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Within the box was a single Hesperidic Apple seed. Such seeds were hard to get since most apples produced by the trees were seedless. It was a rare apple that had seeds. In the past five years, Leon had only added a single tree to his grove, and one that hadn’t yet grown enough to produce apples. This seed would’ve become his second in just a few months after Tikos finished preparing it, but Anastasios had made his desire for it known, and while Leon felt comfortable enough refusing it, he still accepted for what it would buy him.

“So, are we in agreement?” Leon asked.

“If everything works out as you’ve said,” Anastasios responded, but before he could continue, Leon cut him off.

“It will work, or are you casting doubt on my people’s skills? Or is it my word you doubt?”

“Let’s not be so quick to jump down each other’s throats, Leon.”

“No, let’s just be quick with b… the rest of this business.” Leon caught himself before saying something he would’ve regretted, his frustration at the constant cost of Anastasios’ partnership growing at a commiserate rate. “So, are we in agreement?” he repeated, his words carrying far more emphasis than they had a moment ago.

Anastasios stared at him for a long time, a pleasant smile frozen on his face. “… Yes,” he finally declared. He made to take the box, but Leon leaned forward and laid a hand upon it before Anastasios could take it. The Lord Protector stopped and gave him a wide smile. “What have I done to deserve such mistrust, Leon? Tell me where I’ve wronged and I shall endeavor to make everything right with you…”

“I would simply prefer something a little more concrete than a simple ‘yes’,” Leon said. “Tell me our agreement. What is this seed for?”

“The seed is but a gift between friends,” Anastasios replied. “A welcome surprise, one that will lead to even greater prosperity for my family and my Empire. And it is but the harbinger of an even greater gift you plan on bringing: that of peace with the Sky Devils. I look forward to how your talks with our… neighbors across the sea go. I hope they prove fruitful, and will wait patiently for your return. I will pray for your success, and continue to offer your property and whatever family you leave here my protection in your absence.”

Anastasios stared at Leon for a long moment, Leon debating with himself just how big of a deal he wanted to make out of this. Anastasios could say all he wanted, but Leon was buying leeway with the Sky Devils with this seed. It was an exchange, despite the Lord Protector’s steering of the narrative.

In the end, Leon leaned back, releasing his hold on the box. Anastasios then leaned forward himself and took the box into his soul realm.

And like that, their deal was done, and Leon supposed at least one tenth-tier mage had been successfully bought off—though how long that might last, he couldn’t say. At the very least, he’d need to follow through on the second half of their agreement if he wanted it to last for long enough to actually gain some power in the Sky Devil’s Hell.

---

“… Just how much do you need?” the Thunderbird asked, her avian eyes narrowed as she carefully scrutinized Leon. “It’s not like you’re attempting it yourself, so great detail in the process isn’t something you yet need…”

“No,” Leon admitted, “but I need enough to finish bribing the Lord Protector. I’ve given him an apple seed with the instructions for his nature mages to help it grow. But he still wants information on Apotheosis. So, at the very least, some basics would be appreciated. General theory, nothing more.”

The Thunderbird made a low chirping sound as she idly started running her beak through some wing feathers. “Apotheosis…” she murmured. “A great prize. Why are you so keen on giving such a thing away?”

“Why not? Merely having the information is no guarantee that he can actually achieve it, is it? Unless there’s something I’m missing.”

The Thunderbird paused her preening and turned her attention fully onto him. “To achieve Apotheosis is… easy, and yet not. It’s a simple process to explain, but to put it into practice is something else entirely. How much do you know already?”

“You and Nestor have both told me about Origin Sparks,” Leon said. “To my understanding, creating one within my soul realm is the key to achieving Apotheosis.”

“Indeed it is. But do you know how to condense one?”

Leon frowned. “Gathering up as much magic power as I can until one ‘ignites’, or so Nestor has told me.”

“Such is how it goes. Quite simple, isn’t it?”

“You just said there was more to it than that. I doubt just condensing all the magic power in my soul realm will ‘ignite’ into one of these things.”

“No. To condense an Origin Spark, one needs to revert magic to its primal state. It will only do that once enough has been condensed, and even then, it’ll need a bit of a kick.”

Leon lightly frowned. “What kind of ‘kick’?”

The Thunderbird took a moment to think. “What we’ve said so far, that’s the extent that you need to tell anyone else. Condense as much magic as possible. A soul realm exceeding ten thousand miles in radius ought to contain enough magic power for the process to be successful.”

Leon sighed. “And if I wanted someone else to ascend to divinity with me?”

“I… will not judge you. But keep in mind that those who strengthen enemies do not usually live long.”

Leon was about to argue that the Lord Protector and the Grand Druid weren’t his enemies, but he caught himself before opening his mouth. He supposed neither of them had ever acted overtly hostile towards him, but there had been subtle threats and ‘suggestions’, attempts to steer him towards their interests, perhaps at the expense of his own. These were not the actions of a friend, and he could easily see either of them becoming hostile if he were to act a little too independently.

