Book 9. Chapter 39: The Law of Marrow |
As the thunderclouds receded and the frozen dust settled, the canine sisters were standing at the center of the devastated Tartarean hunter camp, looking incredibly bored.
Isolyn looked up, her glacial eyes locking directly onto Jake and Bree's position on the ridge.
“Well,” Isolyn's voice echoed up the valley, cold and perfectly clear. “The entertainment has finally arrived. And look, Ainora... our little sister brought her pet.”
Bree bared her teeth, a primal, rumbling growl tearing from her throat as her fiery vines flared to life. Jake rested a calm hand on her armored shoulder, projecting his unshakeable Hearth aura to soothe her fury. He stepped off the cliff, letting his hearthflames carry him in a slow, controlled descent to the valley floor. With a sudden pulse of Celtic Runes, Bree’s body became lighter, and she leaped down after him, shaking the frozen earth lightly as she landed with surprising grace.
His other wives followed: Fhesiah, Ophelia, Tanda, Bloodberri, Avalara, Ruby, and Sati. All were present and established a large half-circle behind him and Bree.
“I brought my Chief,” Bree corrected, her voice rumbling. “And we're ready to face you as promised.”
Isolyn’s glacial eyes swept up and down Bree’s massive form. The temperature in the clearing seemed to drop in direct response to the ice hound's sudden, visceral disgust.
“What in the multiverse have you done to yourself?” Isolyn murmured, her voice losing its bored cadence. She stepped closer, her eyes locked on the heavy, flaming hearthvines weaving through Bree’s emerald and red scales. “Look at you. You were born from Mother’s apex bloodline. A terror of fang, bone, and absolute, fiery destruction. And you have polluted it with flora? You look like an overgrown garden.”
Ainora floated down beside her sister, emerald static crackling aggressively as she circled Bree. The lightning wolf’s nose twitched, picking up the deep, conceptual scent of Brigid's nature and the Savage Forgemother path.
Ainora looked back up at Bree’s face, a flicker of respect before hiding it behind her arrogant sneer.
“You are actively rewriting your own biology. A living, biological forge. I will admit, active, endless evolution is the truest calling of any beast. But you used the flaming spark of Brigid’s forge to trigger it? You traded the independence of the apex just to become a mortal's greenhouse?”
Bree stood strong under their judgment. She then released a rumbling, chest-deep laugh that vibrated the air. The flaming vines around her neck flared, blooming with tiny, brilliant embers of Hearth fire.
“I didn't trade a damn thing, Ainora,” Bree grinned, her spiked mace-tail thumping heavily against the frozen earth. “Mother gave us a foundation, a path of destruction. You two just decided to build a ceiling over yours and call it the peak. I didn't pollute the bloodline; my mate and I forged it into something more.”
Ainora’s lips curled back in a feral snarl. “The human? I’d sooner believe a pig with no mastery of mana flew. You’ve just made yourself into a bloated, domestic beast of burd–”
Ainora suddenly stopped, her emerald eyes snapping past Bree and locking onto the figures standing behind Jake. She let out a breath, her feral anger instantly evaporating into surprise.
“Look, Sis!” Ainora said, her voice completely shifting to excitement. “They brought one of Mother's true descendants. Our distant cousin, in the flesh.”
There wasn’t even a word in the English language that explained just how distant they were, but somehow, this meant a lot to them. Because both the lightning wolf and ice hound rushed over to her and began circling as they looked Bloodberri up and down.
Isolyn had a small grin on her canine lips. “It’s good to see you again–you may not remember, but we were there when you became Mother's Champion! You have grown so much. Beautiful. You are truly the pinnacle of beauty and violence, just like our Mother.”
Ainora grinned as well. “Isolyn is right. Aren’t you a beautiful and strong one? Spectacular. Finally, a true Echidna, though having Hestia’s flame too… How many children have you had thus far? I can’t wait to meet them.”
Berri hmphed, scowling. “Why would it matter how many I have? You aren’t meeting my babies, and Blood and I aren’t talking to you until you say you’re sorry to my Jakey and our Bree.”
