' = Internal dialogue

ยจ= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 38 Start-

Shortly after I had made a portal directly to my third-basement floor, I realized several dwarves were working, the last time I was here, it was just a medium-sized hall, but in a matter of just a day, the dwarves had managed to excavate a large section of the area, making it twice as wide.

Though they were ushered out by the dwarf wearing a prospector's helmet, he was obviously the boss leading the little squad. All of them left the floor and saluted on their way out, leaving Aegwynn and me silent as we looked at each other for a moment before shrugging. After realizing the hall looked half-done, I thought about whether I should do something about it.

'I wonder... '

I asked the rejuvenated ex-guardian to move back a little, as I wanted to test something out before we started bringing the eggs over. As I put both hands in front of me, away from the portal and Aegwynn, then purple fire shot out of my hands.

The room shook as a large wave of purple fire appeared and rapidly flew across the room as if acting upon my will. At the same time, all we could hear was a sizzle as the dirt and stone evaporated as a smooth surface appeared down the large hall, resulting in walls, ceiling, and floor gaining a rough purple sheen on its surface while smoldering due to the heat.

When I turned back to ask if she was ready to transport the eggs, she was gaping in awe while her eyes were darting across the hall until they landed on me, "Impressive, you must teach me how you did that at one time," She said looking slightly curious.

Then Aegwynn went through the portal while I prepared the incubators a floor above, which Belmont had prepared for me earlier today. The incubators did not weigh much, so they were stored in enchanted bags.

One incubator could hold around twenty large eggs, no doubt designed to hold drakes or hydras.

[A few hours later]

When my portal ran out, Aegwynn made a new one and gently carried the eggs with telekinesis which seemed to emanate from her staff.

At the same time, I put up the incubators all across the hall, which by now was starting to fill up, and we had counted roughly fourteen hundred eggs. Still, I put aside thirty for Aegwynn's research on the floor under the gigantic hatchery. After closing the portal, I asked her if she wanted to make her research lab higher up. But she was adamant and insisted on it being underground.

When we finally finished transporting the eggs into the hatchery, Aegwynn closed the portals behind her and went one floor down while taking some of the incubators with her to deposit the eggs for her lab.

I went to my workshop and stored the corpses, gold, ores, and bars of Arcanite and sorted the materials while waiting for Aegwynn to arrive.

When Aegwynn was done with what she was doing and came up to my workshop floor, I asked her if she wanted to join a small tour of the tower, which she agreed to with a smile.

"I must say I am looking forward to seeing what this place of yours has to offer, especially after you told me that my so-called future apprentice also resides here. That being said, you spoke highly of her, and I cannot help but be slightly curious about what she is to you..." The ex-guardian said with a smirk.

I mentally groaned as we kept our pace up the stairs and went through my workshop. All the while, I pondered what Onyxia's response to this would be.

Her home was currently ransacked for literally everything, and I could honestly not wait to see her in Stormwind within a few days to see if she had realized by then how utterly screwed she was.

Just that put a huge smile on my face as we entered the next floor to see that it was utterly empty, which confused me slightly until I realized Calia had taken some of the kitchen utensils that stood by without being used. My wardrobe only consisted of a few sets of regular clothing and armor, among other things, which had all been moved up to the master bedroom, leaving the entire floor unused.

When we finally reached the first floor, it turned out my tower currently was empty. Jaina and Lanira were outside dealing with their business, so I decided to make us both a cup of tea given to me from the dryads, as they had grown it personally.

It was a joy for the dryads to spread it across the city for free, ultimately gaining the admiration of most people, even if that was not their intention.

Heating up the water with my fire while avoiding scorching the entire cup, I returned to the table where Aegwynn sat while looking around curiously and gave her the cup, then sat beside her.

"Your city is... very, very magical. No, not in the sense of how it looks, but the surroundings are saturated with so much mana, but it's... Mostly arcane.

If my calculations are correct, then most people residing here will have the mana reserves of a standard hedge-mage within a few years." She said while gazing out the window as her eyes glowed with intensity.

