The appearance of the Divine Angel Card genuinely caught Eric off guard.
It was an Augmentation Domain Card capable of triggering a mystical transformation within the user, temporarily altering their Pathway into the Goodness Pathway.
Such an effect sounded almost impossible.
Throughout history, there had always existed a law regarding Pathway transitions. A person could switch to another Pathway, but the difficulty depended entirely on the relationship between the two.
If the target Pathway was synonymous with the original one, the process would be relatively smooth. Neutral Pathways carried certain risks, though sufficient preparation could usually prevent disaster.
But antonym Pathways…
Those who attempted such a transition often lost control before they could even complete the initial stages.
And yet this Domain Card could forcibly transform any Aura user into a walker of the Goodness Pathway in an instant.
Eric had never heard of anything so absurd.
The more he read, however, the more he began to understand the principle behind it.
The core of the Divine Angel Card was transformation.
Rather than directly altering the user's Pathway, it temporarily converted the user into an Angel Spirit.
And Angel Spirits were naturally aligned with the Goodness Pathway.
Suddenly, the concept did not seem nearly as impossible as before.
Once transformed, the Aura user would not only gain the traits of an Angel Spirit, but would also naturally attract the favor of other Angel Spirits. Commanding them, subduing them, and communicating with them would become almost instinctive.
For Aura users already belonging to the Goodness Pathway, the effects were even more terrifying. Their Aura techniques, abilities, and spiritual affinity would all undergo massive amplification.
Even users from different Pathways could utilize the card without issue, provided their Aura did not belong to an extreme antonym Pathway.
But what truly caused Eric's breathing to grow heavier was another effect entirely.
After the transformation, the user would gain the ability to interact directly with the natural Aura scattered throughout the universe itself, borrowing that power to unleash various techniques of the Goodness Pathway.
Eric fell silent.
Only now did he realize just how terrifying Augmentation Domain Cards truly were.
Especially this one.
It suited him almost perfectly.
The Divine Angel Card possessed six different levels, ranging from Nova Rank all the way to the legendary True Supernova Rank.
"Even if I don't switch my main Pathway… obtaining the Self-Sacrifice Aura and its inheritance would still greatly strengthen me."
He paused for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
"No. Even without them, I can still rely on the Imperator's Cross."
He had options.
Far too many options.
But Eric did not make a decision immediately.
Instead, he glanced inward through one of the three charms connected to his consciousness, checking his personal information.
A small number of contribution points had already accumulated.
Most of them came from his activities within the Imperator's Cross, as well as the establishment of the "Helping Beggars" organization.
"I should put more effort into that group after getting out…"
At present, he only possesses twenty-four contribution points.
Yet even that amount held astonishing value within the Serenity Codex.
Contribution points could be exchanged for materials, charms, temporary relic rentals, Aura recipes, inheritance clues, and countless other resources.
The possibilities were endless.
But Eric had already decided what he wanted.
"Father Irenaeus," Eric said calmly, "I would like to spend twenty contribution points to have the church forge a Domain Card for me."
Father Irenaeus raised his brows slightly.
"That quickly? Though with your current contribution points, you can only afford an Auri Nova Rank Domain Card."
He paused briefly before continuing.
"Perhaps you should wait a little longer… or exchange for something else instead."
Eric merely smiled.
"There's no need. I've already made my choice."
"I would like the Holy Spirit's Battlefield Domain Card to be forged."
A trace of disappointment flashed across Father Irenaeus's eyes.
What he truly hoped Eric would choose was the Divine Angel Card.
Even if Eric lacked sufficient contribution points, Father Irenaeus would likely have found a way to excuse it.
After all…
"I still have much work for him," Father Irenaeus thought inwardly.
Eric, however, continued speaking calmly.
"I plan to enter the Meditation Realm and assist Lady Isebela. While I'm there, I can also hunt Pathway Beasts and contribute additional resources to the organization."
"This will also allow me to test several Domain Cards. That's why I only need a low-rank one for now."
"I'll accumulate more contribution points before exchanging for the truly valuable treasures."
There was a hidden meaning behind those words.
Eric had no intention of distancing himself from this mysterious organization unless necessary.
If they wanted him to show interest in the Goodness Pathway…
Then he would play along.
For now, they had not forced him into anything. But the future was uncertain, and Eric understood one truth better than anyone else.
He was weak.
And weakness itself was a sin.
Rather than acting prideful and inviting suspicion, he preferred to give them hope—just enough to keep them satisfied while he quietly strengthened himself in the shadows.
Even if the Goodness Pathway eventually proved to be a trap, that was a problem for the future.
Right now, he intended to exploit every benefit placed before him.
Forging an Auri Nova Rank Domain Card first would allow him to test many things safely.
As for whether he would truly change his Pathway…
That decision was not urgent.
The urgent matter was stabilizing his current situation and advancing to Hypernova Rank as quickly as possible.
That was his immediate goal.
Father Irenaeus gave a solemn nod and asked calmly whether Eric wished to participate in the forging or simply observe.
