78 || The Imperial Guard of Avezil

Of their rewards from the Dungeons only two really stood out, the Engineer's Right Monocle and Necromantic's Glove!

Engineer's Left Monocle | Iron Grade]

Can View A Material's Creation Path. Evolable.

Crafting Time: -10%

Completion Rate: +5%

Necromantic's Glove | Silver Grade]

A Creation Built To Siphon Souls. Evolable To Gold.

Active Skill: Explosive Mark, Leaves An Energy Mark On A Target Dealing 5x Spirit Damage

Cooldown: 3 Hours

Passive Skill: Has 10% Chance Of Stealing Sapient Souls Upon Death

Players Are Unable To Log In For 2 Natural Days, NPCs Are Used To Strengthen Essence

When the Left Monocle was brought near the Right Monocle, they combined to make Engineer's Goggles. The new Equipment has a combined 15% additional to Completion Rate and reduction to Crafting Time, while also having the x-ray like ability. Anyone who wears these goggles can see what's needed to create a finished product, what other uses Materials had, and their Basic Design template! It was worthy of a Silver Equipment.

The Necromantic's Glove is given to Syringa, and while she's happy with it, she's more excited about the advancement of her glaive. Its appearance is the same after the changes from the ceremony. It had even gone up a rank to Silver, boosting its stats by double, along with a new Hidden Ability. Syringa would have to find another Upgrade Crystal to unlock this other ability but she wasn't too worried.

The group leaves the Trial Dungeon to return to their home Kingdom. Upon leaving, with the clouds returning but with much death energy accumulated, Missing Cloud Forest becomes Death Cloud Forest. The three types of Undead would roam around the Field Area now, along with bestial types as well.

Alexandrite and Livid officially join Ruby Blade after this. Alexandrite becomes a Field Running Captain while Livid joins the main Dungeon Running team. Alexandrite is given both Devil's Surety and Angel's Gamble, but only after signing a contract crafted by Sassy Daisy!

The rewards for clearing the Trial Dungeon and clearing the quests are 200 Gold a piece, a Skill Book for Obsidian Rank, and the Minor Noble title.

This gave the seven players some authority within the capital and within their home turf. The Dusk Spark Bazaar faces less taxes as a business associated with them, they can mobilize a few guards to mete out justice, and even fight other players within city walls without punishment.

However, the last two perks weren't super useful as the seven largely spent their time within the Academy. In doing so they largely avoid the coming battles surrounding the other powers in the coming weeks. While the reveal of Trial Dungeons didn't cause any stirring among the Super Organizations and Ultra Guilds, the various other powers scattered their Field Goers to find one. Many even began taking up random quests or actively gaining access to Libraries in hopes of finding clues to these Trial Dungeons.

If a suspected entrance was found and not immediately locked down, clashes ensued between groups. It was with some luck that Scissor Heart found one such entrance and mobilized their Field Runners to focus on that area. This lucky encounter leads to their downfall as many of their forces were in one place for Cutting Arrogance.

Ruby Blade and Lapis Tome didn't have this problem as their Fields were not accessible to non-students so any Trial Dungeons they found were theirs alone! This fact would later lead to an even stronger foundation for their next expansion in the future, as many forget the two Workshops due to what would later be known as the Trial Conflicts! The two would slowly bide their time, using Alexandrite's Luck and Fortune to find Engineer's Goggles from the now repeatable Dungeon.

Tara, on the other hand, opens her eyes to find a weight on her lap. Curled up on her bed in her Dark Saber room is a familiar monochromatic caracal. Tara reaches out to scratch behind Msiretsa's ears, who comfortably leans into the affection.

"You've returned." Msiretsa asserts, before stretching her body and looking Tara in the eye.

"Not good morning?" Tara asks, a look of surprise crossing her face.

"What's your real question, Tara?" Msiretsa deflects before licking her paw absently.

"With the ceremony, what was that? What did you mean by role?" Tara doesn't hesitate, clearly recalling what her newest Guardian had said back then.

Msiretsa smiles calmly at this before there's a swirl of black, white, and purple around her body. Sitting before Tara now is herself except the colors of her Dark Saber robes have been inverted with a purple sash. Msiretsa's monochromatic features still appear within Tara's appearance from the hair to the skin and eyes.

"I am Msiretsa, the third Imperial Guard of the Avezil, and I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Msiretsa then tells Tara about her duties which on top of protecting the island also involve bestowing power during Interworld Awakenings. Apparently, they are older than even Ganesh and terrifyingly more powerful. On the island, there is a very strong array that erases any information about the three Imperial Guards, keeping their identity a secret. Msiretsa specifically goes around in her beast form as she refuses to choose a human one.

