As I examined that interference more closely, the logic behind it became obvious. Astral beings weren’t just powerful—they were conceptual. They existed as thought given form, which meant they didn’t fit neatly into the authority structures the Fey Courts relied on. Letting something like Urg move freely through their realm wasn’t just a risk of violence. It was a risk of change, and everything about this system was built to preserve a carefully managed equilibrium.

  That understanding didn’t make the resistance any weaker, but it made it predictable. The Fey System wasn’t reacting to Urg specifically. It was reacting to what he represented. A being outside its hierarchy, outside its lifecycle, and outside its control was the exact kind of variable the Courts had spent millennia eliminating. Knowing that shifted my approach from confrontation to redirection.

  System Sight 14 >> 16

  I opened my eyes and looked back at Tad. “I see why they don’t want him here,” I said quietly. “Urg isn’t under their authority, and he never will be. He’s a being of thought and intent, not growth or decay. To them, that’s anathema.” I paused. “But you’re proof that they can tolerate exceptions when it suits them.”

  Tad’s expression tightened with a grim focus. “So what do you need from me?”

  “Your blessing,” I replied. “A bridge. I can push the summon, but the moment it manifests, the system will try to shut it down. If your authority is already present and accepting him, it won’t be able to reject him outright.”

  Tad didn’t answer immediately. He closed his eyes and reached inward, the dual authority within him stirring as summer warmth and Void precision aligned. When he opened his eyes again, there was no doubt left in his gaze. “Then do it,” he said. “If they’re going to fight this, they’ll have to fight both of us.”

  I drew in a slow breath and centered myself, fingers curling as I reached for the summoning. The static intensified the moment I began, pressure building behind my eyes as the Fey System pushed back harder. Even so, the bond to Urg flared bright and steady, unwavering despite the interference. I braced myself, knowing the next step wouldn’t be gentle, and nodded once to Tad.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  The resistance spiked the moment I committed. The static turned into pressure, then pain, like trying to force my way through a storm that existed inside my skull. I felt Tad’s authority surge beside me, commanding summer and Void to accept what I was doing. The Fey System pushed back hard, and the air around us began to vibrate with a high, keening tension that made my teeth ache.

  My knees hit the floor before I realized I’d lost the strength to stand. Tad went down with me, one hand braced against the stone, the other clenched tight as if he were holding the world together by the strength of his grasp. I could feel his power straining, stretching thin across too many vectors at once. Somewhere behind us, I heard Fara move. Her presence snapped into place at Tad’s side like a drawn blade.

  “What are you doing to him?” she demanded, her voice sharp with fear and fury.

  “No,” Tad muttered, the word dragged out like it cost him something. “He’s not hurting me.”

  I couldn’t spare a thought for her, not now. The bond to Urg was blazing, a clear line of certainty cutting through the static, and I followed it with everything I had. I shoved the summoning through Tad’s acceptance, anchoring it in his authority instead of letting it collide directly with the system’s rejection. The pain doubled, then tripled, my vision fracturing into overlapping layers as the Fey System tried to reassert control.

  I screamed inward with my will. The static tore. It wasn’t clean, but it was enough.

  The air in the warehouse rippled like heat over stone. Space folded inward, then outward, reality stretching to make room for something that didn’t belong and was coming anyway. I felt the pressure release in a sudden, violent rush, and the system’s resistance collapsed into a furious background hum that no longer had purchase. The summoning circle burned itself into existence as if it had every right to be there.

  Urg stepped through.

  He emerged fully formed, as if he’d been waiting just beyond a door someone had finally opened. Ebony skin caught the light like polished obsidian, muscles carved deep and precise as living stone. His torso was broad, his neck thick, and his head tilted slightly as he took in the space with eyes that glowed with quiet awareness.

