Warbeasts could be graceful and elegant when they wanted to be. As the last concubine filed out of the hall after a short self-introduction, Reivan couldn’t help but admire this newfound discovery.

  Even so, he still felt that he was justified in his opinion that warbeasts were normally perverts by the standards of most humans.

  For one thing, their libido was at risk of suddenly spiking upward once they hit puberty. And they even had an entire month or two every year when they were just astronomically horny. Sure, it apparently got milder over time, and humans were objectively worse because they could be horny all year depending on the person, but having a season meant for mating was crazy.

  Most of the warbeasts he was regularly in contact with were somewhat lewd too, further reinforcing his racist opinions.

  Vianna may have had numerous failings and some people may be frustrated if they ever knew how she really was in person, but it was impossible for Reivan not to feel her motherly love when it was so deeply entrenched in everything he saw in her. And it was equally impossible for him not to reciprocate, despite the annoying parts.

  For all the good things he could say about her, he also had to admit that his mother was a freak. Growing up, she had openly talked about things she was doing with his father.

  Of course, most of the things were said in a way that Reivan—if he wasn’t a reincarnated person on the inside—wouldn’t have understood at that age. Furthermore, she had whispered them to Rodin and Reivan had simply overheard them because he had good ears.

  But it didn’t change the fact that he now knew a considerable amount of unsolicited information about what the former royal couple got up to when they were alone.

  In hindsight, perhaps his opinion of warbeasts in general was made a bit prematurely because his mother was a special case. There was still his Uncle Viktor to prove that not all warbeasts were horndogs. And his two little sisters too—

  ‘Ah. No, not really, huh…?’

  The elder of the two sisters had locked in on Hecyor very early on in their teenage years and eventually married him the moment it was legally acceptable. Meanwhile, the younger one had started subtly seducing her older adopted brother—which is to say, Reivan himself.

  That was three out of four warbeasts from those he saw as family.

  He was mildly acquainted with many more, especially since becoming the Hierarch of Samsara, but he didn’t pry into their private lives because he wanted to be professional about work relationships.

  ‘Maybe warbeasts are perverts, then.’

  The greatest proof was himself, Reivan mused as he looked forward to having half a thousand concubines. Maybe he was a bit worried and daunted by the large number, but he was still a man before he was anything else.

  And Arthur’s arrival in his life also lessened his resistance to the idea.

  Just thinking of how he would probably have hundreds of Arthurs a year from now was exciting. Just one Arthur was enough to fill him with joy, so five hundred would probably kill him with happiness, wouldn't it? Putting up with a bit of worry and whatnot wasn’t such a big deal when he thought of that.

  “So?” Vianna suddenly spoke up from the seat beside him as she snapped her fan shut and placed it on the table. She wasted no time returning to her normal behavior now that they were alone. “What did you think?”

  “Honestly?” Reivan chuckled sheepishly. “That wasn’t what I was expecting.”

  While he did feel a little intimidated by the numerous gazes that seemed to be studying him in excruciating detail, that wasn’t anything new to him. He’d experienced it even before reincarnation. And it happened even more while growing up as a prince.

  Not many people were brazen enough to look him up and down so blatantly, however. Especially within the kingdom. But people were less reserved when they thought he wasn’t looking.

  It was a bit different in this case, but it wasn’t that different.

  Usually, people gauged him as a prince. But his concubines were sizing him up with clearly amorous intentions.

  All in all, though? He didn’t hate it. Their gaze was open permission for him to do the same, and he did enjoy the view. Mostly because all adult female warbeasts got quite curvy in all the right places. The resplendent kimono-ish garments they wore today weren’t going to hide those at all.

  ‘Come to think of it, I’ve never seen an adult warbeast woman that wasn’t curvy in all the right places...’

  There were variations of body type, of course, but he felt as if they were never close to flat. It was as if there was a minimum curve quota for each person. Some got more, but even the least a warbeast could get was pretty good by human standards.

  On the flip side, all adult male warbeasts he’d seen were fairly tall and wide-shouldered. They were also effortlessly muscular, perhaps due to their ridiculously high metabolism.

  ‘Man, it’s been a while since I felt like this, but warbeasts are really cheating in all sorts of ways, huh…?’

  “Your uncle said it already,” Vianna said as she gestured toward the empty hall, where a mix of different fragrances still lingered. “A strong male taking in multiple women is common in warbeast culture, mostly for child-making purposes. They have their own traditions, as you may have just seen. So you have to go through them before you can take them home.”

