“The future that she showed you will come to pass,” Weiwu replied. “And with it, the end of all things. Perhaps, years later, when all life on Orb comes to an end, the Demon Sovereign would set his eyes on the stars beyond, and become a scourge that roams the stars. If the Sentinel of Space falls to him, the latter will almost be a certainty.”

The great god glanced at Gaius. “Is that enough?”

“You’re quite the melodramatic person,” the boy replied. “But you’re probably right.”

“Yes. And most importantly, there’ll be no second chance. This is the second chance.

“And yet, Hereward and Aldnath are doing something in Cybral, instead of helping out at the Southern Continent.” Gaius rubbed his nose. “Or are their actions here meant to improve our chances? The more I think about it, the more curious I get.”

Sighing a few times, he plodded back into the pavilion, where the half-completed statue of Aldnath was sitting there. Weiwu’s presence faded away as he swept off some stray splinters of wood, and after taking a few rounds around the sculpture, Gaius couldn’t help but feel somewhat stifled. It still didn’t look like the picture of the great god that the Church of Time had disseminated.

His sculpture did replicate Weiwu’s form perfectly, but it lacked the spirit. No matter how he tried, Gaius could not sculpt a sublime ferocity that Aldnath had displayed in the photo. Thel-Da, who had escorted him to the new city that would serve as the base for Aldnath’s adherents, also insisted that the sculpture he created should be portrayed as breathing fire, which just added to the complexity.

Gaius picked up his knife, fixed a stray notch on the lower end of the sculpture, and then set the carving knife down again.

“La-Ti,” he called out, “what do you think? It is missing something, right?”

His little apprentice, who had been whiling away by making a small sculpture of Weiwu, jerked, and then looked his way. His tiny face scrunched up, and after hopping a few times to look at the head of the dragon, La-Ti rubbed his nose twice. “It’s really missing something.”

“Nakama calls that missing something ‘spirit’, which is essential to making sculptures seem alive,” said Gaius. “For me, I only can do that after I observe someone exhibit a particular emotion or state of mind. You’ve been doing that unconsciously, La-Ti, so you can put down that notebook.”

The hardworking apprentice put the small book away obediently, and Gaius patted his head. “Here’s the problem I have. What is the spirit of Aldnath, or even a dragon? What little things do they do? What physical tics do they have? My little apprentice, here’s a nugget of wisdom from me.”

La-Ti leaned forward by a tiny bit, but that was more than enough for Gaius to see his apprentice’s desire to learn.

“The wisdom I have is this: do not bite off more than you can chew. Never do sculptures of subjects you cannot personally observe.” Gaius sighed ruefully. “I’m a bit too arrogant for my own good. Wasted my time here.”

He drew his right arm back, intending to pulverise the sculpture he spent a few days on. “Hmm?”

La-Ti blocked the trajectory of his fist, and Gaius raised an eyebrow. “You have a solution?”

“Why not just observe Aldnath?” La-Ti asked.

“As in, ask them to let me see him?” Gaius rubbed his nose. “I don’t want to bother other people, though.”

“It’s worth a try, right?” The boy blinked his eyes twice, and Gaius sighed. For some reason, it seemed that La-Ti wanted him to finish the sculpture, and Gaius couldn’t bring himself to reject the little fellow.

“If only Nakama was here…but she’s busy making a body for you,” Gaius mused. “Alright, I’ll go ahead and ask. You’re right, I guess. The Church of Time would definitely want a masterpiece. They’re probably going to approve my request.”

Heading out of the pavilion, Gaius found a clerk of City No.78112 napping. The city itself was one of the newest ones, as indicated by its number, and it was built by the Thel family for the express purpose of housing the Church of Time. Tapping the fellow awake, Gaius made his desire to see Thel-Da known, and she soon came running over.

“Craftsman Gai-Us, do you need anything?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact. I’m at an impasse — if I am to make a true masterpiece, I must observe Aldnath for a period of time,” said Gaius. “I don’t need to get up close, but I must see him with my own eyes.”

“That’s…going to be rather hard.”

“Hard? Why?”

“Aldnath just entered something he called seclusion and is refusing all visitors,” she replied. “And when I say ‘just’, I mean it literally. Can you make do with videos instead? I’ll inform you once he exits seclusion.”

“I suppose that’s probably the only thing I can do, then,” Gaius replied. “Incidentally, do you know the reason behind why all visitors are being refused?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Point.”

“Anyway, how’s the commission going?” Thel-Da asked.

“I suppose it’ll be faster if I show you what I’ve done so far,” Gaius replied. Motioning for her to follow, Gaius retraced his steps and explained to Thel-Da the problems he was currently facing. After using a few sentences to explain the woes of an artist, the boy stopped speaking — Thel-Da clearly wasn’t interested in the intricacies of sculpting.

It was a pity, but she too was a busy woman. After cutting to the chase, she nodded her head in a bout of well-feigned understanding, and then fobbed Gaius off by promising to send for him if Aldnath exited seclusion.

Gaius shrugged at her shrinking silhouette. “We’ll be leaving for Orb anytime soon. Not sure why she didn’t get the urgency in my words, though.”

“Maybe you should make it explicit,” La-Ti suggested.

“Not happening.” Gaius picked up his knife and twiddled his thumbs, waiting for Thel-Da to send the videos over. It wasn’t the optimal solution, but he was confident that he could make something work with them. “And besides, if those people knew…they might lock us up.”

The two sighed in tandem, and then La-Ti returned to his daily practice.

Gaius nodded to himself at that sight, before picking up a small block of wood and began to make a figure of the pavilion around him. As he whittled away, his mind wandered over to Aldnath.

What is a great god doing in seclusion?