When it finally registered what she had said, my eyes widened as she continued, "This city has the potential to become the start of a a magical capital if let be; however, the consequence of such a thing could be magic addiction..." Aegwynn pondered out loud.

Then, after a brief silence of consideration she continued, "Arcane magic functions differently for each individual who uses it. Some may utilize the Arcane as if nothing is wrong, while another may crave more and more, to the point they will go insane..." Then she turned toward me and sighed, "Do you know who of the Highborne of Suramar were? Never mind, what I meant to say was, have you ever seen what happens to those who overdose on magic or are denied magic after a long period of exposure?

I shook my head slowly while listening to her. She just sighed and kept her gaze out the window.

"Some are lucky to keep their sanity for a while; most of the ones exposed to this will have their bodies and minds slowly being corroded inside out, and the withdrawal will slowly but surely turn them feral. This mostly happens to the ones who either over-indulge or abuse magic.

Lucky for us that this tower of yours is keeping the magic saturation inside and outside under control to manageable levels.

Do you have some sort of artifact that gives a massive amount of magic?" She asks as she turns back toward me.

I sit thoughtfully for a moment until I realize, '... The coral!'

I dropped the coral off on the third floor a few weeks ago. It had slowly turned an intense purple color, making it truly uncomfortable for people with low mana reserves, to the point it actually hurt them.

While it was becoming more and more pleasant for me to stay around, the same could be said for Nessie, Valeera, Lanira, and Jaina. They were the only ones that could stay around the thing after it had gained such intensity.

"There is this one item, though I must add that a few months ago, it wasn't more than a weird coral that I felt magic around, but now it pretty much chases away anyone who doesn't have an attunement with the Arcane," I said to my grandmother while pointing out the oddities around it.

After thinking for a moment, she says, "That... Sounds like the artifact responsible. Can you bring it to me?"

I nod and quickly walk toward the stairs and up through the second floor to the third floor and grab the coral that has grown since the last time I saw it, which was... Last night.

Then I made my way back down, and as soon as I came through the door where Aegwynn sat, she rose to her feet while her eyes displayed shock.

"That's not a coral! That is a core fragment! Aegwynn said with some dread escaping her voice.

'Wait, what!?' I thought as I looked at the coral, which apparently was no longer a coral in my hands. Just as the realization of what it was passed, the core started shifting around and shrank into a small purplish-blue orb.

Aegwynn and I stilled as we witnessed its form shrink into a comfortable shape for me to hold.

"... Has it ever done something like that before?" She whispered while gazing intently at the small orb in my hand.

I shook my head slowly, not removing my eyes from the small object.

"...From what I see... We have two choices, one, we lock the item away far, far away from anything, banish it through time with the help of a dimensional rift, or we plant it here in this city of yours within a secret section while keeping this a secret from ANYONE." She said seriously while keeping her gaze on the small object.

I honestly agreed with her opinion, or that was until the object in my hand started vibrating gently, and I felt a small tendril of mana reach toward my mind as a weak and gentle voice spoke with considerable effort, 'Please... Let... Stay... Warm...You... Safe...'

The voice was gentle and weak, but that did not stop me from freeezing in place when I realized the core was sapient and had a mind of its own.

After a minute of standing entirely still, I looked toward Aegwynn, who was looking at me with worry.

"It's... Sapient, this... Thing... want to stay with me..." I told her as she got even more surprised before asking, "Did it talk to you? I could see a slight distortion of mana, but I couldn't figure out what it was doing, but this... Is excellent news, while very worrying.

The fact the core is sapient removes a few alternatives; however, we still need to make the place the core is more secure.

Where does it typically stay?"

"... In my bedroom, since it became too intense lately, that's where it stays. What about it?" I said questioningly.

Aegwynn looked at me momentarily, "For now, do you mind keeping it there until we find a proper solution? Maybe install a moon well at your... Bedroom, and put the core into it for the time being. It might do wonders to hide what it truly is from any creatures who have the power to scry this place. She said with a drawn-out sigh.