Ainora blinked and gave her a genuine look of confusion as she tilted her head. “Sorry? Why would we be sorry?”
“You’re too mean; you called my Jake, a Lord of the Alliance, a pet, disrespecting him. And then you made Bree wait and hurt her a lot, and then you even said mean things about her path, which she cares about so much. You need to apologize and make things right–sisters shouldn’t treat each other this way. She’s only seeking happiness; you should be supporting her instead.”
Isolyn bristled, but Ainora just chuckled good-naturedly and grinned. “For that? We might have gotten carried away with insulting your mate, true, but such is our nature, and they are only words, after all. And you have to understand. Regarding Bree, we are only doing this for our dear sister’s own good. If your mate bonds permanently to her spirit and cannot arrive at the peak like we have reached, then all that is left for her is to live a painful, lonely, and never-ending existence where she pines over him. Would we be a good sister if we allowed that? And besides–he was born a human. We can’t help but feel like this is simply not good enough for our dear Bree, a…former demigod, and we are just protecting her from such a terrible fate. Perhaps if she was trying to get with you or the dragon…we may not have given her such a hard time.”
Isolyn snorted, shaking her head. While Ainora accepted Berri’s complaint, the frost hound’s fur had stood on end the whole time, and she clearly looked a bit peeved. Her eyes lit up suddenly, and she looked back over to Jake. “That’s right. Their father is a mere human in the Second Tier. Are her children even going to be worth meeting? I bet those m—”
Blood locked onto her mouth with her telekinesis, and the will of the monarch manifested as it clamped down on her entire body, the weight of her will. But it was different from what Jake was expecting. Even Berri had done something, their wills acting as one completely. Then, both Blood and Berri somehow spoke at the same time, their eyes flashing with derision.
“Finish that sentence, and we will never forgive you. Not even if you grovel and beg.”
And it wasn’t only them who gave Isolyn an icy stare. Jake and his wives gave her glares that could kill. If it weren’t for them being on the ‘same team,’ this conversation would have already ended rather differently, and with a whole lot of flames. Sati and Tanda were about the only ones that didn’t look like they were ready to blast them.
The canine ears on top of Isolyn’s head went flat, and she actually shrunk under their gaze and their will. It took a moment for her to pull away from Bloodberri’s steely gaze, and she let out a breath.
When Isolyn spoke, her voice was stiff but suitably cowed. “I apologize, Bloodberri. My tongue outran my judgment. I care deeply for Bree, and frustration made me careless, but that is not an excuse. Insulting your mate is one thing. Insulting your children is beneath even my worst temper.”
She forced her glacial eyes toward Jake, then Bree. “I will make proper amends as soon as I can, no matter what happens here today. I promise I will show my sincerity.”
Berri hmphed and turned away, folding her arms in front of her, and Blood’s will of a monarch eased by only a fraction. Blood said, “We will remember that promise.”
Jake was a bit surprised that such an ancient, divine being would actually take back her insult. It showed that on some level, they truly respected Echidna’s bloodline and Bloodberri. Bree had warned him that they would bark a bit…
Ainora sat back on her haunches. Despite being in her massive, lightning-wreathed wolf form, she raised a single, razor-sharp claw and tapped her lupine lips thoughtfully–an eerie, almost human gesture of contemplation.
She looked over the audience, meeting their eyes one by one, before returning to focus on Bree. “I see we’ve lost a lot of points with all your allies just now, my dear sister. But you must forgive us for our earlier harshness toward your human,” Ainora chuckled, a low, rumbling sound that carried a hint of feral amusement. “We are proud creatures, accustomed to defending our territory. You know how dogs are... sometimes we just bark. We simply can't help it. And what Isolyn said was true. Bree hurt us when she threw everything we made together away just to chase after some bond we don’t understand. How could we not feel betrayed?”
Bree shook her head, the fiery vines around her neck dimming just a fraction as she looked at her sisters. There was no anger in her voice, only a heavy, honest truth.
