With the first mana ring now forged within their hearts, the triplets had reached a crucial milestone.
Their Mana Cores pulsed gently inside them, rotating in perfect rhythm. With even just one ring formed, their ability to maintain the use of the Authority of Aeons had grown exponentially. No longer would they burn out their aura after brief moments of activation. Now, they had stability—a foundation.
Aetherion opened his eyes and slowly raised his head toward the sky.
The sun was nearly overhead.
Five hours had passed since they began their meditation, but it had felt like only minutes. Time, for a moment, had belonged to them. And now, they were ready.
He looked to his sisters, who were already rising to their feet.
Zephine cracked her neck with a sigh.
Virelia rubbed at her arms, still feeling the last echoes of resonance fading from her core.
They both looked to Aetherion.
He gave a quiet nod.
Now came the task that mattered most—not for power, not for survival, but for life itself.
They would rebuild their home.
Not just the house they'd been sleeping in—broken, rotted, half-swallowed by earth.
They would rebuild the entire village.
It wasn't just a decision. It was a vow. One they had made silently in their hearts after the day their parents died. This place was where they grieved, where they trained, where they awakened.
This was the grave of their family.
This was their sanctuary.
And now, it would become their fortress.
"We need space," Zephine said quietly.
"And beds," Virelia added, voice tired but hopeful.
Aetherion smirked faintly, the closest thing to a laugh he'd had in weeks. "And maybe a roof that doesn't leak when it rains."
Their bodies were still sore. They had been sleeping on the floor for weeks. Eating on the floor. Living on broken foundations, breathing in dust. It had been fine—for a while.
But now they had power.
And more than that, they had purpose.
Using the Authority of Aeons—tapping into the Elemental, Tech, and even Genesis aspects—they would reshape the ruins.
Stone by stone.
Timber by timber.
They would create a home worthy of their name.
A place not just for survival—but for rebirth.
The triplets stood in formation, each positioned at a different side of the old house they had called shelter for weeks.
But today, that would change.
Zephine took the lead, her eye glowing with faint digital runes as she activated the **Tech Authority**. A pulse of energy spread from her palm, and in moments, a glowing **holographic blueprint** enveloped the entire house. Lines of light wrapped around its decaying frame, forming a complete projection of a new structure—sharper, stronger, and far more refined.
Next was Virelia.
She stepped forward calmly and called upon the **Elemental Authority**. The ground rumbled beneath her bare feet. With a graceful motion of her hand, the old house groaned… then **crumbled** into controlled rubble. Not a single piece was wasted. Virelia extended her focus beyond the ruins, summoning additional raw materials—stone, clay, hardened wood, and fiber from nearby trees—guiding them into place as if dancing with the earth itself.
Then came Aetherion.
His eyes shimmered with golden luminescence as the **Genesis Authority** activated. He reached out toward the floating debris, his hand glowing softly.
The materials responded.
Rot vanished. Splinters mended. Weathered stone became smooth and solid. He didn't just repair—he **rewrote** the very condition of the materials, decoding their age, density, and flaws, and transmuting them into fresh, durable components. Guided by the holographic blueprint cast by Zephine, Aetherion shaped the structure with precision.
Wall by wall.
Beam by beam.
Room by room.
And all of this… in **thirty minutes**.
When they stepped back, their work was complete.
Before them stood a modest yet beautiful **two-story home**, cleanly designed and sturdy. The exterior was lined with reinforced wood and stone, the structure elevated on a stable platform. Inside were beds made from woven forest fibers and smoothwood frames, handmade furniture simple yet elegant, and windows placed perfectly to catch the morning light.
It wasn't grand.
It wasn't luxurious.
But it was *theirs*.
And more importantly… it felt like **home**.
They had done it using only half of their aura—and thanks to their newly-formed **Mana Cores**, that energy had already begun to **replenish automatically**. Their hearts spun with silent power, the rings regulating and feeding aura back into their bodies in a steady rhythm.
But the triplets weren't finished yet.
There was still *one more structure* they needed—something essential to their future.
A **workshop**.
A place to build, create, and innovate. Although they had access to the **Tech Authority**, its current function was limited. Zephine could generate detailed holographic blueprints, but not fabricate devices on her own. Aetherion could manipulate materials through the **Genesis Authority**, yet only by using available resources. The **Elemental Authority** could summon raw materials, but only in small, manageable amounts.
All the Authorities, though powerful, remained in their **weakened states**—incomplete until the *Gauge Indicator* of the **Authority of Aeons** was filled once more.
To restore their full potential, the triplets would need to continue hunting Grimm.
But for now, they could still build.
So they repeated the process.
Zephine crafted the holographic layout of the workshop—compact, efficient, and grounded in practicality.
Virelia summoned materials again, extracting wood, stone, and metal from the surrounding area, even tearing a few usable alloys from the wreckage of old homes nearby.
Aetherion manipulated those materials with precision, molding and reforging them through Genesis Authority into clean, structured form.
And once again, in **thirty minutes**, it was done.
The new **workshop** stood just beside their house. It wasn't large, but it was more than enough. Inside were sturdy workbenches, rudimentary forging tools, and technical tables wired with circuits Zephine had hand-inscribed into the walls using the limited tech resources they possessed.
It wasn't perfect.
But it was *the beginning*.
The triplets stepped outside and sat quietly in front of their newly-built home. The sun had dipped lower in the sky, casting golden light across the village ruins. The house and workshop stood side by side, humble monuments to their labor and unity.
They sat there together, legs outstretched, not saying a word.
Tired, but content.
Aetherion's gaze drifted toward the back of the house, where something far more important awaited them.
The **grave**.
A simple pile of earth once marked by a cold stone, lifeless and bare. But now, thanks to Virelia's quiet use of the **Elemental Authority**, soft grass had grown over the soil. Wildflowers bloomed naturally across it—yellow, violet, and blue—gentle offerings from the earth to the fallen.
The triplets rose and walked over slowly.
They didn't speak.
They simply sat—quietly, respectfully—before the final resting place of their parents.
Zephine was the first to rest her head against Aetherion's lap, her white hair brushing against his leg. Virelia followed shortly after, curling beside them. Their eyes closed, not out of exhaustion, but peace.
Aetherion stayed still, watching his sisters drift into light sleep.
Then he looked at the grave.
A small smile touched his lips—bittersweet, but real.
"We're doing okay," he whispered softly, voice carried by the wind. "We're together… and we're safe. You don't have to worry anymore."
The grave said nothing, but the breeze that passed through the flowers felt like an answer.