Rufus turned to look, and I waved and started to push my way through to him. Being bronze-rank meant people actually tried to get out of my way. That was new.
I could tell Rufus didn’t recognise me. Then, as I got nearer, something clicked, and his face lit up.
“Theo! What are you doing here?” We met and hugged.
“That is a long story. What about you? How are Gary and Farrah?”
“They are good,” his face fell, “no thanks to me. But you. Bronze now! Congratulations.”
“It is pretty new. Hey, I went to your family's academy, and it's pretty great! You should be proud! Your mum helped me heaps as well.”
“That’s good,” then he did the math, “but shouldn’t you still be at the academy? What happened?”
“That’s a story for a quieter place.”
“Right. We have some apartments close by. Gary and Farrah should be there. Where are you staying? If you haven’t found a place, you could join us,” Rufus said.
“Thanks, but I am settling in at the Temple of Death. I think the High Priest is looking forward to a new face to talk to.” I replied.
“So you did join Death’s Church. Farrah thought you might.”
I flashed him my temple ID. “Roaming Cleric. I am still getting used to that as well. Hey, you guys must be getting close to late bronze. How is the road to silver?”
“It is a hard slog. We are all upper bronze, but it takes a lot more effort the higher you go. We have had a few setbacks, but that is normal as well. Here we are. Come on in.”
Rufus was staying at a pretty upmarket apartment building.
“Hey, Farrah, Gary, look at who I found!”
They came out of their rooms, and we had a warm welcome. They all wanted to know what I was doing in Greenstone, so I sat down and told them. That took a while, and there was a stunned silence after that.
“Wow. We had better come with you,” Gary said. “Our adventures are boring.”
“No, they are not,” Farrah said. “We found what we came here for.”
“Oh?” I said. “Come on, spill.”
“We came here to look for something for a friend of my parents,” Rufus said as he looked at the other two sternly, “which we are contracted to keep a secret. While we were here, we were doing some contracts, and the Church of Purity wanted us to investigate rumours of a blood cult, and we got ambushed. We would have died if it hadn't been for Jason.” They went on to tell me about being captured and almost sacrificed in a ritual if it hadn’t been for Jason Asano.
“So Rufus has been training him to be an adventurer,” Gary concluded.
“What do you mean boring? That is a tale worthy of being written down for future generations,” I said when they had finished.
They just scoffed. I could tell Rufus was not happy at leading them into a trap.
“So, where is Jason?” I asked. “I have never met an Outworlder.” Apparently, Jason had been brought to this world from a different world through an astral magic ritual that had gone wrong.
“You just missed him. He left this morning to go adventuring in the Delta. He won’t be back till the end of the week,” Farrah said.
“That is disappointing. I am not planning to be here that long. I have a water chamber conversation booked tomorrow with Vitesse, hopefully with your Mum, Rufus. Then I want to arrange for a portal there, but I might end up going to Stillwater to consult.”
“You will need a gold rank portal to get to Vitesse in one go, and there are no gold rankers here as the magic density is too low,” Rufus said, “You will have to hop to a higher zone and then to Vitesse.”
I nodded, “Makes sense, as long as it is not through Kekie. Farrah, you are Magic Society. What do you make of this ritual?” I pulled out the ritual I had copied from the gate.
Farrah looked at it, “That's Astral Magic. I am a ritualist, so my knowledge of astral magic is very basic. There is only one person who specialises in astral magic here, Clive somebody. He is only iron rank, though.”
“I figured there wouldn’t be anyone here. I want to get it back to Professor Venter at the Academy,” I said.
“She really knows her stuff,” Rufus agreed.
I put the copied ritual away.
“Your aura is strong,” Farrah said, “Can I test it?”
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“Sure.”
I felt her probe, and she recoiled as my technique struck back.
“That is an impressive hidden technique,” she said.
“It is self-developed. I was wondering how it stacked up.”
“It is very strong, probably as strong as mine, and I am late bronze. If your attack is the same, you have a good foundation,” she said.
“Where do I improve from here?” I asked.
“I think… yes. You are very strong on defence and attack, but what you need to work on is finesse and subtlety. Not everything is attack and defence, and you need to practice the smaller fine arts. As you level it through bronze, you will increase your control. If we get time, I can show you something I just learned,” Farrah said.
“That sounds great.”
We spent the rest of the evening catching up, and I got back to the temple very late.
“They are definitely viable eggs, and given the right conditions, they will hatch and could start a nest,” the Bond adviser said after putting one of each of the eggs through various tests. “The bad news is,” he continued, “that Greenstone is not the right place. The magic density is too thin. You will have to take them elsewhere.”