“I didn't throw you away, Ainora. I just left the mountain to find my own way,” Bree said softly. “You built us a perfect, untouchable fortress at the peak... for which I am thankful. However, to me, it felt completely empty. I had all the power in the world, but I felt hollow inside. Jake isn’t just my mate; he is my Chief who gave me a purpose. For the first time in a long time, I don't feel empty.”
Isolyn’s glacial eyes narrowed instantly, the ambient temperature plummeting as her pride violently flared. To her, building that peak had been a labor of blood and centuries of sacrifice to keep them safe.
“Empty?” Isolyn snarled, her ice hound form bristling as she took a threatening step forward. “We gave you everything! We carved that peak out of the corpses of our enemies so you would never have to bow to anyone, and you dare call it hollow? You ungrateful little–”
Ainora raised a massive paw, the crackle of her emerald static sharply cutting her sister off before Isolyn could say something that would truly increase their anger.
“Enough, Isolyn,” Ainora said, shaking her heavy, lightning-wreathed head. Her eyes lingered on Bree for a long, unreadable second before she looked away. “It's pointless to argue about the why now. The pieces are on the board, and our lots have been cast. The deal is about to come to a conclusion, and we will all be forced to accept whatever truth remains standing. Such is the law of the jungle.”
Ainora let out a breath, then began picking a piece of ash out from her fingernails. “This was fun, and I am so happy to see you again, Bree, and meet the rest of you, especially Bloodberri, in truth. I can sense the strength of many predators worthy of respect among you, which is a great surprise at this Tier. But you know, Isolyn and I have been rather annoyed at waiting. For making us, a Divine Beast, wait, we believe Bree’s chosen should first earn the right to face us for our dear Bree’s hand.”
Isolyn nodded. “Yes. Both of us paid a lot to be here. We need to be in a hurry if we’re going to claim enough Territory for it to be worth it. The first stage of the War Trial is much more worthwhile if we’re in the Third Tier.”
Bree shook her head. “That wasn’t the deal–you should have thought about that before you entered. You know… I’m starting to think you two aren’t worth the effort. My mate doesn’t need your support–we can just make the bond in a mere heartbeat and move on with our lives.”
Ainora hummed as she gripped her chin with her paw. “Hmm. Fair enough. Why don't we sweeten the pot a little then? We heard through the grapevine that your people are looking for quite a few items, with numerous buy orders open. That Valtor guy and his…bird people…sure are a bunch of busy little bees, aren’t they? Specifically, a bunch of natural life-and-death-related treasures. Just why in such large quantities, I have to wonder. But did you know? Beast Worlds are probably the top place to collect such unique items.”
She turned around toward where the Anchor of Corruption previously sat. There was just beginning to be an aura of rot emanating as the purification of the Ashen Canopy continued, the special trees seemingly recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. The rot energy was starting to appear, though it was slight at the moment. This was certainly a natural representation of death energy.
And there were dozens of branches and leaves scattered throughout the ground, Jake guessed as part of the purified loot for winning the event.
No doubt, just harvesting branches and leaves from the treasure-grade plant would be powerful alchemical materials that would accomplish exactly what Jake and Avalara needed, thanks to Fhesiah refining the nethril energy with them.
Isolyn’s lips peeled back into a grin, showing a deadly set of teeth. “Would you look at that? There’s one just right there! What are the odds? Pretty good, I promise you. We have more than a few dozen items at this level and in large quantities.”
Ainora grinned as she must have seen the surprise on their faces. “That does interest you, doesn’t it? Well, if you humor us and face our pet, we’ll promise to fulfill many of the open orders using all the things we gained clearing several Beast Worlds and Dungeon Raids. And we even went so far as to earn some resources in the dungeon on a few worlds these past few years, as we often use them to trade for what we require. I promise you that you will not be disappointed.”
Now that was something that Jake was definitely interested in. Many of those buy orders were directly related to preparing Avalara for her Hearthforging. And filling buy orders would…at the very least be convenient. It was still important to point out that Valtor was certainly buying them for fair prices, so this wasn’t really a gift. Just…a huge time saver.