I nodded and gazed at the core until it vibrated once more, it spoke gently into my mind again but this time sounding even more exhausted, 'Rest...Now...Safe...' Then, all of a sudden, the core pushed itself into my palm.

I felt a scorching pain over my entire right arm as I fell to my knees; as the pain hit me, I held my right arm with my left while cursing in agony.

The entire floor shook as a sharp purple and blue glow appeared on my arm. At the same time, the magic it released was so intense Aegwynn covered herself by putting her hands in front of her while conjuring a massive barrier.

She was still pushed back into the wall, even with her mana shield, by the pure force behind the magic attaching itself to me as it refused to let anything near.

I couldn't focus on anything else than the extreme searing sensation covering my entire arm as it reached slightly onto my shoulder before I heard a loud a *Thump* and the burning sensation in my arm disappeared, and the mana around me calmed.

Aegwynn cried out as she came running over to me and started casting some sort of analyzing spell, "Are you alright!?" I nodded weakly before I looked toward my arm and froze.

My entire arm and part of my shoulder were now dark blue while white dot-like shapes covered it, almost like... A sea of stars, but these stars were constantly shifting around. The white dots glowed while the dark blue was like an animated cloudless night sky, which kept moving around as if alive.

Just as I was going to reply to Aegwynn, I felt something pull on my magic which ended up with me gasping for breath as I felt my mana fill up and expand to a ridiculous degree, almost to the point I felt like I was going to explode, then a hand grasped my shoulder.

Aegwynn had grasped my shoulder with a concerned look in an attempt to help, but she was repelled violently, tossed several meters back while a barely visible barrier of purple and blue formed, surrounding me.

Then I heard a low *Ping*, which I ignored, considering the current situation as I tried to rein in the magic around the room because I realized it was my own. My mana had acted on instinct, trying to repel and defend me from everyone and everything around me.

After five minutes of heavy concentration, I finally managed to pull it back onto myself as I fell to my back, sweating profusely while breathing erratically.

This time Aegwynn didn't dare to put a hand on me as she came slowly toward where I lay, looking directly up to the ceiling.

As I finally got my breathing to calm down, I could hear a whisper in my mind, 'I...Sorry...Help...You...Me...Pain...No...More...' The gentle whisper sounded full of guilt, and I felt that it tried to display its apology but struggled to make words.

I sighed in relief while Aegwynn looked at me with a complicated gaze before turning toward my arm as she froze.

'What is it now...' I thought, having had enough of surprises today.

"That arm of yours... Has a constellation... I do not know what it depicts, as I have seen a few over the years but that one... I haven't encountered it before..." She said slowly while sounding confused.

Out of nowhere, the entrance door slammed open, and a lance of ice flew across the room directly toward Aegwynn, which she blocked with a wave of her hand as a barrier appeared. It evaporated the lance of ice into vapor before shielding both of us.

"Who are you!? What have you done to him!?" Was the rapid questions uttered by the new arrival, I was still intensely focused on the situation as I hadn't realized the door had opened, but then I realized, 'Jaina!?'

Right before Jaina could continue casting a large shard of ice without waiting for Aegwynn's response, I shouted, "STOP!" as the room got heavy with mana as both Aegwynn and Jaina buckled. At the same time, Aegwynn's barrier faded from existence, and Jaina dropped her staff in shock as the wave of magic hit her.

Then an uncomfortable silence came to be, one that Aegwynn broke with a calm voice, "I think there has been a slight misunderstanding... I am his grandmother, not an enemy. My name is Aegwynn Magna, and I have no ill intent toward either of you."

Still put back by the magic in the room, Jaina finally gave Aegwynn her attention before she froze as shock and panic danced around in her eyes.

"I am so sorry! I just saw Medan on the ground and you right beside him. I felt the mana in the area go haywire, and it led me here! I am so sorry, Guardian!" Jaina shouted with a mix of fear and regret.

