After the Mass of Yin absorbed into the 'Prison Cube', Eisen placed the cube into his pocket for now, until he knew where to store it properly, before turning around to look at Xenia.
"If I find out anything, for example, if this can somehow be used to manufacture anything or the curses can be somehow reversed, I'll let you know. I'm planning on meeting with an ancient Dragon after this, after all, so he may know a little bit about it."
After the old man told this to Xenia, the high-elf crossed her arms with a frown. "Actually, take me with you, yeah? I mean, if you're a champion, then I'm sure I'll be able to be one as well, right?"
With a loud sigh, Eisen shook his head. "I won't take you with me, no. And before you say anything, it's better this way, really. The Dragons choose their champions, not the other way around. I'll ask Ailren to take a look at you and see if he would let you take his tests, but I'm not so sure if he will. The Dragons are all different, and the gifts they give to their champions are all different as well. So be patient, if the dragons deem you're ready, you'll be asked to take the test." Eisen explained before Xenia sat down at her desk while lightly pouting.
"Fine… I just want an ability to see mana the like you have…" She sighed before Eisen lightly smirked.
"That means you can't yet? So you have no way of seeing mana?" He asked her, before she quickly nodded, saying that she can't, and Eisen scratched the back of his head before walking over to Bree's backpack to grab a few materials.
As he confused the others with this action, Eisen quickly began transmuting some metal into a thin, but stable wire, which he formed to be in the shape of glasses, and then grabbed a mana crystal and shaped it into two thin lenses, which he both quickly enchanted with an ability-enchantment of his Mana-Sight from his Truth-Seeing-Eyes skill. Considering how uncomplicated and unrefined this all was, it only took a minute or two to make as well.
"I'll make you a better one later, but this should at least work for a little bit. I really, just want to get everything with Kirisho and her amulet figured out right now, and I'll work on your 'mana optics' once I'm finished with that." Eisen told Xenia as he held the pair of makeshift glasses over to her, as she looked at him in surprise.
"Wait, did you really just make something like that instantly?" She asked him as she slowly placed the glasses on her head and poured a little mana into them to activate the effect, before quickly opening her eyes widely in surprise.
"Whoa, this is what you see with those eyes? Just black and white, and then the colors of mana?" Xenia muttered out as she began to smile excitedly, and Eisen quickly nodded.
"Yeah, everything's always pretty blurry and black and white, and then I can choose what else I want to see, such as mana. I'm sure it's gonna help you experiment somewhat." The old man explained, before leaving Xenia to play around and looking at Evalia.
"Now then, Ailren told you something about where he is, right?" He asked her before she quickly nodded.
"Yup. Told me to give ya this, and that you'd know what to do." Evalia told him as she grabbed something from her pocket and handed it over to Eisen.
It was a gold coin, different from the ones that were currently being used as currency all over the place, and it wasn't only Eisen that quickly recognized what it was. Seeing the sigil on the coin, Dien promptly stepped up next to Eisen, taking a closer look before saying. "Isn't this a coin from that Dragon's cave?" He asked before Eisen nodded in response.
"Yeah, it is. I'm guessing Ailren somehow wants me to use this to look for him." Eisen muttered, before noticing that Xenia seemed to be staring at the small object with her new glasses on before Eisen got what that meant and quickly activated his 'truth-seeing' eyes together with his mana sight.
Immediately, he saw a bright, golden aura of mana surrounding the coin, as well as a thin strand of it leading through the door. "Ah, I see. Well, this should be easy enough. Kiron, Caria, Melissa, let's go. You three are directly connected to me, so I'm not worried about taking you with me, especially because I took Caria with me to Ailren's cave last time already, but I don't want to take anyone else just in case." Eisen explained, before slowly walking back to the door, before Evalia told him something else.
"Ah, wait! I think that guy said somethin' about bringin' Aulu as well? I dunno why, though." She told him with a shrug before Eisen nodded with a smile, and Evalia then quickly grabbed something from her backpack. "And here's that weird ball thing you made. That Dragon didn't wanna take it with him for some reason." She told him, and Eisen swiftly took CB-1 and the small bag with CR-1's display, placing them into his backpack.
"Got it, thanks. Wish he would have kept it, though. Would have made looking for him a lot easier. Anyway, I'll see all of you later." He said, smiling at the group before making his way down the stairs of the guild again, then leaving the building altogether.
"Alright, let's first get Aulu, and maybe even Cabarum, just in case Ailren is a little bit away from town," Eisen told Kiron. Who quickly nodded as he held Melissa in his arms, because she still wasn't able to properly walk, while Eisen held Caria's hand so she couldn't run off somewhere and walked in the direction of the Stables.
After a short while, the small group finally arrived at their destination, and Eisen led both Aulu and Cabarum out of the Stables before the old man activated his 'truth-seeing' eyes again to follow that golden strand of mana attached to the coin Evalia gave him. For quite some time, they simply walked through the streets of the town, before reaching the Town's gate, which did not seem to be the end of the strand for quite some time.
