"No," I said in a deadpan voice.
"Cyrus..." Brelten tried.
"Absolutely not. I'm not being babysat," I countered.
He audibly groaned into his hands before he picked up his cup and downed the entire thing. "Listen, you are not being babysat. Consider it a great opportunity to receive guidance from more experienced professionals."
I glared at the guildmaster. There was little doubt I was acting somewhat petulant, but his proposal made my mind churn. Four days had passed since I returned to the village, and I was finally starting to regain some normalcy. The nightmares haven't stopped, but I was able to hunt with the trio and enjoy some dinner dates with Warren. Brelten even pulled me aside and helped me meditate for half a day. In truth, I was nothing but thankful for the man. If the snippets of conversation I heard from the other adventurers were accurate, then I knew Brelten sacrificed a lot to sit down and meditate with me.
Edolus' Burning Lake dungeon was no longer a low-tier dungeon. If the rumors are true, the dungeon has undergone a complete restructuring. The addition of two extra floors was surprising and would have been welcomed if it wasn't for the change in the dungeon's monster type. The skrell existed, the root spiders existed, and the nagas controlled the second floor. That hasn't changed. What did change was the fact that separate groups of monsters called blood-varients. Apparently, the bloodbeasts were now a permanent addition to the dungeon, along with the champions becoming roaming floor bosses.
Brelten hasn't officially confirmed it, but the dungeon will most likely be reclassified as a tier two-three dungeon. I had no idea what that meant for the frontier village moving forward, but it meant some big changes were going to start soon. From the stack of letters, Brelten has shown me the number of researchers and political scrambling that has burst from the seams meant that Edolus was about to receive a massive increase in residents.
"Cyrus!"
I nearly jumped but remained seated. "What? What's wrong?"
He narrowed his eyes, but they softened a second later. "You stopped talking and had a faraway look in your eyes. Are you okay?"
"Oh, sorry about that. I was thinking about some stuff. Anyway. The answer is still no." I could tell he wanted to ask more, but he shook his head and refilled his cup.
"This is exactly why I want you to go with them. You said it yourself: you want to leave, and exploring the kingdom would do you some good. Especially if you had others around you to help you along."
"Listen. It's not that I don't understand that. And I don't think you're wrong. I would be an idiot to pass up the chance to receive mentorship from them, especially with your endorsement of them. Teddy and Celanae are friendly enough, so I know they're not bad company to be around."
He flashed me a resigned look. "And I'm assuming you resent the idea that you would be considered a burden. To feel like you're holding them back. Feeling like someone powerless and weak."
I internally flinched, but his words stung true. "Exactly. I don't want to be escorted around. They obviously have goals that require them to push themselves into dangerous places. Places that I can't go to. Me being with them would mean I'm a task, a burden to deal with."
Brelten remained silent as he slowly sipped his tea. As young as he looked, I had to remind myself he was much older than he looked. If my guesses were correct, he was easily old enough to be my grandpa. But even though he barely looked a day over thirty, there was always one thing that gave away his actual age. When he looked at me with eyes of shining emerald beyond the aura of power that radiated out of them, there was wisdom. It was a deep feeling of experience behind his gaze that made me feel young and small. It was that weight that now gazed back at me.
Silently, he reached into his desk and pulled out a metal box. As he placed a hand over the hidden rune engraved on it, the air in the room changed. Gone was the peaceful calm filled with the scent of tea, and in its place was a building static charge that clawed at your skin. When he unlatched the case and pulled out a fist-sized object wrapped in black cloth, I inadvertently dug my claws into the arms of my chair.
He slowly unwrapped the fabric and unveiled a diamond-shaped crystal the colour of blood. Inside the red glass was a spiraling vortex of energy that drew my gaze. I couldn't look away as I watched streams of crimson electricity chaotically worm their way to the edges of the stone. When I opened my mouth to breathe, I tasted copper, nearly choking me.
It was only when he wrapped the crystal back inside the black cloth did I noticed I was standing. The static charge suddenly disappeared, and I could feel my heart beating fast as sound returned to the world.
"Scary, isn't it? Not even realizing what you were feeling or doing. The thing is rather remarkable for its size. We have to keep it covered in a special mana-dampening cloth to ensure its effect doesn't spread throughout the building," he said amusedly.
It took a minute for my heart to settle, and with some silent coaxing from the guildmaster, I finally sat back down. I rubbed my thumb absently across the gashes I inflicted on the innocent chair.
With a few deep breaths, I swallowed my discomfort. "Wh-what was that? It felt like champion monsters. Except, I didn't even feel anything. When I dealt with the mana from the champion of pride, I was drowned in rage and anger. There was none of that this time, no feeling, no thought."
"From what you told me, these champions are an aspect of sin. You said that back in your old world, these were part of some religion, and they represented the folly of mortals or something like that," he started. When I nodded my head, he continued. "Seven sins, the lion was wrath, the bird was pride, and the other one you encountered was gluttony. And during your escape from the dungeon, you think you encountered another champion."
"Yes, but I couldn't tell you what it represented. Since it was a giant goat, I'd say it was lust. The only problem with that is that the skrells it commanded didn't seem... lustful. So, I'm not sure if that's right."