  Reivan drummed his fingers atop the table and nodded. “Is the introduction supposed to be that short?”

  “Yes. Just a brief meeting, so the couple gets familiar before they live together is enough. If things proceed, you’ll be spending more time with them anyway. But you have to remember that you can’t just push them down the night you start living with them. It’s polite to take it a little slow. Get to know them privately, and they’ll engage on their own."

  Then she quietly added. "Ah, but if they go for you on the first night, then that's a different story...”

  “It’s surprisingly elaborate," he remarked, waving her muttered addition away. There was no way they would just throw themselves at him without knowing him at all, right?

  "First time I heard about it, I thought the kingdom could learn a few things." His mother snorted with a sneer. “But when I stopped to think, that was asking for too much. Though it’s perfectly legal in the kingdom to have multiple spouses or concubines, it doesn’t happen often. So there’s no need for traditions or ceremonies yet.”

  Reivan licked his lips with a nod just as he suddenly thought of something. “By the way, weren’t you and Uncle royalty? Or the equivalent, at least.”

  "That is correct. And you are, too, by the way. Why?”

  “Then did my grandfather also have a lot of concubines?”

  Vianna’s ears shot up for a moment before she fell into thought, a thin finger rhythmically tapping on her lips as her long tail swayed from side to side.

  “I can’t remember meeting any…” she trailed off. “But when I really think about it, I did see a lot of other children. They avoided me and your uncle, though. And I didn’t pay them any attention because I was a free-spirited child with better uses for my time.”

  “Free-spirited, huh…” Reivan muttered, choosing not to verbalize his interpretation of that. He’d heard some things from his uncle that made it clear that his mother was far from well-behaved. “You and Uncle are from the same mother, right…?”

  “Of course,” she answered without missing a beat, her tone suggesting assurance. “I don’t know if your nose is good enough to tell, but we just know if someone is part of a bloodline. Everyone has a scent that’s a mix of their parents’ added in. It’s impossible to miss.”

  ‘Ah. Right. Uncle does mention something along those lines sometimes.’

  “You have it too,” Vianna continued. “And even Arthur has it, even when the two of you aren’t full warbeasts. Every warbeast who’s ever smelled all of us will know the two of you are from my line.”

  “That’s cool.” Reivan crossed his arms. “I can’t tell at all, though. Not even my special ability has something like that. Now I kind of feel left out.”

  She giggled. “Not to worry, I can be your nose instead. And when some of your children grow up, you can just ask them.”

  “True enough.”

  A short moment of silence followed, which Reivan was just about to break by suggesting that they leave the emptied hall, but his mother suddenly brought something up.

  “By the way, have you talked to your sister?”

  Reivan swallowed what he was about to say and frowned. “Just to make sure, which one are you talking about? I have two sisters. Three, if you include my sister-in-law.”

  “I mean the cheeky white one.” Vianna smiled fondly. “Jiji.”

  “We talk, yes," he said skeptically. "But what exactly are you asking about?”

  “Your questions suggest that you either haven’t talked yet, or you’re uselessly trying to hide that you did.”

  Grimacing, Reivan hesitantly tried, “You mean how she has romantic feelings…”

  “For you, yes." Vianna nodded with satisfaction. "So you did talk about it.”

  “You knew?”

  “It wasn’t hard to notice, nor was it hidden very well.” Vianna shook her head with a chuckle. “Her smell changes whenever she’s around you. Been that way since she hit puberty. Any warbeast could tell she was aiming for you whenever you were together. Come to think of it, that’s probably how I was back when I wasn’t married to your father yet. How embarrassing… I'm glad there weren't any other warbeasts here other than your uncle.”

  Reivan scratched his head as he looked at his mother, who seemed to be reminiscing about the days of her youth. “Why are you talking about this as if it’s no big deal…?”

  “What do you mean? What’s the big deal?”

  “Uh, that my sister has feelings for me? That seems pretty big to me.”

  Vianna sneered. “You’re adopted sister. Even I would refuse if she was your actual sister, but she’s not. So it’s fine. You have my blessing to add her into the litter.”

  “We were practically raised together,” he insisted.

  “The perfect way for two children to naturally come to like each other, don’t you think? It’s not as if we pushed you together, either. She just naturally came to like you over time. What’s wrong with that? If she told us she was interested in some other boy, we would've been just as supportive.”

