A voice elevated above the conversations and prayers around the Pool of Cain.

“Witness my devotion and ascension!”

A man shouted to no one in particular, or perhaps he shouted to the heavens. Being unable to see him because of the people around, Benjamin looked at Layla for an answer, he would love to know if something weird and or dangerous was about to happen. Samson answered it first.

“Just from these opening words, I can say for sure that probably nothing is really going to happen.”

Probably. Why did people in the Wildlands never give any firm certainty of anything? Maybe it was because of how things worked in it, but still, would it hurt to say something like “nothing bad is going to happen.” even if it's not completely true? Layla complemented Samson's comment.

“Remember the guys who I said kind of worshiped Dragons? This is their opening line before they begin a ritual. Probably what is going to happen is someone just throw themselves at the Pool and come out looking very different or end up absorbed by the Pool. Very foolish stuff, really. Want to see?”

Want to see. At the same time, Benjamin felt a certain repulsion. It felt like he was being invited to watch a poor madman hurt himself for amusement. Although, how different could it be from a public ritual amputation by a devotee of the Flame? All places had their own madmen and perhaps sometimes madmen were able to find enough support in each other and people at large that their madness became accepted. It was probably one of the good points of the Wildlands that, despite her eyes being filled with contempt, Layla did not even once suggest that people whose faith she thought odd should be forbidden from practicing or expressing that faith.

“I bring all of these innumerable offerings of the many great predators I was able to hunt through my own strength, my own blood! Oh, great Dragons, predators of predators, listen to my pleas and heed my attempts to ascend into your ranks, becoming one that is more than one predator! Using this flesh of great strength as a base, grace me with the power, agility and cunning of all the predators who I have proven to be the superior of!”

He might be a lunatic, lost in a delusion that would probably never become true, but one thing that could not be denied was the conviction which seemed to fill the words that Benjamin heard. Whether the beliefs that the man had were true or not, it did not seem to matter all that much.

“Well, even if you say nothing will really happen, I must say that I can't help but feel a slight chill in my spine. Feels like whatever he's trying to accomplish, he might just do it with sheer willpower.”

Even if it's not possible, some people seem to be able to make the impossible possible.

“First, I offer my own blood!”

At that point, Benjamin had walked through enough of the crowd that he could now see the man shouting all of this while. If he was asked to describe the man, the best he could come up with would be shaman. He had once learned in university about those who were the spiritual leaders of people any thousands years ago, thousands of years before even the great civilization that collapsed. Illustrations and his imagination gave rise to a certain figure. Now, that figure stood on the other side of the Pool, at the edge of one of the many piers that could be found in the Pool of Cain.

“He is... cutting his own wrist?”

The man, adorned with many parts of different animals, had his upper body mostly exposed and at that moment was making a cut in one of his wrists with a small metal knife. Samson scoffed at the scene unfolding in front of them.

“It is a mockery of the ritual performed by the Countess hundreds of years ago. Many believe that it leads to an increased success rate of ascension. My Goddess' experience says otherwise.”

That was somewhat reassuring. But still...

“Drink in it so that you may know who I am, Great Father, Great Mother. I offer all that I am for protection and power. I depart this existence so that I might become something else, something more, far above myself and all that I hunted.”

Now the man changed the knife to his cut hand, then cut his other wrist, all the while making sure that his blood fell on the Pool. This time, it was Layla, beside Benjamin now, that spoke.

“It is nearing the end now. Soon enough this guy will just throw himself and just disappear from existence. Or he might be one of the lucky ones to just ascend into a regular Mutant.”

Or he might have his prayers answered, but that was quite a horrifying thing to consider. In a way it gave Benjamin some relief. After all, why would people tolerate such a ritual with the objective to turn into a Dragon if it had any amount of possible success? Dragons were a huge menace, so why would people tolerate something that increased their number?

“Has anyone actually ever been successful in ascending into a Dragon before?”

Samson took a moment to ponder before answering.

“That kind of depends on what you mean by that question. I'm sure that quite a few different Dragons over the ages were ascended from people. Now, if your question is about someone purposefully trying to ascend into a Dragon... Of course there has been a success before, or else why would so many people try to emulate this? The founder of this cult of Dragons succeeded.”

