I kept my eyes closed for a while and listened to the conversations around me. Eodyne and Igas were fighting or playing rock-paper-scissors. I couldn't tell which between the grunts and yelps of pain.

Teddy and Celenae were discussing tea and what the best kind of blend was for a breezy but warm spring day.

And Sereza and Isaac argued over poison, because why not?

I was almost content to fall asleep, but instead, I delved into my soulspace.

My familiars were off their pillars and crowded around the newest skillwisp. It brought a taste of sour copper to my mouth as I pulled close.

When I reached my hand out, it rushed under my fingers and pushed against my palm. I chuckled and patted it lightly before carrying everyone to the island.

They took their places, and I bent low to inspect the pedestal for Felblood Sanguinarch. As my hand crested the pedestal, I pictured an endless river bulldozing everything out of its way. The river was thick and viscous–a bright crimson mixed with streaks of neon green and acrid yellow.

I pulled away and examined the island's rune circles. They looked whole and brighter than before.

There was a weak section, the one connected to Zagreus' area, but soon enough, it'd be just as bright as the others.

"I'm going to summon you now, Zagreus. Remember, play nice and don't do anything weird."

I left the soulspace but kept my eyes closed. Only one person was speaking.

"Seriously. What's going on with Cyrus? I understand that he has a Legacy, and a god calls him son. But Helio? The rift, the dungeon, the three extra fucking skillstones? It's insane."

There was a brief pause until Celenae snapped a book shut.

"It's not for us to tell you."

"But-"

"It's not for us to tell you, but trust us when we say there is a reason for it," Celenae interrupted. "You think we like being kept in the dark? Because trust me, we're just as mad about Helio."

"He didn't explain it to you?"

Isaac laughed. "Not in the slightest. The asshole teleports us all to safety and nearly kills himself fighting alone because he didn't think we could handle it. And he won't explain anything. No shit, we're angry."

"Why? No offense, you're all great people, even Isaac."

"Hey!"

Sereza continued. "But why are you helping him so much? What exactly is he? A prince? Some hidden demigod?"

Teddy cut in. "Beyond the reasons we can't reveal? Simple. Because he's our friend."

It was touching. And spying any longer would be wrong. I opened my eyes and yawned while leaning forward.

Sereza stared wide-eyed, as did the others. Except Eodyne. She looked at me with narrowed slits.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

I grinned. "When Sereza asked what was going on. How did you know?"

"Your breathing. It changed."

Of course, it did.

Sereza blushed, but she crossed her arms and stared. "Is it done? You have another familiar?"

I nodded. "Strange place. Lots of blood."

Celenae had already cracked open a journal and was penning down the details. I spent some time describing things in detail before I had an idea.

I activated Shroud of the Astral Archon and held out my hand, catching Galarion as he formed.

"Do you think you can copy my memories and give them to everyone?"

Galarion's tentacles formed ten thumbs-ups. "Need mana. Must accept memory!"

My mana pool was full, so I gave the go-ahead and he created five prismatic orbs that swirled with glowing lines at the tip of his tentacles.

It took a decent amount of mana, bottoming his out and skimming from my own but he included everything inside the memory, from the taste and smells to the mana impressions and sounds.

Celenae was furiously sketching the orbs and Galarion into her journal when she finally looked up.

"What are these things?"

"Memories!" Galarion shouted.

Igas recoiled at the mental shout and he scowled as he plugged his ears.

"Less yelling, please," I begged.

The cosmic squid saluted and wiggled his tentacles. "Take."

Slowly and with obvious hesitation, they each reached for a tentacle and pinched the marble-sized ball between their fingers.

"What do we do now? Eat them?" Igas asked.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

I tapped my forehead.

Igas grimaced but gently pushed the marble into his skull and closed his eyes. The others followed with them leaning into their chairs as they went through the memory.

Teddy was the first to open his eyes and rub at his nose.

"That's potent," he said. "Blood shouldn't be sweet."

Sereza was second and she kept glaring at me while shaking her head. "Really? Another perk? Dragonshit."

"Oh yeah," I said. "I forgot about that."

I pulled up my status and started reading the new addition.

Blood Pact (Stage One):

* The Crimson Monarch grants you their favor.

* Through blood is the way to power. For nothing is stronger than the ties that bond.

* Form a pact to share your greatest strength.

* Minor increase to mana regeneration.

* As the bond matures and the connection strengthens, the pact evolves, enhancing its benefits and potentially revealing new powers.

Sereza shook my shoulder. "Inoria to Cyrus? Is something wrong?"

I scowled and summoned a bonbon and threw it at her. She speared it with her tail and pointedly took small bites until it was gone.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Not everything goes wrong all the time. Have some trust in me."

A few pointed stares burned the back of my neck and I shrugged. They had finished the memory viewing, so I pulled up the perk and sent it over.

I counted to ten and right on time, Isaac was waving his dagger at me.

"This is dragonshit! It's a full passive. You're the luckiest unlucky bastard in existence! Do you know how insanely good this is?"

"Nope!" I said smugly. "I mean, it's just some mana regeneration, pretty mid."

There it is.

His eye twitched. The shadows around the room began to stretch down. Thankfully, Igas created an ice cube and chucked it at his head. It bounced off his cheek with a ping and he turned his ire toward the oni.

Funny enough, it was Celenae who slid her chair over, a wide smile plastered on her face.

"About that mana regeneration..."

---------

I cheered as Celenae sliced a spider golem in half, the two sides cleanly cut down the middle as it crashed to the dungeon floor.

"Ten... nine... five.. two... one," she muttered.

