A large ghostly figure, bearing a spectral presence similar to Nuk from the first dungeon, materialized before them. This apparition felt significantly more substantial, and Alistair suspected that the entity he presumed to be Sotarr could potentially interact with objects despite its ghostly form. The figure, humanoid in shape, wore richly enchanted armored robes that looked powerful yet were not excessively ornate. The robes bore the Lyraxis symbol, an intricate tree enveloped by feathered wings emblazoned on the shoulder. His draconic body shimmered in silvery-white and golden hues, adorned with feathers of the same colors. His sharp, golden horns appeared almost decorative, and Alistair could make out two pairs of wings extending from the back of this imposing figure. His golden draconic eyes looked down at them, inspecting them with curiosity.
"Sotarr, I presume?" Riseth inquired, meeting the dragon’s gaze after both their attempts to identify the dragon failed.
"Indeed," he responded, his voice resonating with a mix of elegance and surprise. "Color me surprised!"
"I didn’t expect you both to decipher and influence the Arcane Substrate of the token’s enchantment, let alone see it. I anticipated the core would realign itself after a decade or so before you figure it out; then again, time is more precious to seedlings like yourselves."
"You don’t seem to have high expectations for your potential students," Alistair remarked.
This gave Sotarr pause. "My apologies," he said, reflecting. "I should have had more faith in my wife’s judgment. She was quite taken with you both from the start, and I worried she might have been overly sentimental because of your resonance." He paused, scratching his chin with a long claw, then added with a warm smile, showing his many razor-sharp teeth, "Nevertheless, she certainly knows how to choose them," while giving Alistair a reassuring pat on the shoulder with his large, clawed hand.
Since Sotarr had appeared, he had exuded an aura of such commanding presence that it filled the room, making it hard for Alistair and Riseth to speak, though neither of them let themselves be cowed by that. Alistair watched as Sotarr began inspecting their quarters. The two exchanged glances, aware that the dragon was using some sort of passive social skill, so they decided to observe and let Sotarr talk.
"What a beautiful home you have here," Sotarr remarked, glancing at Riseth’s neck. "Ah, congratulations on your marriage. Mitania will be thrilled to hear the news."
"Thank you," Alistair responded, still feeling the intense pressure from the dragon’s presence despite Sotarr only being a specter or some sort of projection or soul imprint.
"Ah, where are my manners!" Sotarr said with a rumbling chuckle. "You called me here for a reason, and here I am, yapping away while letting my skills run free among the young."
As soon as he said this, the pressure in the room lifted. Sotarr shrank down to their size, sitting on a nearby couch and looking at them expectantly. Alistair rolled his shoulders and took a seat on the opposite side of Sotarr, with Riseth joining him. Both wondered if this display of power had been another test by the dragon.
There was a long pause as Sotarr slightly lifted his veil, looking at them with an expectant gaze and giving a sense of a warm, almost fatherly disposition. Finally, Alistair spoke up, "We wish to be trained. Both of us feel inadequate in our comprehension of our concepts, magic, and martial skills, and we hoped your guidance could help us better protect ourselves and those we care about."
The Dragon made a show of considering their request, tilting his head from one side to the other but never letting his gaze wander from the two of them. "Considering the clear talent you have already shown and the recommendation of my wife, I am willing to consider taking you two as my disciples."
Alistair was slightly surprised. He had presumed this was already a settled matter, not something they had to earn or convince the dragon of. Through their resonance, he sensed that Riseth felt the same, though she did her best to appear unsurprised. Getting a high Grade, presumably a high-tier dragon, to take them under his wing wasn't something they should have taken for granted. Even if they managed to befriend his wife and receive a token, she had only claimed it would open doors that would otherwise be closed. She hadn't promised that her husband would accept them either.
Sotarr glanced to the side, seemingly looking at something or someone they couldn't see, before turning back to them. "Before I consider taking you as my disciples, I need to know what I am even working with. I had originally only been looking for one student, and Mitania hasn't been willing to share either of your core concepts, telling me it will be a surprise."
They understood that keeping one's core concept hidden was somewhat difficult. If they were to become his disciples, he would also gain access to view most of their skills and titles, though he wouldn't be able to share them with others. Nonetheless, it felt uncomfortable to reveal such personal details to someone they hardly knew, even if he was Mitania's husband.
"My strongest, or rather, my core concept is Manipulation," Riseth stated.
Alistair noticed the dragon’s pupils twitch, and a barely contained grin spread across his draconic face as he heard her proclamation. Sotarr’s golden eyes then bored into Alistair with burning curiosity and anticipation.
"My core concept is Kinetics," Alistair declared.
The dragon's eyes narrowed, and his smile widened into a greedy, almost predatory grin. A deep, rumbling laughter welled up within him as he looked between the two with barely contained glee.
"A resonance-bonded pair with Kinetics and Manipulation concepts, and talented too..." Sotarr exclaimed, his excitement radiating through the room as he stood up and started to pace with at least one of his eyes always fixed on them. The infectious nature of his enthusiasm, bolstered by his social skill, made Alistair and Riseth feel a surge of anticipation as they watched the Dragon consider them.
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Having read up on the Master and Disciple agreement, which was a rather common magical contract variant within the multiverse, and having taught numerous students themselves, they understood that while instructing many students in a handful of skills and topics had value and provided a healthy stream of records, it paled in comparison to the rewards of entering a proper Master and Disciple agreement. Alistair was confident that he and Riseth were excellent prospective disciples. If Sotarr taught them well and they reached high Grades, he would certainly reap significant rewards and titles, which was very valuable for high-grade individuals as their progression speed at higher grades could be described as glacial at best.
