Immortality is a dream only achieved by the legacy we leave behind.

~Arawn, God of the Dead

“Why is it called the Sweet Onion?” Aine asked Crow, who chuckled and waved her inside. It was a question he asked a long time ago.

“You know why, you probably just didn’t realize it. The fields deep within our ancestral lands grow sweet onions. These aren’t common because we infuse them with energy from the heart of the forest. From what I understand, they are also a special variant that no other clan has, and we can barely keep them in stock because they are a special ingredient in certain pills. This bottom floor is considered a grocer and herb shop. We specialize in uncommon and rare goods, so nothing here is simple.”

“Otto want onion,” Otto said and pulled out a golden brown onion before anyone could stop him and bit into it. Brian laughed, watching the gentle giant devour a raw sweet onion like an apple.

“The staff rarely stop him anymore,” Crow said, and Aine looked around to see most of the attendants shaking their heads with smiles on their faces.

“You’ve grown,” Aine said.

“They won’t let me train all the time,” Crow grinned. “Let’s go up. The upper floors have exciting stuff. They rarely let us look around, but during holidays they aren’t as strict.”

All of them raced up to the second floor.

“We sell various books, techniques, and cultivation resources here,” an elder said. “If you are interested, you can look around.”

“What kind of techniques?” Brian asked.

“From what I understand,” Crow explained. “They are all unique, but—”

“What little Crow is trying to say is that most require an affinity toward it, or they are useless.” The elder on duty said. Crow had never seen this man before, but he assumed it was Elder Mau based on appearance.

“Can we browse through them?” Brian and Aine asked simultaneously—it was something Crow noticed they often did.

“Of course. If you can demonstrate you can learn it, we’ll even let you take it.”

Without needing to say more, the two ran off and started reading through the various skills and books while Elder Mau sidled up to Crow. “How long before they give up?”

Crow grinned at the elder because he’d gone through most of them too and found that they were really bizarre. Even if one had an affinity for the technique, understanding them was another matter. “Less than a half of a tick.”

The elder chuckled and looked over, “Otto! No!”

Both of them walked over to Otto, who was thumbing through a book. Neither of them had ever seen the giant reading, but Crow knew Luthais had tried to teach him. The technique wasn’t all words, though, because they contain many diagrams on producing the effect.

“You big oaf put the book down,” Elder Mau said, but there was no malice there.

“Otto know this. Otto want.”

“What?” Crow asked. “You can do that technique?”

“Yes.”

Elder Mau looked back and forth between the two. Mau had been around Otto long enough to know that he wasn’t as simple as he appeared, but this was surprising. “Is he telling the truth?”

“Yes, elder. Otto wouldn’t joke about something like this.”

“Otto?” Elder Mau asked.

“Yes. I Otto,” Otto smiled big.

“Hand me the technique, and after the testing is done, come back and see me. I just have to confirm you can learn it, and it’s yours. Understand?”

“Otto under—yes.” The giant’s hand dwarfed the book, but he gently passed it to the elder.

“Otto, let’s go up to the next floor,” Crow told him, and they went for the stairs, which were right alongside the secret entrance to the False Dawn workshop.

“Wait, we’re coming too,” Aine called out. Upon climbing the stairs, she looked over at Crow. “Did you learn any of those techniques?”

“Pfft, anyone that can use those things would need to be half insane—no offense, Otto. Most of them walk the edge between life and death. At least from what I’ve been able to gather.”

“They did seem rather odd…” Brian said, but his thoughts went back to them.

Stepping onto the third floor, Crow felt a bit of excitement. He’d only come to this floor once before, but they ran him off immediately. They aligned rows of shelves perpendicular to the wall, and every shelf had objects strewn about them. There were a few ancient tomes that caught his attention right away.

“Those things are priceless. Your hands contain oils and dirt that can harm them. The same goes for the antiques. Look, but don’t touch, alright?”

“Yes, elder,” Crow, Aine, and Brian replied. Otto just ignored the elder.

Aine, Brian, and Otto went off looking at various stuff, but the elder approached Crow.

“It is rare to see someone your age interested in these old tomes. Here, I have a copy of it recorded on a vestige. You are welcome to it. It isn’t the same as the original which lowers its price quite a lot, but it’s all recorded in here.”

