Ryan stepped up to the small hut in the garden. The doors were slammed shut and a big chain was put onto it. When the Cedric team came here, they also put an arcane lock onto this place to ensure that nothing and nobody could get in here. They weren't in charge of researching or analysing this, so they just left it as that, gave Ryan the keys, since Runar had given him the clearance to take charge in matters like this, especially on his own property and anything related to the titan skull.

  And until Runar was back from wherever the hell he decided to run off to, this place would be in 'lockdown'. Well, officially at least. Obviously, Ryan just opened the arcane lock to take a look inside.

  "Morgana?" he asked, and the Witch immediately jumped out of her domain, deciding to take a look around. Because of everything that happened last night, Ryan really wanted to take a break. Plus, that 'synergy' between him, Maximus, and Morgana really took a lot out of the three, as though all of their mental strength was sapped out of them all at once. Even Tiar is still sleeping, although they usually wake up as soon as Ryan does. He had no idea why things worked so well last night, but... he had an idea.

  He thought that the seed of blessing had 'purified' the magic from in here, but maybe that wasn't really the case. It was very possible that it just created something of a barrier, or simply gave Ryan the mental strength to not be affected by it too much. And then, later on when she came to rest by the sapling, Gaia benefited from that effect as well, helping her hold out against the spell.

  But by now, once the spell was actually fully gone, Ryan was positive that what he experienced last night wasn't just the effect of the outfit that Silvia made. He could already feel himself get sucked in closer when he put on the Urban Harlequin outfit, so that might have already been, in part, because of the spell activating somehow as well, just specifically for the link.

  It was maybe a little bit of a risky - no, it was definitely a downright idiotic idea. But it was something that Ryan felt was worth checking out after all. And potentially, it was a way for Ryan to grow stronger. It had slipped his mind by now, but the level of understanding that he had of Morgana and Maximus' abilities was... mind-blowing.

  If he could just replicate that, and use that state for training, then maybe Ryan could not just learn how to use these abilities, and maybe awaken his aura, but also help figure out a way to delve deeper into the spirits' minds. It was an almost hypnotic state that boosted even the slightest emotions or thoughts, so if there was just the tiniest gap that could be used to reach the spirits' lost memories, then it would be worth trying to widen said gap.

  For now, Ryan squatted down. He had taken one of Gaia's shovels with him so that he could try and scrape off that thin layer of dirt covering the ground, while Morgana already started looking at it. After that first layer was gone, he scraped out the dirt stuck in the pattern's grooves with a small trowel.

  And then, once he properly cleaned it up with a broom, the entire thing was properly visible. It was a fairly large pattern carved into concrete. It was probably big enough for a giant to lay down in it and stretch out their arms however they wanted. Maybe that was also the point. Ryan did a bit of reading into cults and general religious practices after he learned about the titan skull, and using mind-altering drugs or spells was actually pretty common practice.

  Even now, there were still a ton of religions that made use of it, especially the close followers of gods ruling over domains like festivals or ecstasy. And it wasn't as though sects or religions following beings that weren't gods weren't a thing. There were tons of people that followed the great spirits as though they were gods, and small, rural towns often had shrines dedicated to a powerful local spirits.

  If this chapel had been actually registered as such, it wouldn't really have been an issue. But that was exactly the reason why this was considered a 'cult'. There was no reason whatsoever to keep something like this a secret. Sure, the titan skull made things a bit more complicated, but still. The fact that all of this was hidden was incredibly suspicious.

  "Have you noticed anything?" Ryan asked, looking over at the witch spirit. She turned her head over toward him, her lips slightly curling upward as she shook her head. Morgana placed her hand onto the pattern, and Ryan knew immediately what it was that she was hoping to do.

  "... Okay, fine. But just a little bit, just enough so that you can activate it. We know that this can affect you guys as well, so if you start acting weird I'm going to pull you back into your domain."

  By the time that Ryan finished speaking, Morgana was already pouring a bit of her mana into the pattern. Now that it was fully visible and clean, the pattern began letting off a slight glow. Ryan knew that he wasn't really all too affected by this spell, so he was fine staying inside and keeping an eye on Morgana.

  Once she activated the spell, the spirit jumped up and floated to the shed's ceiling, trying to get a proper look at the entire flow of magic. She even shot a slight glare over at Ryan to tell him to move, which looked a little weird considering her eyes were covered by a blindfold.

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  She took a few minutes to look everything over, zooming up and down, injecting mana into different places to see exactly how the spell reacted. By now, it was a fairly old magic circle, so it was possible that it wasn't working quite perfectly anymore.

  Though from what Ryan could tell, Morgana was very happy with what she was seeing and dealing with here. And then, she just floated out of the shed and immediately made her way toward Ryan's room.

  "Uh... okay, I guess?" he let out, and before he could really figure out what was going on and what Morgana was doing, she was already on her way back, carrying something. A small pouch.

