see.”
Seirth finally lifted her head from what looked like exaggerated boredom, or an intentional mockery of it. “That’s a good idea. I did come early for a reason.”
“You admit you were early?” Amei shot back with a teasing smirk, her lips curling knowingly.
Seirth shrugged, her rose-pink dress slipping slightly off one shoulder, the hem gathered in soft frills like petals curling. “Got a few questions.”
Then she turned, angling her gaze toward Griffith.
“Big guy,” she said, tone unceremonious, “if we hand you a bunch of animal data, will you be okay on your own?”
Griffith turned toward her, reverent, his eyes glistening with something that hovered close to tears, but then he paused. Whatever he was about to say died on his lips. His mouth shut, and he lowered his gaze, lost in some private consideration.
At last, he exhaled a heavy sigh. “I am grateful. But I must be with Peter.”
“Nothing will happen to any of them,” Amei assured him. “With Mei there, they’ll be safe. Her status alone is enough to keep trouble away.”
Griffith shook his head slowly and stood, a mountain of a man rising as he slid his notes back into his satchel.
“Even so. I don’t know you. Don’t know them. Or this place. Guardian or not… unless I’m ordered—” He let the rest hang, the meaning perfectly clear.
A tension I hadn’t realized I’d been holding slipped from my shoulders. Even under pressure and desire, the man had control. And honestly… It was just Synthia and a kid. What danger could they pose?
Worst-case scenario, I had Luna. Her poison was enough to take most things out.
“Sir,” I mumbled, “I really appreciate it. I mean that. But you should take this chance to learn everything you can.” He still looked unsure, so I tossed out an extra incentive under the guise of helpfulness. “What if you find something useful? Something about surviving on islands? Or new systems? Or the nature of energy itself?”
The conflict began to ease from his features, melting, but not yet gone until—
“Oh!” Mei blurted, eyes lighting up as she pointed at the sleek council desk beside her Guardian. “There’s a whole stash of survival logs!”
Griffith’s uncertainty evaporated, replaced with a kind of reverent curiosity.
“Inspiration?” he murmured. “I could… New book?”
The moment stirred a question in me. At the Greats’ Training Hall, there had been books—special ones. Training manuals. Guides on monsters... And Griffith had admitted to writing some of them.
Just how many books had he authored?
Not many people back at the Training Hall struck me as scholars. And honestly, a dark age explained the lack of knowledge around cultivation there, but here? In a place this advanced? My heart began to race with the implications, until I caught myself and shook the thoughts away.
Even when this woman was under Serith, apparently her own student, cultivation didn’t exist in the state that I had brought it to.
Hmm…
Luna, I asked silently, did you notice any energy forming around that girl earlier? When it felt like something was building—right before Mei moved, like she was about to strike?
None, she replied flatly.
Great, I muttered to myself, equal parts frustrated and intrigued. Something new to learn.
Nothing in this world came without a price. Even I expected something in return when I shared my techniques. Usually, it was a favor or at the very least, a willingness to help me out. I think I’ll make an exchange with them to see whatever the energy they use is.
Be cautious, Wyrem warned, his tone heavy with intent. Just offer a little. Never everything. Let them reveal themselves.
I nodded which gave a signal to everyone in the room, I guess, that Griffith’s matter was done and finished. Mei suddenly wrapped herself around Synthia, then latched onto my arm and tugged me toward the Gate like a child pulling her parents.
“Come on!” she said excitedly, her grip deceptively strong. If I didn’t use any energy, I had no chance of resisting. Seriously, between her own strength and that oversized mechanical arm attachment, it wasn’t quite overpowering me… but close enough. The little gremlin could probably throw a grown man through a wall.
Synthia rose as well, trailing behind us with her usual elegance as Amei gave a final wave.
“Don’t take longer than a couple hours,” she called out in parting.
The doors to a familiar nightmare creaked open.
A hellish experience of motion awaited me again.
Deep breaths. She’s twelve. Don’t ruin your image yet.
“It’s a bit of a trek,” Mei said nonchalantly, pressing a series of buttons on a smooth, opaque panel inside. “So it’ll take a couple minutes.”