“What pet?” Bree asked, though Jake knew that Ira already knew the answer to this question, and so did Fhesiah, their senses locking onto the monster long before they had even arrived. He wasn’t entirely sure why it wasn’t involved in this fight.
In answer, Isolyn tugged an…extremely long chain made of ice. The monster began running from quite a distance away, and Jake was surprised at just how fast it moved. It didn’t just run, but it was more like it phased through reality, like it was teleporting with every step or…something else. It was several miles away, and had largely been hidden.
It was a massive, multi-limbed, eyeless reptile covered in jagged, obsidian scales. Jake activated his Umbral Gaze, shifting his vision away from the physical realm. What he saw made his breath catch. It was like he was looking at an error in reality instead of a monster. The space around the beast was distorted, as if by some kind of spatial anomaly. It was passively breaking the laws of physics around it just by breathing, and it eventually arrived nearby, a distance away from where they were discussing. It waited patiently, puffing out its chest with pride as it ‘looked’ to Isolyn and Ainora, seemingly waiting for instructions.
Isolyn grinned. “Good dino-doggy. Isn’t it a nice pet? We considered your philosophy, Bree, realizing that a loyal attack beast to fetch, guard, and carry things has its uses.” She gestured lazily to the massive, reality-warping reptile. “Though, you seem to be doing it wrong–letting him ride on your back instead. Still, we leashed our own and have nurtured this one for a bit. Let us see whose beast is superior.”
Jake looked at the eyeless reptile. His Summoner instincts flared. He wanted it for his Monster Menagerie, true. But he also didn’t like how the two were treating it. For all he knew, the moment he won, they might abandon it, kill it for failing, or simply stop nurturing it. It wasn’t even joined to the Framework and would die permanently when they did.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
He realized that they probably reserved its strength for the explicit purpose of facing Jake when he arrived or maybe dealing with surprise enemies. And keeping it a distance away meant that it wouldn’t draw these ‘immune tides’ or interfere with their capturing the points, and so on.
“I don't do parlor tricks for mere payment,” he said, meeting Isolyn’s glacial stare. “If I break your new toy... I keep it.”
Isolyn’s expression didn't change, but a faint, mocking amusement touched her eyes. “Aww, do you feel like we’ve somehow hurt or mistreated this thing? I do recall just how friendly you are to beasts, how quaint, especially when I can smell the blood of dozens of beasts on Bree’s vines. Still, this thing is happy to be with us and follow us along like some sort of ugly duckling. Not all that bright, and we haven’t bothered naming it, but…”
Ainora chuckled. “If it cannot defeat Bree’s chosen after all we’ve fed into it, then perhaps it belongs with him more than us. Agreed. You may have it as long as you fight it under the Law of Marrow. That should be fun to watch. It’s either that, or maybe we could do some kind of race? I don’t know, Sis, what else do you think would be fun?”
Isolyn became thoughtful, looking between Jake’s other wives. “Either they fight the pet that way, or we can see who can claim the most High-grade Primal Dominion Nodes in one month. That might be entertaining enough. They do have quite the large cadre of elites, and I must admit I do sense they are quite strong. We may actually be challenged.”
It felt a bit like a trap. Odds were, if they truly joined Hearthtribe’s Alliance, those two would probably fulfill those buy orders anyway. The wording of their deal with Bree was that they would pull out all the stops and help him claim the main prize of the Sector itself. That should certainly mean doing at least that much.
Was there really anything for Jake to gain in fighting the monster? At the same time, Jake didn’t want to wait another month to claim Bree. He wanted to move on. If he was going to visit a world, he was ten times more interested in Haldrith thanks to his magical research. Thanks to what Zorina told him, he thought there was an extremely strong chance he might be able to improve his Sanctum and even his Array Flag network there, among other things.
And Blood and Berri were just raring to go. They would be pregnant already if not for this silly little wager–which was another reason both of them were super annoyed with the sisters. Now that all the Dungeon Raids were done, there was…no good reason not to, when she wanted it so badly.