He’d bought their cooperation in keeping the Keeper—and, to a much lesser extent, the Sunlit Emperor—off his back, but they only did that because they benefited from his knowledge lineage. It was not out of the goodness of either of their hearts that they protected him, nor that the Grand Druid was so pushy in trying to get him together with Cassandra.

“I’ll… do what I must,” he quietly stated.

The Thunderbird coldly regarded him a moment before her gaze softened. “Do as you will. But if you’re going to so willfully disregard counsel that seeks only your survival and prosperity, do be sure to impregnate one of your girls before you die.”

She spoke lightly, but Leon heard the low growl beneath it. He, despite having been sleeping with Elise, Maia, and Valeria for years, still had no children. Granted, all three went through stacks of contraception spells, but that was more because he wasn’t yet comfortable with raising children yet rather than out of any desire that any of them—or Elise and Maia, at the very least, Valeria was still a little on the fence about having kids yet—had to refrain from making a few little ones.

With a tight smile, Leon repeated, “I’ll do what I must.”

The Thunderbird clicked her beak.

“To condense an Origin Spark,” she continued, moving on as if their short interlude hadn’t happened, “one needs an immense amount of magic power. All of that power must be condensed into as small a space as possible within one’s soul realm. And then, just as one forges their Mind Palace, one must add the Mists of Chaos to their magic power, and will their spark of magic to ignite. Once alight, magic will return to its basest, most primal state, and become an eternal Origin Spark.”

“Leaving aside a few details of how that happens,” Leon said, “what are the characteristics of an Origin Spark? How does it function? Does it produce magic power? Nestor told me about ‘origin power’, and that it has the capacity to change the universe around me, and that magic power is but its runoff. How do the two interact? Can I—”

“By your Ancestors, Leon, take a breath!”

Leon paused, and the Thunderbird gave him an exasperated sigh. “Now,” she said like a stressed mother, “one question at a time. What do you want to know?”

“Is anything going to change about how I create magic power?”

“No. Your bone marrow will still produce magic power. You will also gain magic power within your soul realm as your Origin Spark creates origin power, which will decay into magic power if not used.”

“Origin power comes with a time limit?”

“Yes, but in practice, there’s little difference to how you store magic power, especially since origin power will become magic power. In effect, instead of having the size of your soul realm determine your maximum possible storage for this power, it will instead be determined by the threshold between its rate of decay and rate of generation.”

Leon frowned but understood. “How potent is origin power?”

“Extremely. It’s a power that can create matter and life, though on a relatively small scale. The amount of magic power that you generate, however, will increase immensely as your unused origin power decays into magic power. It’s usually post-Apotheosis mages that power arks that can traverse the Void since they generate so much magic power.”

Leon’s frown lessened slightly at that reassurance, but a previous thought he’d asked about had his frown growing again. “Does the Origin Spark decay as well, like origin power?”

“No. The Origin Spark is eternal, assuming your soul realm remains intact. It will burn indefinitely, providing you with a never-ending stream of origin and magic power.”

“You know, origin power reminds me a lot of ancient runes. Both seem to require exerting will upon the universe in order to work…”

“You’re not the first to make that connection, but so far, I’ve not seen any actual connections between the two. A Divine Beast, Primal God, or Primal Devil might know more, but none have ever spoken on the subject that I know of, and the only one I could talk to now certainly won’t speak on the subject now.”

“Fuck him,” Leon growled, glaring out at the Mists of Chaos. Without missing a beat, he asked, “On a different topic, I was hoping you could help me understand as much as possible about my transformation enchantment. My people recently had a breakthrough in blood magic otherwise unrelated to the transformation enchantment, enough that I put some people on researching a small part of it. They’ve made enough progress that they believe it’s possible to adapt it for other bloodlines…”

“Oh? Have they?” the Thunderbird asked, sounding rather surprised. “I’ll admit that I’m not enchanter, and much of the work I did adapting Krith’is’ enchantment was based on what the Great Black Dragon and I spoke about—back when he still broke words with me. I won’t be able to do much to help you understand the enchantment as I don’t entirely understand it myself, I’ve merely copied much of what I was told works.”

Leon frowned again, almost feeling like his face was going to get stuck in the expression.

The Thunderbird leaned downward, locking Leon in her gleaming golden gaze. “Share with me what your researchers shared with you.”

“Have you an hour or two?”

“I have nothing but time.”

Leon nodded, finally letting his lips turn upward into a shallow smile, and summoned the reports and reference materials that he’d been given from Valentina’s new research team and launched into his explanation. He knew it would take a while, but to further his knowledge of enchantment, he didn’t care.

---

“This will be our last meeting for a while,” the Jaguar said as he and Leon sat down in the villa Leon had set aside. It had only been a week or so since Leon had revealed to him the possibilities that lay in their blood, and he’d needed some time to think. As a result, Leon hadn’t managed to speak with him at much length and had been hoping for more in this meeting.

“Something happen?” Leon asked with concern.

