Samantha shifted gears to focus on personal development again for the rest of the nighttime interim. Spells! It was high time to finish up the level 6 ‘glyph aura’ spell, which despite being ‘present-day lacking’ in her leveled oomph, was still part of a quest completion for designing a Protection spell.

  She was around 3/4th done with it when she started… the completion of the actual nuts and bolts, testing out prototypes, and so forth took her less than ten minutes, though it dragged past that anyway due to the decision-making process. She added in some FE infusion by necessity, as level 6 spells would need it to be relevant compared to the levels she could otherwise work on.

  Noice! Definitely a preparatory priority. Too bad level 6 doesn’t give [Comprehension: Evolver] rewards. Need to focus on 8+ going forward. And yet, here I am with practically two free spells of low level. Ehhh. I dunno right now. A free skill upgrade… oh! That reminds me I have one of those as a reward from Ozra’s shenanigans, and it doesn’t count against maximums!

  She kinda already knew what she wanted to build up — from preliminary research — so she made the purchase immediately.

  It’s a No-Brainer for battle mages. Zephyr says every [Wizard] should at least pick up the first level because both of those are super common. In high-level duels, (Warding) ends up being the last priority to stack for defensive bonuses because of it, but can still be worth it if one also has Magical Resistance. A good reminder I need to stack them myself.

  Arcane Breach’s bonuses were exceptionally well-known. 2 at Expert, 3 at Master, and 5 at Grandmaster.

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  She preliminarily set up legit training for getting it to Expert. Inevitably, she’d have to actually utilize it for real, but training assisted development, at least. It was a logical target for the eventual quest reward, which would bring her to Master with relatively limited investment. Grandmaster… Well, that was a stretch anytime soon. One day, maybe. But -5 would wipe out the vast majority of (Warding) bonuses completely.

  The items being flown in from the north had arrived at the Sun Temple, so Sammy shifted to the Bridge of Edges and over to the locale, grabbed the items, and shifted back to Itha Ranon. A skip and a jump back to Geirkos and she was delivering the giant geode thing to Tashome. Meanwhile, she donned the brooch with a disposable cloak, figuring it would be pretty sweet to fling it off dramatically when she summoned the shield.

  I can’t wait! It’ll be so fucking cool!

  With a last admiring looksie and a sigh, she took off her Ring of Shield Projection and set it down gently on a nice display pillow. It wouldn’t remain there for long. She punted who needed it most to Jeeves and the greater Brain Trust to decide.

  “Thank you,” Sammy said solemnly to it. “You’ve served me well and looked good doing it, but now it’s time to serve another. Please do so with all your power, and especially keep being super shiny and pretty.”

  She felt her other ring shift a bit, and Sammy shifted her hand just enough to peek. She caught the Ring of the Cheater’s nagi figure with her hands in a prayer sign, bowing her head respectfully, as if mimicking its owner’s homage. Sammy fought off a grin.

  Adorable!

  Her next act to focus on was something long overdue. She checked the associated ability to make sure she could do it in time, and it didn’t seem like it took hours and hours, so that was a green light.

  She made her way to Itha Ranon and sought out the ‘cathedral’ Azure had mentioned. It was built into the structure of the grand tower, yet was mostly its own separate building with a high-rise center and tower on top. It was massive, indeed as resplendent as any cathedral of Earth. Like the rest of the structure, the stone was enchanted and had a subtle glint of magic.

  Inside, it was even more awe-inspiring. The vaulted ceiling was replete with geometric framework in dark bronze, the inner stone multihued in the remains of faded murals in connected triangular panels. Still-impeccable crystalline, faintly colored panels were present in the center, filtering in natural light. This all curved down and was connected to large pillars to either side, which also served as part of the border for balcony railings for a multi-storied structure of seating and pathways. Everything was intricately carved. Rather than pews, innumerable white wood chairs were in many rows, seemingly connected to a blue marble floor inset in gold runes down the middle.

  The central raised platform at the far end was huge to accommodate a choir at the back, and also many elaborate chairs for presumable VIPs during a service. Above the platform was the most glorious central piece of everything in the place: what seemed like a small palace or castle rising up into a glowing blue sky, a combination of gold, blue, and violet from colors and lighting that held an uncanny and soul-touching beauty. It announced majesty. Holiness.

  What was once highlighted within that structure was, however, marred and lost. Statues of grand figures melted like wax; pivotal cherished scenes of remembrance were broken and forgotten. The architecture was a tragic irony — like a vast panoply of arrows pointing at focal points that had been blurred and smeared. So much beauty trying to accentuate and honor what had been turned to dust.

  It’s gone. But… we’re here to stand in the gap. We can’t bring them back, can’t restore this, but we can honor the spirit. We can make use of what was preserved.

  The Archangel Dina, the budding brilliant artist, along with other Servitor helpers and like-minded Followers, was already in the process of that. She and a few Angels and Sirens were flying above, painting the basework of new murals. A trio of Followers, one of them a sculptor, were cooperating next to one of the big, lit-up alcoves, magic being used to reshape stone to specification.

  Hmm. I think what I plan will help them out quite a bit.

  Samantha floated up in the air and cast out her hands, targeting the place as a whole with her ability [Consecration]. Threads of Fate burst from her to intertwine within the stone, wood, and spirit of the place. A part of her wrapped into it; a piece of her was poured within and saturated throughout. The air took on a glow as the scarce others present paused and beheld their goddess work another miracle.

  “I inhabit here,” the Goddess of Fate and Light declared solemnly, her voice echoing off those glorious walls like a voice evolving into music. Sammy lost herself within it, within the many invocations far higher than her. “All who come will be known in me, and I in them. [Reflection], [Mystery], [Insight], [Illumination], [Pragmatism]... soon, [Virtuosity]. One and all, time’s arrows fired toward tomorrow. One and all, [Progress]. So we shall harness, so we shall strike and drive like an engine.”

  Angels, Sirens, and Followers bowed their heads in solemn agreement.

  Well, well, well. Well, well, well-well-well! Hahahaha! Magic Domain, here I come!

  Thanks for reading!

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