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When he found it, the Remapper’s rings became a lens through which he could look at the dark hole in the workspace’s weave. To the naked eye, the hole remained unchanged, but when he peered through the cylinder formed by the rings, he could see through to the desired destination, allowing him to visually confirm that he had indeed chosen the correct space with his mind.

Through that clear portal lay his second most advanced workspace. The Black Citadel, he’d dubbed it. Many of his more elaborate projects were placed there--though not the Anvil, of course.

The Fusion Forge was actually an entire workspace unto itself, and he had never taken anyone else there, save Marlizia. Nor did he ever intend to.

With another slash of the Needle, he widened the portal enough for both him and Zeff Elroy to step through. He went first, ushering for the Water Dragon to follow.

The man did so, though not without obvious hesitation. When he and Axiolis were both through, Daro twisted the handle on the Needle again, and the portal blinked shut, leaving the invisible weave untouched.

There were other ways to breach the weave, of course, but the Needle did so without damaging it. Which meant that, in all likelihood, that previous workspace was now damaged by whoever snuck the Water Dragon into it.

Rather annoying. Daro didn’t know if he would be able to find the time to go hunt down the damaged sector and repair it. Depending on how subtle the damage was, that could take quite a while. But leaving it that way might also prove dangerous. Like a tunnel that some stranger had dug into his property.

Well, that was why he had so many different workspaces. The lesser ones could serve as decoys. And the greater ones, like the Citadel here, had much more elaborate defenses baked into them.

“...What in the world?” said Zeff Elroy, gawking as they made their way down the enormous portcullis that led up to the Citadel proper. “You made all this?”

Daro had to pause and look around for a moment. Hmm. He supposed it was rather ornate these days, wasn’t it? He’d gotten so accustomed to the place that the view hardly even registered for him, anymore. The sky-bending towers. The sweeping, intricate archways. The gargantuan doorways. The sparkling moat. The twinkling stars lighting up the endless night.