B6 Chapter 22: Teldrin

(Any theories as to what kind of Legacy Teldrin has? :P What kind of skills he'll acquire?)

Legacy of the Living Pond

• Beneath the calm waters lies the depth of life. Your soul is one of flow and change. A ripple that stirs the unrelenting change underneath. Wait, watch, thrive. For one never knows what lies beneath the surface.

• All skills will evolve to complement the Watcher of the Everripple.

I read and reread until my shoulders sank. 

What the fuck is an Everripple?

It was surprising. I was so accustomed to people from the islands having a wind or water affinity that Teldrin’s Legacy felt wrong. Its wording invoked nature, life. Something like Áine. Except his legacy mentioned waters, tide, ripple. 

I scratched my chin. All in all, the Legacy didn’t sound bad. If anything, it seemed to promise something well-rounded, perhaps an adaptive resistance.

Teldrin sat with his fists tight, face expectant. 

“I’d ask if you have been tested for your affinities yet, but I don’t think that’ll be accurate anymore,” I said.

He shook his head. “Testing is done near expectant awakenings, but elder Aimon thought it'd be a waste.”

“Yeaaaah, thought so. Ugh, one second.” I tapped the device, funneling mana into Absolute Authority. The enchantments in the device froze as a small flicker of grey cut encased it, trapping the mana. When the barrier went down, I stuck my head out and raised my voice. “Hey Khrem! I need the testing device.”

“Which one?” the sharkman responded without looking away from his current experiment.

“Affinities.”

Khrem pulled out a metal box and tossed it over. 

“Thanks!” I yelled before releasing my hold over the device and allowing the barrier to reform. Teldrin cocked his head, but I thumped my chest. “Active skill, the one that acts more like a passive.”

“Oh,” was all he said in return.

I laid the box down and carefully undid the latches, pulling out the delicate pseudo-Rubik's cube. It had nearly a hundred sides all in all, with each square of special glass being smaller than my pinky nail. Laid out, it was a wieldy heavy thing with reinforced mana-receptive yet neutral metal to help facilitate the testing.

Motioning for Teldrin to go ahead, the boy slowly reached for the central square and allowed mana to enter the device. He briefly panicked when it started to pull more than he was allowing through. 

“Bear with the pain for a moment. It takes a dozen seconds, then you’re done. It has more affinity glass than most of the ones you’ve seen, so we should be able to get a more accurate reading,” I said.

After the twelfth second, the device buzzed and Teldrin pulled his hand back. The entire contraption started to whirl and shift as mana looped through the center and outward into the different panels, a dozen times over.

“So that’s mana fatigue,” Teldrin mumbled. He was rubbing his fingers, and the ends were pale. “Does it always feel this cold?”

I shrugged. “You get used to it, but don’t ask me. I’m not the best example to use when trying to gauge what is normal or not.”

 We waited in silence as the pseudo-cube took shape. One by one, panels lit up. Then it kept shifting. More panels lit up, Teldrin’s mana being cycled dozens of times. 

What the fu–

DING!

The cube snapped together and released a loud chime signaling the analysis completion. My jaw dropped as did Teldrins.

“Uhm, Cyrus?” Teldrin asked, almost hesitant.

I poked at the cube with my tail before slowly picking it up. I even gave it a shake to see if it would dislodge any of the lit-up panels. 

None did, and the cube stayed the same. All lights were lit up, to a decent degree that spoke is a percentage above fifty percent. Some more than others were their own stars amidst the sea of colors, like those of a particular batch of blue and another of purple, along with a section of vibrant green.

If I had to guess, that’s spatial, nature, or is it life? And water. That makes sense, but…

I ended up chuckling and releasing a low whistle. “Man, what the fuck did Ysanna do to you. Fuck me, this is cruel.”

“Uh.”

“No. No. Not cruel, just a reminder to not be so careless. Not that I should have been in the first place.” I set the cube down and looked at Teldrin, taking off my mask. His eyes widened as I revealed my fangs. “Congrats. You’re officially a higher pedigree than most of Solunaria’s noble population.”

“Wh-what? Are you sure?”

“Mhhhm. I think you are the only one besides me who has that much affinity. This is good.”

