Athena's room—
An endless wilderness stretched as far as the eye could see.
Compared with the lifeless silence that had once filled the place, there were now animals roaming the plains: elk, rhinos, and various others.
Ryo stared at them in slight bewilderment. "Why are you raising things like these in your room?"
Athena, calmly sipping her tea, answered without the slightest embarrassment. "I'm experimenting... weaving life."
"Life…"
Ryo suddenly understood. Then he frowned. "You mean the one that Ouroboros sent over?"
Ouroboros had sent over the Authority of Life, naturally along with the method for "weaving" the Authority of Life. It was rather like buying a product and getting an instruction manual thrown in for free. A fairly common practice.
"Yes," Athena replied calmly.
"Damn, so you've been freeloading off me!" Ryo rolled his eyes and joked.
Athena understood perfectly well that he was kidding and remained completely composed. "Lakshmi probably thought I could get whatever I needed from you whenever I wanted, so she gave me two sets of information as a preservation fee."
"I don't care. If you freeloaded off me, you have to pay me back somehow." Ryo grinned and playfully protested.
"Why are you so cheerful today?" Athena glanced at Ryo.
"Am I?" Ryo froze for a moment, then gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Probably because I finally understand where I stand. It's made me feel a lot more at ease."
That was the truth.
Now, he had a clear understanding of his current level of power; he realized that unless he provoked a major godly faction or somehow ended up surrounded by enemies, he could basically walk through the Little Garden without worrying about anyone.
Of course, Ryo also knew that there were plenty of secrets surrounding him. Revealing any one of them could be enough to attract a whole group of enemies. Still, at least he now possessed the strength to protect himself.
Six months ago, that kind of self-preservation had been almost unimaginable.
"At ease…" Athena murmured the words to herself before narrowing her eyes slightly. "When are you planning to leave?"
"About five hours from now. What about you? Is the large-scale dimensional gateway ready?" Ryo smiled slightly.
"The gateway has already been transferred into this room. But only five hours? That does seem a little tight." As Athena spoke, she lightly tapped her fingers against the tea table.
Knock. Knock.
With each tap, faint ripples of distortion appeared in the air around them.
During the process, Ryo clearly sensed fluctuations in time.
Athena then laid her slender fingers flat against the tabletop and spoke calmly.
"I've extended the time a little. That gives us five days to prepare. It should be enough. During those five days, I'll do my best to implant everything I know about weaving and applying authorities directly into your mind."
"Implant?"
The corner of Ryo's mouth twitched. Somehow, that choice of words sounded ominous.
Athena gave him a cool glance. "You don't seriously think five days will be enough for you to understand any of this, do you?"
"I understand that much. But I have a feeling your method is going to be… rather extreme." Ryo's expression stiffened.
"..."
"I'll activate the Authority of Wisdom throughout the entire process and imprint the methods of weaving and applying concepts directly into your mind. Of course, there is some risk involved." As she spoke, Athena looked at Ryo with a hint of amusement. "But you should consider yourself fortunate. You share the Spirit Rank with the other version of me. Because of that, although you don't actually have the Authority of Wisdom yourself, you can still borrow this power, which originates from the same source as mine. That considerably reduces the risk."
"What if it doesn't reduce the risk enough?" Ryo raised his hand and asked.
Athena narrowed her eyes and smiled.
The expression was beautiful, but somehow terrifying.
"Then we'll simply have to see whether your brain can withstand the information overload."
The corner of Ryo's mouth twitched.
He was sorely tempted to refuse, but he understood that this was probably the fastest method Athena had come up with.
He knew his fundamentals were lacking. The problem was that he'd never had many opportunities to learn.
Leticia could teach him combat skills, but when it came to manipulating Authorities, she was just as confused as he was. For her, it was more instinct than something she had actually learned.
As for Shiroyasha and Algol, they were Star Spirits. Their methods were as outrageous as their nature, leaving Ryo with nothing he could actually learn from them.
When all was said and done, among everyone Ryo had encountered, Athena was genuinely the only one willing and able to teach him the orthodox path.
Still, looking at Athena's faintly amused expression, Ryo couldn't shake the feeling that she had ulterior motives. "I have a feeling I've walked straight into a bandit's den."
"You can remove the words 'I have a feeling.'" Athena casually delivered a sentence that made Ryo's heart pound.
Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with romance. He was simply terrified.
"I've been observing you for quite some time in preparation for this lesson."
The moment Athena finished speaking, Ryo stared at her in astonishment. "What do you mean?"
Athena didn't answer him directly. Instead, she continued. "The reason was to determine the direction in which your Another Cosmology naturally leans. Everyone has their own specialties and areas of expertise. Naturally, when weaving an Authority, you should begin with the area you understand best."
"By gathering observational data from the Thousand Eyes, consulting Lady Shiroyasha's records, receiving assistance from the Twin Goddesses, and even asking Algol to help with the observations, I was able to determine, to some extent, the inclination represented by that power within you."
"…"
Ryo listened in silence, feeling a chill run down his spine.
Thousand Eyes, the Twin Goddesses, Shiroyasha, and even Algol, who was supposed to be at odds with Athena, had all been recruited to observe his Cosmo.
Ryo honestly couldn't decide whether that was something to be pleased about or something to be deeply wary of.
At least he and Athena were on the same side. Otherwise, he might have been manipulated to death without even realizing it.
"Scared?"
Athena glanced at him, amusement dancing in her eyes. Then, with deliberate calm, she placed a black parchment scroll on the table. "This is the contract I signed when requesting the information. The people I mentioned earlier used their highest-level authority to impose restrictions on my actions toward you."
The tension immediately drained from Ryo's face.
Athena smiled at once. "Feeling reassured now?"
"You nearly scared me to death." Ryo patted his chest, utterly speechless.
Athena narrowed her eyes with a smile, seemingly quite pleased with his reaction. "You're simply too mischievous. Every now and then, you need to be frightened a little. Otherwise, you're always causing some enormous disturbance."
"Yes, yes, my fault." Ryo rolled his eyes. "Now, what did your investigation find? Do you have the results? What exactly does my Cosmo lean toward?"
"The results were ready a long time ago." Athena poured tea for both herself and Ryo, took a sip, and calmly answered, "Your inclination is very similar to Lady Shiroyasha's. Destruction and creation."
She paused briefly, "...Those are the clearest manifestations of the power within you."
.
.
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