That is, until several decades ago, Msiretsa had a premonition about Tara's arrival and their compatibility. Tara panics a little at this because she is worried that Avezil will be less defended. Msiretsa waves her off with laughter.

"We often take turns venturing out into the world every millenia, it's fine! It was my turn anyway and I already have my several successors in place lest I travel out of reach. Besides, my friends are not easily beat with their constitutions."

"What type of constitutions do you have as an Imperial Guard? And that power you gave to my---that Soul Bead, what was that?" Tara asks curiously.

"I was born with both Eye Illuminating and Navel Enshrouding. After regressing, those are my current stages right now actually since otherwise I might have consumed you."

"As for that energy, let's talk about it later! First I'd like to see how you'll go about crafting that ax! I've got a lot of history in weapon making. I'd like to see first hand what my master is like rather than pursuing memories."

Msiretsa winks before disappearing into Tara's body. Tara, for her part, can sense a new presence within her Spirit port. She can only sigh and head to the Forger's branch. With the materials Tara was gifted from Ganesh, as they are very precious even in large sects, Tara takes several hours to carefully craft and engrave.

In fact, this weapon is her very first Silver Rank weapon! Tara is pretty proud of herself while Msiretsa proudly gives some advice and tricks for next time. Following this, Tara goes to check on Frae's growth and deliver the weapon.

To Tara's surprise, Frae is now mid Bone Crystallization with a ruby constitution! It seems the circulation and gathering techniques from before had galvanized Frae's bloodline, making sure she had a rapid advancement. With the great ax in hand, she could contest with a peak Bone Crystallization, let alone a low Vein Plating!

Tara enters the Stone Chamber after setting a rune for time dilation. Once in a fairly open clearing, Msiretsa appears as before, looking around with a wonder and fascination on their face.

"Truly amazing. The level of manipulation needed alone to craft a multi-levelled chamber with just one element like this is even beyond my capability at my peak, to say nothing of several more similar spaces. The creator of this school has my respect."

"Alright, tell me what you know." Msiretsa gives out a sigh of awe before refocusing on Tara in front of her. Tara takes a breath before reciting what she knows.

Martial Artists gather world energy and circulate it through their bodies to enhance their strength. Aurators use this energy to unlock their ports which hold physical, mind, and spiritual energy. This combined energy causes reactions in the atmosphere in the form of the Lower and Upper prismatic elements. It is only at Vein Plating, unless you have a certain gathering technique or unique Bloodline, when you can gain some manipulation of true elemental energy.

"Well, do you know why the people you call singulars are able to reach Navel Enshrouding an Eye Illuminating, despite being unable to form an aura? Or one reason as to why Aural Beasts of the same stage are stronger compared to their aurator counterparts?"

Tara stops and thinks for a moment before shaking her head.

"Warriors, mystics, and priests all have access to the energy they're missing. They simply lack the aptitude to control them in a meaningful manner. As such they focus on what they can control. This eventually refocuses into a singular point after accommodating enough of other energy in order to synergize them. Zolani focus refer to this as a Node but humans call them--"

"A Soul Bead!" Tara's eyes flash in realization.

"Correct! For Zolani, while all of their energy starts as fused together, there are still distinctions in what they're stronger in. However, because of the fusion, the amplification effect of the synergy is stronger. When they die, what's left behind is their Node, commonly called a Soul Bead." This explains why Wolyung had stronger mental abilities compared to Oorun's physical strength as Aural Beasts. The energy they could pull from otherwise was weaker despite being fused together.

"And while this strength is great within itself, with a Node comes the ability to project the available energies. These projections are separated into partial and true. For example, these are partial projections."

There is a flash of multi-colored light as Tara covers her eyes. When she looks again, slightly behind and on either side of Msiretsa are several identical figures. The only major differences are the color of their robes, their eyes, and a sash with a word on them.

On Msiretsa's left is her physical projection with dark violet purple robes and eyes, her mental projection phlox pink, and her soul projection cobalt blue. On her right is her Darkness projection in a deeper black, her Light projection in clear white, and the final one in a rich, bright majestic lilac purple.

"The drawback being they attack with a certain energy. Their individual strength is only as strong as you are in these areas. However, they are fully autonomous!"

It's here they pause to watch the wheels turn in Tara's head. A smile spreads on the group's faces as Tara asks the pertinent question: "Can I learn how to make my own Node?"