Azura was thoroughly confused when his eyes opened again. Did he just pass out in a dream induced by passing out? He seemed to be back in the dark cave, but he didn’t know if he was conscious or if he was still dreaming. “What is going on?” He wasn’t really expecting an answer, and so nearly jumped when he got one.

“Something higher intervened. Your memories remain closed to me, and yet a test must be properly made for you. Be warned, I have not seen your memories, so a test can not be tailor made for you. So I must make the test more difficult to insure your worthiness” He had almost forgotten about that. A trial in order to complete his trial… fun.

“What am I even testing my worthiness for?” There was silence for almost a full minute before the presence returned.

“Do you not seek my child as your familiar?” Well he certainly was now. Even if it was only an egg now the potential to become an x rank threat was far more than he had even considered. Even his father wouldn’t be able to find fault with something like that.

“I didn’t even know you were up here, much less your child. I simply felt drawn here, but I would be extremely pleased to have the chance at taking your child as a familiar, assuming they also find it agreeable that is. Strong or not, I don’t intend to enslave a creature.” Most mages got along splendidly with their familiars, but that certainly didn’t mean there weren’t those who would simply force a creature to accept the binding because it would grow up to be powerful.

A deep laugh rumbled through the cave. His eyes widened as he actually heard the being for the first time instead of it just projecting directly into his head. “Interesting, I believe you will be the first to come here without knowing what awaits you. It is my understanding that the trial’s of Garrion were quite well known to you humans.”

He paled. He was dead apparently, Garrion’s trial was quite well known. Many had attempted it hoping to gain the allegiance of his child. Obviously all of them had suffered brutal deaths. On the bright side he finally knew what kind of monster he was dealing with. His father would even be pleased. He was, after all, dealing with one of the oldest of dragons. “Oh it is a rather famous tale, I just hadn’t realized that I had stumbled upon the most sought after familiar in history.”

The deep laugh echoed through the cave once more. “I see, how interesting. I wonder if your blood drew you here, or if it was the other force that resides in you.” What? Why would his blood draw him here? What other force, his grimoire? No that wasn’t it, just what was this dragon talking about.

“I know my father has been gifted a dragon name and title, but I don’t imagine that would affect my blood.” He was dealing with an ancient dragon, so his father being one of the named probably isn’t as important as it would be with most dragons, but hopefully it might help a little. As much as he hated to be relying on that man for anything.

“Ah yes, Tiamat.” His eyes widened. Named were rare, but to know based on no other information. “How fitting, that his son should attempt the same trial that got him his name.” The air left his lungs in a rush. His father had completed Garrion’s trial? Impossible his familiar died, what must he have been facing that would kill a child of the ancients?

“I… what? That’s impossible.” He didn’t want to be anything like his father, so why was he drawn to the very trial that set His father on the path to become the man he was today. His father had never told him the story, but he said that it was after he had been gifted a dragon name that he had truly found himself. The urge to leave the cave and get as far from here as possible nearly overwhelmed him. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm down enough to think rationally.

“I’m surprised he didn’t tell you, after all you … story … truth …seek?” His head started to feel a little fuzzy as the dragon's words blurred so heavily he barely made out any of them. “Ah I see, so there are some things you are not yet to know. Very well if the higher being thinks it is better that I do not tell you the truth then it is something you must find on your own.”

Whoever … or whatever this higher being is, he had mixed feelings. Saving him from the torture of a dragon trying to break down his mental defenses was definitely a good thing, but stopping him from learning something about himself wasn’t great. Not that he could really judge given that he hadn’t told Lily anything he had discovered about her flames. Could he really do this though? What if he became like his father after completing the trial? However if he didn’t do it just because he was afraid his resolve was too weak, wouldn’t that be proof that it was?

“Hmmm I see, are you perhaps worried about following your father’s footsteps?”

He couldn’t stop the bitter laugh that came out. That has been a bit of a theme lately. All the effort to keep his mind secure and it mattered little when people read him like a book anyway. “No, this is my chance to prove I’m not like him. I can complete this trial without becoming a monster, I’m not him.” Now he just had to convince himself of that.

“If it’s a consolation, you are very different then he was when he came here. Both of you were arrogant, but in different ways. He contested my magic to use spells to get up here, however he freely opened his mind to me. He said seeing his thoughts and memories would change nothing, and he was right. He had nothing to hide, no fear for me to use against him, no shame for me to prod, and no weaknesses to take advantage of.” Yeah that sounded like his father. His only shock was that his father hadn’t yet tried to take over as king of Delford.