  Reivan opened his mouth to argue some more, but his mother beat him to it.

  “Besides,” she cut him off. “We only adopted Mimi and Jiji so we’d have an excuse to take care of them in the palace and to humor your unfulfilled wish for a sister. It was also to protect them from being ostracized and to accelerate the acceptance of warbeasts in the kingdom, but that’s your father’s main reason.”

  Vianna raised her arm and lovingly ruffled his hair. “I just felt sorry for my inability to give you a sibling when you wanted one. And I also pitied those two sisters because they were a bit too similar to me and your uncle back in the day. I just wanted them to grow up well. When they became adults, I intended for them to do whatever they wanted.”

  “And whatever she wants is to get married. To me.”

  “Well, yes. It’s not that strange. I don’t really understand why you’re so against this. Jiji grew up to be quite the beauty, no?”

  Reivan found himself scratching the back of his head.

  No matter how pretty they were, it was just impossible for him to feel attraction toward a family member.

  Vianna was arguably one of the most beautiful women across all of creation, but Reivan didn’t think of her that way because she was his mother. His mother was very clingy and touchy, but the physical contact he had with her didn’t make him feel anything, even when the same things would have him worked up when done by anyone mildly attractive.

  Kyouka, too, had been one of the prettiest women in the face of the earth in his opinion. Yet his thoughts had never gone in that direction. Thinking about her naked would have him barfing in world-record time. He was physically unable to get off to her, even if he went crazy enough to try.

  Reivan was self-aware, so he knew that he was a bit of a horndog.

  It was probably because he lived an entire life unable to vent those desires at all—and unlike other men, he couldn’t even relieve it himself because the chronic pains he grew up with would make him soft long before he could ever release. Whether that theory held any weight, he didn’t know.

  But no matter how thirsty he was and no matter how being part warbeast exacerbated that even further, there were still lines in the sand. And he would not cross them no matter what.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Somehow, though, Jiji managed to fall somewhere in the middle. It was confusing his morals.

  Reivan had seen her as his sister even when she really wasn’t. Not biologically, at least. But then again, she wasn’t his sister by blood, so did that make it okay? And now, apparently, his mother knew about it from the start. In fact, every warbeast who ever saw him and Jiji together noticed her feelings too.

  “You don’t have to rush it with her,” Vianna gently said with a warm smile. “Just think about it from time to time. Talk to her. Or fight. The worst thing you can do is ignore or disregard what she feels. And if you really can’t, then just let her down easy but firmly. Don't leave room for ambiguity.”

  Reivan looked at his mother with a questioning gaze. “And you’re okay with that?”

  “I’m on your side, son. Always have been and always will be.”

  There was weight in the words and Reivan could feel it. He already knew that was how she felt, and his sentiments were exactly the same, but hearing them spoken aloud like this was always going to feel good.

  “Oh, except if you’re going to do something stupid that’ll get you harmed or killed,” Vianna added shortly after, as if she’d only just forgotten. But then she started mumbling to herself. “But I suppose if it’s for your own good, then shouldn’t that mean I’m still on your side…? Now I'm confused...”

  Reivan left her to ponder on the conundrum she’d unexpectedly fallen into and mentally told himself that he should revisit Jiji’s issue at some point. Thankfully, she wasn’t here in Aizen, so he still had time.

  Two weeks had passed since Reivan returned to Aizen, and it was about time to go back to his work in Samsara.

  There was that thing with the Pentagorian Envoys and Fortuna’s integration into the kingdom, but other people were handling that to give Reivan space. He did just become a father after all. Women got some time off from work right after giving birth to take care of their newborns, so why couldn't he?

  Reivan was a supporter of equal rights, and he would not give up on this.

  In any case, it was decided that Arthur would come with him after some violent deliberation.

  His entire family here in Aizen didn’t want their newest family member to go so soon, but Reivan had responsibilities in Samsara. Responsibilities that weren’t magically going to disappear because he just became a father. There was only so much he could leave for his governmental staff to handle before he had to step in.

  While he was only away for two weeks, it was a significant length of time for a working man. Most employees wouldn't have a job to return to if they took that long of a break. He had to go back now, and his family couldn’t very well separate him from his own son.

  The adults said nothing, even though they had obviously grown attached to Arthur. Vianna, his mother, was particularly upset, but she must have understood that nothing could be done.

  But the children? Oh, the children didn’t have qualms about complaining and throwing tantrums—which was, arguably, more cute than annoying for Reivan. Maybe it was just him, but a child’s selfishness was endearing.