Probably, Bree’s sisters just wished to gather information about him before their fight. The monster was strong, but Jake didn’t think it would cause him to truly struggle, and he didn’t think he was being arrogant in thinking so.
Why? Because of Ira. Ira was already pacing around him, snaking around his body and wanting him to take down this monster. It had spatial powers that were void-adjacent, which appeared to truly bring out Ira’s draconic pride for once. It wanted Jake to fight and crush it for this reason alone, even if it would not be fighting it directly. Ira was more than happy to vicariously live out defeating the monster through its master and take part or all of the credit for itself.
Still, there was something else he wanted to confirm before he agreed. “I’ll face this beast under the Law of Marrow, but surely you don’t have the same expectations for when Bree and I face you?”
Ainora chuckled. “Worried, human? We recognize that it may be a little…unreasonable, especially with our immense experience–that would certainly be a bit like bullying you. However, these are beast avatars. We can’t even fully drive or display our power under the Law of Marrow, though many that follow such laws often accept beast avatars. And it’s a fact that any competition that matters in the multiverse does not follow such stringent requirements. I have an artifact that will ensure the Framework’s ridiculous ARC for our bout, but I certainly wouldn’t waste such a thing for two pets fighting.”
Jake sighed. “Very well. I accept the fight if I am granted the beast upon victory and that we fight for Bree’s deal with you after a reasonable recovery period after the match.”
Ainora replied immediately, “Agreed. We prefer to fight you at your peak, anyhow. This way Bree will have no excuse but to accept her loss. We’d hate for her to come back to us and whine, whine, whine that we didn’t give you a fair shot. Who knows how long that would last? Decades? Centuries?” She shook her head. “Not worth it.”
Isolyn nodded. “Agreed. However, we do not own the creature’s will. I will instruct it to choose to be bound or choose death. I cannot promise that it will accept.”
That would have to be good enough for Jake. If it actually chose death, he would do his best to make sure it got let go instead–that would be proof that it really didn’t want to be bound at all.
He powered down Sanctum and Pyros, cutting the covenants and restoring his reserves as he stored them in his Storage Ring. He replaced his Mythic Vestments with his tribal chief outfit, the simple black and red vest, shorts, and the simple bracers, which contained his wives’ adornments.
Jake then did the part that he really did not like. After a brief message to Yona that there was nothing wrong and what he was about to do, he clamped down on his bonds until he was…alone.
He still had his Divine Energy and could turn on his full strength with little more than a thought, but they ought to be able to tell if he used it. “Satisfied?”
Ainora looked him up and down, her senses trained on him and no doubt looking for his bonds on the spiritual plane. “Hm, looks like Bree readied you for this. Humans and your modesty, so strange. I suppose a bit of that is fine, but I do hope you don’t treasure that outfit. I doubt it will last your bout. Let the game begin, Sister.”
Isolyn snapped her paws, and the chain of ice holding the Beast King shattered.
The eyeless nightmare charged. The jagged scales began to vibrate, and the fractured panes of reality violently expanded, creating a massive dead zone that Jake knew would shred ambient mana into harmless sparks. The monster also transported itself a far greater distance per stride than its mere leg lengths, like mini teleports.
Jake formed the runes within his hearth as his Champion Aura exploded outward. His Einherjar, Giant’s Growth, and Holy Might quickly wrapped around him as his body grew, his Void-Divine hearthflames condensing a layer of protection around his skin. As strong as the void-adjacent creature’s spatial nullification might be, Jake knew it would not be able to fully erase the spells placed on his own body.
He didn’t mind a fistfight, having trained with all sorts of options thanks to Ophelia, but he would prefer to have a bit of reach against a giant angry lizard. Despite Jake’s increase in size to over fifteen feet tall, he was still not even up to the shoulder of the charging, six-legged lizard. Mixing his auril and hearthflames into a construct, he established a Hearth Polearm with a thick, deadly blade and spike at the end.
Ira suddenly gave him a warning. A warning that his construct felt…weak, or otherwise not good enough. In response, Jake redoubled his meandering pattern over the construct and held onto it with his will, and Ira nodded and sent a feeling of satisfaction.
