The Glorious Evolution

Sometime later...

Levi was back at his apartment... his body meditating under the warm divine light while his consciousness was discussing the Titan's Crown with Ash'Kral inside the Crown's Spiritual Leywell.

It was no surprise... Ash'Kral was right.

His old friend's wisp was stored within the Artifact, too powerful to be erased by the corrosion of time.

"How is it going?" Levi asked, wandering his spiritual eyes on the thick, colorful fog surrounding him.

Unlike the Sensebound Pearl's spiritual Leywell, which was grey and desolate, the Titan's Crown had a sense of mystical wonder to it.

It was bright, colorful, but simultaneously, it possessed a faint oppressive authority.

The presence of fog implied a dormant wisp within the Crown... he was told.

"It's not looking good, but not bad either..." Ash'Kral replied, opening his stern eye.

"How so?" Levi wondered, "Didn't you tell me you only needed the wisp to remind it of its past, of its identity, so the soul can take form? Isn't he your old friend... Help him then."

"I tried, but it's not enough..." Ash'Kral clarified, "The Titan requires more than just a reminder of his identity... He requires time and resources. His soul can not be compared to other dormant wisps."

"Resources?" Levi's brow twitched.

"Anything related to spirit, gemstones, metal, or earth." Ash'Kral said solemnly, "Once the Titan's wisp awakens, this crown will be usable again... At a limited capacity, but still, it can be upgraded slowly over time until it reaches the limit of what its current material could provide."

"Say less."

Upon hearing this, Levi's expression changed for the better... He got out of the Crown, leaving Ash'Kral alone there.

Then, he opened his dimensional wallet and checked for the mentioned resources. Since the treasury belonged to Grave'Maw, most of the treasures were related to his species.

Levi excluded the ones that his brother might need for his upcoming two perfect evolutions, and then he gathered the rest on one side.

There were about sixty with various grades... Some were even reaching Grade A! These were just the ones with a connection to spirit, gemstones, metal, and earth.

There were about fifty more from other origins.

With Grave'Maw's territory covering hundreds of kilometers for decades, he earned good yearly rewards from the CRS Platform.

Levi called for Ash'Kral, and he came out with a solemn expression.

"Is this everything?"

"Yes, I saved a couple for Arthy, but everything else is here." Levi answered.

'Good, now meet me in my place in the Shadow Dimension.'

'Your place? Where is it?'

'It's hard to give a location in the Shadow Dimension if you know nothing about it.' Ash'Kral said, 'Just find any Stygian Gate, and I will meet you there.'

'Fine.'

...

Sometime later... In the Shadow Dimension.

Levi and Ash'Kral were seen jumping from one floating boulder to another as if gravity barely applied to them.

"What is this place? Where are those shattered islands heading?"

Levi asked in intrigue, his eyes drawn to the river of colorless stone and dirt being pulled into the void... They had been traveling across it for a while now, and it didn't seem to be ending anytime soon.

'It's the River of Disloyalty... and you don't want to know where it's heading.'

'River of Disloyalty...' Levi mumbled.

Just as he was about to ask for more details, Ash'Kral announced their arrival. He floated towards his ruined castle and entered the throne chamber from a massive hole in a wall.

Then, he landed on the throne's armchair and watched Levi stumble down, still not used to the gravity.

"Don't tell me this is your place... You can't be serious."

The moment Levi saw the castle's shitty condition, he couldn't help but curl his lips in vexation.

"What? Isn't it cozy?" Ash'Kral chuckled, "It has such a natural lighting to it... Plus, with this many holes, the sweet corrupting breeze is blowing everywhere... What else do you want?"

"..."

Levi remained silent, gazing at the wide-open ceiling above them.

He could understand that Ash'Kral was broke in the Boundless Expanse... But also in the Shadow Dimension? He started to see a pattern here.

'This prick can't manage his resources for shit.' Levi sighed helplessly.

"Brat, enough cursing me behind my back." Ash'Kral steeled his tone, "This is my temporary motel... It's the nearest one to your holy region."

"If you say so... Now, tell me what we are doing here?"

Levi changed the subject despite Ash'Kral's annoyed look.

"I need to create an array to help the Titan's Crown absorb the resources and strengthen its wisp." Ash'Kral shared while landing on the floor next to Levi, "I believe it is about 80% complete... Once we help with the last 20%, I can try then to awaken him using his memories."

"I see... Do you need any help?"

"No, just sit on the side and watch."

"Ok."

Levi wasn't too bothered by his response... He knew that arrays were quite a difficult subject to understand, and more so, to operate at his level.

He was confident in his IIthorien language, but arrays needed more than that... They needed time and attention.

Levi already had too much on his plate to add another complicated system.

He had Ash'Kral, a great Arraymaster, and he was going nowhere for now.

...

About fifteen minutes later, Ash'Kral finished the array... He drew a massive gray circle using a chalk-like material... Just like all arrays, its design was complex and beautiful at the same time.

Every detail was perfect, and for it to work, it had to be.

"Put the Titan's Crown in the center, and surround it with the natural treasures... Ensure to put each treasure on the rune of Absorption." Ash'Kral said.

Levi did as he was told, placing the Crown first in the center. Then, he summoned one natural treasure after the other, putting them swiftly on top of the Rune of Absorption 'ᛟ'.

Then, he stepped away and watched Ash'Kral activate the array with a look of pure fascination.

It was long and complicated, with each sentence activating a portion of the array. Once all the sides were activated, Ash'Kral uttered at last, "Flicker faint, draw the breath, feed the spark... Give it life."

Immediately after, the central rune illuminated brightly, connecting with all the illuminated sides.

"Woah..."

Levi raised a brow in astonishment at the sight of the natural treasures starting to break apart into a colorful mist... It was spinning around the hovering Crown rapidly.

Then, something within the Crown seemed to have awakened to feast.

The mist was devoured rapidly, disappearing in almost an instant... The Titan's Crown fell on the ground, and its shimmer died at once.

"Did it work?" Levi asked, crouching next to it.

"It did work alright..." Ash'Kral's eyelids twitched, "But the old prick is as gluttonous as in the past..."

Hearing this, Levi's heart skipped a beat.

"How much did those treasures cover?" He asked.

"About 11%."

"..." Levi went silent.

Although it might seem like 11% wasn't so bad, Levi knew that to cover the remaining 9%, he needed to sell most of the natural treasures in his possession, and it would barely cover it.

His heart was already pained at investing sixty natural treasures on the first attempt.

Yet, Levi took a deep breath and stood up with an expression filled with conviction.

The Titan had to awaken.

The Crown had to be used.

Levi had no plans to put an Artifact with a triple S potential on the side... Regardless of how much it would cost, he needed this artifact.

To achieve this, he ought to sell in the Boundless Realm's markets... However, the only way to access them physically was to be an owner of any territory in the Boundless Expanse.

Since Levi had no access to the markets and had no connection in the Expanse besides the brokie Ash'Kral... It left him with one direct option to become an owner.

"Looks like it's time for my second game," Levi uttered calmly.

The shivers of joining the game and killing others were gone the moment he held Melissa's lifeless hand.

He knew at that moment the true meaning of being weak and helpless... and Levi wanted to avoid feeling like that ever again.

Otherwise, the next time it happened, he would be holding his brother's bloody hands.

On the quest for strength... Guilty consciousness had to take a long sick leave.