Kaden didn't ask anyone why the dragon had been at the phoenix clan. It wasn't his business. If phoenix clan and dragons had something happening, he would have to take part in it or not be involved in it at all. His previous assumptions about it were enough. Either it was the coming war with humans or the godless mana system and its spread and whatever religious problems it caused with beast gods.
Instead Kaden was far more concerned in getting to study the black fragments in detail, advancement and such matters.
"How was your first trip to Madakar?" Kranor suddenly appeared next to Kaden as he came to his residence.
"Hmmm?" Kaden noted Kranor's presence. "Objectively, I view it as mid tier training. Its good combat experience, you get resources and such. Yet, that is all it is. While it was not waste of time, I would prefer hunting specific targets, assassinations and other such things. Battlefield is not a place where I can work best."
Kranor nodded as he listened Kaden.
"In other words, I would prefer different kind of assignments than Madakar", Kaden added afterwards. He wasn't yet ready to ditch the phoenix clan and it meant working for them.
"I might be able to find some assignments for you", Kranor said. "Usually we pay others and not act personally unless the matter is important."
"I care not about some pride or avoiding dirty things", Kaden pointed out. "Others might be fine sitting around and preening their feathers and looking very important or letting someone else do the dirty work. Yet, that doesn't make one grow stronger."
"Indeed", Kranor said. Then he was quiet for a moment. "Things are escalating. Not only humans are more active at our borders, but internal matters too."
"I saw the ... visitor", Kaden replied.
"As I said, there are internal matters too for both us and Cari as whole", was all that Kranor said about that. "It is impressive the extent of events that can be set in motion with a few acts. It also seems everything is proceeding as we expected."
It was pretty clear to Kaden what Kranor was referring to. The godless mana system was a major matter. Since Kranor didn't specifically add any warnings for Kaden, he assumed he was kind of riding along the wave he set in motion and was generally speaking safe. It was as he had viewed it. The matter had grown beyond his hands. He hardly mattered anymore.
"It is likely the phoenix clan might still be keeping eye on any weird things regarding me", Kaden thought to himself. "They can't know if I'm still holding some secrets."
In fact, he did hold a big secret - the black fragments. Kaden wasn't still certain of their true value, but it was probably roughly priceless. Even in terms of what those much beyond his power would see them as.
They wouldn't likely trigger a cascading events like the godless mana system, but likely something else. Even as fragments they were showing strange powers. What would happen once he finally put them together?
These thoughts made Kaden think that his decision about being careful about the fragments inside the phoenix clan was a very good idea. Now, if Kranor could get him work outside of the clan, there would be a good chance to experiment with the fragments without any prying eyes.
With secrets having to wait for later, it was far better time to do completely normal things. Kaden hoped he would finally advance to mid Lower Cari. That was the most common level for phoenixes. While his strength matched that level, it took more effort for him. The power level at mid Lower Cari was basically the line between weak and the strong Cari. The rank name was very descriptive.
"I have accumulated resources for the advancement", Kaden thought to himself. "I hope this time I can reach past the required mana limits of my body."
Kaden took out his materials and started to absorb them. The way he had been watching the advancing happen was that he was able to stuff in more mana inside the core. Very obvious. Yet, it was the outer layer of the core that needed to grow. It was what kept everything together. The inner parts was where mana condensed into higher and denser type. Then, as core functioned naturally, the mana leaked out into his body where rest of it was absorbed by his body.
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
For normal Cari their core would merely spew out the mana and body absorb it and thus grow stronger. For Kaden he still had the structure from his Formation stage where mana was able to take an efficient path instead of just moving through body. This was likely the extra mana he had been needing.
"Once that is done, my core outer layer will grow stronger since that is the border line between my core and its insides", Kaden continued his thoughts. "It will compress under the two forces."
It was a bit dangerous matter. Cari had to go through similar limits. In this way Kaden was not special, he had just a bit more mana to keep in balance.
"There are occassional failures, but even in worst case, I should be able to eject out mana to regain balance. It will cost me resources, but its better than my life, if my core becomes unstable", Kaden noted.
