Chapter 121: Meeting Athena
It was late afternoon when Philip descended from the clouds
He wasn't flying. Not exactly. His movement resembled controlled falling guided by compressed air currents and infused mana fields that barely bent space. The aura around him shimmered, refracting light like heat rising off tempered steel. Where his boots touched the forest canopy, the leaves bent slightly, then sprang back unburnt.
He had grown stronger.
He walked the rest of the way on foot, boots brushing against moss covered ground.
Before him, at the base of a jagged cliff partially devoured by vines, stood a structure woven into the rock itself a hidden base, barely distinguishable from the mountain at a distance. It was Athena's refuge: part laboratory, part research vault, part observatory. The front entrance responded only to a select few, encoded with mana signatures tied to its very foundation.
As Philip approached, the steel doors parted with a hiss, atmospheric pressure adjusting to account for the mana swirling around him.
Inside, the air changed.
Warm, dense, layered with subtle enchantments and mana filtration systems. Every footstep triggered faint pulses beneath the floor scanning for threats, a the corridor glowed with soft pulse lamps, bathing the space in bluish white light that flickered slightly in his presence.
Philip entered the central chamber a wide, circular space layered in arcane symbols and flickering projections. Holograms rotated mid air: glowing runes, shifting leyline grids, and continent wide maps overlaid with mana traffic and artifact markers.
Athena stood at the center, back turned, a tablet hovering beside her shoulder and three more maps locked into fixed points around her. Her hair was braided tightly, expression unreadable, movements efficient. Her sleeves were rolled to the elbow, revealing inked glyphs and embedded mana readers along her arms.
She turned before he could speak.
"You're late," she said.
Philip raised an eyebrow. "I'm early.
Her lips tugged into something that wasn't quite a smile too practiced, too sharp. Then the expression faded like mist under wind.
"You're stronger," she said after a pause, her gaze moving over him like a scan. " "
Athena gave a quiet nod. "Then I'm glad you came in person.
Philip didn't sit.
They stood at the center of the room, surrounded by pulsing projections and the faint mechanical hum of processing cores.
There was a pause.
"I need the list," Philip said finally. "The artifacts suspected to be tied to the Emperor's original work."
Athena hesitated.
"It's not easy," she said. "His relics aren't marked or traceable. We need something more precise… something tuned to his presence.
Philip moved he controlled the ather in his heart it was still inert and retrieved a slither of ather. It looked inert, yet the room seemed to breathe deeper when he held it up.
Athena's eyes widened slightly.
"Put it in the harmonic scanner," she said, gesturing to a console near the far wall.
Philip complied, letting the shard float into the device. The machine buzzed, vibrated then convulsed violently. Warning lights flared. Screens blinked red. And then
Boom.
The scanner exploded in a flash of light and mana discharge. Smoke hissed from its sides. Projections around the room flickered. Then stabilized.
Athena blinked. "…That shouldn't have happened."
She moved to inspect it, but paused.
"Later," she muttered.
Then she walked to a light panel embedded in the wall and pressed her palm into its geomantic matrix an elegant lattice of gold and black glass.
She whispered an activation phrase.
The projections shifted.
A 3D globe of Earth bloomed into view seen from orbit, rotating slowly in silence. As Philip watched, tiny markers began appearing across its surface.
Blue dots: dormant relics.Yellow: unstable or semi active.Red: confirmed activity hot zones under current observation or conflict.
"There are thirteen confirmed," Athena said. "And another eleven flagged as probable."
Philip stepped closer. The projection adjusted, zooming in as he reached out. He scanned each continent. South America. East Africa. Central Asia. A few floated over the oceans themselves possibly sunken ruins.
She waved her hand again, and the map split into layered schematics, showing leyline distortion around active sites. "Others are still dormant but beginning to resonate. As if something is calling them."
After a moment, she reached into her vest pocket and pulled out a slim crystalline chip etched with fine glyphs that shimmered faintly. She handed it to him without a word.
Philip held it carefully. It was warm.
"Philip transferred it into his spatial storage. "Anything else?"
Athena turned off the map. The room dimmed slightly.
"He turned to leave. The doors hissed softly as they began to open, but Athena's voice stopped him.
"One more thing."
Athena turned to the ruined device, walking slowly toward the remains of the harmonic scanner. She crouched and looked into the containment well.
He paused at the door.
She stared at him, arms crossed. "If you find something that shouldn't be moved something sleeping leave it. Some relics don't want to be woken. Some were sealed for a reason and might be something the emperor touched. And you're not the Emperor."
Philip gave a slight nod.
Athena turned to the ruined device, walking slowly toward the remains of the harmonic scanner. She crouched and looked into the containment well which Philip had put the ather into she want see if it had all dissipated but when she got there nothing was there