Cain stepped out of the tent, the completed steel orb floating just above his open palm.

The thing seemed to have a gravitational pull of its own even, its core shining a deep dark blue hue— quite literally. It pained him greatly that he could not feel the spatial mana coiled within it.

’This is much more inconvenient than I thought.’

Still, he could sense subtly a strange sensation, almost like it was on the verge of exploding.

’Eager little bastard.’

The Direwolf camp had settled into its evening rhythm. The members of the pack moved between their scattered tents and fires that drove the freezing chill away. One would think such a large settlement had existed for hundreds of generations.

However, Cain knew it had existed for no more than a year. The realization made him sweat a bit.

In the near future, who knows what would become of the {Willow Direwolves}.

A few of the younger ones were play-fighting near the lake shore, baring their little sharp fangs and claws at one another as they sprinted eagerly. Cain felt his shadow stir violently.

He smiled wryly,

’So you are also moved by cute things, huh. Cute.’

Cain paused, watching the water’s surface ripple slightly. The scene that stretched out before him was rather relaxing.

He took in a deep breath.

The subtle scents of nature had a wonderfully calming effect on his very soul.

Since he couldn’t activate the {Observer’s Eye}, he let his normal enhanced perception sweep across the surrounding terrain.

Besides the sea of tents on the lakeside, there was not much else around.

The most important thing about the spatial anchor was to make sure it was completely safe from any potential disturbances. If it was tampered with, the likelihood of the entire thing failing would be very high. Such a thing was dangerous in more ways than one.

Footsteps came from behind him.

"Are you done, Cain..."

Cain answered without turning around,

"Not yet. I still have to find somewhere to place this." He said, pointing at the steel orb floating before him.

Roc bent to take a closer look at it.

He was silent for a moment then nodded,

"If it is a very delicate item, then I know where it can be kept."

"Really?" Cain said with a raised brow.

Roc nodded and began walking forward.

"Come with me."

Cain silently followed the transformed Direwolf.

The two of them walking through the settlement turned no small amount of heads, but with Roc by his side, no one dared to approach out of pure reverence and respect.

Eventually, they had walked away from the settlement and were now standing on the lakeside. Then with Roc leading the way, they began walking towards the right along with the bend of the shore.

Glancing at the pristine waters, Cain realized he could see all the way to its depths.

Since it was currently morning, a little bit of diffused sunlight could make its way up from the layers of grey clouds. Just that much was more than enough for his eyes.

Eventually, they finally arrived in front of a small cluster of rocks and boulders.

Cain frowned.

Then his eyes widened as he realized what this place was.

The rocks were less like natural formations, and more like something deliberately carved into place.

At the top of the stone arch right in front of him wa the image of a silver wolf sleeping under a willow tree.

"Is this..."

Roc nodded, "This is the shrine dedicated to the great Sentry. Only I and the elders know of its existence."

He turned to face Cain with a smile,

"And now you do." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Cain suddenly felt a strange feeling,

"This... won’t this be a bit problematic?"

Roc snorted, "The only truth that exists is the great Sentry. He told me that I am to follow you intently. And so that is what I am going to do. There’s nothing else to it."

Cain sighed then shrugged,

"If you say so. Then..."

He walked into the stone shrine.

At the center of the large pile of rubble was a large statue of Sentry in all his glory, jaws wrapped around a large stone orb Cain could only assume was supposed to be the Moon.

’Since I can adjust the location of the magic circle, it doesn’t matter where the orb is placed. As long as it is safe, I can make it work.’ Cain thought to himself.

He paused for a moment then smiled bitterly,

’Right. Now comes the fun part.’

He pulled out five grade 5 mana shards from his inventory, their crystalline surfaces catching what little light it could find. Each one represented a significant investment— not just in terms of resources, but also the time and effort it had taken to acquire them from the carcasses of the felled beasts they had come from.

The anchor placement process was theoretically simple. Position the shards at the cardinal points around the orb, channel his mana through them to activate the spatial link, and watch as reality bent itself according to the rules he had set in place.

In practice, it was like trying to thread a needle while riding a bucking horse.

It required incredibly fine mana control.

He sighed.

Normally, mana control would never be an issue for him.

Right now, he was even full of mana to the very brim.

However, he couldn’t access of even feel any of it.

He also couldn’t sense any of the ambient mana. So it was going to be impossible to channel his mana at the moment.

He glanced at Roc.

Then he cleared his throat,

"Would you mind stepping over here?"

Roc raised a brow but nonetheless complied without raising a fuss.

Cain huffed then pointed at the metal ball floating before him.

"Pour your mana into that thing."

Roc blinked,

"Just like that?"

Cain nodded, "The orb can be powered by any type of mana source. There are conversion runes in place to make that happen."

"I see..." Roc said nothing more and casually stretched out his arm.