  Four arms unfolded as he moved, each one powerful and steady, hands flexing as if testing the rules of this place. White wings spread behind him, vast and immaculate, feathers edged in faint luminescence that contrasted starkly with his dark form. The air shifted around him, pressure equalizing, the dungeon reacting with something that felt suspiciously like respect. A moment later, I heard Spot’s voice audibly. “Greetings, Astral Lord to be. The Ways acknowledge you.”

  I felt him then, fully and completely, the bond snapping into perfect clarity. Relief crashed over me so hard it almost knocked me unconscious, and I sagged forward, catching myself with one hand on the floor. Urg turned toward me immediately, his presence enveloping, familiar, grounding in a way nothing else ever had been.

  He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.

  The static faded into nothing, the Fey System’s resistance withdrawing into sullen silence as if it had just lost an argument it hadn’t expected to have in the first place. I could feel Tad’s authority settle, the strain easing as he sucked in a ragged breath and pushed himself upright with Fara’s help. Around us, the warehouse felt different now, altered by the presence of something ancient and uncontained.

  Urg stood there, wings half-spread, four arms relaxed at his sides, a being of thought and power made manifest in a realm that had tried very hard to keep him out. My strength ran out, and Tad and I collapsed. Urg caught me, of course, and I had enough presence to see Fara catch Tad.

  The notifications briefly pulled me out of my stupor.

  You have acted in defiance of the Fey System. Error. Authority granted, authority used. Consequences being calculated.

  Diplomatic Immunity as a System Mediator acknowledged.

  You have summoned your companion, Urg. His status has been boosted by 10%, as ascension draws closer.

  Summon Eidolon is ready to evolve to legendary tier. This cannot be delayed. Prepare for evolution.

  Then there was blackness. It wasn’t oblivion or unconsciousness, but oneness with Urg. It was all that mattered, and visuals were not necessary. I could feel his presence as certainly as I could feel my own, yet he was so much more than I could have ever prepared myself for.

  Chapter Forty-Four: Delivery

  Despite the absence of light, I felt warm and surrounded. I knew that my soul was communing with Urg’s as the spell was evolving.

  “Image is always making enemies too big for him. This must change. Image must become bigger. Image will become bigger, but never stop being Image.”

  “I’ve missed you, Urg. I tried to summon you as soon as we got here. If I—”

  “Between us, never is there need for sorrow. Always, we are connected.”

  His words, complete with their particular grammar, gave me greater comfort than I would have expected. “What happens now?”

  “Legendary spell is peak of mortal realm. Just as racial and class evolutions were bigger, this is bigger. It touches our souls and must reflect that. Urg will be able to be more as Image grows stronger. This part of that.”

  There was energy all around me, overpowering but welcoming. It was part of me. I felt the spell evolving and leaned into it.

  Your spell Summon Eidolon is evolving. It is your anchor to Urg, the Astral Lord to be. This will expand your soul.

  Primordial Aspect noted. Mortality accepted. Potential calls to potential.

  The upgraded spell can add one of two benefits.

  Summon Eidolon: Pocket Dimension

  Your soul has been judged to be strong enough. The evolution will create a pocket dimension connected to both the astral plane and your soul. Urg may reside there and thus be summoned to you despite system barriers, because he will already be wherever you are.

  Summon Eidolon: Unrealized Potential

  Urg is more than he seems and may become greater still. By choosing this ability, with Urg’s agreement, he may access a larger portion of his true potential, significantly greater than his current form, for up to one minute. Then he must return to the astral plane for thirty days.

  The tactical advantages of the second option were tempting, especially because I was worried that the Order had an ascendant here, but it wasn’t enough for me to give up always having Urg around. I asked him, but in typical Urg style, he deferred to me. I went with the pocket dimension option.

  Summon Eidolon has evolved to Summon Eidolon—Pocket Dimension (Legendary 1%).

  You gain +1000 Will, as your soul has stretched to accommodate the bond. Urg’s Abilities are updated to more closely reflect your soul.