Teldrin cocked his head. “You have a lot of affinities as well? We were taught that most people have at most a handful of affinities suitable for skillstone use.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s hard to explain.” I thumped his chest with my tail. “Instead, let’s focus on you! You have, from what I can see, an almost endless number of options for skillstones. This is good. You can round out your skillset and be more protected and dangerous for it in ways others can’t. However, notice that patch of blue? Same with the purple two sides to the left?”

Teldrin nodded. 

“That will be what your perks are influencing on top of whatever Ysanna did. Water-related skills, nature-related, and spatial-related skills will be the best. Lower mana cost, more power. I’d probably fill out most of my skill slots with those, but then again, you have a Legacy. Your skills will work to complement you, evolve to fit your nature, and create a skillset. That’s the benefit of our Legacies.”

I reached my hand outward and tapped the contraption, resetting it back to its original configuration. After replacing it in the box, I slid it to the side and conjured a different box, an ornate chest in its stead.

I undid the locks and slid it open, revealing a crystal clear gemstone. Trapped within the gem’s interior, a swirling whirlpool sparkled in an endless cycle.

“Is this…”

“Ysanna gave it to me a long time ago. It was to be given to you if you joined us, or returned if you didn’t. I never got it identified, sorry.”

“The goddess chose this?” he asked in awe. He reached for the gem but stopped and looked to me. I scoffed and scooted the box closer. Teldrin picked up the stone with a gentle reverence and held it up to the daylight shining through the window. “It’s so pretty.”

“You know how skillstones work?” I asked, drawing his attention from the shiny crystal.

Teldrin straightened his back and nodded. “Yes. The lower the tier, the less clear the stone. Higher skillstones are also shaped differently, allowing the mana to be contained within rather than outwardly. It is also not uncommon for higher quality stones to contain skills with extended names.”

“Bingo.”

“Bingo?”

“Ignore me. So, you don’t have to take the stone. It is random, and you can wait for Khrem to identify it for you.”

“But the goddess chose this for me herself? Shouldn't I use it?”

I bit back my initial response and shrugged. “In the end, it’s your choice. Not hers. That said, it is a goddess providing the skillstone. So…”

“I’ll use it!”

Teldrin clutched onto the stone as if I would take it away, but I leaned back. His eyes flicked to the stone, then me. He looked unsure, so I put on a smile.

“Listen, dude. She wouldn’t lead you astray. She already gave you an amazing thing, and even if the skill was crappy, your Legacy will fix it. Not perfectly, as far as I know, but you can’t go wrong. Plus, it’s obviously water-aspected, so it’ll be on the more powerful side of your affinity.”

He nodded slowly and once more held up the gem. After a pause, I felt his mana trickle into his hand, and the skillstone rapidly broke down. The glittery dust swirled in the air, mimicking the whirlpool that was inside the gem before it funneled toward the center of his palm. 

Teldrin sucked in a breath and the stone was gone. His eyes grew distant, no doubt taking in the changes to his status effect.

Then something peculiar happened. His mouth dropped open, and his shoulders started to slouch. That by itself wasn’t alarming. 

However, when a trickle of black bile dripped from his nose, alarm bells flared. Teldrin’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as he collapsed.

I shot to my feet and channeled mana into Verdant Healer, summoning Áine. She landed on his chest and I stabbed at the enchanted device, destroying the barrier.

“Khrem!”

He turned and rushed over, helping set Teldrin down in a safer position. “What happened?”

“He absorbed Ysanna’s skillstone and then this!”

Khrem blinked, then he pulled back, his expression softening. “Ahh, I see.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I demanded.

Khrem patted my shoulder and gestured to Áine. “What is she telling you? Check through the link.”

I groaned and closed my eyes, tapping into the connection I shared with my familiars. Áine’s memories of the last few seconds started to filter through, specifically how her mana flooded into the boy’s body.

As I parsed through the information, the little fairy sent over a reassuring mental pat. My head sagged as I took in a deep breath.

“So he’s fine? Just minor damage to his mana channels and… Wait, what? How the hell does he have organ erosion?”

“Organ erosion? How extensive?” Khrem asked.

I rescanned Áine’s mana feedback, and shook my head. “Barely any. It’s almost like every one of his organs was damaged, but like, by a single percent if even that. It’s already healing, was healing even before Áine’s mana started to flood in.”

Khrem had a new journal and was already scribbling notes into separate boxes. On the cover, I caught the name Teldrin. 

You really are taking after Celenae, aren’t you, Khrem?

