Published at 22nd of October 2026 7:05 am

Chapter 2131: By Any Means

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Genevieve walked behind the Custos in silence as he led her to the trial.

There were several more murals carved on the walls, but Genevieve didn’t get the time to stop by and study them. She walked in a complex labyrinth of tunnels, and she feared she’d get lost if she didn’t follow the old man guiding her.

She hesitated briefly before her curiosity won. She used the psychological profiling method that she learnt from her mother’s notes. She used it on the old man. Her pupils constricted and she immediately began to study him. But only a moment later, her eyes widened.

She couldn’t glean a thing from the Custos.

She tried again. But the same results greeted her. Her brows furrowed. This had never happened before. This method had always helped her understand the people around her.

But for some reason it did not work on the old man. And Genevieve could only attribute it to the fact that he was far more powerful than she had initially expected.

"Stop it."

The Custos’s voice echoed in the tunnels. He did not stop walking. Neither did he turn to face Genevieve.

Genevieve was stunned.

He... knows?!

Before she could ponder further, the Custos’s voice echoed once again:

"Curious. How doth a child of the gens Fortuna know the Unitas?"

"Unitas?" Genevieve asked, puzzled.

Her shock from learning that the Custos had caught her red-handed was overshadowed by what the man just revealed.

So the psychological profiling method I’ve been using all this while is called... Unitas?

In the old tongue, it means unity. Or oneness.

Sensing her confusion, the Custos finally stopped and turned toward her. He scanned her with his bright cerulean eyes, searching for any deceit even though he knew she was genuinely puzzled.

"You wield the Domina’s technique, yet knowest not what it is called?"

Genevieve confirmed that the method’s name was indeed Unitas. She quickly replied with a shake of her head, "No, Custos. My mother did not mention it."

"Your mother?"

"Yes." Genevieve nodded. "I was told she was a Domina. Of the many things she left behind for me, there’s a technique derived from the School of Enchantment that allows me to create a psychological profile through observation."

"Your mother is a Domina?" The Custos’s eyes narrowed.

"Was," Genevieve said with a bitter smile. "She passed away a long time ago. During childbirth."

The old man stared at her for a few moments before his eyes dawned with realization.

"Ah, so you are Ulysses’s daughter."

Genevieve nodded. She wanted to ask the old man more about her father. He seemed to know him. But the Custos was curious about something else entirely.

"This psychological profiling method... is that the only thing your mother left behind?"

"Amongst other things, yes." Genevieve nodded.

She then explained everything to the Custos, mostly regarding what her mother had left behind. This was the first time the old man had shown genuine interest in her.

"I see." The old man nodded in understanding.

"Thy understanding of the Unitas is superficial, then. The psychological profile method is but a rudimentary technique. The true power lieth deeper. ’Tis why the worlds fear the Domina Occulta. Did they seek to recruit you?"

Rudimentary? There’s more to this method? Does he know about it?

Several questions swirled inside Genevieve’s mind. But she first respectfully answered the Custos.

"Yes, they did. But Aunt Valentina had a word with them, I think. After that, I never saw that veiled woman again."

The Custos grunted in response. He turned and walked away.

Genevieve quickly followed behind. She couldn’t help but ask, "What is the Unitas? How do I improve upon it? Is... there even a way I can improve?"

Surprisingly, the old man let out a chuckle. "Greedy lass, ain’t you? To answer thy question, the method you know is the most rudimentary, yet also the foundation. You mayest experiment and seek to improve upon it. But without the aid of the Domina Occulta, ’tis nigh impossible."

"Can you at least tell me what the Unitas is capable of?" Genevieve did not give up. "If I have an idea, then I can work toward it."

The Custos glanced at her with an appraising eye. Then he said:

"The Unitas is more than the psychological profiling you have learned. It is mastery of body and mind, until emotion and instinct no longer cloud thy judgment. From there, you learnest to perceive the hidden patterns of thought, intent, and possibility."

He smiled faintly, as if reminiscing. "A master of Unitas need not control a man’s mind. She need only understand him well enough to make the man choose what she desireth."

Genevieve quickly analyzed. "So what you’re saying is absolute self-control, perfect observation, heightened perception, predictive understanding, and... subtle manipulation of outcomes. All branches of the School of Enchantment. And there are traces of Divination as well."

The Custos turned to her and smiled. "The Domina will never teach you their way unless you join them. But who’s to stop you from learning them thyself?"

He paused before saying in a cryptic manner, "The key to your pursuit may just lie in the teachings Madeline left behind."

"You knew my mother?" Genevieve was surprised.

"Silly girl," the Custos said. "She was family. Of course I knew her."

Soon they arrived at a giant archway carved into the inner ring of the mountain range. Sunlight spilled in from outside. Beyond it, a sea of green ebbed and flowed. It was lush and full of primordial greenery. Yet there was something unsettling about the forest.

The trees were ancient, their enormous trunks twisted and gnarled as their branches formed a dense canopy that blocked out much of the sky. Thick vines hung from above like tangled serpents, while strange cries echoed from somewhere deep within the wilderness.

The deeper reaches of the forest were shrouded in shadow. Something moved among the trees. Then it disappeared. Even from the entrance, Genevieve could feel the faint presence of the countless creatures lurking within the foliage.

The Custos stood at the edge of the gate and said, "There lies a temple at the center of this forest."

He turned to Genevieve and said with an encouraging smile:

"Your objective is to reach that temple. Survive by any means."

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