Aurelian gently clasped Zylara's hand, and felt the weight of anticipation and anxiety mingling in his chest like a palpable weight. He needed the ritual to succeed. He needed to make sure he’d thought of everything, including how he was going to cut himself open.
He consciously pushed aside the barrage of status notifications cluttering his HUD while he pondered, and dismissed the silently condemning information about his damaged physical state. The relentless alerts, a constant reminder of his condition and abilities, seemed trivial in that moment.
Aurelian was acutely aware that his passive healing abilities were at work, silently mending the ravages of battle on his body, and he could sense the urging of his Anima Conversion skill, a silent call he steadfastly chose to ignore.
Even the concern emanating from Bahamut, palpable through their deep bond, was momentarily placated with a brief pulse of reassurance and request to let him focus.
I need to help Zylara. We’ll head over the moment we can.
Do not tarry too long, Bahamut warned. Karsys is doing well, but his mana reserves are getting low, and while his arsenal of abilities are not intensive, they are indeed a drain over time.
Noted. Aurelian responded seriously. We just need a few more minutes.
Very well, Aurelian. Bahamut agreed. You shall have them.
Despite the exchange, Aurelian’s entire world was momentarily narrowed down to the person before him: Zylara. Her presence eclipsed everything else, and anchored him firmly in the now.
As he contemplated the gravity of the ritual they were about to undertake, a sudden realization struck him like a bolt of lightning. Seconds later, he cursed under his breath in an involuntary reaction to his oversight.
"Aurelian?" Zylara's voice, laced with confusion, broke through his internal reprimand.
Her striking blue eyes, mirroring a mix of concern and curiosity, scanned his face while clearly trying to decipher the reason behind his sudden irritation.
"Sorry, Z. It’s not you," Aurelian hastily clarified, his voice tinged with a mix of annoyance at himself and the situation. "I’m just a total idiot."
"What do you mean?" she prodded, her brow raised and head slightly tilted in question and curiosity.
"There’s a System reward I completely forgot to claim amidst all this chaos," he explained, each word radiating with his frustration. "And it directly relates to what we’re about to do."
Zylara's response was a momentary silence, where she seemed to process his words. Then, with a movement as swift as it was gentle, she delivered a soft smack against his chest with her left hand. "Idiot," she chided, though her tone was light, and warm with laughter rather than reprimand when she spoke.
"Yeah. No kidding," Aurelian conceded while a rueful smile played on his lips.
He mentally summoned the pending notification in the same instant, and silently urged the System to relinquish his rewards.
The moment he did, the air around them seemed to shimmer and warp, before giving way to a trio of items that materialized out of thin air and landed neatly in his lap. A book, its cover crafted from the darkest leather; a vial exuding an aura of hidden power; and a chalice, an exquisite piece of craftsmanship adorned with rubies and forged from genuine obsidian.
The nerd in him immediately fixated on the volcanic glass with awe.
Zylara's gaze shifted to the items while he drooled over the chalice, and her eyes widened in a mix of awe and intrigue. "Aurelian," she whispered, her voice barely above a breath, "you need to Analyse those. Quickly."
Liberated from his momentary distraction and trusting in the urgency of her tone, Aurelian focused his attention on the items intently.
Revelate!
Name: Codex Sanguinaris
Type: Tome of Knowledge
Quality: Legendary
Tier: Adaptive
Requirement: Sanguine Bloodline
Description: The Codex Sanguinaris is the knowledge base of the Blood Lords of Eld, and contains within its pages their many and myriad mysteries. This is a treasure thought lost to time and entropy, and has been sought after by all manner of creatures both mortal and divine. By possessing it, a Cultivator may unlock the deepest secrets of the Blood Lords.
Special Effects: The Codex Sanguinaris’ knowledge unlocks the further along the path of Cultivation its owner has tread. To access it, only one person of a Sanguine Bloodline may attune to it, at which point only voluntary rescindment or true death will break the bond.
Aurelian read over the description for the Codex Sanguinaris a second time, and let out a low whistle when he lifted the tome. “God damn, that is a treat.”