So it could be successful...That brought about conflicted feelings as Benjamin watched the man fling himself into the Pool. There is something of a hollow feeling to watching somebody do something that they could not possibly succeed at. On the other hand, knowing Old Chad, Benjamin wasn't really looking forward to there being more Dragons around, so that man would have to forgive Benjamin, but hopefully he had just failed miserably. It was quite strange, even though it was called a Pool, as soon as the man's body hit it, the Pool of Cain acted nothing like any kind of liquid he had ever seen, almost devouring the man and showing few waves of disturbance. As he watched that sinking man's form and wondered about Dragons, sirens started blaring all around them, really surprising Benjamin.

“Whoa, whoa! What the hell is going on?”

Samson and Layla were immediately very tense. There was no way that these sirens meant anything good. People around them had different reactions. Some started walking briskly towards the forest that encircled the Pool of Cain, others froze in place, others ran. Before he was even sure of what was going on, Benjamin had been shoved twice. When Layla took his hand, even if it felt like she was slightly trembling, he felt safer.

“Dragon siren, the Dragon that the Grand Hunt was called for is heading in this direction. Don't panic, we might get trampled underfoot if we are not careful.”

Benjamin took very deep breath and calmed himself. It was okay, everything would be okay. His attempts at convincing himself of the situation not being too bad became much more efficient when he felt a hand on his shoulder and realized that now, behind him and Layla was Samson.

“Don't worry and just stay put. I've told you already that my objective is to keep the both of you safe. I will not fail, I give you my word.”

As reassuring as these words were, could he really protect them from a Dragon if it really came down to it? If it was even one tenth of the danger that Old Chad represented, could a single person stop it, even for a moment?

“Uh. What is going on right now? I must say, this looks weird.”

As Benjamin had been thinking about Samson's words, a few different things started happening at almost the same time. Not only did people start running back from a specific direction, but the Pool of Cain, before a strange almost metal-like surface, completely undisturbed, now started glowing in a strange rainbow-like fashion to the rhythm of a beating heart. To say it was disturbingly fascinating did not do the phenomenon justice. As Layla took a look at it, her face went pale. Samson's face acquired an unnervingly serious expression.

“Don't get distracted! The Dragon is coming!”

Which Dragon? Was something that Benjamin very much wanted to shout. He could see clearly from their faces, it didn't change anything that they wouldn't say it, it was clear as day from their faces that the man that a few moments before had been sinking into the Pool had succeeded, soon that place would have two Dragons. Benjamin sighed as he confronted the reality of things.

“Curses, why does it seem like this kind of rotten luck has been following me ever since this journey started? Am I being punished for having been dishonest to prince Charles?”

As he took his weapon in hand, Samson seemed to find humor in Benjamin's remarks.

“Please, as if the world had need to punish every single small sin that every person commits in such a spectacular way. No, this is just a one in a million years' chance encounter.” He then held his weapon in front of him and murmured some kind of prayer. “My Goddess, my will is yours as your machine of war, through me destroy my and your enemies. Give me the infinite strength to punish their transgressions!” Then, Benjamin saw a strange gadget on Samson's back move, as if he had just been injected with something. Then, three small spikes protruded from Samson's weapon, piercing his hand, then immediately retracted. The blood oozing from the wonds seemed to be absorbed by the weapon, that started showing strange red lines. A buzzing could be heard as a saw started whirring on the top of the weapon.

“Ah! It comes!”

Something burst out of the forest. People and trees being thrown in various directions. One of these trees came dangerously close to hitting Benjamin, but was deflected by Samson. The thing that burst out of the forest roared fiercely as it flailed around its mace-like tail, keeping any other living creature from approaching.

It was certainly nowhere near as impressive as Old Chad was, but just like the Sand Leviathan, it seemed to be a hodgepodge of different creatures, making it not easily described. It could easily make one think “ah, so that is what a Dragon is.” Savage, aggressive, destructive, were the kinds of adjectives that could easily be applied to it. With too many shocks piling on top of another in a few moments, Benjamin stared at the creature, dazed, but it would not stand still for long. After all, its pursuers were quite close behind.