Chapter 298 | Setting Up The Array

Chapter 298: 298 | Setting Up The Array

Dexter brought out the Fourfold Hearth Array during the afternoon. Mira watched the formation plate appear in his hand, and her expression became weary. "What is that?"

"Something useful."

"So you don’t want to tell me..."

He placed the plate on the table. Four faint points of light marked its corners, and between them thin lines formed a pattern that seemed to shift whenever he changed the angle.

Selene tilted her head. " Its a Formation."

Dexter nodded. "It will help reduce interference between our energies."

Lyra moved closer. ’Inside the whole house?’

"That’s the intention."

Mira examined the pattern. "What tier?"

Dexter pondered but then spoke offhandedly.

"Just tier 5."

She looked at him stunned. And after a long silence, she said, "Your mysterious lack of a backer is very generous."

Dexter sighed. "I knew you would say that."

He cleared the center of the sitting room and examined the existing protection formation before placing anything.

The two arrays served different purposes, and he had no intention of weakening the house’s defenses merely to make cultivation more comfortable.

For the next hour, the room became a shared project.

Mira studied the placement of the formation points. Selene listened to the changes in the flow of mana as Dexter adjusted them.

Lyra helped move cushions, carried small items, and repeatedly stopped Dexter from putting furniture where it would interfere with Mira’s chair.

He looked at her after the third correction. "Have you all been discussing my furniture arrangements?"

She nodded. ’They’re bad.’

Mira lips curled upward. Dexter chose not to respond.

He positioned one formation point near the sitting room, another along the corridor, and the remaining two where they could balance the circulation through the bedrooms and backyard. When he returned to the central plate, the four lights had begun pulsing at different intervals. He frowned.

Mira extended a spectral finger toward one of the lines. "That connection is drawing too much from the front of the house."

Dexter examined it. She was right. He adjusted the angle, and the pulse steadied.

"Better," Selene said. "The cold isn’t collecting near the corridor anymore."

He made another small correction, then placed his palm above the central plate and fed a measured stream of mana into it.

Light spread beneath the floor, and for a moment faint lines appeared across the room, reaching toward the four points he had positioned. Then they sank out of sight.

The change was subtle.

A pressure Dexter had become accustomed to without noticing it seemed to ease. Selene inhaled slowly. Mira closed her eyes. Lyra’s expression brightened.

’It’s easier.’

Dexter nodded. His flame no longer pressed so heavily against the colder energy in the house, and Selene’s ice did not spread as readily into the circulation paths the others were using. Each could gather mana without constantly disturbing the others.

Mira opened her eyes. "It works."

Dexter smiled. "Try not to sound surprised."

"I’m surprised you installed it without breaking the floor."

"Must you go against me?"

"Must you argue with me?"

He shook his head, but the satisfaction remained.

They spent the rest of the afternoon testing the formation in short sessions. No dramatic breakthrough occurred, and no one suddenly recovered a lost ability. Yet Selene’s breathing became easier during cultivation. Mira no longer had to pause whenever a colder current crossed her position. Lyra rested beside the egg with a look of contentment that made Dexter quietly pleased.

The egg did not hatch which are Lyra a bit sad.

Evening settled slowly over the neighborhood. Dexter prepared a lighter dinner and made sure everyone ate before returning to cultivation.

Mira complained that he was watching her too closely, and he replied that he was waiting to see whether she intended to put a spectral arm somewhere dangerous. She threatened to put one through his forehead and he glared at her to try it.

Later, while he was washing the last dishes, someone knocked at the gate.

Tessa stood outside carrying a large insulated container, with another resting at her feet. Dexter looked at the containers, then at her. "Are you delivering furniture?"

"Your plates."

"All of them?"

"All one hundred." She smiled brightly.

Dexter picked up the second container and stepped aside. Tessa followed him into the courtyard.

"Perfect. I’ll bring the food early tomorrow."

Tessa leaned slightly to peer past him toward the house. "Busy day?"

"Yes."

"With cooking?"

"Among other things."

Her eyes narrowed with exaggerated suspicion. "What are you busy with?"

Dexter looked at her and knocked her head. "What are you thinking?"

Tessa pouted and glared at him. "I didn’t even say anything!"

Dexter rolled his eyes and then he handed her a small covered portion of the evening meal. She looked down at it. "For me?"

"For your father too."

Her expression became thoughtful. "How much of it has to reach him?"

"All of his portion."

"You’re very strict."

"He knows where I live."

She accepted the container with both hands, then smiled up at him. "If you keep feeding me like this, I’ll start finding reasons to come every night."

"I’ll give you dishes to wash."

"That would ruin the atmosphere."

"What atmosphere?"

"This atmosphere..."

Dexter laughed. "The atmosphere of feeding a stray cat."

Tessa looked offended. "I’m a very pretty stray cat."

"Goodnight, Tessa."

She lingered just long enough to make him repeat it, then waved and walked toward the gate. "Early tomorrow," she reminded him. "Father will be there before the shop opens."

"Alright, I will be there."

Dexter watched her leave, then carried the clean plates into the kitchen. One hundred portions. He looked at the clock and began arranging the ingredients he would need before dawn.

Selene came to his room later that night. Dexter looked up as the temperature near the doorway dropped slightly. She stood with one hand resting on the frame.

"You can come in," he said.

"I know."

But she remained there for another breath before crossing the room. Dexter moved aside on the bed, and she sat beside him, leaving a careful distance between their shoulders. He looked at the gap, then at her. Selene kept her face forward.

"Comfortable?"

"Yes."

He did not believe her. Still, he only offered his hand. She took it.

They settled against the headboard and began cultivating. The new formation helped immediately. The surrounding mana remained steadier, allowing Dexter to direct his attention toward the exchange between his flame and the cold inside Selene. Her fingers gradually loosened in his, then after some time tightened again for an entirely different reason.

She had shifted closer without noticing. Their shoulders touched. Dexter kept his eyes closed. He had noticed. He chose not to mention it.

The hours passed quietly. Now and then, a faint silver mist gathered around Selene’s wrist before dispersing beneath the warmth flowing from his hand. Her breathing remained slow. The house around them settled into sleep.

When Dexter finally opened his eyes, the clock showed one. He turned toward her, and Selene’s head had tilted slightly toward his shoulder. "Selene."

Her eyes opened. "Mm?"

"Lie down."

She straightened at once, and Dexter watched color rise slowly into her face. "We can continue like this," she said.

"We can. But my back is beginning to arch."

"The technique doesn’t require a fixed posture. Which means there’s no reason for us to sit here pretending we’re comfortable."

She lowered her gaze, and he understood what she was remembering.

That morning. His lips against her forehead. The way she had held his shirt and her hurried escape after the crash outside.