  It showed that the child was in an environment where they felt safe enough to speak of their desires. In his previous life, he didn't have that, so it filled him with happiness to see children who actually did.

  Nevertheless, after Lisa threatened to hold her breath until she passed out, Reivan conceded to going home more frequently from now on. And the adorable little girl’s parents also approved of Lisa herself visiting Samsara at some point, as long as she did well in her lessons.

  “Ah, it’s hot…” Reivan breathed out as he stepped into the Samsaran side of the portal, immediately realizing that he would need to conduct a White Day with Dom soon.

  That said, this month's White Day was scheduled to be in three days. The fact that it was already hot now meant that the cold from the last blizzard had worn off faster than he’d expected. It was within the margin of error, however, so there was no need for him to be concerned about it.

  “Good morning, Your Excellency.” Gwen greeted him from the side, having waited for his return. Her emerald gaze fell on Reivan first, then on Helen exiting the portal right behind him, and then on the child in her arms.

  But just before she was about to presumably congratulate them on the successful birth of their child, Gwen laid eyes on the fourth person, her eyes almost popping in surprise. “Y-Your Majesty…!?”

  Rodin, former king of Aizen, nodded with a smile. “Well met, Dame Gwendolyn. It's been... Hm. I can't actually remember how long it's been, but it's good to see you all the same.”

  Stiffly, she saluted him. “This humble sword greets the kingdom’s guiding light!”

  “Oh, but I’m no longer king so there’s no need for ceremony.” Rodin patted his stomach and laughed a little. “I’m just a grandfather tagging along to spend more time with his grandchild.”

  His secretary was still befuddled, so Reivan stepped in and snapped her out by clapping her shoulder. “Don’t mind him. He just has too much time on his hands back home, so he wanted to check the place out.”

  Gwen nodded absentmindedly. “U-Understood, Your Excellency…”

  Reivan grinned, knowing that this normally unflappable knight had a soft spot for his father. Like a fan being speechless in front of their favorite idol. If he remembered it correctly, the sight of his father had been what urged Gwen into being a knight in the first place.

  “Just set him up with a room somewhere,” he said with a casual wave.

  “With a balcony facing the sea, preferably.” Rodin chimed in. “And I’d like it to be big enough to be equipped with a crib for Arthur.”

  “Arthur’s staying in our room,” Reivan clarified firmly. “No buts.”

  “Don’t be stingy, son. Shouldn’t you be nicer to your father whom you don’t get to see very often? And you're busy, so just let me take care of Arthur.”

  Reivan sighed but didn’t argue further. He supposed he was the one at fault for drinking with his father and mentioning his troubles. It had nabbed him a very capable helper in the form of a literal king, even a former one, but Reivan would have to sacrifice time with his son for it.

  A very heavy sacrifice indeed. One did not make deals with devils lightly.

  Helen seemed thoroughly amused at the exchange, cradling Arthur in her arms and whispering to him from time to time. Unlike Reivan, she didn’t mind Rodin gallivanting in here and stealing Arthur from them occasionally.

  “Mother isn’t going to be very pleased about you sneaking in here,” Reivan said as he led the way upstairs, deciding to leave the stunned Gwen so she could recover alone.

  Rodin shrugged as he walked beside Helen, his eyes on his adorable grandson. “It’s her fault for being an Ascendant. She can’t set foot outside of Aizen or else she’ll be breaking the treaty.”

  ‘You should be working on being one too,’ he wanted to say, but Reivan decided not to rip that particular band-aid off.

  His brother had mentioned that their father might be losing motivation. While it would be good to discuss it in private soon, it wasn’t a topic to joke around with.

  “This is a nice palace,” Rodin commented when he finally pried his gaze away from Arthur.

  Reivan grunted. “Ours is better.”

  “Well, I’ll have to agree. But you should still appreciate good things even if you’ve known better. And besides, this one is ours too, no?”

  ‘...I suppose he has a point.’

  There was an obvious difference in size, even though the Samsaran Palace was designed to be as similar to the one in Aizen as possible. But his father was right in saying that it was still quite nice. Reivan obviously preferred the one he’d grown up in because he was a sentimental prick, though.

  “I was told that the climate had eased,” Rodin said as he loosened his collar.

  “A mistake in perception.” Reivan shrugged as he led the way. “I thought it was starting to get milder, but it’s merely become more susceptible to artificial change—like what my spirit beast’s ability induces. The heat still penetrates enchantments if it builds up.”

