Northern stood in the dark lands of the Soul Forge, his gaze lifting to the grey sky that pressed down like a second ceiling above the volcanic terrain.
He had spoken to his classmates. He had spoken to everyone else who mattered. Now he waited for the King's summons—the moment that would set everything in motion. But before that moment arrived, there were things he needed to do.
He had to pass a command to Bairan. He also wanted to build his palace here in the Soul Forge, though he refused to rush the design. Whatever he built now needed to serve him even when he became an Emperor. Not just serve—it needed to grow with him. A mobile palace. Not a mobile nation, necessarily. That was excessive even by his standards.
