In another section of the workshop, which suddenly felt much larger than before and yet so claustrophobic at the same time, Seth was still being held captive by Julius, leaving him completely unaware of Titus' secret little gifts and what they were planning together.

Although, if it was any consolation to Seth, he was not the only one being hounded and pressured. He was currently crouched on the ground, examining Julius' latest piece of work, while the artisan in question was being practically groped and harassed by the dragon, which was still hanging around like a lost puppy.

She lifted Julius' arms, examining them closely. Occasionally poking his body as she walked around him, taking him in less like a person and more like some science experiment. Which, okay technically that's what he was to begin with. But he had evolved to be more than that, so really she should treat him with respect.

As she was reaching up to his face, trying to feel around for a mouth, Seth finally let out a deep, irritated sigh.

"Will you stop that? You're making him uncomfortable. In fact, you're making us both uncomfortable. Why are you so obsessed with him anyways?"

"Tch, You act like I shouldn't be. He is an impossibility. They both are. You should not be this advanced at your current stage. You have created this, yet you are only transcendent, that's shouldn't be possible.

Make another one. Do it, I wish to see how you do it."

Seth let out an amused scoff, looking at her as if she had just asked him to squeeze out a golden egg before shaking his head and focusing back on Julius' work, trying to decipher what exactly the spider-like being had created. There were just too many symbols that he didn't recognise, and even those he did he couldn't understand the purpose of them in the grander scheme.

"I'm not a factory, I can't just churn out new lifeforms when I want to. It comes at a cost, and that is a cost that I've been told I can't pay anymore, not until I'm stronger at least. It could kill me if I do it anymore."

"Kill you, Hmm? Who was it that told you this exactly?"

She strolled over to him, her eyes narrowing as she hooked on of her clawed fingers under his chin before tilting his head up to look at her, which meant she was met with an irritated expression.

"Huh? Oh uh... No one. It was just a dream I had. I guess it was just a feeling I had and It was my body trying to tell me somehow."

He batted her hand away, standing up from the floor and taking a few steps away from her as he focused back on Julius' project. Perhaps a different angle would help him, or maybe he was reaching because he didn't want to admit he had been completely stumped.

Even as Seth's attention remained on the floor, the draconic lady persisted.

"Very Well, you need to grow stronger. If my senses are right, you have most likely reached the peak of your current stage, so why not evolve further? Why stay a measly transcendent when you could at least become somewhat competent as a Celestial.

Surely your requirements aren't that difficult, are they?"

Seth chuckled again, shaking his head at this egotistical lizard and muttered softly to himself

"Yeah... you wouldn't be saying that if you could see them."

"Very well, show them to me."

"Wh-what?"

Frowning softly, Seth finally pulled his attention away from the enigmatic project and looked up at the dragon in confusion. She tilted her head, looking at him as if he was an idiot, which wasn't too different from how she usually looked at him but this time it felt like she was seeing him as especially idiotic.

"Show. Me. Ask your guardian to display the list to me. It's not that difficult. God, you humans progress quickly but you are like lost children."

She clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes in annoyance, but while she presented it in quite an irate way... She did make a good suggestion. If only she could figure out how to express them in better ways.

Ignoring her attitude, Seth talked to Angel and asked her to do exactly what the draconic woman had said... with one adjustment to the list. He made sure to ask Angel to show her a version without the dragon heart.

Call him paranoid, but he felt that showing a dragon he was needing its heart was probably not a safe thing to do.

When she received the list, the dragon quickly read over the contents. It wasn't very long, so it barely took her a few seconds to review it, but she immediately narrowed her eyes at one particular item on the list.

The expression made Seth's heart skip a beat for a second, worrying that Angel had been unable to edit the list and instead sent her to original, but when no retaliation or accusations followed, he let out a sigh of relief.

"See, They are quite-"

"Easy. Not the worst I've seen, but otherwise quite simple. You should really stop your whining about such trivial things. You're even worse than a hatchling whelp."

Seth's voice caught in his throat, his eyes widening as he stared at the dragon in utter disbelief. These amazing objects, the soul of a god, fruit of a heavenly tree and other such impossible objects. She saw them as... as trivial? That he was simply whining like a baby because it was so blindly easy to collect them?

Seriously, what was with this woman? Did she have any sense of scale or understanding in the slightest? She would probably see a cataclysmic meteor as a mere pebble and roll her eyes at people panicking over it.

Suppressing the urge to slap some sense into this damned lizard, Seth focused on the important parts of what she said. Mainly the fact that if she thought that these were simple things to find, that meant...

"You know where to find these things? I could guess the others, but I have no idea where to start with the Tear and the Fruit."

"Hmm, the fruit is simple. For that, I'd suggest sending one of your little minions along with the wood woman to her people. They'll be able to lead you towards it. As for the Tear... Well, I know where you could find one, but to save you time... I could be persuaded to collect it for you.

However, I would be expending my very limited energy, so I would have to get something in return. That's only fair."

She pouted softly, giving him puppy dog - or should that be puppy lizard - eyes, which definitely did not suit her intimidation 'Gothic Queen' vibe in the slightest. It also didn't help that when she tried batting her eyelashes at him, in an attempt to look cute, she instead repeatedly blinked a secondary pair of horizontal eyelids.

It had the opposite of the intended effect, sending a shiver down Seth's spine, but seeing no better option he sighed and nodded.

"Fine, Fine. I'll give you what you want, just get me that Tear. Although, I have no idea what I could possibly... Oh..."

His face fell as it dawned on him, a sly smile spread across her lips. Her emerald eyes twinkling mischievously as he had fell right into her trap. It was the best kind of trap too, the kind that even if he had seen it coming, he still had no choice but to dive head first into it.

"You really are a... Ugh, Fine. But I better get what I need! And if you want me to save your boss, then you better make sure I don't die. Consider that part of your end of the bargain, no extra fees."

Standing to the side, watching this little stare off go down, Julius tilted his head in confusion. He was so eager to have his project witnessed by his father and have him try to analyse it. He was getting ready to leap in and show just how smart he was with his wonderful creation, only for this strange woman to steal his limelight. Not just that, but she did it after groping him!

The absolute nerve.

Still, maybe once this talk was over he could lure Father's attention back over to his project and completely wow him. Titus had already done the same with the Mistress, and was even working on something personal with her! If he could have the Mistress all to himself, then why couldn't Julius have the same with Father?! It was all this damned lizards fault.

I mean sure, Julius had done some work on the sword, but it was mainly Titus' project, just the same as this was his personal project.

Bottling up his overflowing envy of his brother, Julius stepped forwards and painted words into existence next to his head.

"What is it that she is asking for Father? Is there anything I can help with?"

Seth sighed, brushing his hair out of his face and turned to Julius with a sombre smile, like a true father trying to keep the harsh world away from his precious son.

"Well... She's wanting me to make you a new brother. I doubt you can help with that, but I appreciate the gesture."

Julius straightened up, his fists clenching and his hands shaking. He looked like he had swallowed a gallon of coffee with how much he was shaking with excitement. His large, beady black eyes practically sparkled and if he had a mouth to show, it would be stretched into the biggest smile possible.

Words painted themselves into existence, their paint strokes light and jovial, the lettering looking almost cutesy in its styling.

"Actually... Funny that you should say that."