“No,” the Jaguar replied before thinking for a moment and added, “At least, not that I know of. But what you revealed to me… Your ability to transform was already a curiosity, but I’d thought it some kind of illusion or some other magical creation. That it’s a result of your bloodline… I’ve… I don’t know how to take this. I’ve never heard of something like this in my lifetime. I require the guidance of the rest of my Tribe’s elders to know how to proceed. My invitation to you has been given and accepted; I do not need to stay. I should not stay. I have informed you that I will not stay, and will leave in a day’s time, bound for home.”

With disappointment rising in his heart, Leon slowly nodded. “You are not a prisoner here, though it would be best to allow me to attempt to prepare an escort if you don’t wish any of the Empires to make you one.”

“That will be unnecessary,” the Jaguar replied. “My warriors and I are small in number and possess our own ways of travel. We will move quickly, quietly, and without detection. A ninth-tier mage and his clanmates are not easily detected.”

“I suppose that’s fair. But before we part ways, might I ask for your thoughts on what we’ve discussed? What you’ve offered me, and how that might’ve changed based on what I’ve offered you?”

The Jaguar stared at the wall for a long moment, his eyes unfocused like he was seeing something else entirely. “I… My offer came without condition. The Ten Tribes… need leadership. Proper leadership of King’s blood. Our Ancestors were wiser than we are now, and to shun their line of leaders will only serve to turn them from us. My offer to you was only to right this wrong, honor our Ancestors, and see my people prosper.”

“That’s it?” Leon asked incredulously. “You offer me a throne and a crown, and then we all live happily ever after? What does this happily ever after even look like? Is it just me sitting on a throne while the Ten Tribes otherwise continue as they have been? Might as well put a damned statue in a chair and call the job done.”

“Such would only serve to enrage our Ancestors further.”

“You speak as if you know their mind.”

“The past eighty-thousand years have given me enough proof to know that we are not walking with the blessings of our Ancestors. But you need not do anything in return for my offer.”

“If I don’t do anything, then what’s even the point of making me King? Would it not be my job to ensure the prosperity of the people I’m at least ostensibly King of? Why would new knowledge and capabilities of our bloodlines be ‘unnecessary’?”

“Welcomed. But not needed,” the Jaguar flatly stated.

Leon shrugged. “If you’re leaving, then we ought to arrange another meeting. I must remain until after my wedding. Then I will head south…”

While Leon didn’t have a complete schedule yet, the date of his and Cassandra’s wedding not yet having been settled on, he did outline a general strategy for getting to the Sky Devil’s Hell with the Jaguar and even gave the man one of Tikos’ comm lotuses, which he was almost as interested in as he was in the transformation enchantment. They would be able to use that to coordinate further once Leon had hammered out his schedule into a more definable shape.

Leon found it rather curious, though, that not once in their discussion on the topic did the Jaguar ask for the enchantment. Leon would’ve refused anyway, not wanting to just give it out to people he didn’t know yet, but he figured the Jaguar might’ve wanted to secure it sooner rather than later.

“What are your thoughts on the enchantment?” Leon asked after a long pause once their brief discussion on heading south was over. “Are you interested at all in changing shape?”

The Jaguar didn’t immediately answer, but he glanced down at his hands, flexing them slowly, breathing steadily and deliberately, and closing his eyes.

“I… such a prospect is enticing, that much I can’t deny. To grow stronger, to unlock even greater strength in my blood… But I am human. And for hundreds of years, I have lived with a static shape. The possibility of changing that shape is… off-putting, even if I know it would only be temporary.”

Leon cocked his head in surprise. “I was elated when I gained this power,” he admitted. “It felt like freedom to me. I could go anywhere, do anything. Sure, I wound up doing something fairly conventional, but the possibility remains that I could transform into something that looks like the Thunderbird and just fly away.

“What’s more, the wind in my feathers and beneath my wings will never stop being one of the best feelings I have ever had. My blood sings when in that form. I still consider myself human, but I can’t deny that part of myself, either. And it bears mentioning that those in the Nexus will not see us as completely human, either. Should you ever manage to reach the Nexus of our universe, that would have to be something to keep in mind.”

The Jaguar listened, not openly questioning how Leon knew this, but not exactly agreeing with him, either.

“I will… consider your words. But your transformation unsettles me, now that I know more. I will consult with my Tribe upon my return home, and we will have more to say then. Until then, our invitation remains open. Regardless of this transformation, we would see the restoration of your Clan as true and proper Storm Kings.”

“Your faith is well-received,” Leon honestly stated. “Well then, Jaguar. It seems we still not see each other for a while. Take care of yourself.”

“And you, Raptor,” the Jaguar replied, smiling for the first time since their meeting started.

Leon left not long after, some sense of unease settling into his stomach as he turned over the Jaguar’s words. To turn down the transformation enchantment wasn’t something he ever thought would’ve been considered, and he couldn’t help but wonder just what the rest of those on the Sky Devil’s Hell—or Kataigida, as they called it—would choose to do.