“Right. You wanted one with all kinds of passives…well, this is a very common request,” Pinnacle Kolya replied. “For Lords, that is. Have you reached that state already? Or did you figure it out on your own?”

“The latter,” Gaius replied. “Still, what did that first part mean?”

“Lords usually trade up their Engines for ones with lots of passives when they’re about to become a Paragon,” Kolya replied. “The Reckoning is a mental trial, after all. Passive Abilities are far easier to manifest within the landscape of the mind, compared to active ones.”

“The Reckoning?” Gaius asked.

“When one looks back on their journey as a Knight and as a Lord,” Kolya replied. “The closer you are to your ideals, the easier the trial. The aspects surrounding the Reckoning are nebulous, but it boils down to faith and will.”

“Faith and will,” Gaius murmured.

“Yes. Paragons are the pinnacle of mortal lives,” Kolya replied. “They are called Paragons because they embody a certain ideal. A mortal’s path of life is filled with fear and doubt. But Paragons, as those who have walked a chosen path to its very end, must face whatever comes next with an unshakeable will. They continue on, beyond the beaten path, with their ideal as their guide and as themselves.”

“And this guide manifests as a full-fledged Dominion. Their will manifest,” Gaius finished. “Is that right?”

“According to prevailing theories, yes. At this point, they are no longer supported by the energies of life, but by their own will and beliefs. The Dominion is the strongest weak point anyone could hope to have,” the Pinnacle said. “You know what I mean, no?”

“The Psyche-splitting Strike,” said Gaius.

“You’ve heard about it, I see,” Pinnacle Kolya replied.

“Hard not to, when the trends for the past few years were all about the Constellations,” Gaius replied. Of course, he’d done his own research too — now that the Constellations were dead and gone, no one would call the Information Brokers to task for leaking out their secrets. But it was still worth it; what if the Human God really decided to summon another bunch of people from Earth again?

“Well, since you know the dangers of summoning a Dominion…” Pinnacle Kolya shook his head. “It’s a pity we don’t know how the Psyche-splitting Strike works, though. It would be a fine surprise for the demons if we did. Anyway, I got something you’d definitely like.”

The box in his hand floated over to Gaius, who didn’t open it. “It’s an Engine overloaded with passives. Other than Flight and Sigil Manifestation, it has three passive abilities, all courtesy of the Oracle. Mind’s Eye, Precognition and Ring of Truth.”

Gaius licked his lips as the Pinnacle went through them. The first ability enabled him to predict with near-perfect accuracy the movements of any target in sight. The second would warn him of any kinds of incoming danger, and the last allowed him to see through most illusions.

Personally, the boy hadn’t seen an illusion-type Ability before, save for his own Optical Illusions ability. But in its defence…Gaius hadn’t used Optical and Auditory Illusions much either.

“Just what I needed,” Gaius replied. “Thank you.”

“I haven’t exactly fulfilled my own side of the deal yet, though,” Kolya said. “I promised to let you look through my private vault, no? I got you something that belongs to me, but you haven’t looked through a vault yet.”

Puzzled, Gaius tilted his head. “So…am I still going to look through your vault?”

“Not mine, that’s for sure,” he replied. “No. We discovered a sizable vault in the Central Circle. We’ve started to explore it, but there’s a slight problem with it.”

“What problem?”

“Everyone who enters is entitled to one treasure only,” he answered. “This incredible restriction is probably due to the workings of a Zeroth Armament, and it’s so strong that even Demigods have to obey it. Furthermore, everyone can only enter once.”

“Well, just get your countrymen to go in and walk out,” Gaius replied. “Unless…”

“Yes, you need to pass a test to enter. A combat test for everyone who wants to enter.” The Pinnacle rolled his eyes. “It’s a Knight. Nothing much for you and me, but for the general populace, it might as well be a glorified suicide method.”

Gaius nodded his head. Knights weren’t all that rare in the Five Lands, but they weren’t exactly as common as cabbages either. There was a reason why Knights could serve as city lords of small cities, despite their seeming abundance in the capitals of the Five Lands. And besides, not all Knights were made equal.

After nodding in agreement, Gaius turned his attention over to a question that had plagued him. “Pinnacle Kolya, I heard that this Unity was a brainchild of the Mortal Light Dynasty and Ark City. Is it possible that the beastfolk might have something like that of that own?”

“Hmm?” The Pinnacle blinked. “Oh, right. It’s said that you were in Ark City for some time. Well, the reason why the Unity was only recently complete was because we made a breakthrough in initial propulsion. We already had prototypes long ago; but we had no way of moving the Unity quickly enough to matter.”

“Oh.”

“There are probably other ways of getting such vessels up into the air,” Pinnacle Kolya hurriedly said. “Ark City’s scientists are in no way inferior to the North’s, not with a monstrous genius in their ranks. It’s possible that they’ve found some way too.”

“I see.” Gaius shook his head. “Thank you.”

For telling me what I want to know. Without such developments, Gaius didn't really like the chances of Ark City surviving. With the demons’ invasion close at hand, unless the Demon God was a fool, he would not leave a ticking timebomb in the Wildlands.

Unless, of course, Ark City was in some remote corner of the fabled continent. But knowing the beastfolk’s luck…that probably wasn’t the case. Sighing, Gaius took his leave and returned to his seat, where an asleep Nakama promptly grabbed his hand.