Samael exhaled, then stood back up to his full height.

He opened his eyes with a renewed flow of focus and intent.

Instantly, his mind exploded with currents of thought. But before he let himself go wild, he turned to Korynth.

"What do you know about the hall exactly?"

Currently, they stood at the edge of the hall and tunnel and had not fully gone in yet. They were in a sort of safe and neutral no man’s land.

"You said it was a living formation—what exactly does that mean? And what does having royal blood entail?"

Korynth thought for a couple of moments before she answered. "I know that the hall is deadly and exclusive, but not much beyond that."

"I don’t know the specifics of this formation in particular, but I know that, in general, living formations are the deadliest because they have an independent seed of Will."

Will.

Samael had heard of that before from Uriel, but it’d been too complex for him to understand. To this day, he still didn’t properly understand how he’d gotten his Wolf Spirit or what it entailed.

"I don’t know much about royal blood either. I just know that you either have it, or you don’t. And if you do, you gain a host of abilities or something of the like."

’This is not helpful at all.’ Samael clicked his teeth. But then, realising his emotions were about to cloud his mind once more, he muted it all.

He let his mind churn. As he did so, he turned to his Weave.

During the month Uriel had been dormant, he hadn’t been idle.

’Weave Status.’

...

•Name: {Veiled} {Veiled} {Veiled}

•True Name: {Veiled}

•True Title: {Veiled}

—

•Race: True Higher Ascendant Human—{Veiled}

•Lineage: {Veiled}

•Lineal Axis: {Veiled}

—

•>Evolutionary Spark Frame: < {?} >

•>Origin Evolution Spark Frame: < {?} >

•>Limiter: < {?} >

...

•Ascendant Step: First Step

•Minor Stage: G-Rank {Early}

•Class: < {?} >

...

•••>Path: [Ashen Mirror of Mirages Demi-God Path]

•>Path Ability: {Mirrored Thrasher}, {Ashen Anchor}, {?}

•>Class Talent: {Burning Howl Control}, {?}, {?}

•>Frame Gift: {Rainbow Spirit Crystal Armour}, {Glass Haven Blood Blade Armoury}, {?}

...

•>Origin Demi-God Tools: [Mirage Dream Catcher], [Ashen Glass Gourd], {?}

—

•>Grade:<None> 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

•>Echelon: <None>

•>Nobility: <None>

...

•>Source Element: {Veiled}

•>Source Affinity: {Veiled}

•>Source Manifestation: {Veiled}

•>Source Bane: {Veiled}

...

•>Natal Spark: {Veiled}, {Veiled}

•>Starless Spark: {Veiled}

•>Forbidden Taboo Spark: {Veiled}

—

•>Lineal Spark Talent: <None>

•>Lineal Spark Trait: <None>

•>Spark Characteristic: <None>

•>Uniqueness: <None>

...

During that entire month, unable to evolve and without much guidance, all Samael had done was focus on his spark and Demi-God Path. All he’d done was try to comprehend its secrets, and that had resulted in quite a bit of progress.

’Maybe if I...’ He focused on a specific set of abilities he’d managed to unlock.

More specifically, he focused on his two Demi-God Tools, [Mirage Dream Catcher] and [Ashen Glass Gourd], but also on one of his path abilities, [Ashen Anchor].

...

[Origin Demi-God Tool: {Mirage Dream Catcher}

•>Grade: Jade {Middle}

•>Mastery~Growth: Iron {Peak}

>Details: Those born from the echoes of silence only know mischief, using the waters of mirages to stir ashes of ancient and long-forgotten horrors.

>Yet the oldest and most horrifying of dead horrors still live, and where else would they be buried and trapped if not within the dreams of those who remain oblivious?

•This Origin Tool manifests as a clear glass orb overflowing with churning chaotic ashes of gold. The tool is spiritual in nature.

•The Mirage Dream Catcher allows one to trap spiritual manifestations born within their own dreams, or those of others, and cultivate them into mirror mirage creatures of boundless might that’ll reside within the Mirage Realm contained within the Dream Catcher.

•To conquer a Dream and form a Mirage Creature, one must...]

—

Upon awakening this Tool, to say Samael had been shocked would be an understatement, especially when its more complex and nuanced details filled his mind.

It was a direct path to allow him to form an army.

Back then, and still up to now, he hadn’t known how to use the tool on himself. So, left without any other option, he decided to try it on Uriel, who’d been asleep for a couple of weeks already at the time.

The Tool assured no harm would come to the subjects, so he’d figured no danger would come of it, but...

’Gods.’ Merely thinking back on what happened back then made Samael shiver in fear.

What he didn’t know back then was that the Dream Catching process of it all was very much hands-on. So, when he used it on Uriel... he found himself within his mind.

He found himself within his clashing dreams and nightmares.

He had almost died. No—he directly died, and the backlash had followed him back into his real body, something that had snowballed into Korynth catching him off guard and kidnapping them.

But before he died in Uriel’s mind, he’d managed to complete the catching sequence and...

—

[Mirages{1/12}: {The Fallen Muse of Ithuril}, {Empty}, {Empty}, ...]

—

He hadn’t deployed it yet, but he could feel its sheer power, even before he fully cultivated and grew the creature.

If he used this creature in tandem with his other Origin Tool and path abilities...

...

[Origin Demi-God Tool: {Ashen Glass Gourd}

•>Grade: Chrome {Peak}

•>Mastery~Growth: Silver {Peak}

>Details: The ash dances across the surface of the crystal, blind to its nature of glass, blind to its binds, and blind to its prison of empty air. Only those above the ash can see the walls of the prison of glass.

>And only they... can manipulate the Glass.

•This Origin Tool manifests as a dark gourd lined by complex runic inscriptions of silver. The Tool is runic in nature.

•The Ashen Glass Gourd grants one an endless source of Ashen Glass and Crystal-Glass Ash, two elemental treasures that can be used and wielded for myriad purposes.

•The Gourd can also terraform environments, turning them into havens of glass and ash where one can reign supreme in.

...

Samael madly grinned, and an idea formed in his head.

It was potentially suicidal, but it was the only viable path.

’Let’s do it.’