A sharp, resounding crack echoed through the training grounds as Kasine's hand connected with the back of Kamus's head.

He flinched, a low grunt escaping his lips, but the action was a familiar one that made everyone around chuckle.

“You’re running your mouth again when you shouldn’t.” She reprimanded him.

“We’re among family, woman,” Kamus argued back as he rarely did, earning another slap to the back of his head.

“That fox is around too, dumbass!” Kasine insisted, glaring at him.

“My love…”

Kamus sighed and shot Sokram an apologetic look before addressing her, “Have you forgotten the smell of a devoted fox? She’s clearly either devoted to him or the Duchess.”

Kamus shook his head, disappointed and overly dramatic.

“Is this true? I’m asking you, foxy. Don’t make me go find you, my nose is quite good.”

Kasine's eyes darted left and right, searching for Sayuri.

“Yes. It’s true, you have nothing to worry about.” Sayuri's voice, as clear and crisp as a chime, echoed through the training grounds, seemingly from all directions at once.

Yet no one besides Sokram and Hannah could see where she was.

“You could have asked me instead, Nana Kasine.”

Sokram scratched the back of his head, knowing exactly the answer he would get.

The same happened in his past timeline once, when Lucille insisted on following him when he went to visit Kamus and Leona after having triggered Lucille’s devotion.

“You brought a fox into a wolf’s den without asking first, child. You know that’s not a good look. Especially when her foxes are the reason my daughters’ marriage is in shambles right now.”

Kasine stared at Sokram, her eyes a mix of frustration and disappointment.

“Nana, you can’t blame the Purple Pavilion for that. And you know it.” Sokram didn’t back down either.

The twins only lowered their heads.

But surprisingly, all of them, even Karini, sided with Sokram.

“Mom, he is right. Our husband lost his way. It’s not the Pavilion’s foxes' fault. It’s natural for a wolf to find a new moon to follow.”

Karini’s gaze then shifted between Leona and Sokram, and her tone turned hushed with a knowing undertone, “But there will be a new moon for us too, don’t worry. And don’t ruin it.”

Leona grinned victoriously, seeing that Karini had finally come aboard, and told Kasine. “Yes, Mom. Karini is right.”

“Besides…” Leona licked her lips and looked at Sokram, shooting him a playful wink. “That Fox is part of that new moon, too.”

Sokram could only grin and nod, struggling to hold back his laughter at his Master's shamelessness.

“Hmph! You kids nowadays don’t know how to keep a marriage.”

Kasine crossed her arms, not enjoying being on the wrong side of the argument, especially one she started. “Whatever…”

“Don’t worry, Nana. How about I start with you? Nana Hannah said you are very close to fully converting your Core. We might finish it today.”

Sokram flashed her grin and gained a thumbs up from Kamus as he mouthed ‘Nice save!’

“Alright, have you prepared the same gifts for me?” Kasine pouted, pointing at Lymus.

“Of course, I prepared a bunch of gifts on the day of the attack. Well, it was more like an inheritance of some sort, but…” Sokram’s words completely shifted the reason for her anger.

It wasn’t just her.

Everyone around glared with disapproval.

Their eyes, a mix of brown, amber, silvery, and green, shared the same anger, worry, and a tinge of sadness that made the air suddenly thick and heavy as they all carried the same message: that was not a joke to be made.

“Too soon? Sorry, haha.” Yet Sokram wasn’t joking.

The memory of his plan, a pouch full of spatial rings hidden under a table. That hidden inheritance was why he had rushed back to his lab the moment he woke from his coma.

The letters addressed to each of his loved ones sent shivers down his spine.

The others didn't know how truly prepared he was to die for them, and they should never know.

“Don’t joke like that again,” Kasine warned him.

She, Liaranna, and Kanami, more than any other of the family heads, not only felt gratitude toward him, but they also felt ashamed of themselves for having been saved by someone so much younger.

Kasine even had a few nightmares about him dying while Sokram was in a coma.

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“I know we haven’t met for long, but you’re family to us already. Don’t joke like that again.” Kasine insisted.

“Sorry, Nana.” Sokram’s apology was more sincere this time.

“Alright, let’s start.” Kasine walked toward the center of the arena and sat down with her back to Sokram.

“What are you waiting for? I want my gifts!”

Looking at her like that triggered a memory from his past timeline, from when Kamus had just died.

Kasine had told him then, ‘I’m tired of losing loved ones, child. Too tired to keep going, I can’t do it without him.’

These had been Kasine’s last words before following Kamus into the eternal night.

Sokram looked at her and promised her in his heart, ‘Don’t worry, Nana Kasine. You won’t lose anyone either, I’ll make sure of that.’

That night, Sokram managed to push both Kasine and Kamus toward complete conversion, mainly thanks to the lifting of two of his Mind Locks.

The speed at which he could guide energy in someone else’s body increased many times.

That surprised not only the elders among them, but even Leona, Lymus, and Karini could feel how fast the energy flowed around them.

Sokram began training Lymus, Kamus, and Kasine in wielding Spirit Magic through the Killing Blade.

And with Hannah’s approval, he also began teaching Kasine a few spells of Arcane Alchemy that he had translated so they could be cast with Spirit Magic, too.

When Hannah saw the translation of her spells, she felt as if her mind had twisted into a knot.

She couldn’t process that information, even with all the knowledge of Spirit Magic Sokram had shared with her.

But Kasine easily grasped it, as if it were second nature.

When they arrived home, Sokram felt exhausted, only bothering to eat and bathe before lying in bed, only waking up the next day a few hours past sunrise.