  Ability Imitation (Legendary 6/7):

  Here Not Here

  Blood is Life

  Hunter’s Tether

  Force Projection Mastery

  Spirit Singing

  Lightning Arc Mastery

  Spell Imitation (Legendary 4/5):

  Celestial Restoration

  Cloud of Mana Disruption

  Line of Sight Teleportation

  Primordial Surge

  Abilities:

  Thunderous Taunt

  Bastion of Sound

  Protective Encasement

  Astral Ideation

  Blip

  You also gain the Active Ability: Blip. This ability allows you to skip one second forward in time. You will not experience that second, nor will any force weaker than divine tier be able to affect you during that second. Your position will remain the same in the physical realm, although if you would be harmed by reappearing in the same spot, you will be shunted to the closest location which will not result in harm.

  You will adapt to the blip in time, but everyone else around you will be slightly disoriented, unlike if you had simply teleported.

  Note: You will have to trade this out for one of your current active abilities if you wish to use it.

  Upon Urg’s next summoning, his stats will be updated to 300% of your current stats, but with your stat effectiveness bonuses applied.

  For tinkering with a system outside of the Heavens, your Tinker with the System title has upgraded to Tinker with All Systems. This extends your power, but does not give you full Architect privileges with other systems.

  I sucked in a deep breath, then squeezed Urg in a hug. “I missed you so much, buddy.” I pulled myself up, and he stood with me. “It sounds like you might get a good boost if I resummon you, but I think I’ll wait on that, just in case.”

  “Urg missed Image as well. Urg understands, but Image not need wait to summon again. With upgrade, Urg not ever be cut off from Image. This is the way.”

  I did a double take. “Did you just quote the Mandalorian?”

  “Did Urg do it wrong?”

  I laughed. “Not at all. I just wasn’t expecting it from you. This is gonna be great.”

  “Powerful foes in this place. Urg feels better that he is here to protect Image now. Has been watching as best as possible. Urg not had chance to say, but approve of choice of other half of heart. Already feel a nascent connection with her.”

  “Wait, you’re saying that you and Selena will establish a connection like we have?”

  “Never like this, never full soul bond, but as two halves of heart grow together, emotions provide a bridge and connection. Will make Urg better. Will make heart half better.”

  I was dumbfounded by that, but I couldn’t have been happier. I found a chair and sat down. I needed to decide what to do with Blip. I might have normally pushed it off, but I needed to stop punishing future Silas. I looked over my current list of active abilities.

  Active Abilities:

  Here Not Here (Epic 90%)

  Force Construct Mastery—Persistent (Legendary 13%)

  Lightning Arc Mastery (Epic 55%)

  Self-Propagation (Epic 32%)

  Inheritance: Spirit Walk (Legendary 3%)

  Inheritance 2: Spirit Singing (Legendary 64%)

  Inheritance 3: Terrakinesis (Epic 92%)

  Inheritance 4: Mana Body (Epic 8%)

  Here Not Here, Force Constructs, and Lightning Arc were immediately off the table, as they were the foundation of my battle build. Something inside of me said not to get rid of Self-Propagation. It had proven how deadly it could be, especially in conjunction with Blood is Life.

  So that left me wondering if I could substitute Blip for one of the Inheritance slots. I chuckled, but only inside my head. I was an Architect. If I couldn’t manage something like that, I might as well give up. I couldn’t sacrifice Spirit Singing. It was too powerful and had gotten me out of too many jams to count. I didn’t use Spirit Walk as often, but it was also useful in specific situations, like the behemoth we had just defeated. Terrakinesis was admittedly an underutilized ability, but it screamed with the potential to be more powerful than any of the others, at least when on Earth.

  It would have to be Mana Body. It was useful enough, but it was my least progressed ability, and Kaiju Silas had never felt right to me. With the decision made, I shifted out Mana Body, replacing it with Blip.

  Inheritance 4: Blip (Legendary 1%)

  I was glad to see that it was already at legendary tier and even happier to see that Mana Body wasn’t lost for good, simply marked as inactive.

  I took a look around. The summoning of Urg and the evolution of the ability had taken nearly two hours. A glance at my system clock showed that it had been nearly twenty hours since Oliver and Clay had left.