“It’s not the only thing.” Zylara said with a hint of impatience. “Look at the rest!”
Aurelian blinked at her insistence, but did as he was bade.
Name: Blood Lord’s Chalice
Type: Relic
Quality: Legendary
Tier: Novice
Requirement: Primogenitor’s Blood
Description: The Blood Lord’s Chalice is the key to the perpetuation of the Blood Lords of Eld, and has been lost for untold millennia since the fall of Eld. When filled with the vitae of a Primogenitor and the Essence of the Sanguine, consumption of its contents will herald the birth of a new Blood Scion, tied to the sponsoring Primogenitor’s line.
Special Effects: The Blood Lord’s Chalice may only be used to create new Blood Scions once per year, though exceptions exist within the Codex Sanguinaris. Each new Blood Scion passively increases the Primogenitor’s Arisen Legion size, in addition to any appointed Blood Knights.
Aurelian read over the provided text, and let out a slow and annoyed exhale. “The System never mentioned anything about this Chalice,” he growled while looking down toward Zylara. “Who knows what might have happened if I’d tried to give you my Trait the way we’d discussed?”
Zylara’s expression was dubious when he explained, and she peered up at him with a critically raised eyebrow, but seemed to believe him—a small mercy given the idiocy of his earlier blunder. It spoke not only to her trust in him, which was humbling, but to her nature: she was not a woman prone to grudges or petty outrage, from what he’d observed, and more than that she had an integrity of spirit and personality that he found incredibly reassuring.
She was nothing if not benevolent, and even though their first meeting and subsequent discourse had been clipped and even a little tense, the elven woman had warmed to him—and he to her, truthfully—at an hitherto unheard-of rate for his life. Both lives, in fact. A woman as beautiful as Zylara acting as a constant companion was something he’d have thought would only be possible in a fantasy novel, prior to his reincarnation in the Realms.
Tarixi had been like a fun Aunt, in many ways. Zylara was… something else.
When she spoke, and broke his ruminations in the process, it was with a patience and calm focus which he envied—especially given their dire circumstances, and hers in particular.
“What did the System actually tell you about the Sanguine Kiss?” the elf asked pointedly. “Show me. I may be able to spot something you didn’t.”
“Here,” Aurelian answered without hesitation, “Take a look.”
Name: Sanguine Kiss
Type: Title Skill
Rarity: Legendary
Level: Adaptive
Tier: Novice
Description: The Sanguine Kiss allows a Primogenitor to replicate the Sanguinated trait within a chosen target, and create a new member of their bloodline. This act requires the infusion of the Primogenitor’s Essence into the target.
Hidden Condition: To successfully complete the Sanguine Kiss, the Blood Lord’s Chalice must be used to mix both Sanguine Essence and the Primogenitor’s Blood.
“That wasn’t there before!” Aurelian objected when Zylara turned to him with a glare, her blue eyes literally sparking upon seeing the newly materialised text at the bottom of the Title Skill. She wasn’t exuding a sense of imminent violence, per se, but there was definitely disgruntlement in the way she was glaring at him.
“Are you sure?” his elven companion asked sternly. “Absolutely sure?”
“I’m positive!” Aurelian said quickly, and with his best and most convincingly emphatic nod. “That wasn’t there before, I swear! I’d have remembered that. It said nothing about needing the Chalice!”
“Hm…” Zylara hummed in response, while seemingly accepting his explanation—with another squinted stare for good measure—and subsiding back into a more passive posture. “A hidden condition? I’ve heard stories of these, but I always thought they were just fables.”
“They’ve got similar stories on Earth, but neither Tarixi nor Bael’tharax mentioned anything to me during my time under their tuition.”
“Probably because of how unlikely it is you’d ever find one. Hidden Conditions are more myth, in some ways, than actual knowledge.” Zylara said while furrowing her brows and puckering her lips in thought. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard of one, let alone seen one, in my lifetime. I’d be surprised if anyone in Sanctuary had ever seen one, either.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Do you know how they’re supposed to work?” Aurelian asked, his curiosity momentarily overcoming his urgency.
