— GREAT EDRYAN, YEAR: 7294. SEASON: COLOR FADING.

  Several carts full of people moved from the train station and deeper within the NARC headquarters. Lawruthian sat on one of them, the Demigoddess of Illusion across from him, and Minerva was on his shoulder. He conversed with Minerva, passing their thoughts to one another internally while he continued his conversation with the Carter, Zeno, and Ca’Ronna Houses with Atlas , his newly named golem body.

  “Time is an element, which means it can be manipulated. The only time spells I know are ones that basically function as a stopwatch and A Moment In Time, which was on my first armor set. Minerva, if Time is an element, do you think time travel is possible?”

  Lawruthian’s question was direct, his voice excited. He couldn’t believe something so simple hadn’t crossed his mind in all these years. Time was an element that could be manipulated. Then, was it possible that one could time-travel? Such a thing may have been impossible on Earth with its level of technology, although many schematics flashed through his mind and theories by renowned professors.

  “It…,” Minerva hesitated, her head cocked. “It would only partially explain Kubrat’s predicament, but it doesn’t explain why her second Chosen is different than ours.”

  Lawruthian paused. “That’s true. It doesn’t give a proper explanation of why Kubrat’s reality has differences from ours.”

  Minerva rightened her head, her eyes and thoughts clear as she began to theorize with Lawruthian. “Let’s say time travel is possible through the manipulation of the Time Element. If, and that is a big IF, it’s possible, then there are a few questions that need to be answered. One, why have the Gods not noticed? Such an event as this can’t go unanswered by the Goddess Madris or others of the Twelve Thrones.

  “Two, if it could somehow avoid the attention of the Goddess and Twelve Thrones, then we may have more to worry about.”

  Lawruthian opened his mouth to speak, but Minerva internally held up a wing, still speaking.

  “Three, we have more than enough problems to worry about—we have to plan a conquest, organize a ministry for claimed territories, prepare for the outbreak of beast tides and dungeon breaks, and squeeze as much use from the Ardent of the End as possible before the country-wide buffs end. Someone messing with time is not a good thing for us.”

  Lawruthian frowned, then quietly whispered, his voice so low that Minerva wouldn’t have caught it if not for the messages being passed on internally. “What if it’s us…?”

  “Hmm?”

  “What if it’s us manipulating time? What then?”

  Minerva opened her beak to chirp a response, then paused. She frowned, an expression that only Lawruthian could read. His question was…

  “Impossible. If it was us manipulating the time element…,” Minerva’s words faltered. Not because she wasn’t certain of what to say, but because of the thoughts generated by Lawruthian. “You…”

  Minerva turned her head, peering directly at Lawruthian in a stunned silence. “You,” she said again, this time aloud. “That’s a dangerous thought to have.”

  “This is a dangerous world we live in. These types of things have to be considered. If I could manipulate time, warning myself and easing my early path is only a byproduct of what should be done.”

  “That would have irrepressible consequences, Lawruthian. If there is anything, such as a time stream, you’d fragment it—possibly creating multiple realities from your actions.”

  Minerva frowned. She focused, reaching deep into Lawruthian’s thoughts as she wondered how long he had pondered about something like this. She sighed in relief; fortunately, he hadn’t had such thoughts for a long time, but his feeling of lacking time had long rooted itself as a problem Lawruthian desperately wished to solve.

  He was strong, the strongest at the same level, but that strength was always too late when he needed it the most. She scoured his thoughts, seeing the depth and density of his complications with time.

  It started when he met the Goddess Kubrat. Minerva turned her head and looked at the dead demigoddess. She stared at them, eyebrows arched in confusion. At Minerva’s look, the Demigoddess spoke.

  “It looks like your conversation is over,” Kubrat commented. The carts slowed, and they stood to walk into their destination, one of the final mountains of the research facility.

  His voice, gentle as a summer breeze yet with the chill of winter like clouds covering the sky, spoke.

  “No… it is not.”

  “Minerva… do you know what war is?”

  A question was asked, and the Demigoddess of Illusion kept quiet. In fact, the surroundings grew quiet. Many people were present—the New Greats, Madria, Amaya, Lorde, and the rest. The Demigoddess of Spell Crafting and Battle Magic, Margret and Camilla—Liana, Heavenly Star, and other interested Prestiges.

