"Are you ready to talk now, Dragon?"
There was no response.
"What do you even want?"
Again, nothing.
"Are you still trying to take over my body?'"
"…"
Even after waiting for several minutes, nothing but silence answered him. However, Zeke was certain that the Dragon could hear him and merely chose not to respond. Furthermore, he was certain that the heart did something to his blood, which in turn influenced his body.
From what he had learned about the druidic ritual, it would merge the druid's Soul with that of a monster, taking on some of their properties over time. Odir, for example, had thick body hair and hide-like skin.
Without meeting other druids, Zeke couldn't be sure if this was one of the milder cases or already quite pronounced. However, it seemed that something similar was happening to him now. It had started with his eyes, but over time, the heart might influence his entire body. Zeke shuddered at the thought of growing scales and fangs… and a tail…
Compared to the druids, his situation might be worse still. Whereas they completely overwhelmed the spirit of their beast during the ritual, Zeke lived in some bizarre state of coexistence with the Dragon. If his fears came true, this could mean the changes to his body might continue forever.
He couldn't be sure about the consequences of such an arrangement. One thing was certain though, their souls were somehow connected. What was even worse, they inhabited the same body.
Zeke didn't know much about this subject, but he had a glimmer of hope. He would have the chance to learn more about it in a week's time. He had managed to get an invitation from the Thorsten family, and if there was anybody who knew anything about Souls, then it would be the foremost family of Invocatia. If his theories were right, then the Spirit Summoning ritual established a contract between souls.
He couldn't be absolutely certain without observing it firsthand, using his Soul Sight. But he was confident in his conjecture. According to his understanding, Summoning magic was nothing but a contract.
Also, he would be able to meet the Thorsten family matriarch. If only half the rumors about her were true, then she was an absolute monster. Even Tristan and the others had spoken in reverent tones about her. And now, after Maximilian's death, she was indisputably the strongest duo-affinity Mage on the continent…
Speaking of multiple affinities, Zeke remembered the state he had entered briefly while talking to Odir. He hadn't been certain then, but watching his recordings had confirmed his theory. That state had been a convergence of his Blood and Mind affinity.
Once again, a smile spread across his face. He had known for a long time that this was possible. Maximilian's so-called 'Explosion Magic' was, in fact, the result of his Fire and Earth affinity working together. And now, finally, Zeke had managed to take his first step on that very same path.
This practice was far more common than he had initially thought. He had come across something similar a couple of times since. [Telekinesis], for example, was a confluence of Mind Magic and unattuned Mana. Also, Leo's obsidian weapons were a very rudimentary form of the same principle. His brother's focus on his Fire and Earth manipulation spells had significantly lowered the bar for him. This was rather strange...
If a couple of second-year students could come up with their own versions of mixed affinity Magic, how could it be possible that the subject had remained unknown? How many people actually knew about this?
Zeke suspected that the Geistreichs had to know for sure, along with many of the more prominent families in the empire. Maximilian had obviously known as well. But Zeke wasn't surprised that his mentor had never spoken about this. Maximilian had been an advocate for letting people make their own discoveries after handing them the tools necessary.
The question was, why keep this knowledge hidden from the public? The mixing of affinities was not discussed in any of the books he owned, which was a considerable collection. For some reason, this was not something anybody talked about. Neither had it been taught at the Elementium.
Zeke could think of several reasons for this. However, the most likely one was in turn the most disappointing one: It didn't benefit the people in charge. The chances of having a child with an exact combination of two affinities were astronomically small. This made it a lot less useful to develop proper spells that would make use of mixed affinities. A serious problem, considering the time needed to develop a single spell.
Furthermore, even if the Feuerkranz family married all their descendants to members of the Steiner family, most of them would grow up to have either one instead of both affinities. A duo affinity was only around 1 in 100 among Mages hailing from noble families.
This train of thought reminded Zeke of another possible reason. In his grade, Zeke, Leo, and Peter had been the most prominent multi-affinity Mages. It was highly likely that the number of multiple affinities was significantly higher for naturally occurring cores.
Zeke had long since suspected that the 'selective breeding' approach came with drawbacks. It had been a while since Zeke thought about this. But his previous examination had hinted at the fact that the 'artificially forced' cores the nobles created actually suppressed all other affinities.
During the research for the meditation technique, Zeke and Maximilian had come to an interesting conclusion. They suspected that most people had a natural predisposition towards one or more affinities. In Zeke's case, those had been Blood, Mind, and Space. What the meditation technique did was increase the probability of them manifesting during core formation.
According to what he remembered from the kids of his research group, most actually had more than one affinity. It was very rare to find somebody with only a single natural disposition. However, one aspect was often dominant, overshadowing all others. If this character trait was pronounced enough, it would lead to the formation of a single affinity core.