  A short time after my upgrades, Selena and Samvek came back with the team. They’d both gained a pair of levels, and the elves were all sitting at level 246. It was impressive to say the least. When I walked over to Selena, I could see that she’d been pushing hard once again. On instinct, I cast Clean and watched as it washed over everyone around me.

  Selena sighed. “Yeah, that’s the good stuff. I should probably keep you around just for that spell.”

  I laughed and hugged her, though it soon transitioned to a kiss. I could feel how tired she was—so tired that she did a double take at the astral elephant in the room. “Urg? How… never mind.” She let go of me and walked over to hug the eidolon. “I felt like he was closer. I even mentioned it to Samvek a couple hours ago, didn’t I?”

  Samvek nodded.

  “Heart half is connected to Image,” Urg said. “Urg is connected to Image as well. This makes sort of connection between heart half and Urg.”

  If she was confused by what he said, she didn’t let on, but she hugged him tighter. “I’m glad you’re here, Urg. I need all the help I can get keeping Silas from doing stupid stuff.”

  After that, I managed to convince everyone to lie down and rest. It felt like putting kids to bed with how keyed up everybody was. I was about to sit down myself when the door opened. Lexa sprang into action, but stood down as Oliver and Clay came in. Both looked worn in that particular way that came from sustained tension rather than combat, from holding themselves rigid for hours at a time while waiting for something to go wrong. Their shoulders were tight, and their eyes constantly flicked around as if they were expecting pursuit, even now. Neither was carrying 25,000 pounds of iron.

  Tad and I approached them. Oliver flexed magically, and I felt a spatial disruption. Suddenly, there were five impressive pallets of iron ingots. “25,000 pounds of iron as requested, although we wiped out much of the supply in the city. I can’t promise there won’t be repercussions. The city runs on iron.”

  Oliver’s shoulders finally loosened a fraction once the iron was out in the open, as if seeing it physically present proved the danger was over. Clay leaned against the doorframe for a moment, hands on his knees, breathing out slowly before straightening. I looked them over again, happy to note that neither of them looked injured, just exhausted. The iron ingots sat there in neat stacks, dull and unassuming, belying how much effort it had taken to get them here unseen.

  “It wasn’t easy,” Clay said, rubbing the back of his neck, “and not because of the weight. Oliver’s magic took care of that, once he figured it out.” The way he looked at the mage told me there was a story there, but I didn’t press. “It was more because of how jumpy everyone is,” Clay continued. “The Order has people on edge, and iron doesn’t exactly disappear quietly. I’m halfway convinced that some of the smiths assumed I’m trying to build an army of guild members to fight the Order.”

  Oliver gave a tired nod in agreement, then took over the explanation without being prompted. “I couldn’t risk moving it in pieces. Too many trips, too many chances to be noticed. Instead, I collapsed it into a layered spatial containment, something like a nested pocket, but anchored to my own mana signature so it couldn’t be detected easily.” He winced slightly. “Holding that much mass compressed like that for hours is not something I want to make a habit of.”

  I let out a low whistle. “I have an ability that gives me a spatial container, and I know many people who have rings and such for them, but I’ve never considered the idea of making one myself. I bet that was tricky.”

  Tad crouched beside one of the pallets, running his hand along the iron as if greeting an old friend. “This is more than enough,” he said, relief bleeding into his tone. “Silas, you were right to ask for extra. If something goes wrong, we won’t have to stop.”

  “That was the idea,” I replied. I felt a familiar itch in my hands already, the urge to start shaping, refining, turning raw material into something purposeful. “Once we start, there’s no backing out halfway. Better to have too much than not enough.”

  Oliver exhaled and leaned back against a crate. “Good. Because I don’t think I could repeat that trick tonight even if my life depended on it.” His eyes flicked toward the door, then back to us. “We weren’t followed, but it’s getting harder to move unnoticed. The Order has broadened their search from the obvious targets.”