She extended her hand and conjured a barrier above Isaac. The spider golem that launched itself a split-second before crashed into it and was then separated by another barrier below.

Celenae gripped her staff in excitement. "It's amazing! It shaves off 4 minutes."

"Is that good?" I asked.

She nodded. "Very. In a drawn-out battle? It could save a life."

I hummed and poked the new connection in my senses. It was faint, but I knew where Celenae was. There was nothing concrete like a beacon blipping across my senses; instead, I knew the general direction of where she was in relation to me.

The blood pact was already showing its use.

It's only a minor regeneration boost. I'm pretty sure you can buy an enchanted ring that does the same thing.

Still, I stared at the corpses and contemplated summoning Erebus. But I decided against it and watched the bodies melt into rainbow goop.

"Let's return. I have my data points," Celenae said.

I shook my head. "How about we test out my new skill?"

"Finally? I thought you'd never show them," Sereza grumbled.

"His name is Zagreus, and he's... new."

"New how?" Eodyne asked.

"New as in, I'm pretty sure he was born by the guardian seconds before I contracted him."

"That sounds a lot like child labour," Igas added.

A little.

"Either way, just be nice," I warned.

The others gathered around and I backed up. That drew a few looks, considering most of my familiars were small and didn't need much room outside of Sturmrorex.

I dived into my soulspace and caught Zagreus' attention.

"Sorry for the wait. Are you ready to meet everyone?"

Three cute and entirely serious head nods were thrown through the link.

"Alright. Here we go."

I returned to the physical and exhaled. Mana wove itself into channels that had already been strengthened over the last hour. They rushed in and forced it to widen, so I clamped down and thinned the thread.

As it connected to the skill I watched as a bright red droplet shot out of my chest and doubled in size. From a marble to a large watermelon, the droplet stretched.

Three heads formed along with a sharp whip-like tail that raised high as four stumpy legs held them up.

"Ooooooh!"

I crouched and held out my hand. As three sets of emerald eyes met mine, the heads headbutted my palm. I gently tapped each head and motioned to the spirit.

"Everyone, this is Zagreus. Zagreus, this is Broken Tower and Sereza. You should already know who they are, but feel free to say hello."

One head licked the air several times while the other two craned around to take in the people staring at them.

"Oh, he's adorable!" Sereza cooed.

"Adorable? I'm pretty sure that's a hydra. And it's made of blood, serious-"

Isaac's words were cut off by Eodyne summoning lightning between her fingers. She glared him into submission and knelt down.

"It's nice to meet you, Zagreus. I'm Eodyne."

Zagreus stared and slowly padded over.

"Remember. No biting," I warned.

My familiar ignored me and kissed Eodyne's face with gentle licks.

"Give pets!" he demanded.

Eodyne blinked in surprise but complied and began to rub his scaled neck. When one head received more attention, the other two squeezed into her second hand.

She laughed and gave him the demanded scratches until Zagreus waddled away.

He stared upwards at Arturous. The bear sniffed heavily and cocked its head, lowering down for Zagreus to smell him.

My familiar licked his nose and gently booped the massive bear on the snout, which caused him to sneeze and send Zagreus rolling.

"Awww, that's too damn cute," Sereza gushed.

"Really?" I asked. "You didn't react like this to Magnus. Or my other familiars."

"Yes I did. You were always asleep when it happened. Plus, he is such a cutie! He's a danger noodle times three! And those legs!"

"Huh. I pegged you more as a scorpion girl."

"Why?"

I stared at her bone-covered tail and sharp stinger.

"No idea," I said deadpanned.

She ignored me in favor of reaching down and scratching at Zagreus' belly.

The blood hydra would flash green swirls that quickly faded. They returned when someone would scratch at the right spot, and Zagreus let them know.

It wasn't exactly barking, but he made his demands and was satisfied in return.

Eventually, he stopped at Isaac, who glared with his arms crossed.

"What? You want something?"

"Pat! Give Pats!" Zagreus hissed.

Strangely enough, the 's' wasn't nearly as exaggerated as I expected. I only just noticed since Sereza was keeping quiet.

"Oh come on, Isaac. Stop being such a grump and give him his scratches," Sereza said.

"Scratch!"

Isaac bent low and glared. "You should learn to say please."

"Scratch!"

"Please!"

"Scratch?"

All three heads bobbed up and down as they spoke individually for the first time.

"Well? You got your please," Sereza teased.

He growled and stood up. "Fine. But only for a moment! You won't get scratches out of me so easily. I'm not a cheap date!"

Isaac crouched this time, but his dagger swung in its sheath and hit the wall. A subtle click triggered.

I felt it before I could call out a warning, and mana rushed through the floor. A spike of dark iron impaled Zagreus' chest, puncturing the left head. Isaac reacted fast; the spike was grabbed by a tendril of shadow and torn out of the floor.

Zagreus stumbled, his body gushing blood that spilled onto the stone.

I rushed over. "Zagreus!"

I grasped his back and pushed him towards my chest, but he resisted and then activated his skill. The blood that had gushed out of the wound reversed and mana was consumed as the liquid solidified into scales.

The left head reformed and gently grazed my fingers as the other two heads turned to Isaac. The rogue looked like a ghost.

"Scratch?" he said in unison.

"I.. I-I" Isaac stuttered.

He turned to me and I bared my fangs.

"You're dead."

Igas got behind him. "I'll hold him still."

"Isaac..." Teddy whispered.

"I didn't mean to... I swear!" Isaac protested.

Zagreus headbutted his knees and thumped the ground with his tail. "Scratch."