I just groaned in discomfort, interrupting their chat, as I had to reign in the mana again, which brought both of their attention to me.

"Can I get some help? I need to get to the second floor... I need... Water..." Feeling parched for some reason.

Both the women looked at each other for a moment before nodding, and both came up to me and supported me from each side as all three of us went toward the second floor.

Now when I realized it, my entire sleeve on the right arm was torn off as a result of the core merging, resulting in my armor getting destroyed from the shoulder and down and one glove gone, I would have sighed yet again, but I had other things to focus on like the system prompt in my vision which I mentally pressed.

[-Arcane Attunement Forcefully Increased: Tier II (8%) Tier IV(100%)]

-{ERROR}

[- Notice: Arcane Attunement Cannot Be Further Increased Before A Higher Tier Is Availible]

-New Passive Added : [Blessing Of The ?-?]

Description: ?

-The difficulty of increasing Arcane Attunement further has been significantly reduced.

- ?

- ?

-{ERROR}

-Description And Passive Is Partly Censored Due To External Authority.

'I am getting tired of information not being available...' I thought as we came through the door and the pool became visible.

Seeing my Arcane Attunement rise to Tier IV was undoubtedly a welcome surprise.

However, I felt frustrated when I realized it was probably because of the new passive I couldn't see the entirety of.

After being supported gently toward the edge of the pool, I just leaned forward and fell into it with a splash, resulting in both the women becoming alarmed yet again until I floated on my back and groaned in comfort.

Both Jaina and Aegwynn shook their heads, and Aegwynn conjured two chairs as I floated around like an idiot while water seeped into my armor and body.

As I felt the water seep into my being and make my body feel much lighter, I heard the core whisper, 'You...Better...Now...?...I...Sorry...Very...Sleepy...' The exhausted and weak voice started to become more silent as it spoke.

For the first time, I replied to it within my mind, 'Yes, I'm alright, it's fine, just go to sleep for now.' I thought as the core's awareness disconnected from my mind and felt it fall into a deep slumber.

I opened my eyes and gazed at the ceiling, wondering what kind of situation I had put myself into this time.

A sapient core who could talk to me within my mind, check. Crazy overpowered grandmother... Check.

A woman who instinctively attacked when she thought an enemy had hurt me as I lay on the ground in front of an assumed enemy... Check.

Fourteen hundred eggs kidnapped and placed in a basement... Check.

A mountain of corpses prepared to dismantle... Check.

Well, my life is... certainly an interesting one.

Then as I was thinking to myself, Aegwynn's voice sounded out in the background, "So you are the one my grandson said had amazing magical potential, huh? I can certainly see that. Not many I know of who attack an ex-Guardian with an ice lance spell as a first impression. Impressive."

I could almost feel Jaina's embarrassment from where they sat. Jaina replied in an apologetic tone, "I... I apologize for my aggression toward you just now, guardian..."

Aegwynn only laughed, causing Jaina to get even more embarrassed. After a minute, Aegwynn stopped with a smile as she gazed toward me, "If it wasn't for Medan, that would probably have killed me a few hours ago."

This made Jaina go wide-eyed at her response as Aegwynn continued when she looked back at Jaina, "And apparently, he had done something similar to me as he did to you by accident. Do you feel the mana he gave you upon physical contact?"

Jaina was thoughtful for a moment, still quite surprised at Aegwynn's question but answered regardless, "Yes, it further amplified my spells by an estimation of fifteen percent in terms of casting speed and roughly thirty percent in potency, even now, a small part of the mana is still merging with my reserves..."

Then she whispered almost so low I couldn't hear, "The mana... is warm. Every time I cast a spell, it's so soothing..."

Aegwynn's eyebrows rose briefly before she smirked and looked toward me. I pretended I hadn't heard a thing, which she undoubtedly wouldn't believe.

'Damn grandmother... Why is every family member I have so damn... Troublesome...' I thought as I kept floating around the water as they chatted.

-Chapter 38 End-