“Mm,” Zylara said with a distracted look at the Chalice, “they usually involve knowledge that’s been redacted by someone with Authority over that aspect of the System.”
Aurelian blinked down at Zylara, and then furrowed his brows in thought. “Authority… like the Blood Lords themselves, perhaps?”
“Huh… Yes, actually. Quite possibly.” she confirmed with a thoughtful nod. “Especially if they wanted to ensure that only a proper successor could unlock the secrets of their power.”
“How am I supposed to tell if something has a hidden condition in future, though?” Aurelian groused. “There was literally no indication.”
“The description here for the Sanguine Kiss is rather vague, Aurelian.” Zylara pointed out with the tell-tale sign of someone reviewing System messages. “It probably was the hint. The fact that you were uncertain of the actual method by which Essence was supposed to be infused seems pretty telling.”
“As if. Fucking System…” Aurelian muttered.
“By leaving you guessing,” Zylara pointed out, “the System was offering guidance in its own way. It is almost never so intentionally deceptive in how it explains skills, even ones subordinate to Titles.”
Aurelian squinted at the Title Skill in his vision at her words, and then dismissed it.
“Whatever.” he groused. “We’re wasting time. We have no idea when the Skarnids are going to decide we’re appetising again. My show of Force—” he smirked at the pun “—won’t keep them away forever, and I summoned my Arisen, but they won’t arrive for at least a few minutes yet.”
“Then let’s stop wasting time.” Zylara agreed. “Analyse the Essence vial, and then let’s get this cart on the path.”
Aurelian nodded, blinked, and then paused.
“Huh…” he murmured thoughtfully. “Cart on the Path. Show on the Road. Weird.”
“What?” Zylara asked with clear confusion.
“Nothing.” Aurelian said with a shake of his head. “Don’t worry about it. Nephilim things. Just, uh, give me a second.”
Zylara gave him another quizzical look, but Aurelian was already looking at the Essence vial in his hand.
Revelate!
Name: Sanguine Essence
Type: Essence
Quality: Legendary
Tier: Adaptive
Requirement: Initiate
Description: This is the distilled Essence drawn from the blood of a Sanguinated individual. It contains the power of Anima manipulation, and can be used to Infuse an Essence Draught or in the ritual creation of a new Blood Scion.
Effects: Essence Draughts infused with this Essence gain an echo of power from the Blood Lords when used with an appropriate Mind, Body, or Spirit Skill. When used in the creation of a Blood Scion, the new Scion will receive a 10% boost to Vitality and Endurance upon successful Transformation, in addition to the Sanguinated Trait and other associated bonuses.
“Wow. Nice. Okay. Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said excitedly. “Are you ready, Z? I have no idea how this will taste.”
“I’ve been ready, Aurelian. Even the watching spirits of this land are probably yelling at you to get on with it.”
Aurelian blinked at her words, and then looked in a random direction.
He gave his best ‘Jim from the Office’ expression, and then picked up the Chalice.
“What was that?” Zylara asked with what amounted to amused bewilderment.
“Just saying hello to the fourth wall,” Aurelian murmured distractedly while counting to ten heartbeats. The moment he did, he felt his Crest settle into his right palm in a flash of crimson lightning.
The moment it did, he wasted no time.
The sword was braced along his armoured thigh, Aurelian cleansed his hands of foreign elements with a quickly summoned burst of flame to scour the flesh—which didn’t suffer more than a discomforting heat thanks to Fire Resistance—and then he dragged his right palm along the blade’s edge to open the flesh.
From there he grabbed up the chalice, and simply squeezed his fist—Pain Tolerance made the entire process incredibly nonchalant—to allow blood to spill into the obsidian relic’s waiting receptacle.
As his blood filled it, one of the rubies around the rim lit up.
When he continued bleeding into it, a second, and then a third lit up rapidly.
“At least now I know how much I need,” Aurelian declared with a snort of amusement, and continued to squeeze his fist bleed into the cup. Only when all six of the rubies that encircled it shone with scarlet energy did he relent, and relax his fist to stem the blood flow. It still amazed him that he could lose as much blood as he did and barely feel it.
