“I think it was. You’ve given me a great deal to think about today, and I appreciate it. But until I understand more about what you are, I’d rather avoid taking more risks.”
Keras raised a hand, and his own true weapon — a greatsword in a white scabbard with a spherical metal pommel — flew to it. “Fine. But you’re putting your suspicions over the potential for your friend to learn and grow.”
Derek shrugged. “I’m certain we can make some sort of arrangement eventually.”
Keras reattached his scabbard to his belt, which looked rather awkward, since the weapon was so large that it nearly dragged against the ground. Then he turned to walk toward the hatch to exit the roof. “Your friend can make their own choices.”
Derek let Keras leave without saying another word, then wiped his forehead with his free hand. “So…who wants to help me fix the roof?”
“That was so amazing.” Patrick was so excited that he was practically vibrating. “I’ve never seen a fight like that before!”
I was less interested in how impressive the fight was and more curious about what Tavare had been talking about.
It had called Keras “Great One”. What did that mean?
Derek had assessed that Keras wasn’t an attuned at all, and when I’d seen Keras fight my mother, she’d made a remark about his shroud not working properly.
What was he?
He could fight against a visage, at least for the short period of time I’d seen him dueling with Katashi. If he was a visage himself, that would explain how broad and unusual his abilities were.
He claimed to be from a faraway land, but was that a ruse? Or were the visages themselves foreigners, perhaps?
If he wasn’t a visage, a child of the Tyrant in Gold was another strong possibility. If Tavare had some way of sensing that, it certainly would have explained why it had been so fearful. Would it call a demigod like that “Great One”, though? That sounded like a title of respect.
What would a summoned monster respect? A visage?
A god beast, perhaps?
That was a worrying notion. Perhaps even more than the idea of a child of the Tyrant in Gold, a humanoid god beast…
That was similar to what Echion was being pushed toward, too, wasn’t it? Could Keras have been an earlier experiment, or something similar?
I had too many questions.
I felt some sympathy for Derek. I was pretty sure he was trying to find out the same things, and using that sparring session to draw out details.
I didn’t respond to Patrick in a timely fashion, I was too lost in thought. Fortunately, I didn’t need to. Someone else shared his enthusiasm.
“I couldn’t believe it! Remember when Keras was like…” Marissa made a swipe at the air with an open palm.
“And then Derek was like…” Patrick brought his own hand toward Marissa’s, catching it.
I smiled at the reenactment, but I had other things on my mind.
Like food, for example. I’d eaten the couple things they’d handed me on the rooftop, but I was still starving.
I made my way down the stairs to the kitchen, barely aware of the conversation happening around me.
Eventually, Patrick wandered off to go play a game of Valor with Sera. Marissa stayed to get herself more food, but she picked a spot at the other side of the table rather than sitting next to me. She looked introspective, so I didn’t bother her.
I made it into the middle of breakfast before Derek arrived downstairs and sat down at the table across from me. “How’s your recovery coming along?
I’d barely been thinking about that. I still had a throbbing pain in my back from where I’d nearly been crushed by a giant spider, but the ring of regeneration was working to repair that damage. Most of my other injuries had healed.
I still had some half-healed cuts on my hand from when I’d detonated Jin’s phoenix sigil, nearly killing him. I tried not to think too much about that.
My worst symptoms were a killer headache and a perpetual burning sensation in the new attunement on my right hand. I still hadn’t figured out what it was. “I’m intact. Better than I could be, considering what we just went through.”
Derek nodded in understanding. “I should mention that I appreciate your help in freeing me from that ring.” He shuddered. “I don’t like to think about what I’d be doing if you hadn’t.”
“You’re welcome. I know it wasn’t you that was attacking us back there. And thanks for letting us stay at your house.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “It’s just practical at this point. I usually house my climber team here before and after we head into the tower. Since we just went in the tower together, I consider you a part of my team.”
I took the compliment for what it was and smiled. “Appreciated. Hope we won’t have to go back in there any time soon, though.”
He shifted to a more serious expression. “Agreed. You should sit this out for a while, at least until you recover. I can take care of things from here.”
I set my food down. “That’s not quite what I meant. If you’re going back in there, I should be going with you. I’m too deep in this to back out now.”
“The only reason I agreed to bring a Quartz into the tower in the first place was because Katashi had specifically marked you, Corin. Even then, it was a terrible idea, and I shouldn’t have let Orden convince me. I know you still want to help, but you can do that without putting yourself in more danger.”
“I think we just established that you would still be under Orden’s control if not for my help.”
Derek sighed. “With the way things happened in there, yeah. But if I’d had my way, I would have brought a team of Citrines and Emeralds to escort Vera. Orden wouldn’t have been able to seize control of all of us at once, and some of them might have even been able to break me out faster if I’d been wearing the ring.”
He paused, putting his palm to his forehead. “I don’t like to admit this, but Orden played all of us. That group was composed of people that Orden thought she could handle. She obviously underestimated you and Sera. I don’t think anyone could have predicted Sera would demonstrate that kind of power as a first-year student. But Sera isn’t in fighting shape now and you’re still a Quartz.”
I raised my right hand, then flicked on my attunement for just an instant to confirm a suspicion. “Actually, I’m not.”
Derek blinked. He obviously couldn’t see the crimson aura that I’d just seen around my own body for the first time, but he put the implication together. “Your new attunement is stronger, I take it?”
“Carnelian. I still don’t know exactly what it does, but I’ve used my right hand for dueling so much that I must have already had enough mana for my second attunement to be Carnelian as soon as I got it.”
He folded his hands back together, giving me a thoughtful look. “That’s unusual. Your right hand was stronger than your actual attuned location? I’m not sure I’ve seen that before.”
He shook his head, as if to dismiss that line of thought. “Anyway, congratulations. It’s a significant milestone to reach Carnelian, especially as a first-year student. And having two attunements is admittedly useful. But you still shouldn’t be coming with me into the tower until you’re vastly stronger.”
I shrugged at that. From a logical standpoint, I didn’t really disagree with him. Even if I’d managed to help in the tower before, that didn’t mean he could rely on me to be similarly useful in the future, and he was right that a Citrine or Emerald ally would probably contribute more to his success in a climb.