Jake woke up in his new huge mansion bed after a well-deserved rest. He had taken a nap to rejuvenate himself and felt thankful that was still an option. Jake had learned so races didn’t know how to sleep and never beca able to, no matter if they gained human form or not. He was grateful that at least he would never lose his ability to, only the need for sleep. Sleeping was nice.
Sitting up in the bed, he saw he had slept only three or so hours. He stretched a bit before he got up and headed to the library to finally figure out what the hell a Soulfla was. He had already checked the Viper’s drop of blood using Sagacity and found nothing, and the crystal he gained from the lesson didn’t include a description either.
He would also leave ira alone for her task, so he went to find the books himself. Not that he would necessarily have asked her either way. Jake was a big boy who could go to the library all by himself.
The library was huge and naturally ca pre-stocked with books. All of them centered around D-grade alchemy and general knowledge. In the middle was a large to that served as an index of sorts, and Jake went over and opened it. A projection of a list appeared, and with ntal commands, Jake searched for the na Soulfla.
It returned a few thousand results, so Jake tried with sothing more precise.
He narrowed it down a few more tis until he finally found a book just called: Soulflas! Beware!
It was a picture book. For children.
Perfection.
Jake quickly tracked it down as he took it out from the shelf, and it truly was a colorful picture book. It had a picture of a fla on the cover with two small, scaled children, staring at it. Jake couldn’t wait as he opened it and began reading it. Well, reading was a strong word as it was light on text and heavy on colorful pictures.
He skimd it for fun but quickly found it wasn’t what he had hoped for. It was more a warning than a guide on Soulflas for children not to absorb any. So, by context clues, now Jake at least knew Soulflas were sothing you absorbed.,
Deciding to not ss around anymore, Jake went and actually found a real book on the subject. This one had the far more normal na: Locating, Identifying & Understanding Soulflas For Beginners.
Could he have just asked Villy? Sure, but he had an entire library to himself, so why not make use of it? The library also ca with comfortable armchairs, so Jake found one and took a seat as he started reading.
So… Soulflas.
Soulflas were not so skill rank or sothing you ”made”; instead, it was sothing you found. Soulflas were a special kind of natural treasure found throughout the multiverse, but they were scarce and often quite dangerous and incredibly difficult to find due to appearing in dangerous places.
A Soulfla ford when an environnt reached a certain threshold, and an elental was about to be born and awaken spirituality, but sohow it failed and turned into a Soulfla instead. It was just not truly a living object, but sohow it managed to retain a fragnt of a Truesoul from what Jake gathered, making it a potent item.
This ant a Soulfla did have partial properties of living beings. It did not have levels, but it could grow independent of anyone or anything else. It was not in the sa vein that other items grew either. Items just grew with ti and absorbed atmospheric mana while being compatible for upgrades, but a Soulfla needed to ”learn” and upgrade itself. Because while a Soulfla did not live, it did have instincts that landed sowhere between a natural treasure with innate defensive abilities and a truly living thing.
These rare flas were incredibly valuable due to their special natures and sothing most alchemists desired, but it wasn’t as simple as finding one. Firstly, Soulflas had rarities, and while they could be upgraded, it was difficult. The only way to upgrade a Soulfla was to have it absorb similar Soulflas in order to ”learn” from them, as ntioned earlier.
So even if one got a common rarity Soulfla, it wasn’t necessarily good. In fact, Soulflas below rare were often not viewed as anything worth ever absorbing. These flas should instead be used as fuel for other Soulflas.
Then there was the issue of also needing a compatible Soulfla. Soulflas ca in all shapes, sizes, affinities, and with innate concepts. Jake would not be able to absorb a Soulfla of pure light magic, and while he could absorb a Soulfla of the water affinity, it would probably ”nerf” him and his current Alchemical Fla as he would get a fla he wasn’t good at using and didn’t truly fit him.
Alchemists had found ways of absorbing these Soulflas and making them a part of themselves by integrating them into their Truesouls, like they were Soulbound items. This process also integrated the Soulfla with their Alchemical Fla and effectively permanently rged the two. Big focus on the word permanently because once a Soulfla and an Alchemical Fla were rged, it was viewed as permanent. The book did ntion thods of undoing it and unbinding a Soulfla existed but also emphasized it would co with severe consequences.
