The Lady's Demands

Regardless of the celebrated historical figure, the suras' demagorias followed the same pattern. In the glade's center, the junior suras, those less than 500 years old, gathered bark and wood logs while the elders engraved runic stones with the story of the concerned figure. After setting the stones in a large circle, the elders kneeled side by side and started their chants, animating their writings with a current of dra.

Unlike humans, suras didn't weave their dra through arcane gestures, relying on chants and dances instead. The juniors piled up the bark and wooden log for a typical bonfire, then joined their elders in dances. As expected, sura flames didn't contain any destructive force. They warmed the heart, soothed the mind, and threw those that opened to them into a festive mood. But if in usual times, all 300 suras should contribute in one way or another, on this occasion, 50 led the aistis to draw a Mutual Reinforcement Circle across the glade with wood branches.

As the suras' work carried on, Kilian sat crossed-legged before a peach blossom tree, eyes closed while eight green crystal shards hovered around his head in rings. Three nail-sized crystal shards for the inner ring and five palm-sized shards for the outer one.

"Three Minor Crystals and five Greater Crystals," Eleonora said. Few could imagine that this 19 years old magus with the might to dissociate atoms, cast Fifth Circle Spells and transmute lakes, hadn't even reached the Archon rank. Fewer would believe that it'd barely been a year since he started his thaumaturgic training. Of course, if not for Jezebel's Overdrive spell in Ostria, regardless of how gifted he was, Kilian would have wasted a lot of time to reach this point.

To prepare for the Sura Plane, Kilian condensed five Greater Crystals, only missing one to reach the threshold of the Archon rank. But stimulated by the Sura Plane's ongoing clashes and the greater challenges to come, he resolved to kick things up a notch. Green mist strands flowed out of Kilian's pores, gathering beside his five Greater Crystals to condense the sixth. After Adramelech's gift, Kilian's dra took the Prince's green shade, and his crystals adapted to fit his new constitution.

Driven by Kilian's Archon-level dra weaving, the sixth crystal's misty shape solidified, becoming the sixth Greater Crystal. Now with over 50,000 dra of personal reserves, Archon-level Dra Control, six Greater Crystals, the First Shackle and 36 Unlocked Roots, Kilian was more than ready to take the next step of his thaumaturgic path. The misty dra and crystals flew back into his soul, and his eyes opened. Dazzling green rays flashed within, announcing Kilian's promotion to the next thaumaturgic rank.

"Congratulations on becoming an Archon. At this pace, it won't take you three years to rise to Exarch," Eleonora said, and Inyoka hissed to congratulate his master in his own language. On top of their Dra Shackles, Archons could use Astral Projection to project mirror images of themselves into foreign planes, create an Arcane Bloodline if they didn't have one already, or start modifying the one they inherited.

In some ducal houses, this created a situation where some branches' Arcane Bloodlines became significantly more potent than the others. The von Rulweils' Hallowed Undead lineage was the best example, creating an insurmountable gap between Alaric's descendants and the rest. Across all Arcane Houses, only the von Skolls failed to enhance their Arcane Bloodline.

But while what Kilian obtained from Adramelech far surpassed his von Skoll kinsmen, his soul hid something else, and thanks to Ashera's care, he could freely activate it: Klaus' Crystal Sovereign lineage.

In terms of sheer destructive powers, to say nothing of Kilian's Atomkinesis, the Crystal Sovereign lineage couldn't compare to the von Skolls' Nucleokinesis. But for a simple reason, even the imperial kinsmen dreaded it. With this Arcane Bloodline, Klaus could weaken or outright destroy the Elemental Crystals in his foes' Dra Roots.

The ability had its limitations, but so far, no one could restore destroyed Elemental Crystals. For human magi whose magical abilities relied mainly on them, such a fate was no worse than death. In his youth, this ability made Klaus infamous and contributed to many aristocrats' hatred for him. Now, it belonged to Kilian too.

Still, Kilian wasn't satisfied. Perhaps because of his Mark of Greed, perhaps because he saw a new opportunity, but Kilian opened his hands. In his right palm, a grape-sized green star appeared. In the left, a ruby-shaped crystal took shape. Green lightning flashed around both items, with bright arcs moving back and forth between the two. Immediately, Eleonora realized what Kilian was up to, and her eyes narrowed at him. But before she could speak her mind, he sighed and aborted his move. The grape-sized star and crystal subsequently vanished.

"Too greedy. You've just reached the Archon rank. Freely using two Arcane Bloodlines is impossible to begin with. But thanks to your new body, you can achieve it. Still, before your Dra Control reaches the Exarch level, you shouldn't think about modifying or combining them," Eleonora spoke the facts. If Kilian only had one of those bloodlines, with his talent, knowledge and skills, tweaking it wasn't unthinkable. But with the two filling his flesh and soul, the task became a 100 times more difficult.

"Worth a try. By combining the two, I can use crystals as false avatars to cast spells and bloodline abilities. That way, I can drastically reduce the cost and toll of my Atomic Dissociation," Kilian said. Klaus could use crystals as false avatars to insta-cast a multitude of spells. However, the ability cost him a tremendous quantity of dra. Though now an Exarch, without his Throne Heart, the Archon-level Klaus couldn't use it at will. But with his Philosopher's Stone, Kilian had already defeated the dra problem.

"Mhm...if you really want to do it now, I know someone who can help you. But that person needs some incentive," Eleonora said, eyes raised in a pensive look.

"Are you bargaining with me?" Kilian asked as his lips stretched in a little smirk.

"I wouldn't dare, My King. But I can't speak for the person. If you can't give her enough benefits, she might not be able to help," said Eleonora with a dismissive wave of her hand. Unaware that his stately queen also had such a shameless side to her, Kilian arched his eyebrows.

"And it's a she? What does The Lady want, then?" Though well-aware of who the "lady" was, Kilian played Eleonora's game.

"The Lady finds your lips quite kissable, and wants to keep them trapped in hers until her taste is the only thing your tongue remembers," with a soft wind breeze, Eleonora vanished and reappeared at Kilian's back, leaned over his right shoulder, and whispered in his ear.

"But first, The Lady will start with your back, your neck, your cheek, and only then will she take your lips. Are you willing, My King?" She asked in a tone so sultry that Kilian felt electrifying waves of passion course through his veins.

"Denied," he replied, spun 180 and seized Eleonora's lips into his—pushing her against the peach blossom tree whose petals dropped alongside them.