His buffs and weapon settled, he charged at the monster with herculean might, his hearthflames bolstering his strength. With his deeper reservoir, calling upon different Technique options, almost like his Sage State, was well within his capabilities. Vajrafire pulsed through him as he rocketed forward to meet the charging lizard.
When the two crashed into one another, Jake’s polearm was strong enough to punch into the monster’s shoulder, directing its odd, distorted momentum to the side and causing its jaws to miss his flesh. Vajrafire was released into the monster as his polearm pierced deeply, causing it to screech out in pain.
But Jake wasn’t done. He had prepped some runes in his Hearth, and now it unleashed Dragon’s Breath.
An apparition of a dragon’s maw appeared above his head, and Fhesiah’s golden flames of creation blasted out onto the creature with a thunderous roar, ravaging the monster’s flesh. It now teleported away, and its odd spatial aura quaffed the flames out only a moment after, a flick of its will causing its spatial distortion to focus on tearing at its foundations.
Jake watched this with his Umbral Gaze, but he still wasn’t that great at watching the planes, and the creature wasn’t spending the usual mana he would expect; this spatial energy was truly unique. It looked like the…silhouette of the creature became smaller, but he couldn’t tell for sure. He needed to know if he actually dealt enough damage, or if he needed to find another method to harm the monster. “What do you think, Ira? Is its aura less now?”
Ira sent him a mental nod, confirming, and also sent him a feeling of vigilance. The monster just spent something to nullify that attack. The spatial lizard looked much more careful now, tilting its eyeless head and sniffing the air. It began to strafe Jake, perhaps looking for an opening.
Before it teleported, Jake saw a ripple across the planes–like a tunnel forming. He ducked just in time, the monster’s maw suddenly snapping where his head just was. His body was lowered, and with a shift of his hips, he shoved his polearm upward and stabbed the monster in the chest. There, he released Nessa’s frostfire flames, engulfing it in a flaming, cold river of justice that flash-froze its flesh and muscle.
This time, when it teleported, Jake did two things at once. First, he locked onto its spatial tunnel with his will, keeping the portal open–a very slight flex of his affinity for the void, just as any summoner should have. Then, Jake infused more flames into his Hearth polearm construct, enchanting it with a runic spell, and threw it at the monster.
The lizard sensed what was coming and ducked, but because it was encased in frost, slowed, and focused on removing Nessa’s frostfire, it was too late. The polearm dug deep into its other shoulder, and an explosion of curseflames–a mixture of Holy Dark and Kitsune flames–wrapped around the monster as it screeched in agony.
Its spatial distortion had an even harder time removing the adjacent flames that attacked its spirit rather than its body. With a leap, Jake launched himself at the target, Vajrafire flames and auril enhancing his body beyond its usual limits as he formed a new hearthblade polearm.
Arriving at the struggling target, his Vajrafire-enhanced muscles strained as he brought the dense Hearth polearm around in a devastating, wide sweeping arc that shattered the beast's obsidian scales and sent it off to the side. Then he followed it and brought the polearm downward, driving the large lizard into the dense earth. The monster was sturdy, but against Jake's physical and conceptual density, it had no chance.
The monster teleported away again, but Jake followed with practiced efficiency. Thanks to Ira, Jake couldn’t be tricked by its movements. Its maw looked horribly deadly, and it had a spatial anomaly protecting it. But if Jake knew it was coming and he had dense enough flames, the monster was not skilled enough to be a challenge once it was wounded.
Jake did need to make the flames incredibly dense to even land a blow, and so he recognized that the monster was the perfect mage or elemental swordsman killer. The monster landed a scratch against his chest, as it had done a sudden half-teleport. Ira could have teleported him out of the way but had assessed the threat to be minimal–as the claws didn’t get deep enough to hurt anything.
His body was just that sturdy, and thanks to that, his counter was even more vicious, breaking the opposing arm that held much of the creature’s weight and bringing it toward the ground.