“You didn’t even try to use your magic after it was clear I didn’t want you to, and yet when it was time to search your mind. You fought, it was a battle you couldn’t possibly win, and yet you fought anyway. Your arrogance was rewarded only due to … Well I’m sure even if I try to tell you, you won’t be able to understand a word of it. He had no doubts about who he was, and didn’t much care what other people saw. You however don’t yet know who you truly are, you fear what you could be, you care about what people should think about you more than how they do.”

He winced, that hit a little closer to home than he liked. He felt it probably said something about him that he was more concerned about the observations into his personality than about the fact some absurdly powerful being was censoring things that he should hear. Suddenly it occurred to him that his bad luck may not be luck at all. If this higher being was willing to intervene against an ancient then everything else would have been a piece of cake for it. “You got all that from my reactions did you?”

“Not exactly, I don’t know how much I can say that you will hear, but I knew your mother, perhaps … than … like … Ah I’m guessing by your expression most of that was blocked again.” The dragon's sigh created a slight breeze in the cave. “Well you’ll find out one day, it’s not the kind of secret that can remain hidden forever.”

That was frustrating, he kind of understood why Katy was always so annoyed at him for keeping secrets now. “So what is this trial supposed to be?” Frankly he just wanted something to distract him from all the thoughts currently running through his head.

“Perhaps I will base them off your father’s trials. Give me an hour to get them ready.” For the first time he saw a piece of the dragon he was speaking with as a red tail with gold patterns running through it slipped briefly into view before disappearing into the darkness. He sat on the rock floor preparing to recover as much mana as he could. He doubted his father was supposedly the only person to pass it for no reason.

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***

Katy was kind of annoyed that Roran had gotten back before her. She still finished before Azura, Luna, and Lily, but knowing those 3 they were all going to come back with something absurd. She was the last of the group that were going to have normalish familiars. She smiled softly at the small snow white cat with ethereal purple markings sleeping in her arms. Well at least her familiar was adorable and useful.

“Oooh! Isn’t that an umbral cat?! I’ve never seen one before!” Siara and Roran had been there when she walked through the portal, and had told her that Cynthia was actually the first of them to come through. Roran’s familiar was a beautiful golden bird that currently rested on his shoulders.

“I mean I guess. I named her Phantasma, because she can do this cool ghost thing, but I don’t really know much about magical creatures aside from what Azura thought I would have to know for the trials.” Which meant she didn’t have much info on particular creatures, just types, sub-types, and ranks mostly.

“Well that pretty much confirms it! I can’t believe you found a white umbral cat! They are usually black, but supposedly the white ones have much stronger magical abilities!” She looked at the small cat purring in her arms with a raised eyebrow. Well looks like her gut feeling had served her well at least.

“What about yours?” She had never seen a bird with feathers that shined like that.

“Oh Caelum? He’s a sunbird. They can adjust their size, and they are well known for their loyalty. They make great mounts, and they can even wield some basic fire and healing magic. Supposedly they are to phoenixes as wyverns are to dragons.” Her eyes widened. Well it looks like all of them had gotten pretty exceptional familiars. Which made her even more curious what the other 3 would bring back.

“What do you think the others are going to come back with?” Azura would come back with something absurd, she knew Azura would come with something ridiculous, but she was really curious about what the other 2 might bring.

“I’m not sure. Luna’s clairvoyance ability should make finding a good familiar easy enough, but with her luck I doubt it will be that simple. Lily’s mana is kind of ominous, so only the most dangerous monsters will even dare go near her so whatever she brings back will definitely be pretty powerful!” She hadn’t really thought of that. She hoped Lily would be able to pass, but Roran was right Lily’s mana definitely didn’t scream safety.

“So … want to take bets on whether Azura will pass out or not?” That had become a running joke in their little circle of friends. She usually only brought it up when Azura was there to be annoyed by it, but she didn’t really want to worry about her friends that hadn’t finished yet.

“Only if I get to bet that he already has at least once!”

***

Azura liked the air here. Even in this cave ridiculously high up the air was clean and pure. The dense mana coated everything around him and made recovering mana super quick. Which was unfortunate, because thanks to the higher recovery rate he had filled his mana 20 minutes ago, and still had another half hour of time to kill at minimum.