Fortunately, the new contract didn't conflict with any of their existing agreements or standing contracts. It mainly granted Sotarr access to most of their system status and provided him with records of their progress under his tutelage. In return, Sotarr would be responsible for teaching and protecting them, with the contract imposing severe karmic backlash if he failed in his duties. Although this agreement would noticeably slow down the rate at which they leveled up, and prohibited them from sharing any of Sotarr's teachings without his explicit permission, both Alistair and Riseth had already agreed that these were sacrifices they were willing to make.
"Still hesitant to take us as your disciples?" Riseth questioned with a confident, toothy grin.
Alistair chuckled, sharing Riseth’s confidence, and looked at Sotarr, who stopped pacing and regarded them.
"Yes, yes, the two of you are great seedlings, as Mitania put it, but I had to be sure. Unlike me, she often prefers very odd and non-combat concepts and believes they are just as powerful." Noticing their expressions, he quickly added, "Of course, that's not entirely wrong, but some concepts are more combat-oriented and have more useful directly linked concepts and strengths than others. Or are at least more interesting to teach, and your concepts are certainly... interesting."
Noticing the slight hesitation in his voice, Alistair spoke up, "What do you need from us? There is clearly something holding you back."
Sotarr nodded approvingly. "Yes. There are significant risks involved. If I let two such promising disciples die, the karmic backlash would be rather harsh. Moreover, the fact that you are in a fresh universe, out of my immediate reach and ability to intervene, is a small problem. I need detailed information on both of your skills and your current situation before I would be willing to agree."
Alistair received another ping from his network, indicating that Sotarr had requested high-level access to information usually restricted to the clan's leadership. Almost immediately, a call from Simon came through.
"Alistair, we have an unknown individual named Sotarr trying to access our network. I just received a warning from the AI core. Someone powerful must have found us," Simon's slightly agitated voice echoed.
"It's fine, Simon. That's Mitania's husband. We've established a connection to enlist their help. There's no need to worry. I'll make a quick announcement over the network," Alistair reassured him over the Akashic Link.
Alistair quickly followed through, instructing the AI core to make a brief announcement. This elicited reactions from Nessyra, who hadn't left the system yet, and Simon, who remained hesitant about granting too much access to an unknown entity. After some back-and-forth discussion, they agreed to share most of the information, excluding only the most crucial details. The AI core curated a file that omitted overly sensitive data, such as their exact location and images of the sky that could reveal their whereabouts. However, they were sure Sotarr would be able to find them if he tried, as he would likely only need to walk towards the window, and the ongoing rainstorm would likely do little to mask the sky above when faced with dragon's eyes.
They hesitated, and it took a while to overcome the warning the system's avatar had given them about sharing skills and personal information. For now, they only shared their most commonly used combat skills until Sotarr agreed to take them in as disciples, as they didn't want to share all their personal information just for him to walk out on them. Once they did, Sotarr seemed to peruse the information rapidly, his eyes occasionally flicking. Alistair took the chance to check the other notifications he had gotten, noticing that he had reached level 120 and his Array Adept skill had upgraded to Array expert, now noting his ability to perceive and interact with the arcane substrate of enchantments, which was apparently a big deal as it jumped straight into supreme despite him barely being able to interact with the substrate and the same applied to his Enchantment Proficiency.
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SKILLS:
Tier: [Supreme]
Name: Array Expert
Description: The user is able to place arrays on any surface he is capable of penetrating or inscribing upon, ignoring atmospheric interference. If the user has access to the schematics through [Akashic Link] or other means, he can perfectly measure, adjust, calculate, and combine arrays for a chosen area. The skill grants a moderate boost to [Control] when imprinting arrays and highlights issues with the array based on the user's [Senses] and experience. Due to the assistance of the [Akashic Link] and [Conceptual Awareness] skill, the user can create a visual overlay to simplify and double-check runic placements and is able to visualize and interact with the Arcane Substrate of enchantments
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Tier: [Supreme]
Name: Enchantment Proficiency
Description: Greatly enhances the efficiency, speed, and cost-effectiveness of all enchantment-related tasks. This encompasses enchanting the body, equipment, and consumables and performing rune or array techniques and all other enchantment-related techniques. The user's [Control] and [Senses] stats are greatly improved when working on any enchantments. Passively increases the quality and [Power] of all enchantments created by the user where applicable to a large degree. Slightly reduces the focus required of the Conceptual Awareness skill to visualize the Arcane Substrate of enchantments, as well as a slight improvement in [Control] when interacting with the Substrate.
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"Impressive," Sotarr said, standing up and walking toward the window as Alistair had worried he would. "A nebula, just as I thought. Good call," he murmured more to himself than to them. Turning back, he gestured for them to stand with a clawed hand.
"I, Sotarr, a Lyraxis Dragon of the Lyraxis Ascendancy, offer you, Alistair and Riseth Ryser, the opportunity to become my direct disciples. Do you accept?"
Alistair felt the promise's weight, similar to that of a summoning contract. He instinctively knew that Sotarr would do his best to teach and aid them in their growth. While this agreement had its drawbacks, having a powerful dragon teach them how to properly use their concepts was invaluable in comparison. They needed this.
"I, Alistair Ryser, accept and greet Master Sotarr."
"I, Riseth Ryser, accept and greet Master Sotarr."