"Excuse the intrusion..."
The Titan’s elderly, gentle voice resounded across the spiritual leywell as his form began manifesting next to Levi and Arthur... his wisp moved from Levi’s spiritual leywell to Arthur’s through the connection that Levi had established.
The moment his form took shape, Arthur was left dazed... the Titan’s appearance was something of a work of art, his body mixed between wood, gemstones, metal, and every sort of earthly mineral.
Arthur felt his entire soul and body tingling nonstop in excitement against his will, like it was celebrating the emergence of the one in command of the Laws of Terraforge... the laws behind every mineral, crystal, and stone!
Khu’zan also felt his entire form getting jittery, leaving him to gaze at the Titan in disbelief... he didn’t want to believe it, but his soul and body would never lie to him.
In an instant, Khu’zan joined the party and knelt on all fours before the Titan... then, he stuttered, his voice mixed with reverence and excitement.
"I... I... I am lost for words. I can’t believe I can witness your glorious form in my lifetime..."
Arthur glanced at his kneeling nightcrawler with a twitching brow... he kicked him lightly in the ass and complained, "What happened to your aloofness? Kneeling at first sight, trying to embarrass me or what?"
"You disrespectful fool..."
Khu’zan gave him a deathly glare, not in the mood to deal with his foolery before his own Ancestor.
"It’s okay, child... I have never been fond of such formality." The Titan smiled gently as he helped Khu’zan up.
"Ancestor... how? How are you still alive? All the Nine Royal Golem families have passed the tragic news of your honorable death during the Great Separation War..."
Khu’zan asked, his head still lowered... refusing to look at the Titan straight in the eyes even when he told him that he wasn’t fond of formalities.
His reaction was understandable. The Titan might not have been the one to create the Nine Royal Golem families, but he was their father, their leader, their compass, their... everything.
He meant so much to them... his death had caused a chain reaction that brought the final collapse of the nine golem royal families.
"No need to dwell on the past... fate brought us together, and it’s enough of an answer for me." The Titan shared.
Khu’zan nodded... he understood that the Titan didn’t want to talk about the past, and he had no plans to go against his wishes.
"What’s going on, big bro?" Arthur asked, still confused.
"Arthur, you’d better show some respect to your elder." Levi uttered solemnly, "He is the wisp of the Ancestral Terraforge Tree... I asked him for a favor to turn your Shadowlife Seed into an Origin Seed like the ones I have and Jasmi..."
Before Levi could finish his sentence, Arthur hurled himself into the air and dropped to his knees, shouting at the top of his lungs with his head lowered.
"Great Ancestor Tree! I was rude, I was blind, and I was stupid! Please don’t leave me!"
The instant an Origin Seed was mentioned, Arthur did a full 180-degree switch.
Levi’s lips twitched, while the Titan merely chuckled in amusement... he was already fond of Arthur because of his foolery and big heart.
"I am not going anywhere, child." The Titan said as he helped him up, "I have already made my decision to inhabit your Shadowlife Seed... while the process is going to be complex, I will make it work."
"Please... whatever you need, I will deliver." Arthur made a solemn vow.
Arthur might be unserious most of the time, but when it came to his strength and growth... he would do anything to not become a burden to his big brother or be left behind.
"That’s the right spirit." The Titan smiled, "You will be needing to do a full reconstruction before you evolve to Solarbound rank if you want to keep up with your big brother."
"Full reconstruction? In what manner?" Levi knitted his brows, cutting off Arthur before he could nod his head in acceptance.
The Titan had yet to tell him how he was going to pull it off or what was going to happen next if he succeeded... though a full reconstruction sounded a bit bad, like Arthur was going to need to give up on everything he had accomplished and restart fresh.
While it wasn’t bad to do this, considering the future benefits, how were they going to explain this to Dominic, Fang Ling, and their friends?
Understanding his concerns, the Titan manifested a table and chairs for them using Arthur’s consciousness mist... then, he told them to sit down, as it was going to take a while to explain the whole process.
"You see, Shadowlife Seeds are incomplete products... they are lesser copies of Origin Seeds, coded to attempt and fulfill the same cycle as them. However, for one thing to be called a copy, even if it’s a lesser version, it has to have a connection to Origin Seeds one way or another." The Titan pointed his finger at the Shadowlife Seed and added, "What you see is an attempt to give everyone a chance at reaching the Glorious Evolution... since the path is similar to Origin Seeds, I am capable of erasing its mediocre system and installing the Origin Codex."
"Origin Codex?" Arthur tilted his head in confusion.
"Yes... It is the same system that your brother is currently working with." The Titan disclosed, "The Resonance Access, the infinite library of mastered techniques, the freedom to manipulate energies and matter based on the unlocked Aspect, the evolutionary process, and the list goes on."