And Jake used some of Berri’s flames to heal himself before he finished breaking the monster’s body.
In truth, the monster was strong, and this was a huge flexing of his Crucible. Because without it, Jake likely would have had to power every spell with one of his wife’s Daos, or use the Weight of his Bonds just to overcome the spatial distortion’s conceptual weight and harm the creature. He just might have run out of gas or caused enough spiritual strain that he would have had to recover for hours for their next bout, even using a spiritual restoration or healing treasure.
Of course, if he was allowed to use Pyros, the monster would have been a cakewalk. The spatial distortion likely wouldn’t have weakened it at all.
Jake learned quite a bit fighting the monster, as he hadn’t faced many creatures with this kind of mastery over space. Very few enemies, except the smallest ones, had accomplished anything that even resembled a teleport. So this one, doing so easily and also warping the space around its massive body, gave him a decent understanding of its limits as he launched different flames of his wives as he swung his hearthblade into its flesh.
The monster eventually lay broken on the ground, its spatial stores completely exhausted and its body covered in wounds and flames. Its body shook as it tried to raise its head, but it couldn’t.
“That’s my win, right? I’ll claim my prize now.”
Isolyn narrowed her eyes at him. “Very well. You are the victor.” She turned to the monster. “You failed us. You will accept the binding or accept your death.”
The monster’s spirit was broken. Its breathing was ragged, and Jake almost thought it was going to ask to just die. But Jake wrapped his hearthflames around it, and it turned its eyeless gaze at him. He offered him a feeling of comfort, but also strength. He would help this creature reach its true potential.
The creature sighed but assented. Jake sent his hearthflames inside the beast and claimed the monster as his permanent summon. Golden hexagons of the Framework wrapped around the Tier 3 beast’s spirit, appropriately limiting its power down to the level of the world. It was an odd thing that a neutral beast could run free at that level but not a member of the Alliance, but that was just how this particular world was balanced.
The monster’s spirit accepted his binding right away, and Jake used Hestia’s Renewal on it. The flames rapidly restored the monster’s wounds, bringing it away from the brink of death. He then restored his connection to his wives and drew in the hearth energies he had spent from his wives, as he had spent quite a lot in defeating the monster.
Eventually, he sent the monster to rest within his spirit, not wanting to dump it anywhere within his Refuge yet. He would do his best to tame the monster later and show it a much happier home to be in and help it grow.
Jake looked at his body. His chieftain outfit had a few scratches on it but had otherwise remained intact and not shredded to dust thanks to his powerful Aura. “Looks like my outfit made it. I do hope that fight met your expectations. I would like to get on with the main bout shortly.”
Ainora chuckled with amusement. “So it did. That was an interesting battle. For a human, you fought well against a beast above your Tier, and one having a strong bloodline at that. Commendable.”
Isolyn remained cold and indifferent. “Shortly? Do you not require time to recover after such a match? It was a part of your terms for accepting the duel.”
The Crucible needed about thirty minutes to cycle through his reserves, the process not completely instantaneous–much like how in the First Tier, not all of his mana would immediately be hearthflames. He had the mana, but not the forged conceptual weight of their Daos.
Jake was rolling his shoulders as the internal forge hummed. “I’ll be at my peak in about thirty minutes.”
Ainora hummed, narrowing her eyes at Jake. “Hmm, you truly didn’t pull from those connected until afterward and used entirely what was contained within you. Yet you had so many flames at your disposal, and they were solid, spiritually and conceptually. How interesting. I must say, this Hestia continues to impress. No wonder Mother had joined the Accord with her.”
Jake didn't bother correcting her assumption that his strength belonged entirely to his patron. Instead, he pulled out a chair from his Storage Ring and unceremoniously sat down and closed his eyes to let the Crucible cycle.
The two wolves side-eyed the chair but otherwise said nothing.
The resulting thirty minutes were physically quiet, but Jake's mental tether was a riot.
His wives, standing in a protective half-circle behind him, maintained stoic, intimidating expressions on the outside, looking every bit the lethal elite warriors that they were. But through the Hearth, the peanut gallery was in full swing.