  “Dear heavens.” His father sighed. “The fight between Transcendents feels so long ago, but its scars are still felt. It makes me feel thankful that I paid attention to the right things during my reign.”

  Though his father didn’t say anything specific for fear of being overheard now that they were so far away from the shade of Sword Star’s ever-protective presence, Reivan understood what he meant.

  His father had worked incessantly on improving internal affairs, and one of the fields he sunk so many resources on was territorial defenses that would ideally help the Sword Star if Transcendents ever came knocking.

  “Then if it’s like this.” Rodin gestured at the surroundings. “Shouldn’t you summon another blizzard to cool things down? I can’t imagine it’s pleasant for those outside. Though I suppose I only feel it so much because I just crossed the portal from home.”

  Reivan nodded. The sudden shift in temperature when he traveled between Arkhan and Aizen always took a few moments to get used to, even for him. “I was planning to.”

  “Are you doing it today?”

  “No, in three days. White Day’s already marked as the first of every month.”

  “I see. But why wait when it’s already this hot? Just do it today. It’s the perfect way to announce your return, no? White Day... Or Snowday? If I understand correctly, it isn’t a holiday with a set date but an event that happens out of necessity. It should happen when it needs to.”

  “Hm.” Reivan nodded. His father did have a point, as he so often did. But before making a decision, he glanced briefly at Helen, who was lagging behind them while playing with Arthur. “What do you think?”

  Even though she had fallen a dozen steps away from the fatherly duo, she was obviously listening. “Why not? You should take Father-in-law with you to the Humbled Fields.”

  “A fantastic idea,” Rodin immediately agreed. ”Let’s go, son.”

  “...Well, I guess it’s alright.” Reivan shrugged. That place was where he liked to make Dom summon blizzards because it was reasonably far from where all the people lived.

  Unlike a natural storm, where the center—or the eye—was where the winds were weakest, Dom’s blizzard was strongest in the center. Summoning the phenomenon at just the right distance so the city was snowed over but not flash-frozen was essential.

  Obviously, one summon wasn’t enough to cover Samsara’s expanded territory, so he did it a number of times. Different regions had different Snowdays, and it was only in Lageton’s region that the date was set at the start of a month.

  Helen parted ways with them to put Arthur to sleep while Reivan stepped out of a window and summoned Zouros as his mode of transportation.

  Thankfully, his father got on without anything eventful happening. In hindsight, though the former king and the miniature world-devouring serpent didn’t spend much time together, Zouros knew Rodin well just on account of being Reivan’s father.

  As such, the giant serpent who wasn’t big all the time had no qualms about ferrying Rodin on its back.

  It didn’t take very long to arrive at their destination, given how fast they flew. And his father had surely ridden on sky arks too many times to make a fuss about flying, so they got off Zouros without fanfare.

  “So this is the Humbled Fields…” Rodin commented as he looked around, craning his neck so he could look upward. “I can see why it’s named that. Given all these kneeling giant monster corpses.”

  “The Field of Humbled Giants. The Humble Fields. It’s the same,” Reivan gestured around them tiredly as he summoned Dom, who then immediately set off to work without wasting time. “The people just switch it up. I’ve even heard some people call it the Frozen Penitentiary.”

  “Not a bad name.”

  “It’s too much. I swear they’re just trying to make it sound more impressive than it actually is… But I suppose it works out for me. I want those Argonians to know of it. To remember this place before they think of marching on us.”

  For a few moments, the former king merely scanned the vast fields with his son beside him. Nobody said so, but they just stood there in silence.

  The shadows of vanquished titans loomed over them even as the morning skies darkened, forever frozen in place. Even their bones were ice at this point, and given enough time, perhaps their flesh would melt off if the heat got too much. It was a graveyard and proof of imperial folly.

  Just as the crowned wolf howled and cold winds sang of a frosty demise, Rodin broke the silence between them.

  “I’m sorry, son.” Rodin heaved a long sigh. “It seems you’ve been having a hard time out here. I made it seem like everything I see is new to me, but I still receive word of how things are progressing here. So I know…”

  Reivan chuckled. “Figures. Though it’s not as if I was hiding it.”

  “Are you alright?”

