(Gavin)

The moment I mention my proposal, Max immediately turns on-guard, and I sense several more spells forming. The kid is exceptional, considering that it would require a high INT, PER, and decent Magic Sense to notice his spells. He's talented with magic, likely through his studying of the Grimoire.

"Michael," I say. "Has informed me of what you do – you don't make a distinction between groups, and will give the same knowledge to anyone… provided they make it worth your while. You believe hoarding knowledge to a single group is bullshit, but to avoid being abused, you charge and hide your knowledge away, so that no party would dare try to bind you to them, for fear of losing everything you have and know. Your real interest is simply in learning and seeing new things.

"So," I say. "If you agree to join my Order and return to our headquarters with me, I won't give you twelve vials of dragon's blood essence for a chance at success, but sacrifice a portion of my own LIF to extend yours."

"I don't believe that's possible," he scoffs.

"Do you believe this is?" I ask, dispelling all of his magic at once, and his eyes widen. "I have read through several of the Grimoires, I have forged new magics, and I have slain Dragons. I have the LIF to spare."

Seriously. If I'm dying in less than five years, I seriously don't need all of this LIF. I have more than a thousand more than I'll ever need.

Though my LIF transfer technique is purely theoretical, so it might not work, but I will push that out of my mind and do it anyway, because I fucking can.

"Okay," he says. "It's a deal, but only if you grant me the LIF first."

"Remove your tunic," I say, and he frowns. I sit down, sending the vials of Dragon's blood essence back into my ring. "I'll need you to sit in front of me, and your back exposed to me, for it to work."

He doesn't look happy, but does what I say, sitting in front of me. I place my hands against his back and close my eyes, reaching within myself, drawing on my knowledge of runes and my Resources.

As well as my knowledge of what it's like to lose my LIF from each and every last thing that has reduced it thus far.

And then… I push into him with my power, feeling something flowing into my arms, then my hands, and then into the boy in front of me.

-1 LIF!

Target has Acquired +1 LIF!

Title Acquired!

Life-Giver: One who is willing to sacrifice his own lifespan to increase another's, and has gone the extra mile and done so.

"Whoa," he says. "That was… that was… it actually worked. You really can."

"Indeed," I say. "Are you ready for more?"

"Yeah," he says happily, then I sense his mood dampen. "Um… actually… wait."

"What?"

"I think you just wasted that."

Wasting it would be dying without using it.

"How so?"

"I just remembered," he sags forward. "My Species description… all this time, I've pushed it out of my mind. It flat-out says I could never live longer than thirteen years, and that I'll die on my thirteenth birthday, because I'm a Mutt."

That's harsh.

"May I read it?"

"How do I do that?"

"Pull it up," I say. "Then do the same thing you would for sharing your Status."

He follows my instructions, and a moment later, the information appears in my vision.

Mutt: A blend of species with too many to accurately guess a dominant in, despite the primary form being humanoid with no other distinguishing features. You posses a lithe body with powerful muscles, sharp canines, greater senses, and enhanced reflexes, among other things, but gain far fewer stats than other species and mixes upon Leveling your Species, as well as have a naturally low natural lifespan, not living past your thirteenth birthday. You do not suffer the penalty all inhuman Species have to Experience and training up Stats. +1 INT, AGI, STR, CON, and PER each Level.

Yeah, that's harsh. However…

I press my hands against his back again.

"I said-"

"Hush," I order, and he does.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

This time, I look within him, sensing the myriad of Species within him. He's got eight different types of beastborn, three different types of Beastkin, some Fairy, some Human, some Elf, some Dwarf, some of something called a 'gnome', and even a little bit of Dragon within him. There's also a touch of giant as well, which I find… interesting.

Eighteen different Species make up this boy, blended together to restrict his lifespan.

That won't do.

"I may be able to fix that," I tell him.

"I don't believe you," he says.

"Utilizing the full power at my disposal," I say. "I am able to sense each of your different Species. It's possible that I can manipulate one of them to increase it enough that you're no longer registered as a Mutt. However, it may alter some… aspects of you. For example – if I made the dominant one Human, you would likely lose the inhuman aspects, and your Species Bonus would shift the Human one. That's your highest ratio, it looks like."

"I'd rather not lose my Species," he sighs. "The only thing I don't like is the restriction on my lifespan."

"I can sympathize with that," I tell him. "Let me look further."

"Okay."

I focus again, sensing his ancestries and heritages, the Species within him. Then, I begin to flow a small amount of Aether into him.

"That tingles."

"Ignore it," I tell him. "I'm not going to make one more dominant over the others unless you tell me to, this is… simply me testing something and checking something. It'll be harmless, but potentially lift the awful limitation to your lifespan."

"Okay," he sounds unsure, but I'm sure I know why.

After all, we did only just meet, so even if his friend, his patron, and my Blood Oath says he can trust me, he's still going to be unsure on that.

