Chapter 48

Crystal tablets line the walls, humming softly with ambient mana, projecting schematics and architectural models of Raureif’s new sectors. Kalt XVIII walks beside Celeste and Eris, dressed in his newly tailored armored robes, now partially layered with design scrolls tucked under his arm.

Kalt XVIII
(eyes wide, trying to keep up)
Wait—how do these “mana channels” differ from our old leyline structures?

Eris
(grabbing a stylus and drawing midair)
Good question. Leylines are like rivers—natural. These channels? Think aqueducts. Artificial, but efficient. Once stabilized, they enhance flow without risking overflow fractures.

Celeste Diminuendo
(chiming in as she flicks a hologram)
And with sound-encoded arcana nodes, we can localize arcana-rich fields—basically, make areas warmer, cooler, quieter, louder, more focused, whatever we want. Especially useful for market districts and schools.

Kalt
(blinking)
Schools... we didn’t have many of those. Just guild apprenticeships and temple teachings.

Celeste
(grinning as she nudges his shoulder)
Well, congrats, frost prince. You’re about to have the most mana-efficient education system in the district. We'll even throw in music classes.

Kalt
(awkwardly but earnestly)
This... this is a lot. But it feels right.

Eris taps on a floating schematic—showing the Raureif Plaza rebuilt with multi-tiered mana elevators and harmonic dome generators.

Eris
(seriously)
Raureif has always been reactive—responding to crises, invasions, collapses. Now, it needs to lead. These designs? They're not just repairs. They're signals.

Kalt
(curious)
Signals?

Eris
That Raureif survived. Grew. And remembers.

Kalt looks at the schematic. Sees the glowing outlines of community hubs, transport links, public gardens, elevated libraries, and a newly rendered citadel built with layered crystal arches.

Kalt
(speaking softly)
This will be... a Raureif worth living in.

Celeste
(clapping once, then dramatically spinning her baton)
That's the spirit! Oh! And you're in charge of choosing the empire’s anthem, by the way. No pressure.

Kalt
(staring at her, deadpan)
What’s an anthem?

Celeste gasps.