“I have a Daddy~, I have a Grandmi~, I have a Grandpi~, I have a Aunty~, I have and Uncy~, I have soooo many Sophies~.” With every twirl there would be one more red bunny for a total of twelve little red teacup sized baby bunnies hopping and giggling through the air around their playmate.


    They watched the little girl sing and dance so joyfully and hoped their little Ella would always be so happy, the terrible past forgotten. Lily’s grip tightened around Davie’s larger left hand as she imagined the awful things that this innocent child had been through, heart still raw from the terrible truths that had wounded her. Davie squeezed back.


    A few steps more and the space changed. They had just been walking through the trees on a path that seemed endless when all of a sudden they were in a white hall with many strange doors. Each was different colored and engraved with different images.


    Davie was immediately drawn to the simple blood red wooden door with an extravagant sword and shield engraving to his right.


    Lily looked left and faced a violet wooden door with a carving of an open book of strange symbols that glowed mysteriously.


    Ella was having a blast chasing after the now dozens of baby bunnies, completely unbothered by the change.


    “This is the Master Hall, which is connected to every space within the Domain.” Sophie, their official tour guide bunny, introduced with its new big round horn-rimmed glasses, looking very intelligent and professional in the way only a bunny could.


    Davie and Lily looked up and down the infinite hall and at the countless doors in awe.


    “How are there so many?” Lily asked their cute guide.


    “Most of these rooms are mere temporary reflections of the Garden for visitors. There are only six permanent spaces as of now, including the space we just exited.” Sophie Three said as it cutely gestured with one ear to point at the light blue door with the engraving of clouds that looked soft and shifting.


    Now that it was pointed out to them, they realized that besides the six doors of different colors, all the other countless doors were a lighter shade versions of the teal green door with the engraving of a familiar crystal tree.


    Jun had mentioned to them about how hundreds of visitors came every day to view his work. The thing about the mirrored dimensions was only now clicking. Those were a lot of visitors.


    “Besides the Nature Room and the Garden Room, there is the Library, Armory, Hanger, and Foods and Medicines.” Sophie introduced the pair, pointing out the last two doors, one light yellow with glossy fruits and herbs, the last was black with a mechanical figure that really excited Davie. That one was the Hanger!


    “This is merely a temporary measure. Once the initial influx on donations and gifts has been categorized and inventoried, newer and more permanent facilities will be constructed to serve as the core of Master’s mighty Domain.” Sophie declared with a passion they never expected to see from a bunny.


    “Where do we start? The Hanger right?” Davie asked rapidly, bouncing with anticipation.


    “Heeheehee,” the bunny giggled. “Master said to start with the Library, then the Armory and the Hanger last.”


    Ella joined Lily and Sophie in laughing at Davie’s cries of despair. Lily shook her head as she dragged the overly dramatic pouting hulk through the violet door behind Ella and the bunny army.


    All other emotions were suppressed and forgotten as the unprepared duo gazed dumbly out into the endless forest of bookshelves of different sizes and heights, some only as tall as their waists and many others so tall they couldn’t see the tops. It went on like this in all directions, as far as their mortal eyes could see. Neither could conceive how there could be so many written works in all the universe.


    Ella ran off giggling to play hide and seek with her bunny friends, already familiar from the tour Daddy gave her.


    “The wealth that Jun has accumulated from the Garden in the brief span of a single week is astonishing even for the standards of an advanced Elder that has had thousands of years to gather wealth.” Sophie chirped in pride, her master’s glory being her own.


    “So they gave him books in exchanged for visiting the Garden?” Davie asked, unsure if his brother was getting jibed.


    “Within the Nexus, knowledge is a highly coveted form of wealth.” Sophie corrected the ignorant. “A great amount of it has been gifted from the Elders and the Crowns that come visiting, and represent the highest levels of knowledge that can’t be bought. The rest has been purchased from the different markets with all the Merit donations.”


    “And thats not the only thing he got. Remember the doors?” Lily reminded with in elbow.


    “Oh yeah,” Davie mumbled dumbly, reminded of mechas.