  They quietly lowered their voices as the voice of Lawruthian spoke.

  Lawruthian held out his arm, and Minerva moved to it from his shoulder, allowing both to gaze with ease and truly share their thoughts. She stayed silent, having never once experienced this sort of energy from him. Lawruthian, frowning, asked again.

  “Do you know what War is?”

  Her voice was gentle, soft, like a lover’s gentle caress. It held a delicateness to it that showed Minerva’s apprehension at the words to come.

  “…yes.”

  “Good, but you still do not understand. Or perhaps you do with countless footage and images of the nature of war on Earth.”

  Many who listened appeared confused, unsure of what the Chosen of Madris spoke of.

  “War is Domination. It is one or more parties fighting for dominance against another. This war… is far beyond that. It is a war of Gods, used to restrain themselves and fight through mortal proxies—it is this choice, or to fight one another directly and destroy all that we know. No matter what direction I choose, the outcome will be similar. A world destroyed, for they will fight the magi fiercely.

  “Look around you,” Lawruthian gestured.

  Lawruthian looked towards the familiar faces; his eyes held a resolute gentleness to them. Like a friend gazing at companions, he knew not if he’d see them again.

  “A battlefield does not have eyes. Everyone you see here can die, may die, and I am the one who bears that responsibility. Look… Minerva,” Lawruthian strongly stated. He spread his arm and forced Minerva’s direction to face them.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “They are living, breathing, far closer to me than anyone else in this world. Why should I give a level of empathy for life that would rather see them dead? Why should I sacrifice the life of a magi if a solution opens to end the wars before they begin?”

  Minerva stayed quiet, but silently looked at the figures. Many appeared to mind their business, but she could tell their attention was focused here. Focused on the center of Edryan. She looked at them, shades of brown eyes and skin for most normal personnel, not of a special bloodline.

  She looked at them, truly gazing at each, recognizing her heart to be open for the world, a thing Lawrence— Lawurthian —once held. Now, it has closed itself open only to those under his protection, under his responsibilities.

  “The world is not rainbows and sunshine. If I can manipulate time and kill my enemies before they can rise. I will .”

  “Killing your enemies before they can grow is not a solution…” Minerva quietly whispered, but Lawruthian pretended not to hear.

  He dropped his arm, forcing Minerva to flap to his shoulder before he turned away and walked into the facility. Many paused, comprehending some of his words and conversation with Minerva. Madria appeared concerned, able to pick up far more than anyone else. She was the first to recover and quickly pulled away from Amaya and the rest, hurrying to Lawruthian’s side.

  Madria grabbed his hand, offering him a comforting smile as she appeared at his side. Lawruthian smiled back, but didn’t speak, continuing deeper into the facility.

  “Monday,” he called.

  “Sire,” the Adaptive Learning Algorithm answered.

  Monday was the NARC’s facilities Hero Golem, her core and intellect repurposed to record the facilities’ various experiments and procedures. She was the next HG built after the original three, Huego, Hela, and Hector, who were decommissioned and repurposed to serve the Class-Based Constitutional Monarchy. Currently, they are rented out to the Overseer Branch and used for various tasks such as collecting votes, population census, and more.

  Madria squeezed Lawruthian’s hand and peered at Minerva, who stayed quiet on his shoulder. She heard Minerva’s whisper and wondered what crazy concept the two argued over. Madria offered the horned owl a smile, one she returned with a hoot. Madria gestured to her shoulder, offering it, an offer that was quickly accepted as Minerva flew over.

  “Update. Make it brief, but I want to know every promising thing that has appeared lately.”

  The HG’s voice gently began to expand on the various achievements of NARC. The facility was like a small city as thousands of personnel resided here.

  “The operation: STRATIOTI has produced preliminary results. Its name has begun to spread among the populous and is expected to produce a class line in the next year. The operation: Spatial Transit And Research — Star, is in its initial success. A prototype rocket has been built and is waiting for further refinement for testing. Laia Volkensha has made significant progress and hopes to achieve results before the year’s end. The operation: Connected Edryan has achieved mild success. Georgia Moore has created a secondary device that can connect to multiple nodes to give commands over a radius of 100 kilometers. This technology appears to be on the cusp of a breakthrough as she’s designed corresponding node towers to allow one voice to reach every ear in Edryan.

