Tristan did feel very stupid. What did he think would happen when he hid all identifying markers, then charged into a dozen overtrained warriors? Well, he hadn’t expected to almost die. If adamance was not a step away from invulnerability he would have been cut in half by Luke’s rail cannon. Tristan shuddered at the thought, with a tier fifteen’s resources, Vulcan hadn’t been able to survive a single strike from the chief god. He needed to remember that awesome power was not the same as ultimate power.

“Boy, what is wrong with you?” Kale asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

“It sounded like a good idea at the time, I needed to run through a lot of essence fast,” Tristan said, “Also, I’m tier four, I thought I could hold my own.”

The older man slid his great sword into its sheath before extending a hand to help Tristan to his feet, “You’re lucky that you survived. How did you survive? Not even tower plate is quite able to stop that attack!”

Tristan thumped the chest piece, wincing as the motion moved his broken rib, “This is laced with adamance, it’s superior to tower steel.”

Tower steel had a force. He skimmed his memories and found it not in his own, but Hailey’s. Tower steel had the force of absorption, why hadn’t it dissipated into a cloud of essence? Tristan’s armor was already smoking, though it was still a ways from dissipating. He had read about essence channels, they could be used to funnel forces through normal metals, but the tower steel had been melted down. They should have lost all their essence channels.

“What?” Kale asked after Tristan stood still while staring at his great sword.

“Why doesn’t tower steel turn to smoke like the adamant armor?” Tristan asked. He was not sure why he asked, none of the people here held the answers. He would need to ask for some tower plate, even a single link of chain mail would work. Then he would be able to examine his knives and the metal for similarities.

“A better question is how come a force named for ‘not moving’ turns to smoke?” Luke said.

That was the question Tristan wanted answered. Unlike Tristan, Luke had no interest in learning to do anything that involved creation. This was sad because Tristan would bet that conductivity was one of the better crafting forces.

“We have observers,” The warrior with the hammer said.

Up on the ridge several dozen curious people could be seen. Surprisingly, Tristan could recognize Merrick, Grace was also there, along with twenty or so that Tristan didn’t recognize. Seeing Merrick did remind Tristan of something. Something that he had left in his bag at the top of that hill.

“Hey, Luke,” Tristan asked, “Have you tried to tier them up?”

Luke shook his head, “No, was not willing to risk it without your healing abilities. These tier threes will be better than many tier fours, as you no doubt just learned.”

Tristan rubbed the spot where Kale had nailed him with the compressed flame. He had lacked the time to fortify himself…without the armor, it would have seriously injured him. Kale was also the weakest one here. The rest hadn’t gotten the chance to bring their skills to bear.

“I found a way to make it safe,” Tristan grinned, “It’s expensive, but I raided the temple so they can fund the project.”

“You heretic,” Luke grinned back. He turned to the assorted elite warriors, “Alright, who wants to reach tier four?”

Tristan wondered how Luke intended to convince them that it was life and death. He jogged to the top of the hill, and couldn’t help but throw a jab at Merrick, “How do you like your future son-in-law?”

Merrick scowled, “I will need to have a talk with my father about matchmaking. That doesn’t mean she’s available.”

Tristan chuckled as he passed Merrick. Eve was only a year older than himself, but she had also been leading the River Caldera part of the army admirably. If helming an army did not qualify someone to make simple life choices, Tristan did not know what could.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Kerri will grow on you, I’m sure. Anyway, what are you doing here?” Tristan picked up his bag, waved at Grace, and turned back down the hill.

He hadn’t cared much about what the man thought, but Merrick’s next words pulled Tristan up short, “I came to apologize.”

“Why?” Tristan was confused. Merrick had been irritating with his assumptions. However, Tristan could only wish for a dad like that, so he was just happy for Eve to have someone back. Maybe she wouldn’t feel so alone.

“I made several untrue assumptions about your character,” Merrick answered.

This man was heir to the highest position in the caldera. If Tristan hadn’t taken the Abyssal Chalice, Merrick would have been its keeper. People in power did not apologize. Well, two did, one was Conni and he was from another plane.

