Buried under silence, save for the occasional drips of water, the shower room had turned white with steam. Yun leaned against one of the many wash basins lined up against the wall and cradled his forehead.
Upon activating [Vision Swap], his vision went dark. At first, he panicked, thinking he had gone blind, but he soon realized that he had simply inherited the galing's vision.
"Having no eyes must be such a drag."
But slowly, his mind started to unfold, and it kinda hurt.
It split into two separate streams of information; his eyes went to his summon, and vice versa, with his brain processing both visuals.
"Whoa…"
The galing maneuvered through the hallway at breakneck speed, ascending the stairs and shooting through a window.
Once outside, the creature twisted in the air with joy as it bathed in the barrier's light for the first time.
Columns of stone rushed past in a blur as the galing flew around the tower.
"Pii! Pii!"
"Don't get too excited, now. Let's see how far up you can get."
The galing beat its wings harder, spiraling upward along the tower's flank. Wind beat against it in utter silence since it had no ears, and Yun felt his stomach lurch with it, even though his own body stood perfectly still.
Higher and higher, the stone columns thinned out, and then the tower's shadow fell away entirely as the creature broke above the woodland's tree line.
"There it is."
The East Wing spread out beneath them. Not all of it, though; a Wing was far too large for that, but it was just enough to give Yun a view he'd never dreamed of seeing before.
Directly to the south, a pale line, being the boundary wall, cut across the horizon. This close to it, the land was all forest, a rolling carpet of canopy broken at intervals by watchtowers, their rooftops just barely visible through gaps in the trees.
This was the outer ring. This particular stretch of woodland was one of the East Wing's greenbelts, planted in bands throughout the outer ring to keep the air breathable under the barrier's dome.
The galing soon reached its limit at an altitude of one hundred and fifty meters, which gave Yun a decent field of view. He could already see himself using it to avoid enemies in the Forsaken Realm or scout safe pathways forward.
Although the [Court of Divinity] Trait implied that Plague Monsters would be able to sniff him out.
Feeling his stomach churn, Yun groaned. "Can't wait."
He commanded the galing to head northward. This time, he was trying to gauge his summon's horizontal range.
With a screech, it dove sideways and flew towards the city's massive gates. From here, Yun could see the many Districts sprawl outwards in a succession of rings. He could even see his home, which appeared as a deep shadow in an otherwise eternally lit Wing.
But given how he left things in the Hollows, it was better to think of that shadow as his former home.
Once more, the galing stopped after just one hundred fifty meters of flight.
"So its vertical ceiling and horizontal limit are equal, huh?"
Yun sighed. "Alright. Come back."
"Pii!"
One more thing, his eyes didn't work on the East Wing as he'd hoped. The precision and raw data they provided stopped after a range of about ten meters. The good news was that his eyes had naturally evolved extremely high kinematic and spatial sensitivity, regardless of range.
The ten meter range only applied to hard numbers.
Yun exhaled slowly as the galing screeched and twisted, chasing nothing but the thrill of open air.
"Hey, uh, thing, ever seen the sun before?"
The answer was a slow and disappointed, "Pii."
"Yeah, me neither. "
"Pii-pii?"
"That one doesn't count; it was just a simulation. Plus, I'm pretty sure I was half-dead the entire time."
"Pii."
***
When the galing returned to the tower and flew through the window into the halls, Yun expected to see Yves standing just outside the door, but there was no one. Come to think of it, he had been rather silent after Yun shut the door.
"What is it now?"
He frowned, glancing down the empty hallway. After the galing conducted a short inspection of the entire floor, Yun confirmed Yves's absence. The kid didn't seem like the type to wander off mid-duty — he took himself and Dion's words way too seriously for that.
He dismissed the galing. "We'll talk later, uh, thingy. I should really give you a name."
Yun looked around for a bit, then it hit him.
His smile turned crooked.
"Hey, are you crazy?" he said.
Silence answered him first.
"... I don't know what you're talking about," said a floating voice.
"I know you're not outside. Are you spying on me?"