  “Minor achievements have been reached in spell research, combining both sound and light spells to make the mobile recording spell — able to display 3D recordings centered around the caster. There has been no success in developing a method to detect the Argon Disruptors in True Dungeons.”

  The voice of Monday halted as the brief update came to an end. Lawruthian nodded in satisfaction. Everything he wanted to begin had begun and was taking small steps forward. A connected Edryan was nearly here.

  “It looks like a radio station will be active soon. This is very good. A huge step in communication, and the propaganda machine can truly come to life.”

  “I think the radio is a novel idea, but will it truly have the effects you think it will,” Madria asked curiously. She was well aware of some of Lawruthian’s plans, having discussed them in their two years undergoing Ascendant.

  “How much entertainment does the average Edryan have,” Lawruthian asked, answering her question with a question. He looked at her, smiling, his earlier mood leaving.

  “With what you’ve provided in the Imper District and other areas? The Colosseum alone has Golem Wars, the winter cup is soon, and there are those Olympic sporting events you have. The taverns have darts and board games. Do you know how popular chess has become among them because of you?”

  Madria laughed, sensing the atmosphere was lightening. She let go of Lawruthian’s hand and ruffled her fingers through the feathers of Minerva while continuing.

  “Public libraries have free books to read, and fantasy adventures of a chosen prince rescuing a princess from a red dragon have recently exploded in popularity.”

  Madria wrinkled her nose as Lawruthian turned to her with a raised brow and curious eyes. Madria laughed, a twinkle in her eyes as she explained. “Did you forget who my best friend is? And, did you forget who you hired to run the Edryan Newspaper? Karla’s stories have inspired an entire generation of writers, plus with the battery-powered typewriters that any Artificer can produce, it’s become a trend.”

  Lawruthian’s brows scrunched even more as he let out a laugh. He could barely believe Madria’s words, having not known any of this until now.

  “Your Crown Prince Fan Club has been busy , especially the members who directly went to school with us,” Madria stated, smiling. “Several of the most popular books, A Princely Tale — The Commoner and the Chosen, A Mix of Red and Gold, Princess, Dragons, and Hot Steel. That last one I heard was written by the former president.”

  “Oh Gods,” Lawruthian put a hand to his face, embarrassed at the titles, but the smile on his face and in his eyes didn’t diminish.

  “They always make sure to include his trusty sidekick, a talking owl that no one but he can hear,” Madria teased, successfully getting a laugh from Minerva as she scratched underneath her chin. “They call her Mighty Minerva — not doing much to hide the name.”

  “Ok, ok, ok, enough,” Lawruthian and Minerva said in unison. Both were receiving a level of secondhand embarrassment.

  Minerva hopped onto Lawruthian’s shoulder and snuggled against him while Madria grabbed his hand. She turned around and gave her friends a wink before turning back and speaking.

  “So what is the agenda that you brought us here for? You haven’t even told me!”

  Lawruthian, still smiling, looked over at Madria. She really had a way with words and a way in his heart. “We’re here to create the Internet and, should they be willing, we are here to enlist a new generation of Heroes.”

  “The Internet? You mean the mass communication thing that allowed your world to connect everyone?”

  Madria’s eyes lit up. Lawruthian had described wondrous achievements of Earth that sounded like magic to her. In fact, she still found it hard to believe some of the achievements he described weren’t magic. The concept of video calling and talking to someone halfway across Edryan was an achievement of significance, let alone someone an entire world away. It sounded like magic to her, but Lawruthian preferred to call it science.

  “It wasn’t just a communication device,” Minerva answered, exasperated. “It was a way for government researchers to share information across long distances. For example, we are currently establishing an East and West branch of NARC close to the oceans for research and development. Imagine if we have an achievement here and could immediately send its results to the East NARC branch or the West NARC branch.”

  “It would change the world,” Madria said.

  “It would change the world,” Minerva agreed. “And Lawruthian’s idea isn’t exactly to create an Internet.”

  Minerva’s head turned 180° to look at a certain dead demigoddess.

  “His goal is much broader than that. You should know, we never do anything small .”