Chương 101: B2 - Chapter 12: Pocket-Realm

Seth didn't think and just acted. He recalled both Nightmare and Colossus instantly, their forms blurring and vanishing into the teardrop necklace as chunks of rock began to fall around him, crashing into the cave floor. Ahead, the altar was crumbling while the Heart of the Brown-Peak Mountains slowly rolled away. Seth looked at the Essence. If he left it, it would be buried under tons of rubble, lost forever. Taking it felt wrong… but letting it be destroyed here would be worse.

A fist-sized stone struck the floor beside him as he dove forward, hand shooting out. His palm slammed against the warm, thrumming crystal.

"Take it!" he bellowed to his necklace while forcing a surge of aether into the brown teardrop—the one occupied by Colossus. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, just as Seth began to think it wasn't possible, the Essence flickered—once—and a powerful pull tore through him. The energy streamed out from his chest, and the Essence simply… vanished. Seth didn't take the time to celebrate, or even ask himself if it worked; the damn cavern was collapsing on him.

His core flared inside him, and he dashed out of the chamber, the roar of falling stone chasing him into the tunnel. An instant later, he burst out of the cave, skidding to a halt in the bright, blinding sunlight. Behind him, a plume of dust billowed out from the dark opening, accompanied by the final, settling groans of the rock.' Nice run,'Nightmare said through Link with a chuckle.' That was close.'' Thanks,' Seth answered with sarcasm while still panting, hands on his knees.

As he pushed himself up, Seth blinked, shielding his face with his hand while his eyes tried to adjust themselves after days of darkness. Without wasting even a second, he then immediately projected his consciousness into the necklace's brown teardrop. Inside, he found himself surrounded by a craggy desert cradled on all sides by towering chains of mountains. The landscape reminded him both of the Desert of Misery and the Brown-Peak Mountains.

At the center of the place, a small spring trickled into a shallow pool, its surface shimmering faintly with aether. And there, nestled beside it rested the Heart of Brown-Peak Mountains. Colossus lay nearby, his stone-like body bathing in the Essence's potent Earth-aether glow. Through their bond, Seth could feel the energy washing over the scorpion, as intense and nurturing as it had been in the cave—without seeming to lose any of its potency. It worked!

Seth exclaimed inwardly, pulling his consciousness back, a wide grin spreading across his face. The necklace hadn't just stored the thing: it had integrated it into a normal habitat for Colossus.' Hmph… you've got one week to find me a Shadow Essence,'Nightmare grumbled mentally beside him.' I won't allow Small Bite to catch up.' Seth exhaled loudly, shaking his head.' I'll see what I can do.'

After taking a moment to compose himself and wipe the dust from his face, he then moved closer to the Champions of Chaos, who were gathered nearby, sitting on rocks or leaning against small trees, finishing a meal. Drack sat apart from the rest, scowling and idly kicking at a loose stone near his boot.

"I told you he was stupid and impulsive," Professor Reat said, shaking his head.

"You can't blame me for this one, Orwen." Orwen let out a long sigh.

"I know, Calvin…"

"The Alchemist mentioned it in his letter as well," Drack added, catching sight of Seth and shooting him a glare.

"We should ask him for two additional Clarity Potions as compensation." Seth immediately turned to Drack, who was the one who would lose the most out of this, and bowed awkwardly.

"I... uh... I'm sorry, sir. It was an accident. The cave... it started collapsing." The bald man just grunted, waving a dismissive hand without looking at him.

"It's true," Krystel chimed in, looking at the settling dust plume in the distance.

"The mountain did start shaking violently a few seconds before the aether print vanished." Lyria looked up from cleaning her bow and glanced at Seth.

"Sure, earthquakes happen… but maybe this one started because our little recruit here tried to take the Essence?" Seth winced before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Actually… that was my beast. He, uh… accidentally smacked the altar with his tail. Broke the whole thing." Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

"I hope he didn't do that so you could sell it." Lyria slid her bow across her back.

"Essences lose their aether fast unless you've got a special container."

"That wasn't his intention," Seth said.

"Honestly, he'd still be extremely happy if you all let me keep it inside my beastholder's domain. It would certainly help him grow stronger." Lyria tilted her head, seemingly confused.

"What do you me—""On Gaia's name!" Orwen scrambled to his feet and rushed toward Seth with wide eyes.

"Can you show us your Beastholder?" Drack grimaced.

"What's all that about, Orwen?" Orwen shushed him without taking his eyes off Seth's neck area.

"You'll see soon enough." Seth's hand instinctively covered the necklace beneath his leather jacket.

"Can we wait until we're back at headquarters? With the ward?"

"Wait," Orwen said, grabbing Seth's arm firmly and pulling him closer to the group. The silver-haired man then plunged a hand into his own Endless Pouch and retrieved a small, smooth, gem-like disk. Seth recognized the thing instantly: an Isolating Crystal. It was almost identical to the one Sericar had used back at the Adventurer Guild's outpost when they had talked about Draeria. Orwen squeezed the artifact, then a faint shimmer expanded outward, forming a translucent dome of silence around the entire group.