    “So what kind of books are here?” Lily asked excitedly, not bothering to ask what a person could possibly need so many books for like Davie wanted to. Lily was ’team book hoarder’ all day long. It made perfect sense to buy every book in existence if you had the money for it.


    “We have everything from instructional books like Martial Arts manuals and magic tomes, and theoretical studies of runes and magic formulas down to country town cook books and local folk lores.” Sophie hopped and multiplied. Red bunnies swarming out and retrieving interesting books and tomes of all sizes and topics.


    Lily was surrounded by a red flurry of fluff and books, discovering new worlds with each introduction. Sophie, with her better understanding of Davie, didn’t bother with the cultural or complicated studies and introduced things that would excite him. Martial Arts and Mecha designs. Davie was drooling.


    They had never known that it was possible to train in a different way from body cultivation, only to learn that body cultivation was a highly difficult path that proportionally few trained in. So many methods and paths relied on connecting with the natural energies unique to the world.


    Why couldn’t they do the same?


    It was their first clue that their world was abnormal.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    While these thoughts lingered in the back of their minds, two manuals were placed in front of the overwhelmed couple. Each looked ancient and worn and radiated a kind of pressure that weighed on their little hearts.


    “For Davie, this is the Great Heavenly Movement, one of the most coveted body cultivation manuals for setting one’s foundation within all the Nexus. Only those of iron wills can hope to practice it and survive, but for those that succeed, they will find their journey starting from a higher realm. Jun believes you are capable of using this manual to struggle to greatness. Do you dare?” The little ball of red fluff provoked.


    Davie didn’t even hear her provocation. He heard the name, and that it was awesome and he was hooked. Both hands reverently extended and took the book from the bunny. The moment his hands touched the book, a white wisp flew from the book to Davie’s forehead and all the knowledge within was helpfully transferred in full into Davie’s mind. Comprehension was now his responsibility.


    “For Lily, the Great Heavenly Movement would not be appropriate. Instead, this is the Void Mind Resonance Guide, a technique personally created by Elder Cynth. Your many years of enduring your spirit injury were also a process of training and refining the spirit and mind. This technique will help you capitalize on your advantages and awaken your spirit fire in a new direction.” Sophie enticed.


    Similar to Davie, Lily was hopelessly drawn to the tomb meant for her and, with Sophie’s assistance received the inheritance.


    Neither remembered entering the red door into the Armory, only that Ella had a lot of fun pulling around half-responsive drooling idiots still busy settling injected knowledge, and that she wasn’t very good at it, based on the half dozen bumps on both their foreheads, knees, and toes, but once again found no room to complain as they gapped at a truly impressive collection of deadly objects.


    Instead of the open space of chaotic bookshelves of the Library, the Armory was a giant field of tables and racks, each displaying beautiful and terrifying weapons, hot and cold. The rows of armors and defensive equipment that blurred the lines of armors and mechs were just as vast and interesting as the weapons.


    Davie was hopping from one foot to the other, eyes wandering like a madman from one giant shoulder mounted cannon that looked like it was carved from wood and crystals to the line of personal armors that shined and glimmered and beckoned to him, while Lily was eying the racks of what looked like magic staffs and wands with glittering curiosity.


    The echoes of distant laughter woke the two from their building eruptions and brought attention to the end of the row of the largest power-suits, to see Ella and a cloud of red fluffs pass through into a different space through a black rimmed opening through which a giant metal foot could be seen.


    “Mechas!” Davie squealed.


    “Yes, the lines get kinda blurry with some of the classifications so we left a permanent connection between the Armory and the Hanger.” Their red bunny explained.


    The next hour was like running through a toy store in a different world with different rules. The various weapons and armors of various magical effects were another physical slap in the face of evidence of the new world their older brother had walked them into.


    They could still comprehend weapons and armors made of metals and crystals and even monster materials like scales and fangs, but what was a sword made of despair? Were those anguished faces screaming through the black mist like blade? What was an armor made of thunder and lightning? Was that glimmering and flashy thing something a human could wear and not call it artistic suicide?


    There were blades and swords made of ice and fire, tempest cloud war whips, personal armors twenty feet tall made of blessed wood and sacred stones, and enormous crystal cannons that dwarfed their house.