So you shouldn’t just rge with a Soulfla haphazardly. If Jake rged with a common rarity one now, it would downgrade the rarity of his Alchemical Fla to common, and based on the nature of the Soulfla, potentially make his Alchemical Fla skill useless for what Jake currently used it for.
This did an many alchemists never got a Soulfla. Soulflas weren’t necessary, even if they were good to have, and an alchemist with a Soulfla and one without at a similar rarity and level would be unequal. However, it was far easier just to upgrade your own Alchemical Fla to higher rarities and far easier to have one suited to you if you never absorbed a Soulfla.
To put it simply, a Soulfla was absorbing a natural treasure that rged with Alchemical Fla, adding another layer of difficulty to the upgrade process while ”locking in” the nature of the fla semi-permanently. This did result in a better fla – assuming you got one suited to you, that is.
However, he did discover one thing… getting an Arcane Soulfla was not going to happen. Transmuting one was not possible due to their state as semi-living entities. Giving birth to one, while theoretically possible, would likely take Jake thousands of years and way more resources than it was worth. And that was from an optimistic viewpoint.
So, anyway. Now that Jake had an idea what a Soulfla was, the next question was obvious.
How did he get one? And should he even get one?
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the easiest way to obtain a Soulfla was to just buy one. Alchemists had devised thods of trapping Soulflas and sealing them for later sale, but even that process was difficult.
As the Soulfla had innate spirituality, it would struggle. It would try to destroy whatever sealed it, and often its power was not to be underestimated. Jake even read many examples of people dying to Soulflas that they tried to capture. The only thing more dangerous than capturing a Soulfla was to try and rge with it.
When the dragon teacher had ntioned the risk of scorching one’s Soulspace, it was not a joke or an exaggeration. It was a common occurrence that people who had spent obscene amounts of money on a Soulfla would find themselves killed or crippled in the process of absorbing them. The book Jake had found did not touch on any absorption thods but did warn one against attempting without a solid plan.
The question of if he should get one was also tricky and one he couldn’t truly answer. It was the kind of thing Jake would only know if he ever ca across one, and when that happened… well, he would follow his intuition.
Albaromoz Emberflight returned from holding his first lesson in quite a while as he instantly took out a token and sent a ssage towards an Elder of the Dragonflight. The information he included resulted in an instantaneous answer as he was granted an audience imdiately. However, not with the one he expected…
He headed to the teleportation hub as he went towards the territory of the local Emberflight Clan. The Emberflight Clan was a Dragonflight consistent of thousands of branches spread throughout the multiverse in many different sectors and planets. They had naturally also chosen to have a presence on Primordial-4 due to the vicinity of the Order of the Malefic Viper. Also, the fact it was a Great Planet just made it a natural space to set up a branch.
The Emberflight Clan was a Dragonflight that specialized in the concept of fire but also alchemy. The Order was a great place to send their young and for them to learn thods not taught anywhere else. In fact, the Dragonflight currently had well-over ten thousand of their young geniuses attending, and many higher-leveled beings like himself also make use of the Order.
Albaromoz teleported a few more tis before he went towards the Firebound Peak, ho of the local branch leader. It was a Grand Elder of the Emberflight Clan that had stepped into the realms of divinity dozens of Eras ago.
Flying towards the mountain, he felt the pressure from the flas that burned at the top. It pierced the sky like a pillar of the world, extending an impossible distance. The heat emanating from the Peak halfway up would be enough to kill a C-grade, and the chamber of the Grand Elder was sothing Albaromoz as an A-grade couldn’t handle easily.
When he reached the Peak, he found himself before a giant golden gate leading into it. He kneeled before it as it swung open, inviting him in. This was only his second ti there, with the first ti being when he had been granted his Soulfla by the Grand Elder herself. It was a Soulfla nurtured by their clan only granted to elites, and Albaromoz had gained his shortly after reaching A-grade.
Through the golden gate, he entered a massive hall of gold with countless precious treasures scattered throughout. A single pillar of the hall would rival the wealth of most A-grades, and the treasures scattered haphazardly would be able to create wars in even A-grade empires.