  "What are you doing with the seed?" Ryan asked, holding out his hand as Morgana dropped the small bag. She then held onto Ryan's finger to pull him back into the shed, making him take a seat in the middle of the magic circle.

  He stared at Morgana for a few moments, "Are you serious? What, you think it's going to work?"

  Morgana nodded her head immediately, and Ryan sighed, "Fine, sure. Fire it up, I guess."

  The spirit poured her mana into the magic circle, and Ryan could quickly feel the space shift as that mana was amplified and turned into a proper spell, soaking into the entire space. The arcane lock set up all around the shed actually helped keep everything contained.

  Though the spell hadn't affected him all that much last night in the first place, Ryan still felt like it was... different now. Since the only one it was cast on was Ryan himself, it wasn't synergising and reacting to others and seemed somehow more stable. It might just be his own imagination, since things weren't as hectic, and most importantly... Ryan had nothing to drink yet today.

  Just like yesterday, though, Ryan didn't feel more emotional than before, it was more comparable to that slight light-headedness right after you had a cigarette. When he fell in with the wrong crowd back in his hometown, he had smoked for a few years. It wasn't really a good time. But this somehow felt weirdly similar. And weirdly... addictive.

  Ryan held the seed in his hand, and closed his eyes. He took a few deep breaths, as if trying to take in more of the spell, and then let his mana cycle through his body, using the seed as a bridge between his hands.

  Just like it usually did, the seed didn't seem to want to respond at all. There was that slight twinge of a connection that he could feel, but it really wasn't anything special. Sure, maybe it was a little more intense, but that didn't mean that it was easier to connect with the seed. It was just that much more obvious how much the seed was pushing out his attempts to connect with it.

  "It's not working, just like always," Ryan sighed loudly, staring at Morgana, "I try it basically every day, so there's nothing new."

  Morgana just floated there, right in front of Ryan's face. She was 'staring' from under her mask, and it was clear that she was just waiting for him to realise what was going on. And it took him embarrassingly long. Immediately, he jumped up from the ground and ran out of the shed. With Morgana out there as well, he made sure to lock it again so that the spell could dissipate while still inside of the shed, not affecting anyone around it.

  He pulled off his shirt and trousers and threw them onto the ground. For a moment, he wondered if the spell maybe did make him a tiny bit more impulsive, before completely abandoning that thought. He jumped into the pool and took a deep breath as the effect of his earrings activated.

  What Ryan just felt was what he usually experienced while connecting with the seed underwater. There was a reason why he came here into the pool to try and connect with it. Probably because the one the seed originated from was that kid living in the tank before becoming the dungeon heart, but the seed seemed most responsive when Ryan was in the water.

  It never responded at all when he was outside of it. But now, he got the response he usually got underwater, when out of the water, so it was pretty easy to come to the conclusion that there would be another change now.

  And it was almost immediate. As Ryan dove underwater and let his mana flow into the seed, that small twinge of a reaction that seemed to come when he tried really, really hard to connect with it grew stronger. And stronger. And stronger. Like some kind of heartbeat, and with every beat, the connection grew and grew.

  Ryan could feel himself slowly get sucked in. It was similar to how it was when he linked with Maximus and Morgana last night. He was practically giving himself up to this small magical artefact in his hands.

  And then, it happened. It disappeared. The seed fell apart, just like the others had done until now, being dragged along with Ryan's mana. In that exact moment, though, he could feel himself grow... numb. Ryan's mind practically went blank, as his focus involuntarily shifted into the white void between the spirits' domains, where the seed of blessings' sapling was planted. And that sapling suddenly grew.

  Its roots broke out through the ground, and its thin trunk quickly grew layers and layers over each other. It felt like Ryan was watching some sort of timelapse of a tree growing. It still wasn't massive, but it was larger than before. Its trunk was now thick enough that Ryan wouldn't be able to wrap its arms around it, and it was tall enough that it might actually be worth climbing onto now.

  The small 'moat' of water beyond it that appeared when Goria gave her blessing to Ryan grew wider and thicker as well, turning into a proper pond, with a small island at its centre. Lily-pads seemed to appear on the water, and reeds were growing out along its edges. The grass and moss growing around the water was spreading and growing fast, almost reaching the spirits' domains already. In an instant, the seed of blessing had grown to a ridiculous degree.

  And a few messages appeared to Ryan as it did.

  [The -Seed of Blessing- has reached its next stage, and has become the -Tree of Blessing-. it bestows its gifts upon you!]

  [Your Intuition has increased by 0.21]

  [Your Mana has increased by 0.43]

  [Your Spirituality has increased by 0.29]

  [The -Tree of Blessing- has discovered an innate ability hidden within its seed]

  [The -Tree of Blessing- can now provide the -Shop- Function]