As Rei stepped into the mansion, the scent of wood polish and ink welcomed him like an old friend. The quiet hum of the evening filled the hall. He spotted Tenko sprawled lazily across the couch, tail flicking gently as if chasing dreams. The moment Rei sat down beside him, Tenko leapt nimbly onto his shoulder, curling up against the side of his neck with a contented hum.
"Missed me?" Rei murmured, stroking the soft fur. Tenko let out a small yip, clearly in agreement.
Moments later, the rhythmic tapping of boots echoed from the hallway. Levi entered the room, pushing his spectacles higher up the bridge of his nose. "You're back early," he said, looking mildly surprised. "How did things go with Arizona?"
Rei grinned. "Levi, I finally made it."
Levi tilted his head. "Made what?"
Rei stood, eyes gleaming. "The blueprints. For your cart."
Levi blinked. "Wait—my cart? Really?"
"Yes," Rei said, already turning on his heel. "Wait here."
He disappeared into his room for a few seconds before returning, clutching a scroll of parchment. With a flick, he unrolled it onto the nearby table. The crisp lines of ink formed a stunning and intricate design—sleek contours, interlocking compartments, and specialized weapon mounts. In bold calligraphy at the top, read the name: Asgard, Cart of God.
"That's…" Levi leaned over the design, nearly breathless. "That's a good name."
Ben, who had wandered in from the hall, squinted at the scroll. "So what makes Asgard special? Is it just an upgrade of Midgard?"
Rei nodded. "Midgard's weapons were untested prototypes—more for intimidation than functionality. Asgard, though… It's built for battle. Think of Midgard as a vessel for travel. But Asgard? It's a war chariot."
Levi's eyes sparkled with childlike wonder. "I love it. I do."
"Then all you have to do now," Rei said, grinning, "is build it."
Levi snapped a mock salute. "You got it."
As Levi carefully rolled up the blueprint and stored it under his arm, Rei's expression turned more serious. "Also, there's something else I wanted to discuss. Some irregularities."
Levi raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
The two of them retreated into a secluded study. The dimly lit room was lined with ancient books and alchemical diagrams, a scent of aged paper and dust lingering in the air.
Rei sat first. "Levi… how do fate demons work? I mean, if they're returning from the future, wouldn't they have to create an entirely separate timeline? One that's disconnected from ours?"
"Timeline?" Levi echoed.
"Yes. Time," Rei said, "it should split like a tree—branching out based on decisions. If they change something in the past, then it shouldn't affect their original future at all, right?"
Levi looked at him, surprised. "I'm… honestly impressed that you thought about time in such depth.
But no. Time isn't like a tree."
Rei blinked. "Then what is it?"
Levi reached over to a nearby shelf and pulled out three threads—red, blue, and green. "Imagine these are strings. A, B, and C. Each one represents a possible future."
He held them side by side. "Now let's say your consciousness travels to Future A. At that moment, A becomes your central thread, the anchor of your existence. The other two—B and C—don't vanish, but they twist around A and become inert."
He twisted the threads as he spoke. "Now, suppose next time, you go to Future C. It replaces A as your new center. Past futures are not erased—they wrap around and merge into the flow of time. The resulting path might look like A, B, B, C, A, and so on."
Rei leaned forward, captivated. "So… they're all real, but only one is active at a time?"
"Exactly. They coexist. But the moment you walk one path, it defines your existence."
Rei narrowed his eyes. "And where do fate demons come into this?"
Levi's expression darkened. "Let's say a timeline forms: A, B, C, C, B, B. But a fate demon decides it dislikes the outcome. So it sends a sliver of its consciousness back to its past mind and cuts the timeline, rewinding it to A."
"And starts again," Rei whispered.
"Exactly. The demon interferes and tries to create a new version of the future."
Rei sat back, digesting the weight of it. "So no matter what we do, if a fate demon's involved, it's going to show up."
"It's inevitable," Levi agreed. "Unless…"
"Unless?"
"If a fate demon is killed before it returns to the future it came from, it loses its connection to that future. It cannot interfere again."
"I see…" Rei looked down, brows furrowed. "But even knowing that… I feel uneasy. Like something big is about to happen to me."
Levi nodded slowly. "It is. You're going to play a pivotal role in the fabric of time. And they'll try to stop you no matter what it takes."
Rei clenched his fists. "Then I swear… I won't do anything big in this life. I'll keep to the shadows."
Levi gave him a knowing smile. "You can try."
The Next Day
Rei, along with Emilia and Ben, followed the cobblestone path to the outer training grounds. A warm wind rustled the trees overhead as they approached the grassy field where Arizona and Alya were crouched over a glowing circle etched into the dirt.
"Hey," Rei called out. "What are you two working on?"
Arizona looked up, brushing sweat from his brow. "Trying to modify this magic formation into a Firestorm formation. But… I think we need your help."
"I don't know magic symbols," Rei admitted. "You'll have to explain them to me."
Alya gestured to the circle. "Sure. Emilia, Ben, you can follow along too."
As Arizona began explaining the function of each symbol—fire catalyst, mana conduit, energy sink—Rei listened intently, eyes scanning the formation like a puzzle.
After a moment, he pointed to several symbols. "You've got a lot of unwanted ones in here."
Arizona frowned. "What do you mean, unwanted?"
Ben shook his head. "I don't see any that are unnecessary."
"These," Rei said, tapping the runes with a stick. "This one. That one. And this cluster. You don't need them."
Emilia raised a brow. "Those are stabilizers. Without them, the blast could go out of control."
Arizona hesitated, then shrugged. "Let's try it your way."
He etched a new circle, but Rei stopped him before he closed the loop. "Leave a small gap."
Arizona looked puzzled but obeyed. Rei directed him to place fewer symbols this time, connected them with clean lines, and then added a concentric circle—again with a small opening.
"Now fill the outer ring with windstorm symbols," Rei instructed. "Connect them, and extend two lines out from the formation."
When the new formation was complete, they took it outside the town. Arizona placed his fingers on the two lines.
"Wind magic on the first. Fire on the second," Rei said.
Arizona channeled the energy. The runes lit up. In an instant, a roaring Firestorm erupted—a blazing spiral of flame laced with wind currents. It wasn't as intense as Rei's lightning-powered Firestorm, but powerful and controlled.
Alya stepped back, amazed. "It worked… without the stabilizers. How?"
"Windstorm elements have intrinsic stabilizing properties," Rei explained. "They disperse excess mana on their own."
Ben whistled. "I never would've thought of that."
Then Rei turned to Arizona, eyes sharp. "I have a proposal."
Arizona's posture straightened. "What kind?"
"I want you on my team."
Arizona raised an eyebrow, then slowly smiled. "Now that sounds interesting."