Aftermath

In the study of the City Lord's Manor, Benjamin was immersed in an ocean of knowledge.

More than a dozen Memory Crystals floated around him, each flickering with a faint glow of a different color.

Benjamin's mental power stretched out like countless tentacles, reaching into the crystals simultaneously and greedily absorbing the knowledge contained within.

This was his twenty-seventh year on the Els Plane.

Twenty-seven years was enough for a mortal to grow from birth to adulthood.

For a wizard, however, it was merely a brief interlude in a long life.

During a break, Benjamin opened his eyes and glanced out the window.

The newly built City Lord's Manor stood in the center of the city, replacing the gray-black temple that had once stood there.

From the window, he could see orderly streets, scattered houses, and a new district still under construction in the distance.

Twenty-seven years ago, this place had still been a land shrouded in arousal arrays and cognition-altering arrays.

Twenty-seven years later, those arrays had long since been dismantled, replaced by aptitude Detection Arrays and ecological regulation systems personally designed by Benjamin. He withdrew his gaze and was about to continue studying the Memory Crystal in his hand when a ripple of energy suddenly came from the doorway.

"Come in."

Benjamin looked up.

David appeared in the doorway, travel-worn, with spatial ripples from planar travel still lingering around him.

"You're back?" Benjamin set down the crystal.

David nodded, walked into the study, and sat down opposite Benjamin.

He leaned back against the chair, letting out a comfortable sigh.

"How did it go?" Benjamin asked. "I remember you were assigned to investigate those nearby resource planes."

David shook his head, a hint of helplessness on his face.

"Nothing much to say," he said. "When the Chaos Cult left,