It was just more proof that ‘Health’ was a strange and esoteric value.
“Hold this,” he said quickly while handing the Chalice to Zylara, who took it with a look of bemusement. He picked up the vial of Sanguine Essence the moment she did, and promptly unstoppered it and emptied the entire thing—which flowed like crimson water—into the chalice as well.
When the Essence melded with his blood, the rubies sparked with power and the chalice’s body lit with crimson light, nestled between both an inner and outer layer of obsidian.
“Woah.” Aurelian said quietly. “That’s cool.”
“It is… definitely something.” Zylara agreed. “Though now I realise I agreed to drink blood and am somewhat, ah…”
“It’s this or be a cripple forever, Z.” Aurelian said quietly, and with a slight grimace of apology for his own bluntness. “I don’t think it’s really a choice. It isn’t a guaranteed fix, but the only other option I have is… well, a long-shot at best.”
“It’s okay, Aurelian.” Zylara assured him with a warm smile. “I was mostly just mustering courage. I resolved myself to this, and I do not change my mind easily once I decide I want something. Being your first, ah, ‘Blood Scion’ is hardly something to be ashamed of. You’re not just the Reclaimer, you’re my friend. It’s my honour to be beneath you.”
Aurelian felt his cheeks warm at her words, and she smirked at him.
“Cheers, Aurelian.” she said wryly, and then tipped back the Chalice in one smooth motion.
Zylara handed the Chalice back to him after she finished, and Aurelian watched her with wary trepidation while the elf blinked in surprise at the taste. “Huh…” she said in a pleasantly surprised tone, “that didn’t really taste like blood at all.”
“Oh?” Aurelian asked with settling nerves. Maybe the process wouldn’t be as terrible as what he’d experienced, after all. “What did it taste like?”
“It was like my favourite sweets from Sanctuary. How did—Nngh?!”
In the same instant as Zylara groaned, a System prompt appeared in his vision.
Zylara Lyse Stormbow has ingested your [Primogenitor Essence] and distilled [Sanguine Essence] through the [Blood Lord’s Chalice].
Zylara Lyse Stormbow is now eligible to Awaken as a Blood Scion.
Per the Laws of Eld, the Primogenitor must consent to the Transformation.
WARNING: If denied, Zylara Lyse Stormbow will die.
Do you wish to allow the Transformation to proceed?
Y / N
Aurelian stared at the message for one long, bewildered moment and then mentally smashed the ‘Y’ option with his mind and looked down at Zylara. The moment he did, her blue eyes snapped to him with a haggard look of amusement, and then she lifted abruptly out of his arms—buoyed on power far outside of his own.
In the same moment, a new and distinct tether erupted from his Core, and Aurelian traced its passage with his mind and Dragon’s Gaze until it connected directly to Zylara—or rather, to her Core.
Another System notification populated his vision when it did.
[Calamity Core] detected within Primogenitor.
[Elysean] Race detected within Primogenitor.
[Nephilim] Origin detected within Primogenitor.
[Dominion] Title detected within Primogenitor.
Blood Scion Transformation will now adapt to special factors.
Standby.
Aurelian barely had time to blink in surprise before the screaming started.
His eyes snapped up to where Zylara hovered above him, now three metres in the air, and he sucked in a breath while staggering to his feet. The elven woman was held aloft like she were floating in water, her hair drifting in the air around her alongside her limbs and the loose fabrics that adorned her ruined armour.
She was screaming in pain. It was a scream he recognized all-too-well.
Scarlet lightning danced around her body in coruscating, illuminating bolts of aetheric force, and Aurelian used his Dragon’s Gaze to see the combination of Life and Death mana warring around her at the same time as Anima—immense amounts of Anima—created hollow tubes within which the life and death mana were threaded.
Dragon’s Gaze is now Level 23!
