Beastforged Bond

A time limit. Of course, there was a time limit for me and my Soulkins. The Terat explained everything in detail and promised to return soon to check on me. They also asked many questions about my Soulkins, sproutling Sapsie, to be precise, but left after a while.

As grateful as I was to the Terat, I wasn’t comfortable enough to tell them about Sapsie’s mother. They did not have to know that Sapsie’s mother was the World Tree, a power on the same level as the Spirits. Heck, I wouldn’t even be surprised if she was one of the Spirits. She probably was.

Anyway, my weave was healed, and my body felt a little bit better by the time the Terat left.

How long do I have? I wondered, not quite sure what to make of their warning.

The World was in need of energy and sustenance. To recover, it required a horrendous amount of both, which I could easily provide by being in an ether-dense area. The World’s core was still intact and thus naturally absorbing ambient ether. Essence would likely accelerate the process, but I didn’t really have access to any. Not any longer, at the very least.

“They mentioned something about Elixirs. That I would be better off if I could get hold of a bunch of Elixirs to consume in short intervals,” I repeated what the Terat had mentioned before leaving. Dad let out a heavy sigh, and Mom inched closer to pat my back almost frantically.

“I guess they’re expensive?” I continued, looking over at the Zerogs.

“The Terat told us about your condition before, so we researched Elixirs. To say that they’re expensive is an understatement. The World Mending Elixir, which is the human equivalent to the Soul Nourishing Elixir, is expensive even among Elixirs,” Daniel answered, looking like he was caught between frustration, sadness, and anger. “I spent the last few months apprenticing under a true Alchemist, but it’s hard. Beasters and Alchemists are not all that different, but it feels like the average Alchemist is a thousand times more experienced than every Master Beast I know.”

That I knew. Volix had told me all about the difference between Alchemy and a Beaster’s concocting of serums. And while the Elemental Phoenix never mentioned anything about Elixirs, I highly doubted they were the inferior version of potions and pills. If anything, Elixirs were superior, which was problematic.

“Concocting World Mending Elixirs will be difficult then,” I mused to myself, then pieced together the other things the Terat had mentioned about my condition.

My World was bound to shrink. While the Terat did not say that directly, I knew it would happen. Truthfully, I was more surprised my World hadn’t started shrinking all that much yet, considering I had spent several months in a coma rather than refining my World. My coma may have slowed the adverse effects of disuse atrophy.

Since the World was not unlike a muscle, in a way, and I hadn’t done anything for months, it should have suffered. That, however, didn’t happen. Not exactly. I caught a glimpse of my World before and knew it was nowhere near as massive as it had been. Losing Volix, and thus his soulshare, which had provided a lot of soul energy, was part of the reason, but so was the fact that my Soulkins needed food.

Thus, to preserve the Soulkins and feed them just enough to ensure they would make it through, the World sacrificed itself. And it would keep doing so as long as my Soulkins were forcefully isolated inside it. That carried several problems I’d have to solve as quickly as possible.

First, if too much of my World was consumed, my Soulkins would occupy too much space, which would then lead to a bloated World. That wouldn’t be a major problem under normal circumstances, but my World was already on the verge of falling apart. Any more pressure, and it would fall apart.

Second, I couldn’t be certain my Soulkins were doing well. My World was being feasted on to ensure their survival, but Resh, the Mirage Serpent, had been in the middle of an evolution, and my other Soulkins were not exactly used to staying in a cramped place for too long. Would the World’s sustenance even be enough to keep them alive for so long? I hadn’t felt the same pain as when I lost Volix, so I knew my Soulkins were still alive, but I couldn’t hear them, nor could I feel the bond. I just knew that the bond was still there. That was all… and it drove me crazy.

The easiest solution would be to repair the World just enough to pull Aureus and the others out.

That would damage the World once more, potentially destroying it forever, but it would lessen the pressure on everyone. As long as my Soulkins were fine and outside the World, the worst case that could happen was the World’s destruction. I would be crippled forever, but those dear to me would be fine. I’d be the only one suffering, which sounded much better than being the cause of my beloved’s suffering.

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

If Volix was here, he could help me with the Elixirs. That darn phoenix could probably heal my World with his fire alone. I missed Volix more than I was willing to acknowledge. As annoying as he was, Volix had been an important part of me. The pang of sadness that threatened to fill my entire being only confirmed that.