And the other, “Eve told me you were apprenticed to Gravis, he would not tolerate anything like that. Ah, you know him as Siren, his full name was Sir Gravis Ren. He was part of my squad back in the day.”

Tristan blinked several times. Why would someone with the first name Gravis choose to go by Ren? Also, Siren was in his squad? Tristan supposed that the strongest was not necessarily in charge, however he could not see a world where Siren was less skilled than Merrick.

“You don’t believe me?” Merrick said, reading Tristan’s face.

“No, it’s not that,” Tristan said holding his hand up to forestall Merrick’s next words, “It’s just, have you met Siren? You are not his equal, let alone his better.”

To Tristan’s surprise, Merrick smiled, “It’s good that a student thinks so highly of his teacher.”

He thought about arguing the point, but only Siren himself would convince Merrick. Tristan was not sure what stars had aligned to create Siren. The man was more talented at violence than anyone aside from Luke, and Luke at least had the excuse of being trained as a child super killer. Siren was just naturally that good.

“Well, thank you, I guess,” Tristan did not mean for it to come out dismissive and thankfully that was not how Merrick received it. He nodded before clasping his hands behind his back, settling in to wait.

Tristan was not sure what he was waiting for, possibly for Siren. The mission to remove Elder Forrest should have been completed. Unless something went wrong, Siren should be back at any time. Any injury could delay the return substantially. Pushing Eve’s dad out of his head, Tristan jogged down the hill.

The last of his armor had dispersed by the time he arrived at the bottom and all the warriors were watching him. Luke had most likely explained the process, and while most people would be skeptical, these people had all wondered how Tristan had jumped tiers without the artifacts he needed. In addition, they had witnessed both the results of Luke and Siren completing the process. They had all seen what an unmonitored broken kern resulted in, but they had also seen the opposite result.

“Tristan here claims that he has found a way to make the breaking process as safe as life or death can be,” Luke said, before turning and waiting for Tristan to explain his reasoning.

Tristan removed the artifact that had preserved Merrick. Normally he would not be able to utilize a light artifact, however, because it primarily used the architect force, he could supply the necessary force. It was a good thing too, otherwise, he would need someone with a tier four light kern. As far as he knew, no one in the Caldera met that criteria.

He held up the artifact, “This is a tier five stasis artifact, it will keep you alive while we prime your body with essence and healing. What normally kills is the sudden essence deprivation. At tier three, you are at least three hundred and thirty percent stronger than a tier zero, and that difference between you and a tier zero is based on the essence your kern saturates you with. I can subsidize that deficit and keep you alive.” Tristan paused, “The only thing I might struggle with is genuine danger, as I am not willing to murder any of you.”

One of the warriors, this one had two short swords strapped to his back, “I am not worried about the risk, we’ve fought under-tiered against elementals and mythical beasts for over a decade. Tell me though, why has no one discovered this method before you? I mean no insult, but many more intelligent people have tried to remedy this issue.”

Tristan could tell them that there was a dearth of reservoirs due to the temple, or explain how dangerous the situation needed was. He went with the simplest explanation, and pulled the Abyssal Chalice out of his bag, “I asked someone smarter than both of us.”

All the warrior’s eyes went wide. It shut down any questions, after all, who would dare question the grand ancestor? Well, Tristan would, but few others would.

“Where did you get that?” The dual-wielding man asked.

“I healed Elder River’s son in exchange for it,” Tristan said, “I’m going to give it to Siren, I bet he could eventually find a use for a tier six dark artifact.”

That answer satisfied everyone present. All of them would follow Siren anywhere he led, powering him up would only result in good things. Now how were they going to do this?

Luke whistled, and the sound of excited scrambling answered him. Tristan was confused as Fluffy approached. Its tongue lolled out of its glowing Hell maw as it tumbled down the hill towards Luke. The golize showed off the dog part of its alchemical design as it approached. All of this would have been sort of cute if the creature did not look like it had eaten a demon.

“Everyone,” Luke said as Fluffy scrambled up his leg, “This cut little guy will bite you. You have until the venom kills you to both find and acquire the antidote, which is in that amulet.”

Everyone followed Luke’s pointing finger to the necklace that Tristan was wearing.