“Who would bond with them?” I asked.
“Budding alchemists. They are a rare variant of the fire ant. I haven't determined which, but I suspect you know. Few would want to bond with them, but you will find a controlled nest that is farmed for resources, is where your market is. The larger and established alchemist families and businesses, especially those industrial alchemists working for governments. The thing is, the eggs will hatch animals, not monsters, and with the right care, animals can level. Their true potential is a few years of investment away, which is why only established alchemists will want them.”
“Do you have any contacts? I am heading to Vitesse soon so that part of the world is best.”
“Hmmm. Vitesse is too cold. They would have to be in a temperature-controlled area, which is good in that they can’t escape and breed easily but bad in the investment required to keep them. More temperate climates are best. I will get you a list.”
I paid the consultation fee and left partially happy. I was happy because I had seen Kai’s reaction to the eggs. I went back to the temple and got out a Soldier Ant egg. One of the Kai’s came out very excited. “Go for it, buddy.” I chose a soldier ant because I had seen the benefits of using higher-quality stones for Kai. The difference is like stone vs green marble.
Kai ripped open the egg with his claws and started lapping the liquid that was there. It was going to take him a while to get through the outer clear liquid and the inner yolk, and then he ate the shell as well. He was a Devourer Rat.
I let him rest in the garden as this seemed to be a more complex change.
This also meant the only one Kai was yet to gain a specialisation, and I am pretty sure he used to have the Mana Drain. While Ant Kai was gestating, it was time to visit an awakening stone merchant on the way to the water chamber.
The prices of Awakening stones in Greenstone were horrendous. How could anybody afford to buy them, especially if they grew up poor like I did? The selection was also limited. I held Kai in my hand as I moved him over the stones. I was concentrating on the magic-orientated ones. He showed some response to the Awakening stone of the Magus, but it wasn’t strong.
The stone he reacted to most was one normally taken by rogues—the Awakening Stone of the Night. I bought it and fed it to him then and there. Yes, that was a good move. I stopped at a tea shop and made a note of each Kai, so I could keep track of them and have names for them.
Fire ant Kai got the liquid fire as well as fire-resistant Chitin. Night Kai becomes one with darkness and shadow. It is not a teleport or anything, but he blends into the darkness. He can become incorporeal, but only if he is in dark areas and at night. He can blend into shadows at any time, but he can only become incorporeal at night and in the dark.
I gave them all names based on their abilities. Now, I have to keep them all alive.
1. Mana Kai - Mana Drain
2. Chitin Kai 1 - Fire-resistant
3. Chitin Kai 2 - Fire-resistant
4. Fire Kai - Liquid fire and fire-resistant chitin.
5. Bat Kai - Bat wings
6. Venom Kai - Poison bite and claws
7. Water Kai - Water manipulation
8. Greenstone Kai - Green Marble & Water Resistant
9. Night Kai - Become one with darkness and shadows.
They were my boys, my loyal companions. Now, I have to keep them all alive just like they keep me alive.
“Theo! It is so good to see you and get your message.” Arabelle’s image in the water chamber was a bit hazy, but we could see and hear. “You just disappeared from Vitesse. You were last seen at the Temple of the Lost and Outcast, and then nothing. What happened?”
I summarised what happened from my perspective and my suspicions about who was involved. “I have an Astral Magic ritual circle I need Professor Venter to look at. I suspect it is going to give a large clue as to what trouble there is with the astral spaces. I need to talk with my sister about The Kekie Kingdom, and I suspect this prophecy of disaster is related to the astral spaces.”
“You have discovered a lot,” she said.
“Most of it is just unsupported speculation at the moment. We need to verify it. I am trying to get back to Vitesse, but there are no gold rankers here, let alone gold rank portal specialists.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Arabelle said. “I know the Geller family here in Vitesse, and I know they have a family compound in Greenstone. I might be able to arrange a portal through them. Get in touch with Danielle Geller there. She should be there in preparation for the monster surge. My husband knows her, and she notified us that Rufus was there. You should be able to find Rufus as well. Are you staying at the temple?”
“Yes. Send all contacts to the Temple of Death. I did catch up with Rufus last night. They had a narrow escape with some cult and are training an Outworlder.”
“That is interesting. Can you tell me more? Getting the news ahead of Gabe is always fun.”
The limited time in the chamber was always too short, but I went away a lot lighter in spirit, and I am sure I can get directions to the Gellers easily enough.