Thinking further, it was no wonder that the empire proclaimed multi-affinity Mages as 'impure' and 'tainted'. Their most prestigious families were hard-pressed to produce such Mages, after all.
Zeke grimaced. He couldn't help but think back to how much he had suffered under his classmate's jeers. It might be true that a 'tainted' core slowed down the development of a Mage. However, now, he couldn't wait to rub his mixed affinities in everybody's face. If the problem was merely spells, then he would develop them himself.
This was a dangerous path, Zeke realized. If he was caught developing spells for mixed affinities, there might not be a single country that would not turn against him. This was an attack on the ruling class everywhere. If discovered, every noble family would turn against him, with nowhere left to run.
He now understood why nobody dared even mention the subject. The risks were just that great. However… if he managed to create a whole arsenal of mixed affinity spells and combined it with his meditation technique… it would be…
A shudder ran down Zeke's spine as he considered the implication of this idea.
…It would be enough to change the world forever.
If he could make mixed affinity spells that surpassed the current, "pure" ones, the entire system of passed-down bloodlines would collapse. The entire family system would crumple. It would be a new age — an age where everybody had the chance to rise to the top, with nothing but their own abilities as the ceiling…
A new thought wormed its way into his mind. It had come unbidden, but now that it was here, it was impossible to get rid of. With a greedy glint in his eyes, he abandoned himself to it.
If I manage to control all that knowledge, then I… I would be king of it all….
However, after indulging in his fantasies for a moment, Zeke remembered the reality of his situation.
Right now, he didn't even dare leave Tradespire.
Right now, he was struggling with developing a single spell.
Right now, he would lose everything if it was discovered that he was even working on a mixed affinity spell.
Right now…
With a sigh, Zeke remembered once again Maximilian's words. 'You do not possess the right to attain that dream', his mentor had said. And once again, the words rang true. His innovations would not make him king. They would make somebody king, but it would not be him. He did not have the strength to protect something like this.
Not his Soul Magic, not his Giger technology, not his knowledge of runes, not his Trinity project, and most certainly not an arsenal of mixed affinity spells.
Everything he could come up with, all his future inventions and achievements would be snatched from him, if he didn't have the strength to protect them. But how strong did he need to be? How much was enough? Arch Mage? Exarch? …Monarch?
"Pfff!"
Zeke's body tensed, his senses on high alert. However, even with his sphere of awareness, he couldn't find anybody. How was this possible? The voice had sounded like it had come from right next to his…
With a shudder, Zeke realized who had spoken. "W-Was that you, dragon?"
"You pitiful worm…"
"What does that mean?"
"…"
"Don't you dare go silent on me!"
"…"
"You shitty dragon!"
"…"
"You overgrown lizard!"
"…"
"You… you pitiful worm?"
"…"
"Fuck!" Zeke cursed. He had been right, the dragon could hear him. He could even hear his thoughts, but for some reason, he chose not to talk to Zeke. With the exception of this one insult. What had provoked the dragon into action? There was only one thing that made sense to Zeke.
"Monarch, was it? You have too little faith in me! Just watch me, you stinky reptile!"
The Dragon didn't respond verbally, but Zeke thought he could make out a faint chuckling in the back of his mind.
Now that he thought about it, this was strange. There were several Exarchs alive. Rumor had it that three of them lived in Tradespire alone. How could it be that Zeke had never heard or read of anybody reaching that stage? Combined with the Dragon's reaction… Was this stage even real? Or was it simply not attainable for humans?
Unfortunately, the Dragon didn't reply. However, Zeke was already quite content with what he had learned. For one, he had just confirmed that the Dragon was still around. Secondly, there was something special about the Monarch stage. Something that would make the Dragon break his silence for even contemplating reaching it.
Zeke licked his lips. Now, more than ever, he lusted after that kind of power. How strong would a Monarch-level Mage have to be, to elicit such a response from a Dragon? As a meager True Mage, he probably couldn't even fathom such a level of power, but he wanted it — craved it —with all his being.
For the second time today, Zeke calmed his raging emotions. It would do him no good to get worked up over something that far out of his reach. What was it that Maximilian used to say? Every journey begins with a single step, was it?
Zeke glanced down at Marlon's research papers. For now, he would have to do what he could. All his future plans would be for future Zeke to take care of. Right now, all that counted was improving its strength.
Night turned to day, and day turned to night again while Zeke spent every waking minute in his workshop. Even Leo, who came to get him for their daily sparring, was turned away. Finally, after three days of nonstop work, Zeke emerged from his private workshop.
With his bedraggled clothes, messy hair, and thick black circles under his eyes, he would have looked like a walking corpse, if not for the radiant smile on his face.