Volix’s death lingered on my mind even now. How could it not when the Elemental Phoenix sacrificed himself to protect me? The only good thing was that Volix wasn’t truly dead. He could not be–he was a phoenix, after all. Knowing the Elemental Phoenix was not dead, even after he forcefully severed our connection, was the only reason I could hold my head high.

As for Merlin… neither of them deserved to die. Merlin Zerog had accounted for his death and even went as far as to plan for the inevitable, if it meant that the Ruler of Fire would die alongside him, but it was sad nonetheless.

I tried to get up from the bed again now that my weave was healed, but a wave of weakness forced me back onto the bed.

Suppressing a bunch of curses, I focused back on Daniel. “So… how expensive are those Elixirs? Do we have some numbers?”

Even though the onyx ring, the storage ring I’d inherited from Ruler Kazriel a while ago, was nowhere near as full as it used to be, I still had a bunch of things to sell. The library was still full of techniques that could be sold for a fortune, if the people of Dracos were interested, as well as a number of enchanted armaments. Since Ruler Kazriel had been somewhat of a collector, he did have some unique weapons which had been rather difficult to sell in the Bastions.

That included a few weapons that could only be wielded by Rulers. Surely, Dracos had some Rulers willing to reach deep into their pockets.

“Don’t worry about anything for now. Focus on your recovery while we find out everything you need to know.” Daniel gave me a thumbs up, only for Lea to speak up in a grumbling tone.

“As long as he can afford to pay for anything here, that’s fine.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but I heard her anyway. Lea caught me looking her way and grimaced. “Forget what I said, Adam. It’s just that things are a little bit different here.”

“You will get used to it, honey,” Mom said reassuringly, and I could only hope that she was right.

***

Four incredibly boring days later, I was back on my feet, feeling energetic enough to step out into Dracos’ streets for the first time. I was sure I was ready, since the window leading to the streets of Dracos had been the only somewhat interesting thing, but stepping into the bustling street proved me wrong almost immediately.

I knew Dracos was massive, that it stretched across the land, vast enough to easily surpass the Bastions in size, and they couldn’t be any more different either.

Instead of towering skyscrapers clawing toward the sky in rigid uniformity, the city rose in uneven layers. Some districts were not unlike the Bastions’ main sector and rose higher than others, yet they never displayed the same clean lines or predictable patterns.

Dracos’ architecture was a chaotic harmony of styles, for lack of better terms. In some places, it looked like entire buildings had been sculpted from single slabs of stone, their surfaces smooth in some areas and jagged in others, as if shaped not only by deliberate actions and movements but also by the passage of time. Arches, spirals, and sharp edges blended together in wild ways that defied logic, yet felt oddly logical in a place filled with the beauty of strangeness.

Making my way through the bustling street, avoiding humans, Terat, and other beings, I found myself in awe of the buildings around me. The ether density in the air was ever-present, and it was almost as if every structure around me emitted ether for me to absorb as well. It was difficult not to reach out to the ether, for doing so would hurt the World, yet the ether pressing against my skin was enough to fill me with excitement. It invigorated me, if just a little bit, and dissolved the doubts and fears lingering in my mind for a moment.

Following the massive street for an hour or two, which was likely wide enough for a Behemoth to walk through, I realized just how vast Dracos was. There had been multiple intersections leading to even larger streets filled with carriages, as well as lone beasts roaming around, but I kept walking down the very same street. Yet even after hours of walking, there was no end to it. It was almost as if the street would go on forever.

The structures around me changed slowly as well. In some places, structures seemed to grow instead of being built. Large homes and halls formed from massive trees, their trunks twisting upward and outward, branches weaving into walls, roofs, and bridges. Leaves formed natural canopies, filtering light into shifting patterns below, while roots burrowed deep or curled along the surface, creating pathways and foundations alike.

After feeling the Terat’s energy, it was not hard to tell that those structures were alive, shifting in the wind and absorbing the abundance of ether permeating every inch of the city.

Buildings that fused stone with wood, places where nature took over crafted structures, and even architecture bending to accommodate nature rather than destroying or resisting it existed as well. So did places that appeared as if they were set ablaze. Buildings resembling a mixture of a house and a volcano caught my attention in the distance, reminding me of the Elemental Spires’ underground sea and my first encounter with the Elemental Phoenix. It reminded me of the Caldera as well… and of the Ruler of Fire when he destroyed everything.

Raffael Torch no longer roamed Razarn, but he was certainly still alive in my head. And I was not sure how long it would take to get rid of him.