It was truly a wonderous Dragon Cave, far better than Albaromoz’s own.
”Child of Emberflight,” a voice echoed as Albaromoz felt the pressure, and he instantly kneeled. A being appeared before him as he purposefully bowed even deeper.
”Patron Fireplu,” Albaromoz spoke in reverence. Yes, the Grand Elder was not only his benefacter and leader of the local branch but also his Patron. He looked up and saw the horned woman, wearing a deep red dress that looked to be burning as she stood in the middle of the hall and regarded him.
”This knowledge you bring is not to be taken lightly… are you certain?” her ethereal voice echoed throughout the hall. Albaromoz felt the barriers fully up as their conversation was fully sealed from the outside world.
”I would not deign to use the word certain, but I do hold enough confidence to request an audience just on the chance I am correct. The ambient mana surrounding him was fresh, not from here. His knowledge seed surface-level at best, even if he had deep insights into certain elents. Additionally, he sohow possessed enough Academy Credits to attend my lesson, which ans he must have a backer within the Order. He was the last one to sign up for the lesson, too, despite it being available for two years… and he signed up the day the new batch from the ninety-third universe finished the entry-dungeon. He had the blessing of the Malefic One and was able to hide from my Identify effortlessly. What he did feed was purposeful… and I felt a presence that should not belong to one such as him,” Albaromoz explained.
”Elaborate.”
”The presence was… and pardon my disrespect, more powerful than Patron Fireplu’s, at least it felt as such. Yet he was no god as he possessed a blessing. Coupled with my belief, he is one of the newcors from the new universe…”
Albaromoz had confidence in his theory. In fact, he was certain enough that he would bet his life on it.
His Patron naturally understood as she also answered in a serious voice. One that ant she also understood the gravity of the discovery.
A young human, likely only D-grade at best, able to hide his identity and remain unperturbed beneath the presence of an A-grade. One who could leak a presence more powerful than a god while also holding a blessing from one, aning he wasn’t a god himself. One with deep insights into certain elents of sothing while only having surface-level elsewhere. Newly integrated… the conclusion was obvious to Albaromoz and his Patron.
”It’s a Bloodline Patriarch.”
The conclusion was obvious. A transcendence was also theoretically possible, but passive transcendences were beyond rare. No, a Bloodline made far more sense.
Bloodlines appearing far more in new universes was a well-known fact. It was like the system had ”stored up” Bloodlines until the generation that would be integrated happened. They were also always Bloodline Patriarchs with entirely new Bloodlines as they ca from a new universe. This was a golden opportunity, and Albaromoz knew it.
”However, he is already a mber of the Order of the Malefic Viper,” Patron Fireplu said. ”Moreover, you failed to get his contact information. This is, of course, assuming you are correct. Sothing I have no way of discovering as he is hidden within the Order.”
”With permission, may I direct the young mistress to evaluate him during a lesson? If my theory is correct, he is bound to attend so of the introductory lessons, and including her as one of the scouts would allow us to see if he does indeed possess a Bloodline,” Albaromoz inquired.
The young mistress was a young talent of the clan who ca from a prestigious line from the main clan headquarters. She also possessed the Bloodline of the main clan, making her an ideal candidate as those with Bloodlines could feel one another.
Patron Fireplu appeared in thought for a mont before she agreed. ”Very well, but keep updated at every step. If it is truly as you say, he may have a pinnacle-level Bloodline. And whatever happens, do not cause issues within the Order or overstep any boundaries.”
That was a given, Albaromoz thought. He didn’t have a death wish.
”Less than a week,” Vilastromoz smiled in triumph.
”For it to be discovered he has a Bloodline… not that he is your Chosen,” Duskleaf protested.
”See, the key is in the details. We made a bet how long it would take till his secrets were discovered by a public faction, and I said less than a week, and you said more than a week. By all trics, I win,” the Viper insisted.
”Fine, you win, congratulations, you are the best and most correct ever,” Duskleaf said sarcastically. ”Are you gonna do anything about it?”
”Why would I? Isn’t this just gonna make things more fun?” the Malefic Viper said with a big grin.
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