Markus spent several days establishing the newly christened Eternity guild, methodically laying down the administrative and legal foundation for their ascension. The core founding members of the organization officially included Rosanne, Jessica, Mika, and Donna.
To ensure absolute operational control while maintaining deep institutional backing, the official share distribution of the company was split with surgical precision:
Markus 30%
Rosanne 10%
Jessica 10%
Mika 10%
Donna 10%
Blackwell Estate 30% (Managed by Isolde and Sloane)
By structuring the equity this way, Markus ensured that the guild was entirely insulated from external hostile takeovers or noble interference.
Leaving the estate's shares under the direct management of Isolde and Sloane guaranteed that the guild's mercantile and administrative bureaucracy would run flawlessly in the background, freeing Markus and his team to focus entirely on their objectives.
**
With the foundation of Eternity legally bound and the charter secured, the time for academic posturing had officially ended.
Their inaugural mission was not a standard dungeon dive, but a high-stakes geopolitical play designed to rapidly expand the guild's reach.
They were tasked with establishing and facilitating vital new trade routes and diplomatic treaties with the formidable Northern Empire.
This frigid northern powerhouse held an absolute monopoly over the continent's most lucrative mining sectors and advanced blacksmithing enclaves, acting as the primary supplier of elite, high-quality crafted gear across the broader post-apocalyptic North American continent.
The assignment was structurally complex, serving as both a strategic outreach mission and a delicate diplomatic deployment requested directly by Princess Rosalind.
Recognizing that she could not accompany them due to her newly assumed royal duties in the capital, she had entrusted her personal royal seal to Markus—a profound gesture of absolute trust that effectively granted him the proxy voice of the Valerian Imperial Family on the northern frontier.
Possessing the princess's royal seal transformed Eternity's inaugural deployment from a standard corporate expedition into a mission carrying the full, crushing weight of imperial authority.
**
Before braving the frozen expanse, the team gathered within the warmth of the Blackwell Estate, where Isolde had prepared a heartwarming, home-cooked meal for them—a final sanctuary of comfort before they departed for the unforgiving, frigid north.
The dining hall, usually rigid with corporate and noble bureaucracy, softened as they shared a moment of domestic respite.
But even in her hospitality, the estate's manager was calculating; as the plates were cleared, Isolde presented several neatly aligned velvet cases containing high-tier vials of alchemical potions and refined medicinal pills.
Crafted to withstand extreme sub-zero temperatures, these emergency reserves ensured that no matter what volatile anomalies or sudden ambushes the northern frontier threw at them, they would be prepared for any situation.
The next morning, the heavy iron gates of the Blackwell Estate opened into a crisp, fog-laden dawn as the team made their way to the high-speed transit nexus. Isolde and Sloane stood on the platform to see them off at the metro, their expressions a mix of quiet pride and corporate calculation.
As the sleek, mana-insulated train hissed to a stop, the five boarded and began their journey across imperial borders, officially leaving behind the familiar horizons of their youth. For Markus and his team, this deployment wasn't just a trade mission—it was a definitive leap into the unknown, a chance to explore what the vast, untamed world had to offer and to forge themselves through raw, unpredictable experiences that could never be simulated within the well-protected borders of the Valerian Empire.
During the two-day train ride across the international border, Markus remained completely detached from the idle chatter of the carriage. He sat in a disciplined, cross-legged meditation pose, his entire consciousness submerged deep within the unfathomable complexities of Time laws. As the locomotive cut through the desolate frontier, his mind focused entirely on a single, fundamental paradigm of the cosmos: the absolute.
Absolute, true, and mathematical time, of itself, and from its own nature, flows equably without relation to anything external.
While ordinary cultivators viewed time as a fleeting, subjective experience, Markus analyzed it with the cold, unyielding precision of a primordial dismantling ancient laws.
He meditated on the truth that true time does not care for the mortal world; whether an empire falls or a star ignites, the fundamental tick of the cosmic clock remains entirely unbothered, flowing at an immutable, mathematical cadence.
By aligning his mana with this absolute flow, Markus sought to anchor his [Formless] core to a reality that existed outside of localized space, allowing him to perceive the universe not just as a three-dimensional board, but as a continuous, predictable sequence.
Inside the quiet compartment, the ambient temperature seemed to stall, the dust motes suspended in the air freezing for a fraction of a millisecond as a silver-blue chime resonated within Markus's soul space.
[Law of Time: 0.05%]
The profound stillness of his meditation suddenly fractured as a localized cascade of silver starlight erupted within Markus's soul space. The abstract mathematical equations he had been tracing collapsed and reassembled into a singular, undeniable truth. It was a sudden, piercing epiphany that shattered a fundamental barrier in his perception, effortlessly propelling his comprehension of the cosmos to [Law of Time: 0.05%].
As his eyes slowly opened, a brief ring of silver-blue light flared within his irises before dissolving back into his pupils. The dust motes in the carriage, which had momentarily frozen in mid-air, suddenly resumed their natural, drifting paths.
Markus felt the train's momentum slow to a gradual halt as the mechanical hiss of the brakes echoed through the carriage.
The locomotive had finally reached its destination: Michigan City, a stark, heavily fortified border nexus where the northernmost territorial claims of the Valerian Empire officially met the frozen, industrial sovereign edge of the Borealis Dominion.
Stepping off the train and onto the frost-dusted platform, the five members of Eternity were instantly greeted by a stark shift in atmosphere. This was no longer the manicured, pristine landscape of the imperial capital; it was a rugged, gray-iron gateway built for survival and commerce.
High-altitude defensive walls, reinforced with localized spatial matrices, split the city cleanly in two. On one side flew the elegant, soaring banners of the Valerian Imperial Family; on the other, the heavy, iron-stamped insignias of the Dominion.
The air here was a thick, biting mixture of sub-zero arctic winds and the distant, sulfurous heat of massive transit foundries. Merchants, heavily armed mercenaries, and resource syndicates crowded the platforms, all seeking passage or clearance to transport raw materials across the continental divide.
For Rosanne, Jessica, Mika, and Donna, this city represented the literal boundary of their comfort zone. Beyond these checkpoint gates lay a brutal environment where their newly minted mid-Tier 4 capabilities would face the unyielding reality of the northern frontier.
"Let's spend the day here," Markus commanded, his voice carrying the quiet, unyielding authority that had anchored their squad through the brutal Tier 5 portals. "We'll use this time to gather intelligence from the locals and cross the border into the Dominion tomorrow. Treat this entire operation as a recon mission."
With a definitive nod, the team dispersed into the crowded, soot-stained streets of the border city, perfectly executing their deployment protocols.
Markus split away from the group, stepping into the dense flow of the mercantile crowd. He didn't look at a map; instead, he relaxed his gaze, allowing the cold, silver-blue embers of his [Formless] core to hum in low-frequency alignment with the universe, letting his fate's eyes lead the way through the chaotic grid of the frontier city.
End of First Arc.