Dreadwolf, Lord of Runes

After a few moments of silence, Kane sighed and sat up again. Mána had given him a lot of new information, but there were still a few things he needed to know.

"By the way," he started with a thoughtful frown. "You said I might have been pulled into this world by another patron spirit when the original unstable rift passed close by this planet?"

"Right," Mána nodded, happy to provide as much information as she could. "Rifts are like tunnels through space and, just as we can sense where and when rifts are going to appear, we can also sense these tunnels passing near our worlds and intercept them. I don't think a quarantine can prevent that."

"Okay…" Kane mumbled understandingly while he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "So I guess you can also sense when something passes through these tunnels, right? What can you sense about them? Specifically, what might have convinced this patron spirit to pull me into this world?"

It wasn't actually certain yet if that was what happened, but it was always best to be prepared.

Mána sighed and shrugged helplessly, "I… honestly, since I was cloaking the lust rune, it should have only been the fact that you're a volfar? Maaaybe also that you're a paragon if they were paying particularly close attention? Either way, though, I'm not sure why any non-volfar patron spirit would be interested in you."

Kane frowned in contemplation. This world only had humans, beastlings, and demons, meaning there was no volfar patron spirit here. And, just like Mána, he couldn't think of any reason why they would be interested in him.

Except perhaps for one.

"Is there any way they pulled me in here to lock me in a quarantine world and deprive the volfar species of their newly resurrected paragon?" he asked with some concern.

But Mána shook her head in denial, "No. Patron spirits are forbidden from interfering with each other's paragons. That's why Alfheim's Bright Lady wasn't able to interfere in what happened there, even though she disagreed with the queen bitch's actions."

"Wait," Kane blinked in confusion. "Wouldn't pulling me into this world be considered interference in the first place? Regardless of the reason?"

"That's true," Mána nodded with a wry smirk. "But every rule has loopholes. Like I said before, if they weren't paying close enough attention, they might have missed your status as a Paragon. In which case, they would be able to interfere. It's like a mental block, but it only works if we actually know you're a Paragon."

Kane groaned and rubbed his forehead. "Ugh, I'm getting a headache from all this crap."

He looked up at Mána with tired eyes, "So, to summarize, I'm on a quarantined world, and I got here either because the quarantine is somehow weakening, or because a non-volfar patron spirit pulled me in here for completely incomprehensible reasons."

"Essentially, yes," Mána agreed with pursed lips, then shook her head. "But I also can't think of any reason why a quarantine would be weakening, so both options are equally incomprehensible to me."

Kane sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Alright, well… I guess not much has changed for now. I'm still going to use this world to grow stronger, until I…" He frowned, "Wait, if it is option two and I was dragged here by a patron spirit, then there are no unstable rifts, and I can't return to Earth?"

Mána didn't seem too concerned as she casually shrugged. "Yes and no. The bond between rune bearers and a subjugated patron spirit transcends most rules, including a quarantine. So even if there are no unstable rifts, I can still open a rift to Alfheim for you, at which point you can travel back to Earth from here."

Kane sighed in relief when he realized he wasn't suddenly stuck here forever. He wasn't too concerned about going back to Alfheim, because with some strategic planning he wouldn't be on that world for long, assuming Ella's mother, Irene, even realized his presence there.

In fact, when the relief passed, he suddenly realized the advantages. If he could bond with the volfar patron spirit that would be born in 5 years, he could travel back to this quarantined world whenever he liked and be completely safe from pursuit.

Assuming, of course, that he was pulled here by a patron spirit and the quarantine wasn't weakening.

At this point, Kane decided to simply stop thinking about it. Nothing about this changed his immediate plans, and if it ever turned out this place was quarantined for a good reason, he could always pull the emergency escape and have Mána teleport him back to Alfheim.

Thus, he waved his hand dismissively, "Alright, let's stop talking about all this. My head is pounding, and I got other things to do."

Mána nodded understandingly, before her standard mischievous smirk made its reappearance. "Understood, Master. So would you like to train some more instead?"

Unfortunately, Kane shook his head and stood up. "No, I want to spend some time learning Archibald's technique, and I can't do that in my soul world."

He grinned and suddenly appeared in front of Mána, where he took her chin and looked into the two large crimson moons acting as her eyes. "But next time, sure. And perhaps I'll reward you again?"

Mána grinned, but before she could respond, Kane pressed his lips against hers for a moment, and then suddenly disappeared. Mána sighed and chuckled strangely, before disappearing as well. Without Kane there, she was unable to remain.

* * *

Outside in the mediation room, Kane opened his eyes again and looked around. It was quiet. Next to him, Luna was sitting on a seating pillow of her own, clearly meditating and studying her own technique.

On his shoulder, a doll-sized Ella suddenly appeared. "Welcome back, Master," she greeted him hastily, before looking at him with curious eyes. "Did you learn anything from Lady Mána?"

Slowly, Kane nodded and informed her of everything he'd learned and discussed with Mána. By the end, Ella was no less confused than him, but she didn't have any more answers either, so they could only leave it at that.

Deciding he'd inform Luna later; Kane then used his storage ring to take out the technique he'd gotten from Archibald. So far, he hadn't had the time to actually study it.

He'd skimmed it a little, just so that Ella could tell him if she or Mána had any better techniques for him, but according to Ella, this was already a high-quality technique.

Unlike more basic fourth stage techniques that simply focused on creating a functional domain, this one was not only powerful, but also created a foundation for future techniques to easily integrate with. Not to mention that it incorporated both of Kane's elements.

Supposedly, Luna's Sanguine Spark technique was the same way. It truly appeared like Archibald, or whoever was behind him, went all out for them.

"Eternal Winter…" Kane mumbled to himself as he read the name written on the book's cover, before opening it to page one.