Thankfully if dealing with his father for 15 years taught him anything, it was patience. He wondered how the others were doing. Mostly Luna and Lily. On paper this task should be easy for Luna, but with her luck he very much doubted it would be. Lily on the other hand was a very poor match for this trial. Most creatures wouldn’t approach her lightly, and would flee if she came too close, and the ones who don’t won’t be looking to make friends. As if that wasn’t bad enough her magic wasn’t really great for non lethal attacks.

Still, she was fairly talented, so hopefully she would find a monster that could handle the heat well enough to not be horrifically maimed. He didn’t think any of the others would have too much trouble, assuming they hadn’t already finished that is.

He sighed. He would love to explore the cave, but the big powerful dragon had said to wait here, and he definitely wasn’t confident enough in whatever force saved him earlier to ignore the warnings of one of the ancients. He wasn’t particularly pleased to be stuck with nothing but his thoughts as company, especially with the new piece of information he had received.

His father’s familiar had been a child of an ancient dragon, as much as he wanted to differentiate himself from his father though he couldn’t really afford to pass this up. Even as children dragons are incredibly powerful, and a child of an ancient would be even more so. He knew for a fact that it would be literally impossible to find a superior familiar in the entire choosing grounds. Well technically there were adult creatures that were stronger, but he wouldn’t stand a chance against them, and neither would any of the other hopefuls.

What force could have possibly been enough to overwhelm both his father and a familiar on that level? Whatever it was they must have managed to get rid of it, because surely his father would have informed him if there was a creature that powerful with a grudge against their house.

Although it was another piece of information he had gotten that nagged on him the most. How did Garrion know his mother? He had never really heard his mom’s name spread around, so he assumed she wasn’t a famous mage like his father, and yet somehow a dragon all the way out here knew her. Did his father bring her here? If so, why? He grumbled. How was it that everytime he learned something new all it did was open up more questions.

His father not telling him something like this was one thing, but he didn’t want to believe his mom would have hid something this important from him. And even worse was that odd censoring that kept happening. He had finally found someone willing to finally give him some information about his family, and he can’t even perceive the words they say.

What was this being? It was able to stop the magic of an ancient dragon, and could apparently take control of his senses at will. What kind of creature had that kind of power? He was under the impression that the ancients were the most powerful beings in existence at the moment, to think there was something that could treat them like children. How much power would that even entail?

His thoughts turned to the mysterious book he had recently acquired and wasn’t surprised to find more pages filled out than before. One of them had a picture of a red dragon with golden markings, that he was willing to bet was Garrion. He was tempted to try some random times to see if the symbols from that time worked, but the odds were too low to really bother with.

He was however a little surprised to see the first couple of pages in the book filled, and the very first page was a familiar space with floating islands and the grand castle that he had so recently seen. He couldn’t read these pages any more than the others, but somehow he got the feeling he knew its name anyway. “The Library of Eternity?”

He had never heard of anything like that, and that was unusual for him. He was confident he knew about every library of note on the continent, he supposed it could be on another continent, but somehow that didn’t feel right either.

“The Library of Eternity hmm, that’s a name I haven’t heard in some time. You seem to make a habit of meddling in very dangerous things don’t you?” He didn’t know what was with this dragon and staying out of visible range while talking to him.

“I don’t do it on purpose, they just seem to come to me.” He considered asking the dragon about the book. He was 90% sure it wouldn’t matter. Whatever Garrion said would just be blocked, but at least knowing there was someone out there who knew might make him feel a bit better. “Like this book that seems to fill itself in whenever I find something particularly interesting. Do you know anything about this?”

The mana density in the air increased dramatically and the pressure made it hard for him to breathe. “Don’t play with things you do not understand! What you hold is … reality … there … destruction …” The dragon must have noticed his blank stare because his sigh created a noticeable breeze again and the pressure faded. “Of course, I should have known. Well obviously I can’t tell you much, but know that you must be very careful with that which you hold. Even seeking for understanding could lead to …”

He was absolutely sick of the censoring, but at least he knew the book was dangerous, and also very important. He resolved to keep it hidden and safe. “I don’t need to know the specifics on why anyway, I had already felt that it wasn’t something I should casually reveal to people.”

“Hmm very well, as long as you know to protect it hopefully that will be enough. Now come human, your trials await you.”