Khrem finished writing and began asking Áine a series of questions. Nothing major, but he performed the same extensive exam he did for me several months back. By the time he was done, he had already wiped and cleaned the foul-smelling ichor from Teldrin’s chin and placed a pillow under his head.

The black ooze was truly potent, living up to its reputation from all the cultivation books I read back on earth. It had been a while since I smelled it, for which I was all too happy to forget.

“You can rest assured, Cyrus. You did nothing wrong,” Khrem said, patting my shoulder. “It is expected for one’s first skillstone to kickstart the purification process. A drop or two is expected.”

“Wait, what? I never had the problem.”

He gave me a flat stare. “You are an anomaly of anomalies. Plus, from what you’ve told me, you already have a skill. Two of them, in fact, before your body was formed. Not to mention your body is considered entirely pure, cultivation-wise.”

“How come I’ve never heard of this? I read the primer Brelten gave me back in Edolus.”

“The primer made for Reborns? Who would probably tailor the needed information to what effects a Reborn?” Sereza pointed out.

“Oh.”

“Regardless,” Khrem continued. “The organ erosion is concerning, but I suspect it has something to do with the new skill. It was never identified, but I believe it is a passive skill rather than an active one. Teldrin’s body is freshly awakened. A potent passive could cause a dramatic shift before his body adapted.”

Sereza bumped into my side, smiling. “So, is he as loaded as we suspected?”

I scowled. “You have another bet, don’t you?”

“Yep!”

Sereza waved her hand, and a betting board appeared with our names on it. Zog and Khrem were up there, along with Sereza’s with the current pool at fifteen gold. 

“Again, not the habits they’d want to impart,” I said. I glanced at Zog. “How are you already a part of this? You barely knew what we were doing. In fact, when the fuck did you guys do this? I was awake almost the entire cabin ride.”

“Your bad sleeping habits aside,” Sereza teased. “You do sleep. And he asked, so I answered. The bet came naturally.”

“Who's betting what?” I relented.

“Zog thinks the goddess has already blessed him enough.”

“To spoil would rob him of opportunities of growth,” Zog said.

“Ironic,” I mumbled.

His eyes narrowed. “How so?”

I waved him off. “You and Khrem?”

“I say yes. As does Zog. Since we bet the same, it's down to reasoning. I think the kid is loaded due to his weird birth. With the riftborn status changing their initial racial traits. Khrem says yes because of the goddess.”

“Wait. You knew about that?”

She shrugged. “It came up during a bloody analysis.”

I looked to Zog, but he also shrugged. “You never asked.”

I groaned and examined the body. Now that the initial shock was over, he was sleeping peacefully. He looked contented even after Áine sent one last pulse of healing into his body. 

“Well?” Sereza nudged. 

“Back yah demon!”

“Haaa haaaa,” she said deadpanned.

“It's his to reveal, so ask him yourself. But yes, he's loaded. Ysanna went overboard.”

I didn't have to look up to see the exchange of coins behind me. I focused on Teldrin, studying the boy’s face.

He slept peacefully, relaxed. My gaze shifted downward to his arms, his hands. His clothes hid it well, but he was more toned and built than any teenager I knew back on Earth. Unless you were some Olympic athlete in the making.

His hands are calloused.

He was physically built and ready. Teldrin had honed his young body through constant training that ate away at any childhood he should have had.

I looked at my own claws and my tail. They could tear through him without much resistance.

My fists clenched. No matter how much work he put in himself, he was just a kid. A soft, fleshy being who lacked the skills to survive, both system-wise and in general.

“Hey, he’s probably just tired. I remember my awakening day. I was up all night, excited and scared. Let him sleep it off, he’s fine,” Sereza said, jolting me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah.” I stood up and then immediately flopped onto my beanbag. “I’m going to meditate, wake me up if something happens, okay?”

She flashed me a thumbs-up and I closed my eyes. Darkness came, and I slowly shut out my physical senses as I prepared to sink into my soulspace. Except instead of darkness, there was the pull of a force beyond, one that breached past the mental limits and tugged at my soul.

I hadn’t expected Eraztis to make contact so soon, but if he wanted to–

“Hey, Cyrus,” came a warm voice from behind me. 

I turned and found myself floating in a world of endless black, and in the center, not too far away, was a man in a silver suit showing a soft smile as he gestured to a couch beside him.

My surprise faded and I lifted my mask off my head, showing my teeth. “Sup, pops.”