“I’m sorry, wha—”
Thump.
I was instantly thrown back, slamming against the rear wall as gravity decided to take a personal vendetta against me. I clung to the back rail with every ounce of energy I had just to stay upright, praying I didn’t look as pale as I felt.
Judging from the side-eye Synthia gave me, I probably looked worse.
Mei, on the other hand, wasn’t fazed at all. Standing comfortably, eyes straight ahead, seemingly enjoying the ride.
By the time the doors finally hissed open, my legs were shaking and my pride had taken a bruising, but at least I hadn’t hurled. I held my breath, forcing everything down just a little longer.
“This is my favorite place,” Mei declared, stepping out. Her gaze stayed forward, locked onto something deeper within the scene. “Synthia fell on my head here.”
The look I sent to the blonde beside me must’ve asked the question for me, because she exhaled through her nose and stepped out into the open.
“I had just finished the trial,” Synthia began, her voice quiet, reflective. “I was given a choice. Same as you were, during your second one.”
Her hands drifted outward as she walked, fingertips grazing the tops of the flowers around us—each one glowing faintly under her touch. A sea of soft bioluminescence: pinks, blues, greens, yellows.
“What did you ask for?” I asked, tilting my head back to take in the sky.
It was deep purple. Endless. No clouds, no sun. Not even stars. And yet, the world around us glowed. The light came from the petals and stalks, as though the land had swallowed starlight and let it bloom again. Though, it did seem like there was something illuminating the sky in such a unique color.
They reminded me of Luna just a little.
Synthia answered without looking back.
“A place to belong.”
My steps halted and so did Mei’s at her admission. She said it so simply, but the weight behind it stopped time for a moment.
My status as a Bloodless was never revealed. In the State of Stars, the revelation would be lethal. But in Voxter it wasn’t.
How difficult must her life have been to ask that as a prize? From a being that had granted me the Voidseed, a treasure that rivaled, maybe even surpassed, the power of the Dragon Veins.
I glanced at her again.
“Is this what you were looking for?” I asked softly.
She turned in answer, watching Mei spin with arms stretched wide, the glowing flowers around her lifting their petals skyward like lilies mid-bloom, casting motes of color through the air like dust caught in moonlight.
“Yes,” she said.
It was just one word, but it carried the resonance of content. Of peace.
That answer came hand-in-hand with something else: the realization that these were the first magical plants I’d seen since meeting Marcus. They were vibrant. Vivid in a way that scratched at something buried deep.
Familiar.
I pointed toward the distance, narrowing my gaze. “Those trees look… really unique.”
Mei’s giggle echoed across the field, low and dark with mischief, her parade of shimmering lights fading as she stopped twirling.
“Yeah, they’re gorgeous,” she said with a wicked little grin. “And during certain times of the year, they even move.”
My brain, already overloaded from the endless stream of wonders, stuttered. “Th—that’s it?” I managed.
She shook her head, playful malice gleaming in her eyes. “Nope. I guess you’re not too freaked out hearing that, considering your cute little flower, but—”
She said I’m cute, Luna chirped in my head, thoroughly pleased with herself.
I ignored the mental preening and focused on Mei as she continued.
“—that’s not all they’re famous for. It’s the way they hunt.”
My throat tightened and I swallowed hard.
“Peter?” Synthia said, her voice soft and tentative.
But Mei wasn’t done.
“They move their leaves like blades,” she explained, “and trap their prey in a vice formed by a splitting motion. And that’s just the start of the dangers.”
I didn’t like where this was going.
“One kind of creature pretends to be a tree—its leaves all delicate and pretty, and then BOOM!” She clapped her hands loudly. “It transforms into a monster and fires poisonous leaves everywhere.”
“Oh, and—”
She kept going, each new sentence peeling away the edge of my composure.
My skin had gone cold.
The dark and tinged with violet sky. The glowing plants. The slow, unnatural movement. Her words.
It wasn’t the same.
But it was similar enough.
This place… somewhere hidden within the homeland of the Engineers…
I was certain of it now. This was connected to the Underground World.
To the Labyrinth.
The place where I’d first met Marcus.