The Mech Area Workshop was alive with the steady pulse of machinery. Pipes hissed softly, gears clicked in steady rhythms, and dozens of experimental contraptions lay scattered across benches like discarded puzzle pieces waiting for the prodigy's hands to awaken them.
In the middle of it all sat Faria Aquirox, her frame small against the towering monitors that curved around her like a crown of light. Her eyes darted across the endless streams of data as her stealth probes relayed discoveries from the void.
One by one, they traced borders and civilizations: the crystalline bodies of the Mineral Federation, the lush expansions of the Elven World Tree Empire, the industrious fortresses of the Dwarves, the infected spread of the Vampire Blood Kingdom, the scattered strength of the Humans, and the vast, domineering reach of the Wolf Civilization.
Time and again, her probes returned the same result. Across fifty galaxies, the banner of the Wolves rose above all others. Their insignia stamped itself upon territories like a brand, their hierarchy steeped in crimson-eyed authority.
Faria's brows furrowed. "They rule more tightly than I thought…"
Then came the fifty-first galaxy.
Her probe drifted silently past the edge of Wolf territory, its stealth layers bending light, sound, and even psionic whispers around it. But something stirred in the darkness ahead.
At first, only two crimson points glowed eyes burning red in the void. They pierced through the cloaking lattice as though it were nothing more than glass. For a heartbeat, no form accompanied them. No body, no face. Only eyes.
Then came the strike.
Her console erupted with alarms as the probe's systems failed in rapid succession. One by one, its sensory feeds went dark. The last thing recorded was the tightening pull of unseen claws, and then the signal was gone.
Faria exhaled sharply, staring at the blank screen. So the Wolves have guardians hidden even in the shadows of their empire…
But another feed blinked alive. Another probe, further beyond the galaxy.
And there, standing against the backdrop of stars, was not a Wolf.
It was a Fox.
His fur shimmered orange, catching starlight in faint hues of flame. His posture was composed, hands clasped neatly behind his back, as though he were a ruler inspecting the void itself. Draped across his frame was a grey imperial uniform, its cut sharp and precise, radiating authority without excess.
But it was his eyes vivid purple, glowing with restrained menace that seized Faria's breath. They fixed on the probe with calm malice, acknowledging it not as a curiosity but as an intruder that did not belong.
For a long moment, he did nothing. He simply watched.
And then, with a faint gesture his fingers curling lazily in the air the probe began to warp. The hull screamed as metal bent in silence, crushed by invisible force. Circuits shorted, frames collapsed inward, until the entire construct folded into a single point of debris.
The screen went black.
Faria leaned back, her chest tight. This was no mere soldier. No ordinary power. This was an Esper, one who had weaponized thought into dominion.
The Four Paths of Power
Her mind reeled through the teachings drilled into every Immortal of the Empire. There were four great paths of Users, each a pillar of power in the cosmos.
Aura Users warriors of flesh and bone, who turned their bodies into weapons sharper than steel, faster than bullets, stronger than engines. They healed, endured, and shattered armies through sheer will of muscle and spirit.
Arcane Users masters of structure and manipulation, bending time and space like glass. They forged runes, conjured storms, and rewrote the elements into weapons of terrifying precision.
Mage Users keepers of magic's infinity, weaving spells to summon, to divine, to transform. Where the Arcane bent the rules, Mages rewrote them entirely.
And finally, Esper Users the invisible tyrants of the mind. They spoke with thoughts, enslaved perception, hurled objects without touch, glimpsed the future, and crushed reality with nothing more than their will.
And the Fox… he was clearly one of the latter. An Esper of terrifying refinement.
Alarms pinged again probes vanishing in succession across the map. Some were destroyed in Wolf territories, some by unseen forces that left no trace. Others winked out the instant they approached galaxies untouched before. It was as if every great civilization beyond the Empire had awakened and set its gaze upon her.
Her hand trembled, but her mind surged with ideas. No. I cannot stop here. If cloaking is not enough, then I must build beyond cloaking. A lattice that bends not just light, but the very concept of perception. Materials that resist even psionic intrusion. A probe that cannot be noticed not by Wolves, not by Foxes, not by anyone.
Already, she reached for her holo-tablet, sketching designs. Voidsteel for anti-detection plating. Eternal Cosmic Steel to refract astral waves. Runic arrays to scatter psychic threads. A countermeasure against Espers themselves.
"Yes…" she whispered, her lips set in determination. "I will not stop here."
Her fingers flew across the console, transmitting every record, every observation, every idea to the Main Research Area. They needed to know the Empire needed to prepare.
For a brief moment, she caught her reflection in the glass of the monitor. Young, eyes alight with fire, determination replacing fear. She nodded to herself.
The prodigy of the Golden Lion Empire would not bow to shadows. She would build, adapt, and rise.
And somewhere in the cold depths of space, unseen by her, crimson eyes and purple eyes still lingered, watching.