Unlike with Sericar, Seth felt a distinct vibration of aether against his skin.

"It's a portable version of the non-disclosure ward," Orwen explained.

"Same conditions, same punishment for breaking the contract as the one back at the headquarters. Now," he leaned in, "can you show us?" Seth hesitated for only a second.' What do you think, Nightmare?'' With the heavy penalty if they say a word to anyone else I think you're safe,' the direwolf answered.' You're right,' Seth replied before nodding at Orwen.

"Sure." He pulled the simple silver chain out from under his jacket, letting the two teardrop stones—one brown and one black—hang in the air. Orwen's eyes narrowed before stroking his chin.

"Huh, I can't seem to Identify it… and you probably don't have Share Identify…" The man's gaze snapped back to Seth.

"Read me the description word for word, then!" Taken aback by the man's enthusiasm, Seth fumbled for a second before reading the artifact's description aloud, skipping every part about Link, his bonus attributes, and his core.

"... provides two adaptive domains for bonded arcane beasts and resources."

"Beasts and resources!" Orwen exclaimed, practically bouncing in front of him.

"I knew it! That thing isn't just a Beastholder—it's a Pocket-Realm!" Krystel, Drack, and Professor Reat's eyes all shot wide open, while Lyria just looked bewildered.

"What's a Pocket-Realm?" she asked.

"It's an artifact with its own self-contained domain," Orwen explained, gesturing wildly.

"Or two, in this case! Like… like miniature Rifts! They can accommodate a crazy number of beasts and resources!"

"Wait," Seth interjected, his heart skipping a beat.

"I can store more than one beast per domain?"

"Why couldn't you?" Orwen answered with a shrug.

"Did the description say only one per teardrop?"' I don't share my teardrop,' Nightmare grumbled immediately through Link. Seth ignored the direwolf and glanced down at his necklace.

"Then, having two domains seems like overkill."

"Kid, I didn't even know it was possible for a Pocket-Realm to have two domains," Orwen retorted, shaking his head in amazement.

"But think about it! It's perfect! You can create two different ecosystems! Store different resources in each one to suit different kinds of beasts!" Seth nodded in agreement, considering it for a moment, before recalling that Link currently only had two threads of mysterious energy—he couldn't bond another beast anytime soon, even though he apparently had the space to hide it.

"Seth," Krystel said with a serious voice that contrasted with Orwen's, which was filled with excitement.

"If I were you, I would keep that Pocket-Realm a secret. Like… well, the same way you do for pretty much everything else about you." Her eyes seemed filled with profound concern as she pressed her lips together.

"I saw a single -domain Pocket-Realm at an auction in Asethqua last year. It sold for more than the entire fortune of a Noble House." Seth gulped. A few steps away, Professor Reat was rubbing at his temples.

"Great, something else that can get him into trouble… Anyway, what beast hatched from the egg?" Seth paused for an instant, then glanced around at the expectant faces before reaching inward through Link.' Colossus? You okay to come out for just a few seconds?'' Yes.' Seeing his hesitation, Professor Reat let out a weary sigh.

"Don't tell me you made a contract with a Copper beast and didn't hold out for something better." Seth just shook his head and summoned Colossus out of the teardrop. With a faint shimmer, the large three-tailed scorpion materialized beside him. An instant later, Colossus' stone-like carapace seemed to absorb the sunlight as he raised his huge pair of claws. The scorpion's three stingers curled menacingly above his body.

A profound silence fell over the group, and for a moment the chirping of the distant birds seemed to get closer. A second later the silence was broken; Lyria gasped, Krystel's hand flew to her mouth, Drack's scowl deepened into stunned disbelief, and Orwen's jaw went slack. Seth brought back his newest partner into his teardrop. A broad grin slowly spread across Orwen's face.

"Kid," he breathed, shaking his head.

"You're really something else." Professor Reat pinched the bridge of his nose, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.

"For Gaia's sake, how many more of your secrets will I have to hide?"

"Wait," Seth said.

"Didn't you say I didn't need to restrain myself, professor? That the war amendments would protect me from Draeria?"

"Yes, from Draeria," Reat retorted.

"This is different. If the Bridan Empire… or even any of the Twenty Great Houses, finds out you have a Gold-potential beast and a two-domain Pocket-Realm, you'll end up being the person with highest bounty in all of Kastal."

"So I have to hide him forever?" Seth asked, gesturing toward the hazel teardrop. Orwen turned to Reat.

"Come on, Calvin, that's not fair. I'm sure you can find a way for him to take it out." The professor ran both hands across his face.

"Fine," he answered.

"But give me time. At least until the war officially begins—the first battle inside the Warfare Rifts. By then, I'll have figured something out." Orwen clapped his hands together, beaming.

"Great! See? Problem solved!" He slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Alright, team, enough chatting! Mission success! Time to head home!"