I continue to flow a small amount of Aether within him, and after several minutes, hear him gasp.

"What did you do?" He asks.

"I'm not entirely sure," I answer in full honesty. "What did I do?"

A moment after I ask that, a message appears in my vision.

Narkaj: A species that looks similar to the Human Species, you are are superior to many others. You posses a lithe body with powerful muscles, sharp canines, greater senses, and enhanced reflexes, among other things, but gain far fewer stats than other species and mixes upon Leveling your Species, as well as have a naturally low natural lifespan. You do not suffer the penalty all inhuman Species have to Experience and training up Stats. +1 INT, AGI, STR, CON, and PER each Level.

"My Species changed," he says somewhat excitedly. "Do you see that? It doesn't even mention the limited lifespan anymore. How did you do that? What did you do?"

"I manipulated the fundamental aspects of you and smoothed over the flaws that arose due to the mixing of eighteen different Species being contained within a single being."

"What?"

"The Species name is pretty interesting," I say.

"It just said that," he shrugs, looking at me. "I'm not sure why that's what it named me."

It's the flip of my last name… considering that Yggdrasil sometimes calls Nies the inverse of his name, there might be something in that. I'll test this with something else, and see if the System gives it another inverse.

"Alright," I push my experiments out of my mind and focus on the Narkaj in front of me. "Eyes forward and hold on a second."

"Why?"

"I promised to grant you LIF in exchange for joining my Order," I say. "Unless you've decided you don't wish for that, now?"

He looks forward, and I return my hands to his back, focusing, channeling. I stop once I have granted him nine more LIF, for a total of ten, or an additional fifty years.

"Thank you," he says.

"You're welcome," I stand, then help him to his feet. "Should you Advance your Class, you'll gain an additional 5 LIF each time. This should help you get started with that."

"Thank you," he says, then holds his hand up, a Grimoire appearing. "As promised."

"I didn't give you the blood."

"I have agreed," he says. "To join your Order. That means the sharing of our knowledge. You may have the Grimoire. Ekre says I can trust you with it, and that you may protect it far better than I ever could. Will you take me to your current base?"

"Thank you," I accept the Grimoire, sending it into my ring. "Will you need time to prepare before leaving?"

"No," he answers. "I keep everything within my ring, just in case. Though I do believe I know of the location of another of the Grimoires."

"You do?"

"Indeed," he nods. "There is a cave in the northern part of this continent, it's hard to get to without flying. I came across it about six moths before finding this one. It has a powerful seal on the door, woven using magics similar to whatever it is that you were flowing through me."

Aether?

"I've never felt magic like it elsewhere," he shrugs. "Well, other than in the same place where that Grimoire was located, but those magics were faded away, so I could barely sense them. Maybe it's connected?"

"Maybe," I say. "If you're ready to leave, then let's go."

He nods, and we leave the temple. As soon as we're outside, I manipulate the air, taking us up into the sky. Max seems stunned at first, but quickly adapts, then points me in the proper direction, and I fly us that way.

Four hours later, we reach the cliff he was referring to. It's pretty high, and the cave's entrance is about a hundred yards below the top of the cliff… more than a mile above the forest canopy below.

We land in the cave, and I approach the door, reading the Aether woven into it.

New Skill!

Aether Sense: The ability to sense and read the Aether around you.

Uh… what the fuck? Why have I not had this before?

Blame it on Stem, Nies yawns into my mind. Glitch in the System.

Tell him to fix them?

Too lazy.

You or him?

He doesn't respond. It's definitely him being too lazy to tell Stem to fix it. My Aether Sense is at Level 5, which means I should've had it quite awhile ago.

I return to reading the Aether in the door, then unlock it, the two slabs of stone sliding to the side.

What rests before us isn't a dungeon of some sort, or a chamber for housing a Grimoire.

No… it's a dwelling. A bed rests in one corner, a variety of bookshelves lining the walls, tables with tomes and scrolls scattered across them, a small kitchen, another room for bathing in…

And a very old man staring at us in shock, without access to the System.

"Who are you, and how did you unlock that door?"

"I am Gavin Jakran," I state. "Dragonslayer. I-"

"Where did you get that ring?" His eyes notice the spatial ring on my hand, then travels to Max's. "You both possess my rings. Where did you locate those?"

"I found it in a temple to the southwest," Max speaks up. "It had faded enchantments, and contained a Grimoire of magics. Your rings?"

"Yes, my rings," the old man stands, approaching us. "Those magics shouldn't have faded, not unless a Dragon attacked the temple for some reason. You… have one of my Grimoires?"

"I possess four of them," I state. "And know where two others are located. Who are you?"

I already know, knew it from my Appraisal before he spoke, despite his lack of Access, but I still want to hear him say it. I want to confirm with my own ears that he really is the one I think he is.

"I am Tristan Lightblade," he answers. "Ancient magus, and master of the eleven Resources."