"Damn... you had all of this?" Arthur showed an envious look in Levi’s direction.
"I also had to go through painful evolutions each time." Levi asked with a faint smile, "Are you ready to handle them?"
Arthur gulped in dread after recalling Levi’s last evolution process... although he knew that most of the pain was due to the Soul-Split process, still... it was a must for him to grow, and Arthur wondered if he would be put in a similar situation as well.
"As I said... whatever it takes."
Then... he nodded with a stern expression.
"Hold on to that conviction..." The Titan chuckled and continued, "The Origin Codex is like software embedded in the Origin Seeds by the universe to guide their growth from a seed to the end of its cycle... once I integrate my wisp within your Shadowlife Seed, I will delete the Shadowlife Codex and replace it with the Origin Codex... then, I will start resonating with the laws inside it that defined me and slowly, but surely... reshape the Shadowlife Seed into an Origin Seed... though, it won’t be an instantaneous transformation and it might take year or more."
"This is just the transformation process... the reconstruction process will happen after."
"Your explanation makes it seem simple... but I have a feeling there is way too much work involved," Levi commented.
Arthur and Khu’zan nodded in agreement.
"The inner workings are complicated, but you don’t have to worry... this isn’t the first time it has happened." The Titan assured them with a smile, "The blueprint has already been written in the past by one of our peers... You guys are familiar with him."
The moment he said this, a single name popped up in Levi’s mind... he didn’t know why, but he felt like he was the only one with the time and interest to explore this scenario.
"Is it Nocturn?"
"It is indeed him." The Titan confirmed with a nod.
"I have a feeling he did it just because he was bored." Arthur said, "Otherwise... why would he create the Nocturnal Ring if it wasn’t for his own personal entertainment and populating his realm?"
’Fun...’
The Titan smiled inwardly, but neither confirmed nor denied it... he simply got up and told them that they needed to enrich his wisp as much as they could with resources before he could start the transformation process. Otherwise, if he were to start the process, his wisp would remain dormant inside the Seed, its consciousness awakened only when Arthur evolved to Solarbound rank.
"Of course... I already have the required resources prepared... I still need you in my spiritual leywell." Levi nodded with a chuckle, "You can’t leave me with that asshole alone again."
The moment Levi found out that the Titan’s wisp required resources to increase the size and quality of his wisp to split it up, he started gathering the required materials little by little and storing them in his wallet.
He invested quite heavily into it so he could split his wisp four times... one for the Shadowlife Seed, one to stay in Arthur’s spiritual leywell so he could guide and mentor him, one to occupy the Titan’s Crown Artifact, and the last to remain next to Ash’Kral.
"We will kick off the process tomorrow in Ash’Kral’s territory so he can create the same array again." Levi nodded at them, then said while facing his brother, "I will leave my own consciousness wisp here... if you want to tell me anything serious, just tap it, and I will switch my focus to it."
"Nice... we can finally talk freely without the government breathing down our necks." Arthur welcomed it in a heartbeat.
Khu’zan also approved, feeling quite thrilled to have both Levi and the Titan around... he had had enough of dealing with Arthur’s foolery alone. But then, he remembered that if the Titan was going to infuse into the Shadowlife Seed, what was going to happen to him? He didn’t hesitate to ask.
"Apologies for the interruption... but am I going to be in the picture?" Khu’zan asked solemnly while bowing his head to the Titan, "Whatever you need from me to help with your rebirth... I will do it. Even if it means giving up my life."
While Arthur didn’t seem fond of the idea of losing his partner, Levi and the Titan merely chuckled... then assured him that his loyalty was commendable, but there would be no need for it.
"You signed a contract with Arthur already... your death means his death." Levi said, "You will always be in the picture... even after you have fulfilled the contract terms."
Hearing this, Khu’zan showed an appreciative smile... although he knew that it meant his life would always be linked to Arthur and the Titan, he didn’t mind it one bit.
To be near his Ancestor and help in the restoration of his legacy... it was the dream of every species falling under the Titan’s umbrella... nightcrawlers or other races, it didn’t matter.
"I guess this settles it then... I will be seeing you tomorrow."
The Titan smiled as his form disintegrated into mist, returning to Levi’s spiritual leywell. He left explaining the reconstruction process for tomorrow.
After he left, Arthur and Khu’zan kept staring deeply at Levi. Then, Arthur jumped him and gave him a tight hug, laughing in happiness.
"You’re the best, Big Bro!"
"What... you thought I would leave you behind?" Levi chuckled as he separated from the hug and extended a fist. "The Larson brothers never..."
"Forsake each other." Arthur fist-bumped him with a wide grin.