  “If you asked me a few weeks or months ago, then I wouldn't have known. But now? I've never been better, with Arthur here and everything. Helen keeps me grounded but sharp. Elsa always helps in all sorts of ways. There's no need to mention how much Gwen does for me, too. And there are many others. I’m not alone out here, Father. Never have been. Never will be.”

  “Good. That’s good.” Rodin smiled at that, but for only a moment before he once again gazed at the vast expanse before them. “Sometimes, I wake up and think that if I was just a little bit better, you wouldn’t have to go through all this. But you did. You already have. And it pains me to think about it.”

  “Father, I put myself through this. Not you.” Reivan crossed his arms. “I made this choice. And I would make it again, even knowing what would happen.”

  “Ideally, you’d change it a bit if you had information from the future,” his father quipped with a grin. “Doing the exact same thing would be foolish.”

  “Well, yes…”

  “I'm joking.“ Rodin laughed as he clapped Reivan’s shoulder. “Maybe I’m getting old. When it gets too quiet, I suddenly get sentimental for no reason. Don’t mind me.”

  Reivan nodded. “I just want you to know that you gave me a choice, Father. And for a lot of people, that’s more than they ever get from their parents.”

  His father didn’t say anything, for a time, but he eventually grunted. “I’m glad you still don’t hate me, then.”

  “I don't think I ever will, honestly.”

  “Hah. Don’t be so sure. In any case... I’ll try to help out here however I can.”

  Reivan grinned. “One of the greatest kings in the kingdom’s history now works for me? I’ve really risen up in the world.”

  Rodin snorted with a shake of his head. “Don’t expect too much from me. I did well as king because I happened to rule Aizen. I had just about everything I needed to rule well—nearly infinite funds, loyal knights, capable subordinates, subjects who respected me, and a loving family to boot. It would have been harder to fail.”

  “Psh. Fine. Keep telling yourself that.”

  “I’ve raised an insolent whelp, it seems.”

  They laughed, for a time, as if they never talked about anything serious. And Reivan allowed the moment to last for a bit.

  But only for a moment.

  “Father, have you given up on Ascension?” he asked as he looked up at the falling snow.

  The question had been on his mind since his brother had approached him, and in this moment where their hearts were a little more bare than they usually were, Reivan had blurted it out before he could stop himself.

  Now that it was out there, however, all he could do was hope that an answer would be given. With any hope, his father would not try to evade him. Whether Rodin was surprised or not, Reivan couldn’t tell just from his face, so it could honestly go either way.

  That said, the fact that his father didn’t answer immediately told Reivan many things already.

  “It’s…” Rodin let the word linger before he took a deep breath and continued. “It’s hard. A lot harder than I expected. And a lot harder than what everyone around me suggests.”

  Reivan pondered on what the right thing to say here was. He didn’t want to just brush it off by mindlessly spouting some generic advice. Even if he did offer generic advice, it had to be after careful deliberation.

  Because this was not an insignificant matter for his father. Nor was it insignificant to him as the man's son.

  “I know it should be hard,” Rodin continued, sweeping back his lustrous black hair that had yet to truly grey. “Otherwise, we’d be drowning in Ascendants. But even so, I managed to reach this point quite early, even when I was so busy with stately affairs. I had thought I was talented in my own right, too, even if I couldn't compare to the greats.”

  At the height of his father’s confession, a sigh escaped his lips.

  “But when I try, I find myself so utterly lost. I don’t even understand how to start. I know what I should do, theoretically. However, no amount of concentration or isolation has enlightened me on how to go about doing it. It’s not like the work I’ve grown used to. There is no secret hidden between the lines of text or behind the eyes of someone on the other side of the negotiation table. It’s just me, alone in the darkness with my incompetence.”

  Reivan realized that there was nothing for him to say, to a man who had tried so hard only to realize that no amount of trying was enough. His father didn’t blame anyone but himself here, and even then, it wasn’t the unhealthy kind.

  It was merely… acceptance.

  The acceptance of a giant insurmountable wall that was in front of him all along.

  Reivan could not truly relate either, so he could offer no consolation. Unlike most, he could actually see the path to Ascension now. All he had to do was prepare for the hike.

  “It’s not…” Rodin bit his lip, holding back the words. “It’s not as if I’ve given up entirely. But right now… Right now, I just can’t see it, son. I just don’t know what I must do…”

  No words were formed in Reivan’s mind, but the desire to comfort a loved one still prevailed. Wordlessly, he placed a hand on his father’s back and hoped that it was warm enough for his father to feel it.

  For now, that was all he could do.