The air rippled, and Yves materialized mid-step, already stumbling back with both hands raised to cover his face. His cheeks had gone the color of a ripe plum. "What?! No! I'm not like that! I-I covered my eyes when you were… you know—"
"What—?" Yun felt his own face heat up when the misunderstanding landed. "N-no, you idiot! I meant… are you spying on my Lineage Path?"
Scouting a Spark might have seemed premature to most, since their return from the Great Break wasn't guaranteed, but this was the perfect time to secure a working relationship.
And Yun was a free agent. Given his exile, he had no responsibilities to fulfill to any Clan. He was prime prey for Human Society.
But sadly, his hopes were dashed when Yves's expression did a full reset. Indignation replaced embarrassment as he scoffed and crossed his arms. "Please. Who cares what some Tainted has to offer?"
"Then what are you doing in here?"
Yves took a minute to process the question. "Did you forget? I'm here to watch over you." His chest ballooned. "Priestess's orders!"
Yun tightened the towel around his waist. "Does that mean watching me take a shower? You didn't feel weird doing that?"
Yves gasped and turned his back to Yun, the redness spreading to his ears. All that blood rushing to his head couldn't have been healthy.
"Hmph! Guess what? I don't care. I outrank you."
"Whatever," Yun grunted.
"We've wasted enough time, anyway," said Yves, facing a wall.
"And why is that?"
"As your guide, I am to escort you to the Divine Sparks Academy, where you'll receive your Career Evaluation."
Yun's head tilted. "Career Evaluation?"
Yves let out an exasperated sigh. Yun recognized that same sound from Dion. Were all Human Society Divines like this?
"It's a ceremony where you will be asked to display your Lineage Path in action, and depending on the results, assigned one of five Divine roles. That role is known as your Career."
Yun opened his mouth, but was cut off with a finger wag.
"Uh-uh, I can feel you fixing your mouth to ask another question." Yves turned back to face him. "No. I have explained enough. That's already more than what the Priestess asked of me."
Yun sighed, "Why am I not surprised?"
Ignoring Yves, he applied some lotion he found waiting for him in the shower compartment. He tore open the packet, catching a whiff of the fruity scent. Disappointment flushed his face when his first thought was to taste it.
I can't be that hungry, can I? Come to think of it, when was the last time I had some food?
"Say, Yves. Once we get out of here, we'll get something to eat, right?"
Yves flinched. "It's Herald Yves to you. And… of course, you may have a meal."
"On you?"
Needless to say, Yun was flat broke right now. And the only thing of value on him, the Clan crest, was needed for a later errand.
Yves blushed, brushing away locs of his auburn hair. "W-well, hunger can be the cause of someone's death… and as your guide, it's my duty to avoid such a conclusion."
Yun smiled and went to pat Yves on the shoulder. As his hand went to connect, Yves vanished and reappeared just behind Yun.
"Do not dare misunderstand. It's for the sake of public safety!"
"Sure…" Yun turned away to retrieve his rags from the basket next to the entrance. He held them up, deciding whether a Divine Spark should be seen wearing such in public. "... But since we're stuck together, I guess I have to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
The crest fell out of the pockets, rolling across the floor with sharp clangs until it landed at Yves feet. The kid picked it up with an incredulous look creasing his innocent features.
"I have an important meeting to attend in the Stone District. After we have our meal, that's where we're going."
Yves inspected the crest, turning it over repeatedly like he couldn't believe what he was looking at. His fingers trembled. "You… why do you have this?"
Yun walked over to Yves, snatching the crest from his grasp.
"Dion didn't tell you?" He smiled. "Well, I can't put the blame entirely on her; I also didn't fully introduce myself."
Yun abandoned the rags, having remembered that he recently procured a much more fitting outfit.
The air around him glistened as magnificent dark robes adorned themselves on him. Black and gold threads weaved themselves into a sleek set of armour, with a grey silk fabric flowing from the shoulders like a hood. Leather vambraces and spaulders wrapped his forearms and shoulders respectively, their surfaces traced with golden embroidery.
Yun had summoned his first-ever armour-type Vestige, the Minstrel's Veil.
Yves's eyes widened into large, green circles.
"I am Divine Spark Yun of High Clan Morrigan, a servant to none but myself."