So, outside of the gate, Eisen chose to change the mode of transportation, sitting down on top of Cabarum. Since the animal referenced for Cabarum was a Gargantuan Steed, Eisen, and Kiron, as well as the two quite tiny girls Caria and Melissa, had more than enough space on his back. And now, they could quickly ride through the area outside of the town to follow the strand without worry.
And it didn't take long for them to find themselves on a beach, riding toward a tall cliff with what seemed to be a cave facing toward the ocean. "I'm guessing we'll be there soon," Eisen exclaimed letting the others with him know and began slowing down as they got closer to the cave's entrance.
"Thanks for bringing us here so quickly, Cabarum." Eisen said with a smile as he rubbed over the horse's side with his palm, then turning toward the dark cave.
"M'Lord, do you truly think I should enter with you? Indeed, Caria and Melissa are connected to you through your soul now, but I'm just an outsider. And most Ancient Dragons do not like uninvited guests." Kiron said, suggesting that he would wait outside, but Eisen simply shook his head without a second thought.
"Yes, but you're still my Knight. I'm a Champion for the sake of being a craftsman, so they couldn't expect me to go everywhere without any protection at all, now could they? Besides, you're the son of their King, so they shouldn't mind." Eisen told him, walking up behind him with a smile and placing his hand on Kiron's back, pushing the Half-Dragon forward.
"I… I see… I hope that they will think the same." Kiron nodded, obviously quite nervous about meeting these Ancient Dragons, before the group stepped through the tunnel system of the cave. For a while, there was nothing there other than the tunnel itself, but this was undoubtedly the correct way, considering that Eisen had been following the golden strand of mana the entire time.
That was until there could be two deep voices heard in the distance, together with the sound of what seemed to be droplets hitting a surface of the water, and soon, Eisen began seeing the shiny glitter of dim light being reflected off of the water as well.
"Seems like we're there." Eisen chuckled as he stepped toward the large opening of the cave they were about to enter, and he quickly saw a quite interesting scene. First, half of the large cavern was simply a body of water, probably connected to the ocean through some sort of underwater tunnel, and in the middle of the body of water was a huge shipwreck that looked like it was there for quite a long time.
And on top of that ship, Eisen could see a dragon with bronze scales, and hues of a green similar to that of Algae covering its back and tail. Opposite to that Dragon was Aylrentyrth, also in his Dragon form, currently conversing with, who Eisen guessed to be Bolremgar, the Ancient Bronze Dragon that Ailren told Eisen to visit.
Shortly after Eisen began standing in the entrance to the cave, Ailren turned over to look at him and the others with him, seemingly smiling as he did.
"Ah, it seems as if our visitor has arrived," Ailren exclaimed, and Bolremgar turned his head as well.
"Oh, is that your champion in the front? And who are those others with him?" The Bronze Dragon asked as Eisen stepped a bit closer, and Ailren quickly chose to transform into his human form to properly greet them.
"This is Eisen, the Champion. He is an excellent craftsman, and for my trial created this mechanical wolf. However, it seems like he also created another mechanical creation, in the shape of a steed. What were they called again, Eisen?" Ailren asked with a smile, and Eisen quickly nodded, smiling back at the Ancient Dragon.
"Yes, they're called Automata. Mechanical beings." He explained before Ailren continued.
"And the others are… Oh, the small Mushroom from back then, is it? Nice to see you again. But it seems like I have not met the two of you so far. Empress Bee Melissa, so another tamed beast. And this one here is… Well, this is quite unexpected. Who would have thought we'd meet a Prince today." Ailren said, lightly bowing forward toward Kiron.
Confused, it seemed like Bolremgar flew down from the ship and toward the group, quickly transforming himself into something as well, just not a human. What he transformed himself into was something like an Ape with Bronze and Green colored fur, as he climbed on top of Eisen's shoulder to take a closer look at every one.
"Oh? A Prince? Ah, I see, the youngest! What was his name, Krimson, Kave… erm…" Bolremgar asked himself as he scratched his head in thought, before Ailren quickly shook his head.
"It's Kiron. Well, at least you got the first letter right. It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Young Kiron. I must say, out of all the children of Trygan, you are the only one that inherited the beauty of our King's Scales. And for you to be Eisen's Knight, what a delightful surprise this is." Ailren laughed before Bolremgar took a closer look at the old man he was using as a footing.
"Huh, a Prince acting as someone's Knight? That's new, isn't it?" He asked his fellow full-blooded Dragon, further confusing Kiron, who had been having trouble figuring out what to do or say in this situation.
"Yes, I don't think this has happened before. Well, either way, that's not what we should be focusing on right now. I rather have a question for you, dear Eisen." Ailren asked, before the smile that he had on his face up until now basically immediately disappeared, and was replaced by a cold stare.
"How did you end up on the Path of Yin?"
