Silas looked through the thousands of objects in the treasury, nothing catching his eye.

"This place is quite boring," he sighed, tapping his forehead lightly.

He had been excited about browsing the treasury of such a massive clan, but seeing it now, he finally understood how foolish he had been to think they would let students take their real artifacts.

"No wonder Sylvester laughed when Billie said his clan could go bankrupt doing this every year."

As he walked, something caught his eye.

A tube. A very large one that appeared to be over a hundred feet tall.

"What is over there?" He mused.

Silas did not hesitate. He advanced toward the tube with calm strides.

The maid in charge of that area raised an eyebrow as she watched him approach.

The way she looked at him suggested she had never seen a candidate walk toward that section before.

"What is this?" He asked.

"The corpse of an unknown species brought back from a secret realm," the maid replied with a bow.

"Unknown species?" Silas repeated, his eyes lighting up with something between joy and shock.

Joy because he could finally begin genuine research into genetics. Shock because a species undocumented by the federation was never going to be simple.

The federation had been advancing for two billion years.

Something unseen in all that time was definitely cause for concern.

"Why are you just selling it here? Something the federation has never documented is research-worthy material."

The maid exhaled lightly before speaking.

"The corpse has no value," she said plainly. "No matter how much research has been conducted, it always yields no results."

"Ohh," Silas said.

None of what she said deterred him. To him, acquiring a species like this was enough on its own, results or not.

"How much is it?" He asked.

"Thirty points," the maid replied. "But you will only be wasting your points. I would advise against it."

"Don’t worry. I enjoy collecting things like this," Silas replied with a wave of his hand.

The maid did not push further.

"Is there anything else you need?"

Silas thought for a moment.

"Do you have other corpses like this?" He asked.

The maid blinked.

She glanced at the other candidates searching through the treasury for weapons.

’Who is this strange person?’ She mused.

"We have quite a few, but the question is how many can you afford?"

"How much would everything you have cost?" Silas replied with his own question.

"About a thousand points."

"A thousand?"

"Give me a few minutes. I will be back," Silas said, already turning away in a hurry.

"Where could he be?"

His eyes swept through the candidates, searching for any sign of Sylvester.

"Master Silas, this place does not allow calls," Rion said in his mind.

Silas nodded and kept looking.

"That should be him," Silas muttered, his gaze settling on a figure in the distance.

He looked further and spotted someone else beside them.

"That is him. Billie and Amelia are there too."

Without pause, he made his way toward them.

"Sylvester," Silas called from behind, his voice unhurried.

Sylvester turned around.

"What is up?" He asked. "You did not buy anything?"

Silas shook his head.

"Can I get an audience with the Patriarch of your clan? I have something to discuss with him," Silas said directly.

Sylvester’s expression tightened, as though he had just heard the most absurd request of his life.

"The Patriarch? I don’t think I would be able to arrange that," Sylvester said with a sigh.

"Why?" Silas asked, furrowing his brows.

"Because the Patriarch is generally inaccessible. Even to me."

"How do I meet him then? I need to ask him something."

"What question do you think warrants the Patriarch’s attention?" Sylvester asked with a laugh that carried a faint edge of disbelief.

Silas looked at him with a dry expression. "Very funny."

"It is funny," Sylvester said.

Bam.

Amelia’s palm landed on his head with a firm thud. "You need to learn the balance between play and seriousness," she said.

"Ouch," Sylvester whimpered.

"Is there any way to contact him?" Silas asked, nodding his thanks to Amelia.

"You could try the head butler here," Sylvester replied, stroking his chin.

He was still rubbing the spot Amelia had hit.

"Where is he?" Silas asked almost immediately, his voice carrying a slight edge of urgency.

"I am not sure. We can ask around," Sylvester replied.

"Excuse me, where is the head butler?" Billie asked the nearest maid, her voice calm and direct.

"He is at the far end of the treasury," the maid replied, pointing toward a section on the opposite side of the hall.

The section was empty with no obvious treasures in sight.

"Thank you," Silas said, already moving toward it.

"Wait," Billie stopped him before he could get too far.

"Let’s go together. I am curious too."

Silas shrugged. "Do what you want."

As they walked, the eyes of nearby candidates followed them.

"That stone might look precious because of where it is placed," Sylvester said, pointing toward a stone set at the absolute centre of the hall, atop a pillar, enclosed in a beautiful glass case.

Three maids stood around it, their eyes sharp enough to cut through steel.

At a glance, anyone could tell it was the most guarded object in the entire treasury.

"That was the stone that tripped the Progenitor and led him to the discovery that built this clan into what it is today."

"You talk too much," Billie said flatly.

Sylvester looked at her and frowned.

’Talk about luck,’ Silas mused as he listened.

How could a single stone be the foundation of such a massive cosmic clan?

What were the odds?

’Maybe one in ten trillion. Or less.’

...

The head butler stood with calm precision, his gaze cold.

"Young Lord Sylvester," he said with a bow.

Sylvester waved it off with a smile.

"My friend would like a word with the Patriarch," Sylvester said, stepping slightly aside.

The butler’s eyes dimmed.

"As you know, the Patriarch does not appreciate having his time spent on trivial matters," the butler replied.

Sylvester was about to speak when Silas stepped forward.

"Thank you. I will take it from here," he said, drawing Sylvester back by the shoulder.