Ancient Pasts - Tbate

Old Grudges

Cathan Leywin Pov

Caera followed me through the portal anxiously and silently. I could tell she was scared of me, but I ignored that and focused on maintaining the teleportation gate. Eventually, the blue blur disappeared, and we were standing on the platform where Azrael was waiting.

"You're finally back," Azrael commented, not turning around.

"Yep, and I brought a guest," I replied as I erected a third stone throne next to Azrael's.

"Who's that?" Caera looked at me with a raised brow.

"Caera, this is Azrael, my bond and adopted son. Azrael, this is Caera, my student." I introduced the two of them.

Azrael walked down from his throne and extended a hand to Caera. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Caera accepted his hand and shook it. "But I thought only mana beasts could become bonds."

"Azrael is an asura, so he bonds with someone at birth." I clarified.

"Wait, an asura?" Caera's eyes widened.

"Haha. Don't worry. I'm not like the other asuras, and I'm still quite young, so I'm nowhere near their level." Azrael laughed before sitting back down.

"Sit down and enjoy the show." I ushered the still wide-eyed Caera forward.

"What about you?" Caera asked with a raised brow as she sat down.

"I have to prepare something before today's main event," I answered before conjuring another teleportation gate.

"Wa-" Azrael hurriedly called out, but I already walked through the gate with a grin.

My surrounding blurred as I left Azrael and Caera together. Although I did that to give them some time together, I also did that since I really did have something to do.

"Welcome back, my king." Uriel bowed as the teleportation gate closed behind me.

"Hello, Uriel. I got what we need for the vessel." I tossed him a black box.

"The vessel should merge together without issue now. Is Grey aware of our plan?" Uriel carefully inspected the box.

"No, he'll be distracted and attempt to convince or redeem Nico if he knew." I shook my head.

"A wise decision, my king." Uriel approvingly nodded as he placed a palm on the pad.

Before I could place my palm on the other pad, I sensed the mana signature of someone within the room, which quickly disappeared. I narrowed my eyes and looked around the room.

"Uriel, is there someone here?" I shift my glance to Uriel.

Uriel blinked, and his eyes turned purple as he frowned. "I don't sense any mana or aether signatures within this room."

"Odd," I muttered before shaking my head. "Let's get this over before the Alacryan's tournament is over."

Uriel and I placed our palms on the pads, and purple runes spread from our palms and slithered around the wall. The purple runes took on the shape of a phoenix, indicating that we were approaching the final stage. The walls slid down and revealed the white room with only a pod inside it.

Uriel walked in and opened the box, pulling out a few beast cores, powders, and other materials. I looked around the room, still suspicious of the mana signature that I felt for a moment.

"I knew it!" A voice cried out.

Uriel and I jerked our heads towards the origin of the voice, and then we noticed Curtis and Kathlyn holding onto a cloak, which was likely the artifact they used to hide their mana signatures and presence from even me.