The reason for his exhaustion was that, despite being able to mentally deal with the stress caused by how powerful his mind was now, his body and his Chaotic Dragon Heart weren’t used to him using his energy and circulating it as fast as he was doing.

His routine for the next two days was basically the same; his morning was divided between training his body and cultivating.

During the day, he would work in the lab with Hannah and Kasine, whom Hannah agreed to let Sokram teach Arcane Alchemy without holding anything back.

Mainly because she was curious if Spirit Magic could truly be translated to use even the most complex spells.

Thanks to it, Sayuri gained something she had been eager for ever since she advanced, a true sparring partner whom she didn’t need to hold back against.

After Kasine learned that Sayuri was devoted to Sokram, her worry about having Sayuri near Kamus vanished completely.

Since Sayuri was quite ahead in her understanding of Spirit Magic, she agreed to help Sokram teach Lymus and Kamus in the palace.

And Kamus also agreed to help the fox improve her own fighting techniques in return.

Another two days passed, and the Master Illusionist from the Pavilion arrived in town.

Sokram met her there, obviously accompanied by Hannah and Margiory.

That day was a profitable one for Sokram as the mage was quite interested in some of the things Sokram had to offer, mainly the Vital Magic Technique.

But after Sokram introduced her to some of his runic spells, including the Runic Blood Marks, she opened to him her whole repertoire of Illusion and Hypnotic spells, and knowledge.

Among the books she offered him, there was one he truly wanted.

Needed even.

It was an ancient book written in Netherian, the ancient language of the Nethrians: Succubae, Vampires, and Nocturnals.

She had kept that book with her, believing it to be valuable.

Yet, after finally translating it, she learned it only spoke about possession and astral forms.

And this was precisely what Sokram needed to keep Mentyr wary of him.

Seeing Sokram interested in it, she didn’t hesitate to offer it to him during their exchange.

As for enslaving the spy, Sokram had to act carefully.

First, he invited Kairo to the Pavilion and explained the situation to him.

Kairo stood in what was now Ayame’s office, glaring at Sokram and Hannah as he shouted, “DO YOU TRULY EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT?!”

When the spy was brought in, still wearing the face of his friend, he became even more enraged.

But being surrounded by Hannah and Sayuri, he didn’t dare to make a move.

His rage against Sokram only lasted until Hannah deactivated the artifact, and the spy’s face shifted into his real face right in front of Kairo’s eyes.

Kairo’s expression shifted multiple times: confusion to realization, then grief, realization again, and finally, murderous rage.

Hadn’t Sayuri been prepared, Kairo would have killed to spy right there.

After Kairo was subdued and calmed himself, Sokram explained how he wanted to use the spy.

They didn’t need Kairo to accept the spy into the Red Moon, pretending nothing happened, nor maintain this a secret from his other brothers in arms, but they needed the spy alive.

Kairo struggled a lot to concede as he wanted to kill that spy.

Only after they enslaved the spy, and the spy revealed where he had hidden the body of the Wood Elf he had usurped, Kairo, now wanting revenge against Whiteland and Frostaxe, agreed to Sokram’s plan.

Having this settled, Sokram went back to his routine.

Until his family got back from their missions and expeditions.

Their reunion was as emotionally charged as it was expected.

But Astrid, who had been away during the attack, was the most emotional of them all.

After she returned, Sokram even had to let her sleep in his bed with him for a few nights.

And each of those nights, Astrid clung to him with trembling arms, tears streaking her cheeks, her sobs muffled against his chest as if she feared letting go would make him vanish again.

For the rest of that month, during Sokram’s recovery, he focused on aiding the Red Moon leaders to master the energy of their choice, which was a lot faster than it would have been before.

Then he focused on guiding and converting the Cores of the Founding families’ heads, including Kanami and Lazar, who were treating Sokram even more like an equal, and not someone of the younger generation.

Sokram also focused part of his days teaching Kamus, Kasine, Lymus, and Sayuri what he could of Spirit Magic.

However, his real focus was shared by two tasks: Read as much as he could from the Arch Mage’s Tower, and finish his alchemical trial.

Time passed fast, and by the end of that month, his fourteenth birthday arrived, which Sokram, who had the best memory, forgot.

He didn't truly forget the date of his birth; it was simply a distant thought, pushed aside by the sheer, exhilarating weight of his research.

And because he was lost, consumed, and enthralled by all the knowledge within the tower.

With his increase in mental power, his ability to absorb knowledge was enhanced even more, so in that month, Sokram surprised the Armfrost family by reaching the ninth floor.

He also recovered the level in cultivation he had lost and was once again a Tier 10 True Existence.

By then, Sokram had enough knowledge to start using most of his Ascendant Level techniques and spells, but what brought him the most joy was being able to justify some of his mastery over Magitech, Spacetime, Illusion, Conjuration, Transmutation, Light and Shadow, and Geomancy.

One day, once he was about to enter the tenth floor, Sienna barred him, “I’m sorry, Sokram. You can only enter this floor after you become a Seeker. Instead, why don’t you start exploring the underground floors?”

“Sure, I’ll start doing that from tomorrow on, then.” Sokram didn’t argue.

He knew that on the tenth floor, they should have stored most of the knowledge about the Nether, and he didn’t want to mess with that just yet.

Just as Sokram stepped out of the tower, he found the twins waiting for him by the door, their faces a mix of urgency and relief.

“Your family needs your presence urgently,” Kiren told him with a serious look on her face.

And Kara complemented with the same look of urgency, “Our mothers are there too, and they sent us to fetch you.”

“Alright, let’s go!” Sokram didn't waste a second.

He hugged the two of them tightly, and in a flash of dark lightning, they were gone, arriving in front of his estate in the blink of an eye.