    The most astonishing thing was that in the grand scale of shockery, this room was nothing, cause when they stepped through the black rimmed opening into the Hanger, they learned what ‘big’ truly meant.


    The massive mecha foot that had been visible through the connection belonged to the smallest mecha in the hanger, and even the biggest mechanical combat armor paled in scale to the other residents of the Hanger.


    There was a fucking mothership in the sky. A few of them. Each vastly different in style and purpose, but each larger than Trident Gate City in sheer size. This was clear because they weren’t the only things in the sky to measure for scale.


    Battleships and floating castles and giant artificial monsters peppered the sky like stars with the three floating behemoths comfortably painting the entire backdrop of the collection.


    The ground was not empty either. The numbers of mountainous mechs, although many, were only a small corner of the earthbound collection. Luxury vehicles from cars, chariots, and ships lined one side, while titanic land based curiosities, like the twelve legged manor and the ten mile long brown steel earthworm like monstrosity that was apparently a mobile underground city, were parked on the other side.


    “H-how, why, what?” Davie mumbled his confusion.


    “An Elder is a being that has reached the pinnacles of power and authority. For them, boot-licking is a matter of honor and prestige. Who would remember the gift of a few precious manuals when another presents their entire collection? Who would remember the gift of a powerful sword when another presents an entire city?” Sophie’s nose was so high in the sky with pride it would be forgiven to believe the red bunny was the owner. She knew this because she herself was such an exaggerated gift.


    Her creator Elder Paskone had never gifted or exchanged with anyone more than a tier one inter dimensional AI, her much dumber and weaker siblings of eight generations prior, always secretive and covetous of his most powerful Guardian AI series. Until he stepped through the Garden.


    What he gained there was incomparable to any other grace he’d ever received. He practically chucked her, the pinnacle of his brilliance, right into her new master’s clueless lap, in sheer gratitude.


    “Wow…. So these were all gifts like everything else?” Lily asked blankly, her eyes riveted to what was essentially a small magical themed city with forests and a giant lake and some mountains…floating in space….right between a black and gold spaceship just as vast, that looked rather menacing and warlike with thousands of canons on all its surfaces and another something that looked like they had taken the skeletal remains of a giant space whale and turned it into a metal ship with glimpses of artificial skies between the titanic ribcage.


    “What did Jun leave for us?” Davie finally asked, his excitement finding its voice through the shock.


    The bunny with glasses chuckled almost menacingly as two of the teacup bunnies scampered over with something small in their little paws. Presented to their outstretched hands were two black obsidian rings.


    Surrounded by colossal and monolithic machines and magic, the two blankly stared at the little rings on their palms.


    “Pahahaha!” Ella, who had been hiding, burst into laughter. “Daddy said you’d look stupid when you got your gifts. Heeheehee~.”


    Davie and Lily finally looked at each other and saw the stupid looks of collapsing anticipation and confusion on the other and burst into laughter and embarrassment. They really did look stupid. They had already received so much and here they were being disappointed they didn’t get the toy they wanted. The greed for wealth in the face of treasures was a scary thing indeed. It felt like they had learned something important.


    “The Rings of Titans house four levels of armors in a separate dimension, not including the spiritual armor you gain just for putting it on. These are the masterpieces designed and crafted by Elder Titania in collaboration with Elder Tesin for the protection and growth of her own children.” Sophie dropped the bomb. These weren’t mere trinkets. They far outstripped most of these visually impressive war machines in value by many times. They were the only two of their kind in existence.


    Sophie couldn’t imagine the expressions of the other Elders if they knew that Elder Titania had gifted the rings away. She had already known the story behind the Rings of Titans from her old master’s records and understood the significance of Elder Titania finally parting with the protective charms that never got their chances to serve their roles.


    The drooping palms now felt heavy, no longer disappointed. They each carefully placed their rings on their right hand, Davie on his index, Lily on her ring finger. They each glanced at each other and blushed when they both saw the same expression the other felt.


    The instance their rings were in place, the loose rings magically refit around their new homes and both felt an immediate connection. One that revealed a wealth of opportunities. They looked at each other again, but now with stupid smiles.


    Ella and Sophie laughed at them.