Dalen frowned, “I don’t see how this changes anything. We should be moving, not sitting around here wasting time.”

Jaliete nodded, “I agree. But we are far too weak to move with any real speed. But nevertheless we must continue our journey to the vault,” she turned to Melisia, “Tell me. Do you remember the woman named Elendria Farstep?”

Melisia frowned and looked up from her journal, allowing it to vanish from her hand, “Of course, but is that the best course of action? If the gods are truly against us, would speaking with a prophet of Uton be wise?”

“A prophet no longer, Daughter. Elendria has taken a different path now. But as for why I have mentioned her, we have stumbled upon some luck. We are but a few weeks travel from her last known residence.” Jaliete walked over to a nearby seat and carefully lowered herself into it.

It was only now that Dalen noticed the pain in her eyes. Even in the short time he had known the woman it was clear that she must have been in a lot of pain for it to show.

“Can someone tell me why it's worth wasting time to go to talk to this Elendria person?” Dalen asked.

Melisia frowned deeper, “I’m sure I like where this is going but I know what your answer will be when you know,” Melisia shook her head, “She is a space mage, and highly specialized.”

“So she could get us to the vault faster? Then why are we only hearing about this now?!” Dalen said excitedly. Every day spared was a win for him.

Jaliete’s face returned to its neutral mask, “Elendria does not normally work for free, most Uton worshippers deal only in bargains and ritual summons. From my last conversation with her, she told me she had moved on but she is a woman of habits,” Jaliete folded her hands in her lap, “As for whether she can get us to the vault? Almost certainly but transportation on the scale we require is ludicrously expensive.”

“Then what’s the point?!” Dalen snapped, her way of dancing around the question was starting to annoy him.

Jaliete raised an eyebrow, “The point Dalen is that we would likely have been required to contact her in regards to the return of Kalum LestaI in any case. But more importantly, I believe we have our bargaining chip on hand.”

Dalen knew what she was getting at, no wonder she seemed so happy before, “Kal’s Mark?”

Jaliete smiled slightly and nodded, “Yes, The mark you now bear is proof that Kalum is the one spoken of in the prophecy but even if you care little for the prophecy and order’s goals there is one thing about that mark that will intrigue any scholar of caliber.”

“What the fact that it kept my core from exploding?” Dalen muttered.

Melisia had resummoned her journal and was writing things down but looked up from her page, “So he has somehow found another mana affinity?”

“No, it is something new. A new source of mana, a new source of power altogether. Could you not feel it?” Jaliete said, her all-too-knowing eyes digging into Dalen’s.

“It is savage, brutal, and above all it is wrathful.”

It would be stupid to say he didn’t, everybody in the blood order camp had felt that aura and mana behind it.

“And your friend Kalum Lesta has left his wrathful mark upon your core. Whether it was an accident or not, who can say but all in my cell of the order know your connection to Kalum is only stronger after the catastrophe on the fractured path,” Jaliete continued.

“Wait, hold on. How could Kal have possibly created a new type of mana? Is there even such a thing…” Dalen went to continue but realized he had been thinking about the foreign mana on the path all wrong. It wasn’t just a toxic mana it was literally a different base type.

“It is very possible but as for how I doubt anyone in the world knows the answer to that.” Jaliete smiled.

Melisia was back to speed scribing while Leo stood still pale and deep in thought.

Dalen shook his head, “Ok fine, so Kal has done something crazy again, who would have thunk it… So then what is our next step?”

“In three days you three are to travel to Ilavania to find Elendria. Show her the mark you now carry but don’t let her inspect it too closely and request that she help us reach the vault as soon as possible. If she refuses, at least the rest of the camp will have had more time to recover.”

“We will lose time if we fail to gain her aid but no more than we have already lost by losing the faster passage across the fracture path.”

Dalen sighed with relief, “Finally we can start moving,” The thought of his talks with the people in camp came to mind, and even though he didn’t like doing it he felt bad.

Jaliete smiled, “As for why you will leave in three days, I believe you should continue your talks with our people. I understand why you have decided to do so and I applaud your decision, not all within the order have the same goals by any means which I’m sure Melisia has already discussed with you.”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Freaky…” Dalen had to remember the woman was a mind mage. She probably saw straight through every single lie or mistruth he had said since meeting her.

Dalen nodded, “Thank you. Well, since we are finished here and we have our plans I’m going to go and prepare.”

Dalen turned to leave but as he reached the door of the tent he got a suddenly bad feeling.

Leo chuckled, “Since you approve, should we make it official?”

Dalen only started walking faster, “Damn it…”

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Dalen spent the next few hours brewing potions this time for non-destructive reasons, apparently, it was Jaliete who had ordered them to stop the deliveries earlier so he couldn’t snob the three of them coming to drag him out of his fury-fueled alchemy session.