With each new thread funnelled in, one tube containing Life and one containing Death would twine together; combined and braided with Anima acting as an almost mono-molecular boundary between the two competing powers. Each new braid that formed—and there were already dozens, with more eventuating as he watched—twisted around Zylara’s body and snaked down toward her destroyed legs.
“Woah…”
Aurelian watched in stunned silence as the braids congregated together into lines of crimson light that, amidst the effervescent scarlet lightning, formed the framework of an entirely new body. Zylara’s dismembered left leg and shattered right leg were framed in what he could only call a wireframe outline—one that shone with brilliant crimson light to his normal gaze.
With Dragon’s Gaze still active, he could also see the iridescent braids of Life, Death, and Anima that comprised every millimetre of the wires, and watched with rapt focus as the process continued across her entire body. The lightning seared her flesh and tore at it, ripping away seemingly random chunks of flesh to reveal exposed flesh, sinew, and tendons beneath.
Dragon’s Gaze is now Level 24!
Nothing about his companion was inviolable to the transformative power of the System, and Aurelian averted his gaze when it stripped her of the armour she’d had since they left the ruined palace. The only thing that was spared, in fact, was Zylara’s bow—which itself sparked and crackled with current that seemed to be morphing it in kind, and dyeing it the same obsidian colour as the Blood Lord’s Chalice.
Aurelian? What is happening? We can hear screaming across the battlefield. Bahamut reported worriedly. Even the Skarnids are beginning to turn their attention toward it!
It’s Zylara. She’s mid-transformation. You need to stop them from intruding!
We will do what we can, but her screams are deafening even my roars. Something greater than her mortal lungs is at work here. This must be System-wrought projection.
Do what you can! My Arisen are almost here. They’ll handle any stragglers that head toward us.
Very well, but rejoin us the moment the ritual is complete! Bahamut insisted. Karsys is flagging, and I cannot give him energy as I can you.
Understood. Thank you for holding out so far. Aurelian sent with sincerity.
Bahamut sent back a feeling of amusement and mild derision, though not for Aurelian specifically.
If I were to truly struggle against these insects, I would be unworthy of the title of Dragon King.
Aurelian sent back amusement of his own, and the conversation ended. Instead, he gave the majority of his focus to Zylara’s still-changing body—including the new, and entirely naked flesh of a new foot slowly coming into being as the wireframe began to solidify into ‘hardlight’, and transition from energy to true flesh.
The remainder of his focus was directed toward his Arisen.
He could finally feel them closing distance rapidly, and turned when they arrived. The five onyx-carapaced Arisen Skarnids halted a small distance from him and Zylara, and directed each of their eight, glowing crimson eyes to regard the transformation with what Aurelian translated mentally as both interest and, more surprisingly, approval.
He would dwell on that particular detail later, he decided, while watching their tails waving through the air almost like immense antennae awaiting a signal.
“There are more of your corrupted cousins coming to interfere with the transformation,” he said with a nod toward Zylara.
Something told him that mentioning the intrusion on the transformation was the right way to go, and as if in confirmation, he felt outrage echoing from his now-chittering Arisen Skarnids.
“You must not let them interrupt her Transformation,” he said firmly. “Kill any that get too close, and don’t bother preserving them for raising. Slay them as fast as possible.”
Five bass susurrations of affirmation followed his words, and the ‘lead’ Skarnid in their centre—the first one he’d raised—raised its pincers and clacked them together twice in assent to the order. Then, in a demonstration of intelligence that truly stunned Aurelian, the lead Skarnid turned to the others and chitter-hissed in a way he almost felt like he could understand.
Protect the Master. Protect the Scion. Purge the Interlopers.
The meaning was, at best, loosely translated—but it still sent a mild shock existential bewilderment racing through Aurelian’s mind, one which he had no time to ponder before his five Arisen assumed a flying wedge formation and scuttled off toward the direction the Skarnid stragglers were presumed to be approaching from.
“I have so many fucking questions,” he said to himself while watching them go. “Do I need to name them now or something? Would Anub’arak be way too on the nose? Jesus…”
Zylara’s next scream pulled him back to what he was doing, and he turned back to her immediately.
What he saw left him speechless.