"Observe," Eric said.
He had witnessed countless forging ceremonies back in the Meditation Realm, but he knew this one would be different.
Every region carried its own techniques, its own traditions, the particular habits that accumulated over generations of practice. Watching a blacksmith of the Goodness Pathway work would teach him things he couldn't get from reading.
Father Irenaeus moved toward the black altar at the center of the room. The Domain Card being forged was only an Auri Nova rank, so the required materials were neither rare nor particularly expensive, but he approached the altar with the same deliberate care he might have given something far more demanding. Eric had noticed that about him.
The altar itself looked understated at first glance — black, unremarkable, the kind of thing you might overlook in a crowded room. But the symbols carved across its surface told a different story, ancient patterns layered over one another in configurations that resisted easy reading. Determining the rank of an altar required either experience or equipment, and Eric had neither at hand, so he filed it away and watched.
Father Irenaeus straightened his back with some visible effort and produced a bronze pot, which he set at the altar's center. An Angel Spirit descended quietly beside him and offered a white vase. Inside it was a milky liquid — Holy Water, the most common foundational material of the Goodness Pathway, which would serve as the solvent for everything that followed.
He poured it into the pot, then pressed a thread of Meditation Aura into the altar itself.
The altar responded immediately. White light traced across its surface, symbol by symbol, until an intricate circular pattern had formed beneath the pot. Eric recognized it: a stabilizing formation, standard to nearly every forging altar, designed to reduce the friction between materials from different Pathways. The Holy Water began to boil shortly after, bubbles breaking rapidly at the surface while a faint golden light rose from somewhere within the liquid.
"This altar is called the Nine-Nine Ancestral Altar," Father Irenaeus said, not looking up from his work. There was a quiet pride in his voice. "Supernova rank. The probability of failure is already significantly reduced."
Higher-ranked items meant greater risk — the smallest error compounding into ruin. A better altar didn't eliminate that, but it narrowed the margins.
The Angel Spirits had taken their positions around the altar by now, each waiting with the stillness of people who had done this many times before.
When the Holy Water began releasing a dazzling golden radiance, Father Irenaeus spoke without raising his voice. "The three Verdant Lightless Feathers."
An Angel Spirit descended and dropped three rainbow-colored feathers into the liquid. The moment they touched the surface, the entire pot shifted color, and the liquid began churning violently. Before the energy could overflow, an Angel Spirit hovering above the altar puffed its cheeks and breathed out a thin stream of freezing air directly at the cauldron.
Eric's expression shifted slightly. He hadn't expected that. Even the breath of an Angel Spirit could serve as material — the cold stabilizing the raging liquid, drawing the excess energy back into itself. A small thing, easily missed. The kind of detail that only existed in the spaces between formal instruction.
"Virtuous Hound Claws."
"Divine Light Crystal."
"Angelic Cornerstones."
"White Light of Chastity."
Each material arrived in sequence, added with a precision that left no room for adjustment. Some steps looked almost casual from the outside — a slight tilt of the wrist, a pause of a particular length — but Eric could see the reasoning behind each one, the way they built on each other, the timing that made the difference between success and a ruined pot. This was Auri Nova rank work, technically unremarkable by any measure, and yet what Father Irenaeus was doing with it was not unremarkable at all.
Eric had stopped thinking of it as forging somewhere around the third material. It was closer to watching someone play an instrument they had spent their whole life with — the technique invisible beneath the fluency, the craft so thoroughly absorbed it had become something else.
He watched and said nothing, and learned more than he could have from a book.
By the time Father Irenaeus called for the card mold, the contents of the pot had dissolved into a single thick golden liquid, dense and slow-moving, catching the light like something molten. An Angel Spirit brought the mold forward and positioned it above the altar.
Father Irenaeus tilted the bronze pot.
The liquid poured in a single unbroken stream. Nothing spilled. The amount was exact. He righted the pot when the mold was full and set it aside without checking whether he'd gotten it right, because he already knew.
Eric understood, watching that, just how much control that actually required.
The liquid cooled slowly in the mold. Then Father Irenaeus produced a small silver hammer, and without any particular ceremony, struck the card once.
The sound hit the room like a struck bell. White radiance erupted from the altar — Eric closed his eyes against it — and for several seconds there was only light and the fading resonance of that single note.
When he opened his eyes, a golden card floated above the altar. Rainbow light moved across its surface in slow, shifting patterns, and a quiet, holy energy had spread through the room in the way that warmth spreads from a fire, filling the space without announcing itself.
Father Irenaeus lifted the card carefully and held it out. "Your Domain Card."
Eric took it. Roughly the size of his palm, thin as paper, cold in a way that wasn't unpleasant. The moment it settled into his hand, something moved through him that he didn't have a precise word for — not pride exactly, not relief. Closer to recognition. Like something that had existed only as a direction to walk in had suddenly become a place.
He looked at it for a long moment. Then he let out a slow breath, and a faint smile crossed his face before he could think to keep it off.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, briefly and without warning, there was a child who had once wanted this very badly.