The Master of Ceremonies cleared his throat and a polished wooden staff appeared in his hand, made of some sort of silver wood, and carved to resemble a lounging dragon who held a large blue orb in its jaws.

Karl could see that the orb was actually a globe, though not of their world, and when he inspected it more closely, he realized that there was an actual planet sized [Tiny World] inside the orb, and set to be visible from the outside.

The ancient Elf released the staff, and it remained upright on its own, glowing with power.

“The Gods honour the petition of this man Karl, and this woman Dana, to be joined for eternity.

Do you, Karl, offer yourself to this union freely and wholeheartedly, with true love and devotion?”

“I do.”

“Do you, Dana, offer yourself to this union freely and wholeheartedly, with true love and devotion?”

“I do.”

Then the Master of Ceremonies began to chant in a language that Karl didn’t recognize. It had a haunting familiarity, like he should know it. But the words were pure power as the old Elf wove a spell.

Then the magic of his words merged with the magic of the staff, covering the bride and groom in a gentle halo of golden light.

[What is this? I don’t recall this in the briefing Matilda gave me.] Dana’s thoughts entered Karl’s mind.

[SCORE!! We have a Dana Mage!] Cara mentally cheered, which made Dana turn to look at her.

She was beginning to panic, but Karl took her hands to focus her attention.

[It’s a mental link. Relax, this is normal.] He gently explained.

[Normal for you. I can hear everything.] She replied as the power of the magic surged.

Power began to flow between the two of them, sending a pleasant tingle through Karl’s muscles. But to Dana, it was like her whole world was being forcefully realigned, and her soul was tossed through a sea of holy magic and chaos with only Karl’s touch as an anchor.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the process was over, and Dana felt her mana begin to change. It took on a bit of the chaotic essence of Karl’s power, and the power level began to grow rapidly until it hit a bottleneck and pressure built for a few seconds.

Then, the pressure popped, and Dana felt herself pulled into the Totem Rank, and forcefully propelled toward the peak, getting closer to Karl’s power level by the second.

“The Soul Bonding is complete. This man Karl and this woman Dana have been forever merged by the will of the Gods. From this day forward, their souls will be bound as one, together for eternity.” The Master of Ceremonies announced.

“You may now kiss the bride.”

The feel of Karl’s lips sent desire surging through Dana’s body. But it was not all her own. She could feel his thoughts and emotions, including his amusement at her panic, like he wasn’t also experiencing this ceremony for the first and only time.

For a moment, her mind went blank, devoid of anything but Karl and the feel of his body against hers. Then she was abruptly pulled back to reality by the realization that they were practically making out in public, while the crowd cheered.

A gentle thump at Karl’s chest made him break the kiss, and he turned to the crowd, raising their joined hands in victory.

Button began throwing flower petals in the air in celebration, and the Immortals moved to stand behind them.

Matilda motioned to the crowd for silence, and after a moment, it was quiet enough that she could speak.

“The ceremonies of the Old Gods are simple, but powerful. We thank the representative of the Ancients for agreeing to host the bonding ceremony today. But the Darklight Host has one more tradition.

As a group blessing, we ask that everyone in the resort focus a stream of mana on the Master of Ceremonies’ staff.” Matilda explained.

Then she stepped, back, and led by example, putting a massive amount of mana into the artifact.

Then the other Immortals joined in, as did the guests.

The amount of flowing power was even more incredible than what had happened during the bonding ceremony, so when Axiom stepped forward to shape the effect, Karl did wonder if he would actually be capable.

His world didn’t have the same sort of System that the others did, with a class that smoothly progressed, or levels that could be easily measured. Instead, it had a form of cultivation with milestones and tribulations that you had to surpass.

In a way, that was similar to how the mages of Karl’s world organized themselves before the system resurgence, but all thought of power Rankings vanished the moment that Axiom actually began to shape the effect.

Two glowing golden images appeared, identical to Karl and Dana, right down to their current pose. Then, when they were so clearly defined that they looked like solid gold and not pure energy, they floated forward and merged with the bride and groom.

Axiom hummed happily as searing pain shot through Karl’s body, and all his beasts froze in shock.

That spell was changing the Karl on the most fundamental of levels. Remaking his body in preparation for… something.

Dana’s thoughts said that she was confused by Karl’s response, but Axiom’s smirk told her what she needed to know. The effect was on both of them, but the pain of the transformation had been completely channelled to Karl so that she didn’t have to undergo it.

“Place your hands on the staff and complete the circuit. Let the power flow through you, and you will complete the Golden Core Divine Refinement.” Axiom declared.

A grand name, to be sure. But a fundamental stage of the path to Immortality under his world’s System, and one that made it immeasurably easier to survive the Divine Tribulation.

Karl and Dana placed their free hands on the staff, letting the power flow through them, and the excess cycle back to the orb.

That eased the pain of the overflow, and Karl smiled as he began to feel bonds breaking on his power. He was very, very close to the Mythic bottleneck, and now that he was bonded with Dana, so was she.