He had to admit that he had been acting childish and that he was glad they had stopped him. Finally, they would soon start doing something worthwhile and they might even arrive at the vault ahead of schedule assuming he could conjure up his old charm, something he had lost somewhat since Kal had been taken.

“Well you're going to have to fake it, you’ve also gotta go “enlighten” the common folk…” Dalen muttered to himself sarcastically.

Dalen had no idea what he was going to say tonight. His head was all over the place at the moment and thinking of a nice structured speech was practically impossible. He hoped they had questions he could actually answer without lying through his teeth.

The last few times were fine but that was before they had actually seen him. This time would be different, there was no simply saying Kal wasn’t strong in the physical sense. The crazy bastard had turned him into a liar. The thought made him smile but it also saddened him that he wasn’t there to see it.

At least Kal showing up to save them all was a bloody good start in ingratiating himself to the order. Hopefully, it was all positive but it was just as likely that many were even more fearful of the man than when the prophecies were only words and not standing right in front of them.

The light in the tent dimmed suddenly. Dalen sighed as he realized the sun was setting and the time had come. Thinking about it now he should start doing the talks in the morning if he wanted to stick with the whole crimson dawn thing.

“Eh, let the people add some kind of symbolism if they want.”

Dalen packed away his alchemy gear and stepped out of his tent. The other times he had done this it had been a relatively relaxed affair, only a dozen or so people came by at a time. This time was very, very different.

Before Dalen had finished grimacing from the ridiculous heat of the bloody jungle he saw four children run off in all directions and his grimace deepened further when he heard what they were saying.

“The prophet is going to speak with us again! His wrathful deliberation is over!”

Dalen covered up the grimace and pulled out his best fake smile, “Well you did tell them to spread the word… I didn’t expect them to take it this literally.”

Soon Dalen’s tent was surrounded by five dozen people of all levels and class rarities, not just the laborers and children. All but the children looked sickly and drained, making Dalen feel a pang of guilt about his anger in the past few days. It was not their fault they were in this condition. He was lucky to have recovered so quickly and judging by many of the faces even Melisia and Leo were better recovered than most.

“This would be right around where a real prophet would pull out their scroll…” Dalen thought internally but instead of letting the moment hang he quickly forced himself to speak.

“I wasn’t expecting so many today but hopefully I have enough,” Dalen scanned the crowd for a volunteer when the kids that had run off returned scrambling through between the tightly packed people. One of them looked exactly like a tiny Karus, with dark hair, hard hard-looking face, and all.

Dalen looked at the kid and smiled, “Karus’ boy? What’s your name?”

The kid grinned, apparently liking how the attention of the crowd turned to him, “Janda, sir!”

“Ok Janda, take your friends into the tent and bring out the trays of green and blue potions. I'm not about to let us all go thirsty.”

A few faces in the crowd looked confused but most smiled. They must have been to his other “sermons”.

Janda nodded and the kids were in and out without delay at Dalen's gesture, they started handing them out to everyone nearby. It was a simple potion really but his class upgrade and a bit of amplification from infusing his anger and frustration had done wonders. It even tasted decent.

Dalen’s Alchemical Brew of Mental Reprieve [Rare]

This brew was crafted by the Dalen and infused with the power of Kalum Lesta’s mark. It will soothe the woes of those aggrieved by the loss of friends or family. May you overcome your limits and sunder that which binds.

Dalen was pretty proud of that description. It was a total lie but they didn’t need to know that. Dalen felt like a bit of a prick for the deceiving description but it was actually not far enough from the truth to trigger a failed description.

Sure it was pretty dramatic but he was glad he had done it. The order’s people were in a far worse state than he had realized in his shameful brooding. Dalen was probably lucky someone had given it a different spin but he couldn’t help but wonder who.

As the vials were handed out the assorted fighters, mages, and laborers visibly brightened when they each read the description. Several of them pulled the cork and down the brew in a quick gulp, others sipped at it, and a few didn’t seem to want to open the vials at all, either not wanting to use a rare potion on a whim or because it was infused with Kal’s mark Dalen didn’t know.

“Drink however you want but do drink. I can make more.”

The kids had run out before they could get one for themselves but Dalen had thought of something for that early and definitely not when he saw they were running out. Dalen reached into his belt and grabbed a handful of white paper sachets.

Dalen’s Sinister Bag of Terror [Common]

Ever wanted to terrify that old lady that lives down the road or piss off the butcher’s dog. Oh boy, do I have the thing for you….

Dalen grinned when he got the idea but then he realized he would have to deal with it too, “Better give it to them when we leave.”