B5 Chapter 627: Sacred Change, pt. 1

Kaius held A Father’s Gift high, turning it back and forth so the glow of the tunnel shone through its transparent surface.

Slayer’s Ire. He longed to explore it, the need gnawed at him like a rabid dog. He held himself back. Xenanra herself had said they would one day be able to wield their Authority to do far more than simply assert their place in the world and strengthen their Will. She’d also been damn clear it was a far ways off yet.

Yet with his blade in hand, he could feel that all he would need to do was thrust that weight into his weapon, and it would be shaped into something more.

He didn’t know what it meant. Clearly, his sword had been shaped by their journey as much as he had, and the dragon heart had been just enough to push it in the right direction. How rare of an ability was it, in the wider universe?

No, the real question was how it would help him climb.

Exploring the enhanced capabilities of his weapon would have to wait. Oath or no, flashing something like that to people outside of his team would be the height of foolishness. It was another hidden dagger up his sleeve — and those could well turn the tides of a fight. It would have to wait until he had a bit of privacy.

Thankfully, neither Julian, nor any of the other nobles pressed him for information. Not even Kanmost, though he could see the question burning on the man’s lips.

**Ding! You have absorbed a Natural Treasure: Draconic Baptism (Tier II) - 10 All Stat Points, slight Baseline Improvement Gained!**

Kaius felt the very moment he had completed the absorption of Katarex’s power. Up until a second ago, the raging strength within the bath had coursed unabated. There had been no steady decline of vigour and power; it just…disappeared. No longer did he steep himself in an elixir of stolen strength; now he was just bathing in hot blood. It coated him in a thick slime, painting his chest as he sat in it.

Vanishing his reborn blade, he launched to his feet. The slight breeze in the tunnel washed over him. Gods, he could feel it drying, clinging to his hairs in what would soon be a rust-red crust.

“Well, that’s rather disgusting,” Julian said, gingerly pulling his hands out of the pool as he did his best to shake off what he could.

Kaius grunted, summoning a large, dark towel as he rose to his feet. The second he stopped dripping, he slid on his least favourite pair of smallclothes. He didn’t bother doing more — they would be heading to the Wellspring next. Washing himself in an ancient and sacred Place verged on sacrilegious, but he didn’t care.

The tub he’d been sitting in vanished into Julian’s storage ring the second the lord made his own exit from the cooling puddle of red.

“Oh god, it’s in my ears,” Porkchop growled, surging to his feet as his own pool lost its potency.

Kenva sighed behind him, hiding herself behind Porkchop’s bulk until she emerged wrapped in a bloodstained towel.

“No one made you dunk your head under,” Kaius said pointedly. “I told you it was a bad idea.”

“I was curious!”

“And now you have blood in your ears,” Kenva said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Ah, the foibles of the young,” Kanmost said from a nearby stone, tugging on an oversized tunic that Ianmus handed him. “Regardless, I have blood just about everywhere else. To the Wellspring, perhaps?”

“Just as soon as we collect what remains of the wyrm blood from the stone pool,” Kel said, wrapping himself in a black silk robe embroidered with white flowers. He stored the tub in front of him as soon as he’d helped the still-injured Adrian free, replacing it withtwo more barrels of wine and a few buckets. “Our storage artefacts will stop it from coagulating, which is the primary concern before it can be properly treated and prepared by a suitable alchemist.”

“This is getting ridiculous,” Kaius said, staring at the barrels. “Do the lot of you have an entire winery stashed between you?”

Kel gave him a flat look. “These are fresh water. Magic and artefact-based water sources can be interfered with, blocked, or destroyed, both by hostile actors and in dangerous regions such as the Great Depths. Or a high-mana zone. Like the Crater.”

That…was much more reasonable — but if Kel had barrels of simple water this entire time, then didn’t that mean…?

Julian spun on Kel. “You let me pour out a barrel of Wyldseed when you had water?!”

“I did tell you to leave it behind,” Kel replied calmly. “Honestly, Julian, you have a hundred more in your cellar.”

Ignoring the half-strangled noises that his companion was making, Kel calmly tapped the barrels, before upending them. Kaius had to admit, it was impressively petty — but he made no comment, only helping to fill the vessels as quickly as they could.

They moved quickly, fueled by their rising excitement to reach the Wellspring for a second time. Hopefully their second go around would be a bit less exciting. Though, not too much — this would be Kaius’s first time interacting with a Place of Power after all.

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As soon as they were done, they left the corpse of Katarex behind, descending back down into the bowels of the earth. It was a risk, there was always the possibility that some scavenger would break through the barriers he had left over the entrance. There wasn’t much they could do to avoid it, really. Butchering the dragon would take time, and would require a lot of hard choices on what to empty out of their collective storage artefacts in order to transport it. Honestly, it might be easier for them to return to the nearby bandit camp to search for a cart or something.

Kaius would have suggested using the Pegleg, but…

When they reached the Wellspring chamber, he was forced to confront the reality of it.

