Two months had passed since the incident with the Drevane family.
Christian, who had initially been troubled by his sister and Eva — both of whom had wanted to rush to his side after learning about what had happened — had already calmed them down.
They were still in Washington for now, scheming all kinds of plans, as usual.
And as for him — he was in the midst of making a decision.
He had already filtered through enough of the material Anastasia had given him. Now, it was time to act.
That was why, at this moment, he sat in silence, reading a summarized report that Iris had compiled for him.
It was detailed and concise, listing the names of abilities, techniques, treasures, and other oddities that could help in detecting lies and uncovering truths.
Christian went through the report slowly, his eyes skimming line after line — until something made him pause.
They were described not as techniques or tools... but as a physique — a rare physique that could some manifest in people.
But that wasn’t the part that held him in place.
They were stated to be one of the top three kind of Eyes in the entire universe.
That was how powerful they were, apparently.
Christian found himself wanting them — craving them, even.
But after a few seconds, he simply shook his head.
It wasn’t time for that yet.
The Eyes of Truth were more than a tool to detect lies. They were something deeper — a gift that allowed their wielder to see through everything: illusions, concealment, deception, even the fundamental truths of existence.
They were far beyond him for now.
Acquiring them would take a long, long time.
And he didn’t have that kind of time to waste.
What he needed was something faster. Something more practical. Something he could build now.
And so, in the end, he settled on the second-best thing.
He would make an ability.
One that would serve a single purpose — to detect truth and lies.
With a more specific range, it should be easier to research his way through... or so he thought.
Christian turned toward his Idle System, intending to replace the General Mechanic skill in one of his Idle Practice slots.
But he found himself hesitating.
Right now, he had already reached the point in his research where he was working on developing a mini nuclear reactor — something that could serve as a core energy source for Iris’s new body.
And he couldn’t afford to stop now.
When the goal had been far away, he hadn’t minded waiting.
Now that it was within reach — nearly within grasp — things had changed.
So, after staring at the two words General Mechanic displayed in his Idle Practice slots for a while, Christian eventually made a compromise.
He decided to leave three slots dedicated to General Mechanic, and free up the remaining three for the new lie-detecting ability.
[You have received 700,000 Experience.]
[The skill Expert General Mechanic has become Lv.4 (10%).]
[The Idle Practice in the First Slot, Lie Detecting Ability, has started.]
[The skill Lie Detection has been created.]
[Currently, the skill Lie Detection is Lv.0 (0%).]
[You have received ...]
Christian took his time reviewing the flood of information being processed into his mind, digesting the knowledge he’d just received.
He focused on inference — trying to calculate just how long it would take for the breakthrough he had in mind to be realized.
A smile crept onto his lips.
Because based on his estimation — it wouldn’t take more than a month to achieve it.
With his mood elevated, Christian rose from his chair and stepped out of his office.
He headed toward the forging room.
There, in that suffocatingly hot room — one where most people wouldn’t last even a few minutes — Anastasia was seated on a chair, her head resting on the table, dozing off.
Her hair was slightly disheveled, her expression peaceful.
Christian stood still for a moment, simply looking at her.
He wondered if she could let her guard down because of her overwhelming strength... or was it because of something else entirely?
Whatever the reason, it lingered in his mind for only a moment before he quietly turned back to his work.
As he resumed hammering away at the metal in his hand, shaping it, forging it, he found himself stealing glances at her every now and then.
At that golden eye — which, at some point, had once again been covered by an eye patch.
It was beautiful. Strange. Almost divine.
And Christian couldn’t help but wonder if he should say something about it... maybe even ask. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel✶fire.net
There had to be a story behind it.
After all, she was a half-dwarf — and in the stories, halves were never treated kindly.
"What are you looking at?" Anastasia’s voice broke the silence, still heavy with drowsiness.
At some point, she had woken up.
Christian, turning his gaze back to the front, shook his head and said, "Nothing."
Anastasia just smiled, her expression unreadable, and didn’t press further.
And then — the steady rhythm of metal striking metal returned to the room.
At one point, curious, Christian asked, "Even after reaching your level of strength... do you still need to sleep?"
Anastasia chuckled softly.
"Of course not. It’s not necessary."
"Even you — as someone still in the first stage of the Mortal rank — can go without sleep for a few weeks if you push yourself."
"And I’m more than a million times stronger than you."
"So no, I don’t need to sleep."
She stretched slightly, her voice relaxed as she added, "But I wanted to sleep. So I did. It’s as simple as that."
’Not to tempt me with your defenseless state?’
Christian thought that, but didn’t voice it.
Instead, he asked another question.
"Why do you cover your golden eye?" he said, hammering down softly as he spoke. "It’s too beautiful to be hidden. So... can’t you show it?"