He tapped the crystal, and even under the cloth, I could hear it ring against the table. " Broken Tower, Theodore's team, went back to the dungeon to investigate. On the new fourth floor, they stumbled upon what they think is another champion. On an island in the middle of a small lake was a massive beast in the shape of a fox made of blood. They nearly retreated. They should have retreated." I could hear the disapproval in his voice as he said the last sentence.
He tapped the crystal again and sipped some more tea. "It was a long battle that was much tougher than they expected. The only reason they managed to defeat it as easily as they did was thanks to Theodore. He nullified the monster's mental attacks and suppressed its aura's effects. They used a special item to extract material from the monster. After they brought it back to the guild, Winslow identified it as something called Crystalized Avarice. The champion they fought was tier three. And this crystal will cause a stir amongst the guilds. And the chance at seven different effects at this strength will be enough to pull some serious people to this village."
I was nodding along as he spoke, fascinated by the news but not entirely sure where he was going with it. "Is there a reason for showing me this? Because if I'm being honest, I'm not sure what this has to do with convincing me to go with them."
"I wanted you to know what happened to the dungeon. This way, you can leave without having some unresolved questions left behind. And what I want you to take away from this is simple. Broken Tower is made up of tier-two adventurers. They are strong and well-trained and the kind of people I know will surpass me someday. They are not weak by any standard, but that doesn't mean what they did was anything but impressive. Even if they faced a tier advantage and fought an unknown monster with unknown abilities, they defeated it and helped scout out the rest of the dungeon." He gave me a grin, and I could tell how proud of them he was.
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"And?" I asked skeptically.
"And. They didn't start out like that. I spent years mentoring them and raising them. They're impressive and have a natural talent that exceeds many others, but I know how much work I put into them. I'm a damn good teacher, and I get to boast about it every time I see them come back even more impressive than they left," he said thoughtfully. He stood up and stood next to me. "Cyrus, you are not weak; you are not a burden the way you think you are. Your skills, backing, and even the time spent meditating with me put you above the norm by a decent margin. And yes, you are weak if you compare yourself to something tiers above you, but you can easily close that gap. Go with them, learn more, and build that foundation. When you do? Grow and rise above till you can fight something more powerful than yourself. Be outmatched, with odds weighed against you, and still win against whatever danger you face."
The man's intensity squashed whatever dismissive answer I was ready to throw out. A part of me wanted to rebel at his words to deny that I was anything but useless. There was no obvious sign of mana emitting from Brelten, no aura that I could accuse of affecting the way I felt. Ultimately, I started laughing at how strange it was and how lucky I was to be in this situation.
I stood up and met the intense stare. I couldn't hold the same level of surety Brelten had in his smile, but I stood my ground. "Fine. Fine, damnit. You win, I'll go with them. You're one hell of a motivational speaker," I grumbled.
He dropped the stern smile and flashed me a wide grin. He slung an arm over me and guided me to the mat on the floor. "Decades of experience. Adventurers can be annoyingly stubborn, and you have to learn how to motivate them in the right direction. Now sit, and let's try what we discussed yesterday."
I crossed my legs and sat down. As I slowed my breathing and cleared my mind, I pictured my soulspace and watched the unrefined energy float above the lake of mana inside my soul. And between the two were the ambiguous wisps of light that I knew were my skills. With a thought, I brought the wisp closer and examined it. There was a light giggling that I felt more than I heard. Without being able to explain it adequately, I felt a small boop on my nose.
As I gently held the wisp with my will, I tried to trace the small tether leading off into the distance. The cord finally faded into nowhere, disappearing into the surrounding darkness.
"Alright, I have the skill. You want me to summon Áine and activate my Spirit Lord's Invocation. And then, I try to actively carve my mana channels as the two skills are being used," I whispered.
Whispering was all I could manage. Any more than that, and I would be forced to break my connection to my soulspace.
Brelten's words drifted in slowly, barely registering in my ears. "Good, exactly that. Watch the mana connect to the skill and trace it as it flows down your channels. After that, activate your new skill and try to actively feel the mana spread throughout your body. If you can master this, it should allow you to refine the channels faster and allow more mana to flow at a steady pressure. This should increase the efficiency by a significant degree."
With a slight nudge to the wisp, I felt confirmation and excitement seep back into me in response. With a mental nod, I channeled my mana into the skill and watched something beautiful. The lake of liquid mana sitting calmly in my soul slowly reached up in a spiraling pillar. It wrapped itself around the skill and flowed. The mana increasingly pushed itself into and out of the wisp. I watched the blue liquid drain down the tether and into my body. As I followed along, I watched it spread like branching currents from the center of my chest.
A physical touch pushed itself into the skin of my nose, and I chuckled. When I opened my eyes, I saw the little fairy floating in the air, her wings flapping slowly. I saw her nod her tiny head, and I sucked in a deep breath.