“Have you copied all these?” Crow asked and reached forward to take the object the Elder handed to him.

“I have, and you can definitely have one of each.” The elder looked up and saw Otto touching stuff, so the old man ran off to scold the boy. Otto looked over at Crow and smiled but continued to reach out and touch stuff. The big guy created a distraction for Crow, not that it was necessary, but it was funny.

Aine used a glove to handle a piece of jewelry that looked as if it was made from sunstone. Crow walked over and stood beside her, glad that she took the effort to drag him out of the manor. Despite not talking much over the last handful of years, she hadn’t forgotten about him and didn’t hold any grudges.

“That was the Shield of one of our ancestors,” The elder said when he saw what she was holding. “When a cultivator dies, their bodies release their Shield, which shrinks to the size of a coin. No one is sure why or if they serve any purpose. Most clans have taken to burying the Shield with the body, or if there is no body, then using the Shield as a substitute. Those things can’t be destroyed and carry the signature of its creator.”

“If that’s true, then why haven’t we buried this one then?” Crow asked, finding it odd that it was here.

“Our bloodline has those with powers of foresight. If they touch an item or person, they can catch a glimpse of the pattern. It isn’t like a seer, and it’s random whether they’ll see an object’s past, present, or future. We use these Druids to appraise items. Anyway, five Druids with foresight all came to the conclusion that this thing was a key.”

“Aww, that’s it?” Brian asked after the elder stopped speaking. “A key to what?”

“We have no idea. Luck, karma, and fate are strange forces we understand less than we did ten thousand years ago. One day someone will come along that has a fate with it, but until then, it remains here.”

“How much is it?” Crow asked curiously.

“It’s not something bought, but something earned. Once you receive your Shield, you may petition for it. However, you can never sell it, destroy it, or allow it to be stolen.”

They spent another hour roaming around the third floor while the elder took time to explain the various items’ history. It didn’t take long for all of them to realize most things on this floor weren’t something that could be bought and sold. They existed here as items to be bartered, and only historians, like this elder, were worthy of enacting these transactions.

Crow finally decided to move to the next floor, and the moment his foot landed on the first step, a flash of cold ran through his body, and he could not move any further. Only when he stepped back did the barrier allow him to move. The elder was chuckling nearby.

“I was wondering which of you would be the first to try that. It’s always fun watching you young pups try to enter that floor.”

“We can’t go up there?” Aine, who had been following Crow, asked.

“I can take you up. You just can’t go up without an escort. This is very important,” the elder said, knocking Otto on the forehead with his fist. “Don’t touch anything. The barriers up there have the curse Soul Burn layered into the formations, and touching them will cause you pain like you’ve never felt before.”

Crow’s face paled at the mention of Soul Burn, and the elder watched him curiously. Aine and Brian, who now knew about his curse, also turned toward him.

“You are Loremaster Quinn?”

Elder Quinn laughed. “Took you long enough, kid. The three of you that don’t know need to understand that the stronger your Source or Shield, the more effective Soul Burn is against you. Not even I will casually touch those barriers.”

The fourth floor wasn’t nearly as big as the others, and Crow raised an eyebrow at the circles marking where each barrier was. It reminded him of the hidden workshop, but the rings were smaller, and in the center of each was a single column with an object sitting on top. They looked like vestiges but were of various colors and shapes.

“What are these?”

“Vestiges, but as you can see, they look nothing like what we use. That is because they contain foreign techniques. We can make vestiges from almost any organic material if you invest enough time in creating them. The older the material, the easier it is to work with and the more capacity it can handle. These contain an entire technique and all the author’s original thoughts on them. Most are suitable for our cultivation, but they are all from powerful people. See the coloring; that means that you should reach the Shield level indicated before attempting that technique. If you don’t heed that warning, you could very well burn your soul out of your body.”

“Instead of choosing a technique from the Ancestral Library for passing the test tomorrow, could we pick something from here instead?” Brian asked.

“Ha. No way. Not even mentioning that you can’t learn any of these yet, the Ancestral Library provides foundational skills, things you need to read. No Shortcut. Once you become an Ovate, you can take on missions to earn points to purchase things here, provided you have the appropriate Shield. Even if a sect takes you as a disciple, you can still do missions for us. Druids have a history older than most surviving sects and academies, so do not look down on these skills. However, with their power, they probably have more powerful abilities than these.”