As a group, they halted at the top of the stairs, staring down at the wreckage half-way to the pooling water below. Katarex’s Breath had cleaved clean through the main hull, shearing off the roof. A massive rent gashed from the bow of the vessel, down through its body, where the jet had cleaved multiple legs free. Those lay far below, softly glowing water lapping at their edges.

Raw, undirected mana crackled in small sparks across the Pegleg’s wounds, acrid smoke billowing upwards. The very sight of it struck at his heart, like his own child had swung by the ankles at a stone wall.

Kaius swallowed thickly. Even if its repair enchantments were intact enough to recover from the damage, that would take time — possible weeks or months, based on the size and complexity. They couldn’t use it to shift the carcass.

“That is a gods’ damned tragedy,” Adrian said, shaking his head.

“It’ll be alright, surely. Just needs a bit of time in its storage to recover.” Porkchop said hopefully, drawing nothing more than a sad shake of the head from the noble.

To Kaius’s shock, Kenva just grinned. He would have thought her the worst affected — the Hiwiann prized landyachts more than almost anyone!

“Don’t count her out just yet. The vessels held by the clans have been battered to the ends of the earth and back. If Kaius can still store it, she’s not too far gone. No telling how long it will take to recover though.”

Rotten roots, he hoped she was right.

Taking a deep breath, Kaius descended towards the ancient artefice. He could feel the weight of the delicately wrought chain and ball that was wrapped around his waist. He could still feel a faint glimmer through the storage device, linking him to the semi-autonomous mind of the Pegleg. It was…dim, and the landyacht didn’t so much as twitch a leg as he willed it to rise.

Age old steel sat chill against his palm. He willed it gone.

The land yacht vanished with a soft pop.

“Oh, thank the heavens,” Ianmus said breathlessly.

Kaius just sagged in relief, allowing himself a single moment before he continued his descent.

“That’s one bit of good news, but we still have our waiting Wellspring,” he said.

Reaching the bottom, they splashed their way to the centre of the cavern. Everywhere he looked, he could see evidence of their brawl with Katarex. Stray metallic shards glittered beneath the shallow waters, cast off by shattered bolts and arrows. Stone littered the room, great slabs and fractured gravel both, brought low by mighty Breath. Even the very walls bore the scars of the dragon’s rage.

An ancient space, indelibly marked by their passage. Kaius wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.

“No last minute ideas of what we should expect from bathing in the waters?” Ianmus asked, glancing back at the Archivist who hung from his back.

“Nothing more than I have already told you. The magics of this place were once aligned to hard-sought wisdom and insight. The System changed things, though — no Old Magic survived untouched.”

“I might have some idea,” Porkchop said.

Kaius blinked at his brother in surprise.

“It’s something the wyrm said — about it making their ancestor dream stronger. My matriarchs said that dragons have some sort of bloodline memory. It’s how they have such good skills and classes despite being abandoned to eat each other as hatchlings. If the Wellspring empowers that, then I think it would be wise for us to ponder our Aspects and Refinement.”

Kaius felt a renewed rush of excitement as he stared at the roiling column of water that rose from the sinkhole in the chamber's centre. That was perfect! If Porkchop was right, this was an opportunity they couldn’t miss. After everything they had faced on their journey to this place, dragon hunt and all, his Aspects smouldered like coals. Hells, even the latent cycling he’d done during their battle had advanced his progress to the next tier by leaps and bounds.

With enough of a boost, he would be able to push past that bottleneck, and bring himself one step closer to finishing this step of the Path.

A sigh of disappointment pulled at his attention. Kanmost. He realised what bothered the man immediately. The Archivist was Silver, but had not managed to ignite his aspects.

“I suppose I’ll just have to ponder a few of the more mundane mysteries that plague my mind, then.”

They reached the edge of the bubbling spring, waters rich in magic bubbling high enough to reach Kaius’s shin. None of them quite worked up the courage to jump straight into those bottomless depths, simply gathering at the edge of the sinkhole.

“Well, if this is good for our Aspects, any tips? You’ve all progressed further than we have.” Julian said, staring deep into the frothing waters.

“Don’t even think about refining until you’ve managed to embody all of your Aspects,” Kenva offered.

“And visit a Crucible as soon as you can,” Kaius added. “We visited one limited to the first tier on the twenty-fifth layer. There are secrets you learn within them that we cannot share, under System-enforcement. Valuable ones.”

The nobles looked at him sharply.

“The twenty-fifth?” Kel said sharply.

Kaius flashed him a grin full of teeth. “We hit the twenty-ninth before we crossed through the tiers. May I suggest reaching out to the Guild? I’m sure they’d be willing to share the Honours requirements they’ve been gathering…with a few concessions.”

“Bastard,” Julian grumbled. “I knew you had something to do with that. But seriously, you must have something for us.”

Kaius shared knowing smiles with his team. The nobles would have to be fools not to put it together now that they had seen the full extent of their capabilities.

After letting the nobles stew for a little longer, he met Julian’s eyes once more. “Focus on the Truths of your Aspects. Search for their flaws; the points of friction that might break your Path if you let them.”

Before the man could respond, Kaius dived forward, sliding into the Wellspring like a racing arrow.

The Old Magic swallowed him whole.