'I'll have to stay in the Sanctuary longer than expected.' Damien thought to himself.
For a treasure that read fate to put the universe's fate in his hands meant that it didn't trust the chances of the universe's countless other residents.
To say he was its only hope meant everyone else was worthless.
Damien couldn't accept it at all.
'You want to make me do all the work? Don't make me laugh.'
If the universe's current forces were insufficient, then Damien could only raise them into something greater.
It was clear that the treasury wasn't opposed to this thought process either, considering the treasures it gave him.
'Realistically, I get no benefit from these things, only the people under me will be able to utilize them.'
But that didn't matter.
That was for the better.
Because while his people would grow, the Sanctuary would grow too.
It didn't matter if the Sanctuary didn't increase Damien's strength directly. The budding universe was his life's work, his most important masterpiece, and his greatest goal. It's expansion was exactly what he wanted to see.
'Time Dilation.'
Damien tapped the air and adjusted the Sanctuary's time flow, slowing it down to give him several weeks of time without affecting his activities in the outside world.
'With the current time difference, I have a 30 days in the Sanctuary per hour in the outside world. It's more than enough for the current task.'
Damien's body flashed, reappearing in the void of the Sanctuary, far away from the bounds of Theavel.
'First, let's test the main thing.'
Damien took out the iridescent blue seed and threw it into the void before him. In the next instant, he flicked his finger and extended a Celestial Mana Thread that pierced through the middle of the seed.
"Take as much mana as you want and bloom."
As if responding to Damien's words, the seed began to shake and expand.
Within a few seconds, Damien's entire mana capacity of 500,000 was consumed.
He burst with power, connecting to his Void Physique and replenishing his mana at a rate that was still far slower than it was being sucked.
'Damn!' Damien exclaimed inwardly.
The Sanctuary's ambient mana levels were nowhere near the true universe's. With this rate of consumption, the Sanctuary absolutely wouldn't be able to stand his consumption!
VOOM!
A terrifying wave of power spread from the seed as it expanded to the size of a skyscraper, showing no signs of stopping.
It's current form was a beautiful starry blue ball.
Damien grinned when he saw it.
'As expected, it was a World Seed!'
The seed of a World Core, an incredibly rare treasure that was likely a nigh-completely unique treasure in the universe.
Damien wasn't even able to realize the proper value of what he'd received until this moment.
'If it's like that, then I can only go all out!'
Damien's breath went through a great change. The flurrying mana fluctuations emitting from his body vanished entirely.
His body floated in the void as with no presence at all, as if he was one with the void. If it wasn't for his current position, one could mistake him for a common mortal scholar.
Internally, Damien focused on his connection with the Real Plane, the tether that kept the Sanctuary connected to the point in space where he entered from, the same mechanism that allowed him to return to the Real Plane in the same place he entered from, regardless of whether or not he was on a moving object.
He activated the Breath of All Things, feeding it through the tether. From then on, a mystical phenomenon took place.
Damien's mana…traveled through planes of existence.
It used the tether as a medium to exert its influence in the real world. The Breath of All Things allowed Damien to create this concrete connection that absolutely should not have been possible, and through it…
A second pulse of Void Mana entered the tether, containing the Breath of Nothingness.
And imperceptibly, the mana in Astoria's courtyard flowed into his room, following the connection to nourish his body.
The entire process took no more than a few seconds.
And the response time between the Real Plane and the Sanctuary was almost instant.
'Let's get started then.'
With a grin, Damien expanded his mana without reserve.
BOOM!
The air in the outside world exploded. A massive black hole formed in Damien's room and began devouring the mana for several thousand kilometers, sending shockwaves throughout the entire palace.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Within the Sanctuary, Damien finally matched the World Seed's mana consumption rate, providing it the steady stream of mana it needed to complete its blooming.
Damien eventually lost track of time as he put his full concentration into maintaining the mana connection.
Unknowingly, half a day passed in the Sanctuary. The World Seed had already bloomed to the size of a moon, the usual size of a World Core, but it had yet to stop absorbing mana.
Before Damien's eyes, strange patterns formed on the World Core's surface.
'This…'
A surreal feeling filled his body.
'Am I about to witness a world being born?'
***
In the outside world, the commotion caused by Damien's actions wasn't small at all.
After all, the mana for several thousand kilometers began to disappear at a rate faster than it had ever been consumed before!
It was hard to not notice the swirling waves of mana that roared through the air like New Yorkers with somewhere to be. Within a minute, a massive crowd of guards and palace staff gathered before Astoria's residence, preparing to barge in to confront whatever force was hoarding the world's mana!
However, before they could enter, a voice responded in their ears.
"Leave it be."
Those three words were a supreme commandment, and though their interest reached an all-time high, the crowd could only disperse.
As they did, a figure materialized in their place and pushed open the doors.
The Golden Dragon Emperor's domineering form barely fit through Astoria's doorway, but he made his way into the courtyard, his eyes focused on Damien's room.
'He is not there.'
Damien was not in the room, and there was no trace of him at all.
However, the black hole intaking the roaring mana stream was hard to ignore.
'That man…'
The Golden Dragon Emperor's eyes narrowed.
Despite his strength, he couldn't explain the current phenomenon at all.
'Just who did I allow into my palace?'
The Emperor didn't know whether to regret or feel anticipated, but he knew that Damien was someone far more mysterious than he'd originally expected.
'For now, I will allow you to do as you please. When the time comes, I hope you repay my grace properly.'
The Golden Dragon Emperor flared his sleeve, causing a transparent golden barrier to cover the entire palace and several thousand kilometers outside of it, essentially turning the patch of land into an isolated dimension.
'Taking the atmospheric mana is fine, but if you attempt to touch the fate clouds again…'
"Hmph."
The Emperor snorted lightly and vanished, returning to his own residence.
From behind a nearby door, a pair of eyes peeked through.
Astoria began observing the situation the moment she first felt it, but as it continued getting bigger and bigger, Astoria felt strange pull coming from Damien's room.
Something was calling to her, something deep within her soul.
And now that the Emperor had left…
Who was stopping her from answering that call?