He wasn't afraid of a failure. That happened to weaklings that had not been able to properly grow. At most there could be some problems due to his unique body structure. Yet, as far as he could tell, maintaining the balance until core becomes stronger was no different to normal Cari.
Kaden's assumption turned out to be correct. He was able to upgrade his core to step higher level and thus reaching mid Lower Cari stage. Despite his success, he still had to spend a most of his resources.
"My advancements are going to start taking longer and longer", Kaden lamented. "If reaching this point took already this much effort, then what will it take to reach advanced or peak?"
He still reminded himself that there was a reason why True Magi and True Cari were so rare. Those who had the potential to reach Condensation stage or become Lower Cair would all require a lot of work to get any further.
Most Cari would not get past advanced Lower Cari stage, if they ever reached it at all. All that and Kaden had his extra requirements.
"I have always known this would take time", Kaden thought to himself. "Unless the chaos I have started causes those True Magi and Archmagi die, they will be living long enough."
Those old monsters were very good at staying alive. Even if entire world decended into hell, they would be the last to die, if even died at all.
Kaden firmly believed he would be one of those to reach such limits of power. It would merely take time. Once that happened he would exact his vengeance. It was a good motivator.
-------
A few day later Kaden happened to hear a few passing phoenixes gossip. They noted Kaden and made sure he heard that Ciner was wandering outside of the clan defense perimeter.
It had clearly become a bit of a joke. Kaden did his best to ignore it.
Even so, he asked Kranor, if Ciner could be eliminated.
"She is a ... good mercenary", Kranor replied after considering it for a moment. "She finishes her contracts to the letter and has high potential. Unusually high, in fact. If the pheonix clan were to simply kill her off, it could turn away other mercenaries. If she offends you with her presence, you will have to deal with it yourself."
Kaden was unhappy. He still didn't dare touch Ciner. At the time, he would only fight her, if it was absolutely neccessary. Chances of victory were not high enough. He doubted his recent advancement was high enough power up. At best it would bring him to equal power.
"Damn it", Kaden cursed to himself. "I will have to sneak out once I get a proper mission outside so that I can put together the black fragments in peace."
Speaking of such opportunity, there was not yet one available. While the situation in Frika was somewhat unstable with the humans fortifying the borders and the spread of godless mana system, it merely meant most parties were simply sitting back and watching and not making waves by acting. This was true for phoenix clan too.
Events such as the one that happened on Madakar were basically the sort that happened when the held back tensions suddenly released. This didn't mean there were not work available, but not ones that could be arranged for Kaden specifically. Not yet at least.
Kaden decided to continue his studies and training while he was at the clan. It was also a good time to see where his limits were with his new advancement and also get used to it. This was easily doable in the Caldera Pit.
At first he didn't have too much success. The difficulty of the simulations grew exponentially as one went deeper. Kaden had known this, but he could only immediately defeat one more level.
"I have no specific goal to hit this time", Kaden thought to himself. "I should concentrate more on studying than fighting. I will use the fighting simulations some amount each day, but it shouldn't be a priority."
It was test of strength for him afterall. To begin with he was already a bit further than those at his level usually were. He did clear the test previously before he reached mid Lower Cari stage. That was something most phoenixes usually did only afterwards.
The best thing to do was to study. He had experimented with his formations in Madakar with some success. Yet, not to the extent he would have prefered. This included the clone formation for which he did have plans for, but none had worked so far.
"I need more power and control for actual combat situations", Kaden continued his thoughts. "The existing versions whether they are my own or from phoenix clan library aren't enough for me. To get actual relevant power is here in the Caldera Pit where they can be fed more power. I need efficiency. Some way to discard portions of the formation while keeping functionality ... or simply grow in power to get over the requirements forcibly."
Kaden wasn't certain if the formation would be useful at that point, if he had to spend too much of power on it to make it useful.
For a while Kaden wondered whether his interest in the clone formation was misplaced. It had gained his interest, but was he wasting too much time to make something work that would never become useful?
At any rate, he wasn't ready to yet give up. It would be extemely useful for his future plans.