Reaching that conclusion, Zephyrion exhaled deeply and shut his eyes. Every hesitation that had engulfed him vanished instantly.

He opened his eyes.

’Mind map.’

Light danced within his eyes, forming into a scene from the forest. A large construct stood before him while Jenna scribbled runic markings onto a piece of pulsewood.

Zephyrion focused on the markings, committing every detail to memory. With the source of the rune art laid bare before him, comprehending it posed little difficulty. It was akin to memorizing a long passage.

By the time he was done, Zephyrion shut his eyes once more, allowing everything to flow through his mind. A moment later, he slowly opened them and stretched out his arm. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Tome Construct."

Metal condensed before him, rapidly morphing into the shape of a large sleek humanoid construct.

In contrast to the Pulsegrove village head and Jenna, the runic words flashed through Zephyrion’s mind at a terrifying pace before shooting into the construct.

The next moment, metal plates wrapped around the construct in jagged armor that encased its entire form. A long sword extended across its arm, followed by a large rectangular shield.

Once complete, the construct turned toward Zephyrion before instantly going still, as though awaiting further orders.

A faint frown appeared on Zephyrion’s face.

’It’s different.’

The Tome Construct he had seen the village head form felt... different. He had noticed a faint hint of intelligence within its gaze.

However, now he could clearly feel the countless threads connecting him to the construct.

It felt as though he were a marionette master controlling a puppet through invisible strings.

Mulling over it for a moment, Zephyrion quickly arrived at the answer.

’It’s a lower version.’

Most rune arts, if not all, could be improved as an Ascendant’s understanding and power increased.

Today, a rune art might only allow one to shoot a spinning spike, but with greater understanding and power, one could increase or decrease its weight, or even make it explode before contact.

Usually, an Ascendant’s understanding and power were the true limitations when it came to rune arts.

From what Zephyrion could tell, the Tome Construct was no different. Jenna had only been capable of forming the construct itself, but her father had layered something more onto it.

Though Zephyrion hadn’t been able to see the father’s source runes, he could already guess what he’d done.

’He increased its autonomy.’

While mark four represented density, mark five of the Vessel Rank represented independence.

At that stage, an Ascendant acquired the ability to give metal a set of instructions that it could follow without requiring active control.

To simplify, one could command a spike to shoot forward only after ten seconds, or make metal explode the moment someone stepped on it.

With independence, Zephyrion could theoretically do the same for this construct.

He could give it a set of instructions to follow. In a sense, it was akin to forming blocks of code to create something truly autonomous. However, it was far easier said than done.

To achieve such a thing, he would have to account for everything that made a warrior function.

The senses. Reactions. The ability to read situations and respond accordingly. It was an astronomical task, one that couldn’t possibly be completed in a single night.

Still, that was one of the things that made rune arts truly fascinating.

Even if two people used the same art, the "code" they wrote would be entirely different. When such rune arts clashed, the victor would ultimately be decided by whose code was superior.

Reaching that conclusion, Zephyrion decided to leave it for another time. Suddenly, he felt an intense gaze fixed on him and turned.

The barely clothed Demorian was staring at him with wide eyes.

"M-my protégé... w-wasn’t this the same art that little maiden showed you in the forest?"

"...it is."

Demorian’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"Then why in the Iron Father’s name are you using it already!?"

Zephyrion finally understood the man’s shock.

’He doesn’t know about Mind Map.’

Mind Map was something that unfolded entirely within his mind, while he simply used reality to layer it and give it form.

Since it all occurred deep within his consciousness, there was naturally no way for Demorian to perceive it.

Meeting the ancestor’s gaze, Zephyrion answered calmly.

"I copied it."

"Copied..."

Demorian looked as though his soul had just left his body. This descendant of his had spoken as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

"You say that so casually! That wasn’t some random spike art you glanced at in passing! You only saw it for a few seconds!"

It had to be remembered that this wasn’t some simple spinning spike rune art, but something immensely complex, one clearly refined over generations.

"It was enough."

"Hah..."

Demorian stared blankly at him for a moment before dragging a hand down his face.

"So copying that mark seven’s rune art really wasn’t a fluke... You... just how monstrous is your comprehension speed..?"

Zephyrion chose not to respond. Even he couldn’t properly explain his comprehension speed.

He had possessed it since childhood, and could still remember everything to the last detail from the moment he was pushed out of his mother’s womb.

It had taken him five years to fully grasp it and awaken, and after that, he began advancing at a pace that frightened the world. If not for the appearance of the fog, only he knew where he would have stood by now.

Demorian continued staring at him in sheer disbelief, but Zephyrion decided to let the matter rest.

With the Tome Construct settled, he turned his attention toward the research papers he had taken from Victor Jasper’s lab.

However, just as he was about to reach for the sack, Zephyrion paused. A cold glint flickered through his eyes.

’Let’s deal with that first...’

...

Kilo was one of the maids assigned to the young lord upon his return home after seven years.

However, like many of the others, her true purpose had been to spy on him.

Unfortunately, the young lord’s nature made that nearly impossible. He spent almost all his time inside his room.

Only allowed his ward to cook for him. In fact, none of the maids even had access to his laundry.

The only things they ever did were clean and maintain the mansion. Aside from the occasional morning greeting, the young lord hardly interacted with them at all.

This greatly increased the difficulty of their task. However, while most of the other maids had struggled to find a way around it, eventually settling for simply watching from afar, Kilo had chosen another route entirely.

Like every other night, she was perched atop the rooftop of a nearby building, where she had a perfect view of the young lord’s window.

The other maids couldn’t attempt something like this due to the risk of being caught, but Kilo possessed another secret.

She came from a lineage of assassins and had inherited their ultimate rune art.

Unpresence.

It was a terrifying rune art that erased every trace of her existence, from sound to smell. At her current level, not even a mark 6 Ascendant would be capable of sensing her.

’Still nothing.’

Kilo fixed her emerald gaze on the slab of metal covering the window. She had tried to pry through it on the first day Zephyrion installed it, yet hadn’t been able to sense even the faintest sound from beyond it.

’Will today be another bust?’

Kilo released a quiet sigh. At this pace, she wouldn’t uncover anything useful enough to report before the Proving began.

Just as she decided not to waste any more time and leave, her eyes suddenly sharpened as the slab of metal peeled away, revealing the inside of the room.

Her gaze instantly locked onto the large armored humanoid construct standing in the middle of the room.

"W-what is that...?"

Kilo could feel the sheer pressure radiating from the construct. It was at least... mark six.

’This is good!’

Excitement flashed through Kilo’s eyes as her fists clenched tightly.

The entire South was currently trying to determine how, and if, Zephyrion had truly defeated that mark 7.

The young lord was supposedly only mark four, yet that construct was clearly mark six.

He was hiding something.

And information like this was priceless.

She had to report it immediately!

Kilo turned and dropped silently from the rooftop before making her way toward the courtyard entrance with quick steps.

Suddenly, a firm grip clamped over her mouth and neck from behind, freezing her in place.

"Mmh-mhm!"

Kilo instinctively struggled, but the cold voice that entered her ears instantly stilled her movements.

"Don’t move. Don’t struggle."