My senses plunged back into my soulspace, and I repeated the process with a new wisp. The tether was thinner than the one connected to Verdent Healer. As the mana flowed down the channel, I watched it branch out nearly three times as much as it did when I summoned Áine. Instead of clustering near the center of my chest, it went down my limbs. From my shoulder to my arm and then into my fingers, the mana pushed its way throughout my body.
If I hadn't been paying attention as closely as I was, I would have missed when the pillar of flowing mana grew a tendril and plunged into the summoning skill for Áine. A small pulse flashed and rippled across the lake. In the physical world, I could feel Áine break into motes of green light and sink into my body.
Almost like a second skin, the mana channels lining my body seeped out and settled over it. I was only wearing a shirt and some loose pants instead of my usual armour. My eyes widened behind my eyelids as I watched the mana condense around five places. The first was my shirt, and I could feel the threads of the piece of clothing merge partially. The pants merged as the shirt did.
As the skill settled even more, I followed the channels and inspected the other sites where the mana condensed. Unsurprisingly, one was a connection to my eyes. However, the pathway didn't stop there, and I traced it upwards to where I felt it spread out in a ring. From the first time I used Áine as the base for my transformation, I knew the ring was a slowly rotating halo of light green mana.
The last place the mana condensed was in the small of my back. I knew there was nothing physically back there, but the smooth skin of mana around that area was raised into two small bumps. Implications of what the two bumps meant excited me, but I reigned in the emotion and pulled myself out of the metaphysical introspection.
Brelten watched me with a trace of amusement. "Pray the brains at the academy never find out you have this skill. Not until you are ready. As far as I know, transformation skills that rely on the connection between a familiar and their summoner have never been documented. If they found out you had new unresearched knowledge that they've never had the chance to study before? Well, needless to say, your spear wouldn't be enough to hold back the tide," he said smugly.
I groaned but didn't reply. Instead, I erased my thoughts and began the process of channeling mana through my skills. The passage of time fell away as I tried to flex the energy into and out of my body. Brelten guided me occasionally, pointing out moments where I pushed too hard or was starting to tense up. After a while, I nearly broke my connection, but I felt the raw energy connect to the skin of mana around my body and felt it compress. Thirty minutes later, I collapsed onto the floor and tried to calm my ragged breathing.
Where before, carving my mana channels hurt and tired me out on a mental level, this time, I felt actual pain in my body. My skin felt raw and scratched, while my muscles felt like a giant had been squeezing them tight for hours. Even when I released my transformation and Áine reappeared, my body still hurt. Áine tried her best to heal me, but the mana diffused into me with no effect. When her healing failed to help me, she sat down and petted my hair with her tiny hands.
When I gained enough energy to drag my face off the floor, my eyes crossed as I focused on a cup of steaming liquid before me. I gracelessly plunged my mouth into the liquid and drank from it.
"I placed some numbing drops into it, so the pain should abate somewhat. From your reaction, I'm assuming the process worked. Care to share how it went?" Brelten asked calmly.
I lapped up a few more drops of the tea and rolled onto my back. "That was awful. I'm not even sure how long that took, but everything hurts. It feels like a giant used me as a stress ball and then used rocks as a sponge to clean me off. Arrgghhhuhhhh."
"That may be so, but now you know it works. Check your status and tell me if anything has changed."
I begrudgingly did as I asked. The words on my status screen appeared before my eyes. When I read down the list, I raised my eyebrow at the change.
STATUS
Name: Cyrus
Race: Reborn ( Felkin)
Age: ??
Tier: 0
Active Skills:
* (T:0 R:4)Summon Familiar: Verdant Healer: (Áine )
* (T:0 R:4)Summon Familiar: Resplendent Inferno: (Zharia)
* (T:0 R:4)Racial Skill: Dimensional Storage: (Chomperz)
* (T:0 R:3) Spirit Lord's Invocation
Passive Skills:
* (T:0 R:2)Etherious Blood
Perks:
Legacy of the Obsidian Crown
Scion of Calstrax
Demonic Blood
Child of Mana
"From the look on your face. I take it the exercise did some good." Brelten commented.
"Hah. It did very well. My new skill went up two ranks, and my passive skill went up a single rank. Is that actually good, though? I thought my summoning skill would improve, but it didn't."
He shook his head and glared at me. "Monstrous, that growth is monstrous. Don't complain. The skill probably stayed the same because going from rank four to rank five takes a lot more energy and effort than going a rank one to rank two. You probably made excellent progress on the skill. If you keep doing what you did, it should increase soon. I'd wager by the next time you meditate, even."
I picked up Áine and placed her on my shoulder. Slowly but with less pain than I expected, I got up and made my way to the door. Before I left, I turned around and bowed to the guildmaster. "Thank you, Brelten. Even if the pain sucks, your guidance helped a lot. And I won't squander what you offered me. You know where to find me when you find out when they're leaving. For now, I need a bath and a good meal. Goodnight."
His smile dropped, and the small traces of amusement fled from his face. "About that, I already know when they plan to head out. They'll be escorting the caravan to the nearest city. And the only reason they have remained here as long as they have is because of the minor emergency that happened after the rift."
"How long do I have left?"
"They leave tomorrow afternoon," he admitted.
"Fuck"
There goes my plans for another picnic.