[I so wish I could be the one to set the bird-dog on fire. Make sure you use my flames on them, Husband.] Fhesiah purred mentally. [The arrogance of looking down on you for being a human when you’re a Hearthian. We should shave them. After you win, do you think we could do that before we resurrect them?]
[I want to punch the frosty one right in the muzzle,] Ophelia added, her competitive spirit chafing at the wait. [Did you see how she looked at my armor and Valora? I bet I could shatter her jaw with my polearm’s haft. Don’t worry, I’ll heal it…later.]
Nessa chuckled. [They are certainly prideful. It’s truly difficult for me to believe that these are true mirrors of our dear Bree. I guess they really do need some humbling. Like I did before I met you, Jake.]
Berri giggled. [Jakey will serve them a big serving of humble pie, I bet! I’ll…try to be nice since I know they are Bree’s sisters after that, but I can’t help but feel like I want to smash them still too.]
Sati’s voice was a soft, soothing hum across the tether. [Their pride is but a shield, my Ishvara. Beneath their arrogance, I can feel the deep discord in their spirits. Their insults are grounded in hurt and anger over Sister Bree's departure. They lash out because they feel they have lost a piece of their soul. And as far as I understand it, this is literally the case.]
It was true, and Jake could certainly empathize with the sisters for that. Bree couldn’t tell Jake the specifics, but as he understood it, Echidna had done some kind of crazy…spiritual surgery, which was what allowed Jake to summon Bree into the avatar they had prepared. Otherwise, she would have had to enter as her sisters had and would have had to remain with them with her original body.
She didn’t have a hearth, and wouldn’t have been able to fully hearthbond with him, more than likely. Ultimately, it would have been different, which is why she had made the concessions that she did.
Tanda’s empathic nature resonated in agreement, her physical tail giving a slow swish. [Sati is right. The scent of their aura and the beat of their hearts are so sad. They feel abandoned by their pack; I can feel it. They’re just barking loudly to hide how much it hurts that Bree left the den. They just need to be shown a better way.]
Bree sighed mentally at this, feeling a bit of hurt. Of course, she didn’t want her sisters to feel this way. [I know. That’s one of the reasons I made this deal. So that they could get…closure, and understand me. So that we could force them to understand.]
Jake kept his physical face perfectly neutral, suppressing a grin and letting their fierce loyalty warm his chest while the Crucible did its work. It methodically refined the ambient mana, pushing his deep reserves back to maximum.
Almost exactly thirty minutes later, the internal forge hummed in perfect equilibrium. Jake opened his eyes and stood up, the ice cracking beneath his boots as he stored the chair.
He brought out his armor, his Sanctum shield, and Pyros once more, the items wrapping around his body and hefting into his hands with a familiar, heavy weight.
Isolyn laughed suddenly at Jake’s kit. “A Divine weapon and something with a Tier 3 aura? I’m impressed you even have such a toy, weren’t you a Tier 0 Native from Earth, of all places? But do you really think that’s going to work under the ARC? I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so shamelessly stacked, knowing he was about to fight in one.”
“Why wouldn’t it? I earned these items from defeating several enemy Champions, an Enforcer, a Dungeon Raid that decided the fate of more than a dozen worlds, and making and enhancing them myself. Well, I do have concerns about my shield, but the materials I made it with were earned from retrieving them from that Divine Aspirant and those betrayers. So it should be fine within the Ledger. If not, I do have a backup.”
Isolyn’s eyes widened. “An Enforcer? You’re serious? I hadn’t believed Bree originally, but with the Divine Aspirant… Huh, maybe there is something to this team fighting, Sister–all of them appear to have some kind of Divine-granted equipment. If for no other reason than to have the enemy bring us more prey. If they earned a Divine weapon and Mythic-grade equipment, imagine what kind of potential-improving treasure they each could have earned.”
“Not to worry,” Jake said, a fierce smile touching his lips. “We each gained plenty of those, too. Now... let's see what you’ve got.”