He already had his flames, and his Telekinesis could build the framework of every instrument he desired, what he just needed was a Reagent or an Ability that could mimic something similar, and he could begin attempting forging.

This was something that could assist him now, but was critical to his future, if he planned not to ravage and destroy every world he came across then it was necessary he had this Ability to Forge Alchemical Items on his own.

The uses were endless, but if he needed to seize worlds and fortify them one at a time, he would need defenses, ships, armor for his soldiers, Terraforming Equipments, Buildings, Boats, and so many others.

Before he developed a sizable population that could govern and develop his worlds properly he would need to do that himself. It was a lot of work, and he looked forward to it.

Part of his earlier plans was to get In contact with Master Artificers and slowly commission work from them, but now, with his Empyrean senses showing him the true layers of every single Artifact he came across, it was only a matter of time until he was able to build a world by himself from the ground up.

Rowan looked at the Spatial Bracelet on his arm, he had once cracked it open using the aid of his Spatial Sight, and he was eager to explore it afresh.

Creating a mental picture of all the Runes and part of the Spatial Ring and compartmentalizing in a Pillar of Consciousness, he turned to his Spatial Bracelet next.

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In a location deep in the void, a sleeping giant made from flames and red metal shook, and muffled rumblings came from it mouths filled with metallic teeth, after a while, it slowly went back to sleep.

If one were to look around for an inestimable distance, a scene of pure horror would surface. For this was a galaxy where every world, every moon, every sun, and any other celestial body that graced the void was dead.

The planets were all crumbled and in pieces and the last burning suns were like the last wisp of a burning log. Countless worlds were all dead and lying about in the ruins of these worlds and fading suns were abominable giants, that slowly fed on the decaying worlds like maggots, for their hunger was unending.

The sleeping giant was yet again roused once more, and it shook, but this time it opened its single eye that was situated on its chest. This particular giant was small by the measure of it’s race, but it was still thousands of feet tall, and it was very young by their standards, only a million years old.

These were Banes of Destruction.

The gaze from that giant eye seemed to transcend across Space and Time to a small minor world that was shuddering beneath the Aura of an oncoming destructive event.

The Destruction Banes had unique properties that allowed them to sense when a world was drifting towards death, and like flies to a rotten corpse they would begin to gather around it, anticipating the feast to come.

The eye of the Bane lit up with fervor, as it pushed itself away from slumber and began tearing its way through the void. It could also sense others of its kind gathering for the expected feast—young lings like itself.

It began moving faster.

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The Convoy stopped moving early the next morning, just as the sun had begun rising, and scouts went around creating a perimeter with electrified fences, it was more to keep people in as it was not unknown for children or unruly adults to wander off and delay the convoy for days or weeks.

The vehicles of the convoy were also arranged in a circular manner, creating a second line of defense as the proposed gathering would be happening at the center.

The joyous laughter of children filled the air, as they had finally been released from what should be for them weeks of torture.

Although it was called a small gathering, the situation around made the people enthusiastic and this turned to a party, and preparation for it were in a feverish pace, as everyone gathered around to make it work.

A party of the scale was a massive endeavor, as feeding and entertaining twenty thousand people was not an easy job, but with the presence of Dominators, it went along faster than he expected.

Rowan could hear the joyous laughter from Diane as she assisted her mother to join with the fellow women who were to be cooking, having released her for her duties for the day, he was surprised she did not find her friends instead she stayed with her family.

Perhaps talking about her sister had reminded her of the preciousness of her family and she was now particularly clingy to her mother, to the quiet happiness of Olga.

Children tend to drift away from their parent as that age, and seeing Diane stick close to her like when she was younger made the heart of the woman gladden.

One thing this calamity brought in excess was beasts from every corner of the planet. It was not a difficult thing to find a small herd of herbivores, who resembled cows but with black skin and eyes, the hunters and Dominators captured well over two hundred of these creatures coupled with birds and others, and a massive preparation for the feast was underway.

The cooking units were disengaged from each vehicle and brought outside where women fret about it, preparing various dishes, and the men slaughtered animals and ready the venues for the celebration.

Young children and youth began to create the games, and their laughter and quarrels all drifted up to Rowan who sat cross-legged in the air, a few hundred feet above, with a bottle of wine in his hand.

Every now, and then he saw the people looking up and respectfully bowing towards him, as talk had gone around that this celebration of theirs was due to his grace.

Rowan was sure this rumor was spread by Circe, most likely to be in his good side. He would be foolish not to assume that they might have known of Scarvros death, there were many methods to check, but he had won the time he needed, and he did not care if they knew.

His enemies would in due time be coming for him, but his mentality had changed. He no longer feared his powers or his potential.

A figure arose from the ground, it was Circe who joined him, carried by a flow of gentle breeze, seeing that he sat in the air with no visible support, made her arched her brows, before she noticed a dense slab of Aether beneath Rowan.

“Can I join you, Erohim?” she asked

“of course.” Rowan gestured with his hand, and Circe felt the slab of Aether extend below her feet, and she smiled and sat close to him.

She opened her hand, gesturing for the wine; Rowan passed it to her, the first taste made her smile, and she began chugging down the rest.

Rowan sighed and brought out two more, breaking open his own, he kept the other one beside her, and slowly drank his own.

“This is new.” Circe ran her hand below, touching the invisible layer of his Telekinesis. She could not understand the void that she was touching, but it was tangible.

“I’m beginning to recover what was slowly lost from me. This is a minor trick I discovered.”

Her eyes lit up, “Thats good news. What about your memories, are those coming back?”

“Not for now.” Rowan sighed, “I expected you would be questioning me about my desire to slow down the convoy?”

Circe laughed, “I’m sure you have your reasons, you’re also doing me a favor in the long run you know. Cramming twenty thousand people into a box for a month would do weird things to mental health, and reports of crimes had been increasing in the convoy.”