“Aww, man. You got me all excited, so you are saying I have to learn the hard way?” Brian groaned, and Aine slapped him on the back of the head, which caused them all to chuckle.

“Youngsters, you know that learning a technique manually is more beneficial for you than learning it through a vestige. Every warrior will tell you that their most powerful skills are those they learned and evolved independently. These vestiges are a quick way to master skills, but they’ll rarely grow beyond what you learned.”

“Yes, Elder,” Brian said while rubbing the back of his head.

“Now all of you head back, it is getting late, and you need to have a good night’s sleep. Crow, stay a moment.”

They said their farewells, and Otto gave a reluctant look back as he trudged down the stairs.

“You wish to speak with me, elder?”

“We’ve not spoken before, but I’m sure that old bastard told you who I am. I’m aware of your situation, and as an elder, I feel I’ve somehow wronged you. It is our job to protect our younger generation, and we failed you.”

“Elder Quinn, I’m not sure what to say. My circumstance—I’m not comfortable putting that blame on the clan. It is not something—”

“No. Your intentions are good, but the responsibility still falls on us. Gavin hoped to be back by now, so we’ll see if he arrives before the testing or not. He told me about your arrangement with the Song woman and your curse. I’ll admit my curiosity is high because I specialize in researching Soul Burn, and I created these formations here.”

“As a recipient of the curse, I can claim that it is a worthy deterrent.”

“It is good that you can still joke,” Elder Quinn snorted. “I’ve developed this soul technique. It’s in its infancy and is based on my research into Soul Burn. I’m not sure if they told you, but those black flames inside you are called Night Fire and a soul flame. I call this technique Ebon Flame Strike, but it’s based on theory as I’m not brave enough to test it. Honestly, Soul Burn terrifies me. Take all my notes on the Night Fire and my theories. Let me know your thoughts, but don’t use this ability until you’ve opened your Shield or two more chakras.”

“You know about chakras?” Crow couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Of course. It’s not something limited to easterners. You’ll find that a lot of sects, clans, and academies use similar methods. Even if you develop this technique, I want to warn you to save it only for life and death situations. If anyone finds out you have Night Fire, they’ll hunt you down to take it from you.”

“I can do that, and thank you. I will leave first, but I’ll come to seek your advice in the future.”

“Hold on, I also have to ask another question. How are you doing with formations? You haven’t sought me out these past weeks since Gavin left. Is that going well?”

“Yes, elder. So far, I’ve not experienced any setbacks. On the surface, it appears simple enough, but it feels off for me.”

“Talk to me about your thoughts, feelings, and all that while doing formations.”

Crow and Quinn talked for another five minutes before Quinn took Crow went down to the third floor. Immediately, the elder went into the back room that was large enough to be a warehouse.

“Found it!” Quinn called out and came out of the back covered in dust. “Take it. You can find more about this in the workshop. That’s a sort of primer.”

“Celtic Knotwork?”

“Think of them like Druid formations. The idea is the same, but these are more complex as the patterns are complicated and must be drawn in one continuous line. If you lack the mana to complete it, your knotwork will fail, and it won’t be pleasant.”

Crow looked it over and found the patterns were like the heritage design on his stomach and chest. That same knotwork couldn’t be a coincidence, or at least Crow didn’t believe overly much in coincidences. His instinct told him this was the method to unlock his mind toward understanding formations at a more profound level.

“Elder, this…”

Quinn smiled. “Good, I can tell by your bottleneck is gone. Next time, come talk to me sooner. Even that old coot doesn’t claim to be an expert on formations around—”

“Who are you calling an old coot?” Gavin’s voice boomed from the stairs, and Quinn flinched.

Crow laughed at their antics. “Alright, thank you, elder. Teacher, welcome back. I’m off to bed.”

“Go on, we’ll talk soon. Right now, I think Quinn and me should have a pleasant talk.”

Crow shook his head and headed downstairs. When he reached the bottom floor, he found Otto standing there eating an onion and waiting for him. Neither of them talked, and when Crow left, Otto was right beside him.

After Crow fell asleep, Otto moved off his bed and sat nearby.

“Otto protect,” he muttered softly and fell into a sleep-like trance, but Otto remained sensitive to any changes in their surroundings.