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Spatial transport was an ability restricted to Emperor Realm and above. By warping two points in space and creating a temporary corridor between them, a Card Master could send objects from one location to another instantaneously. Think of it as a private courier service that operated at the speed of thought.
For someone at Aldric's level, it was trivial.
"One more thing." Before ending the call, Aldric's tone shifted to something that brooked no argument. "Luke's status as an Original Card crafter stays quiet. No announcements. No leaks. External attention at this stage could do more harm than good."
"Understood." Victor nodded. Even without the warning, he'd had no intention of publicizing it. The fewer people who knew, the safer Luke was. And with the entrance exam approaching, the last thing Luke needed was a circus.
The communication array dimmed.
Aldric sat alone in his office in Ashenmere's Governor's Mansion. His fingers resumed their slow rhythm against the desk.
Millennium Powerhouse. And it appeared in our region. The thought still hadn't fully settled. Centuries of waiting, and the next one had surfaced in a satellite city under his own jurisdiction.
"Governor." A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. The head butler stepped inside. "The Dream Consort has arrived. She's waiting in the reception hall."
Aldric blinked. He'd just been thinking about Selene Dawnford, and now she was sitting in his living room.
Coincidence. It had to be. Selene's visits to Ashenmere weren't uncommon. As the Night Empress's student and occasional messenger between the three Eastern capitals, she passed through regularly. The timing was accidental.
But perhaps useful.
"Let's go." Aldric followed the butler toward the reception hall, a new thought forming.
Selene Dawnford sat in the Governor's hall like she'd been painted there.
A sage-green dress with embroidered patterns that caught the light. Boots in the same shade. A silver-white overcoat draped over her shoulders, and a crimson fox-fur stole around her neck. Her hair was swept up in a simple but elegant twist, held by an emerald chrysanthemum pin that looked like it cost more than most people's houses.
She was, in a word, stunning. Beautiful enough to make rooms go quiet when she entered, not because people were starstruck but because they genuinely forgot what they'd been doing.
"Selene." Aldric settled into the host's seat with a warm smile. "It's been a while. Emperor Realm peak now, I see."
"Governor Ashford." Selene returned the smile. She didn't bother hiding her advancement. Against an Immortal Realm master, concealment was pointless. "You look well. Same as always."
"I'm old. 'Same as always' is the best I can hope for." Aldric waved off the compliment. "What brings you to Ashenmere?"
"Two things. First, paying my respects." Selene's tone shifted from social to professional. "Second, I'm here on my master's behalf. I need access to the Darkwater Plane."
Aldric's casual demeanor evaporated.
The Darkwater Plane was one of Ashenmere's crown jewels. A top-tier Dimensional Plane containing Nine, Ten, and even Eleven-Star beasts. The resources it produced, particularly the Glacial Wellspring, were so valuable that each year's harvest triggered bidding wars among the Eastern Region's most powerful factions.
Access was restricted. Only Card Masters who'd earned special merit or received direct authorization from the Governor could enter.
"On the Night Empress's behalf," Aldric repeated carefully. "What does she need?"
"Circe was injured during the last extradimensional incursion." Selene's voice carried quiet weight. "The wounds haven't healed, even after all this time. The creature that hurt her carried some kind of corrupting energy that resists normal recovery. My master has decided to reconstruct Circe's card entirely and use the opportunity to push for a higher quality tier. She needs a Glacial Wellspring sample as the catalyst."
Circe. One of the Night Empress's Four Enchantresses.
Twelve-Star card spirits, all four of them. Circe, Morgana, Medea, and Lorelei. Each one a Twelve-Star powerhouse in her own right, and together, their combination technique could annihilate Twelve-Star Mythic card spirits. That combo was one of the reasons the Night Empress stood a cut above the other three domain rulers, even though all four held the same Undying Realm rank.
Above Immortal sat Undying.
Undying Realm Card Masters could regenerate from a single drop of blood. Complete physical destruction wasn't enough to kill them. You had to annihilate their soul. Without soul destruction, an Undying would simply reconstitute over time, no matter how thoroughly their body had been erased.
It was the defining line between mortality and something else entirely.
The Ancient Kingdom had exactly four confirmed Undying Realm masters, one ruling each of the four great regions. Hidden Undying might exist in the shadows, but even the most generous estimates put the total under ten.
If the Night Empress said she needed the Glacial Wellspring, then she needed the Glacial Wellspring. The politics of refusing an Undying Realm master's request weren't worth calculating.
"If it's for the Night Empress, there's nothing to discuss," Aldric said. "We'll go now."