Sunrise Alchemist, Ch 1: Bloodline (Patreon)

Time is a strange thing. To a human, a hundred thousand years is a long time, but to a rock, it’s only a long afternoon. As Verse looked at the stone in front of him, he hoped that meant he’d find something on the other side. A sense of sizzling anticipation flowed through him.

The stone door was buried in the shoulder of a cliff. It smelled like ancient secrets and sunlight, as well as a trace of his own bloodline energy, a scent that tickled his nose as it drew him toward it.

The morning wind blew across the cliff behind him, tugging at his long hair as it brought the scent of an inland sea to the south. The warm scent of golden grapes and spices that grew wild across the lower slopes drifted on the breeze.

Ever since his bloodline awoke, his senses had sharpened by a dozen times, both for spiritual energy and for more mundane things. The clear morning air, the texture of the stone, the vines and grasses all hummed in his awareness. He took a deep breath as he placed his hand on the stone.

The stone tingled against his fingers with a warm energy that was slow and old, like a river slowly flowing through the earth. Beyond that, there was the faint thrum of power that resonated with his bloodline and made his heart beat faster.

This place was definitely connected to the Emerald Dragons.

“You’re almost there.” The enthusiastic voice of the Nine Revolutions shrine echoed in Verse’s mind as the spirit studied the area. “This is one of the Emerald Halls. You can still sense the energy in the stone, even if it’s faint. There used to be teleportation platforms, treasure rooms, cultivation chambers, and all sorts of other good things in these places. These halls were created to respond to your bloodline and to be safe havens. They were a good place to rest while you were traveling, and well protected against attacks. My old master visited them once in a while.

“Maybe you can find something useful here. You need to gather more energy sources if you want to speed up your bloodline growth. There might be some records from the Emerald Dragons as well, to help fill in what happened to the world after I was trapped.”

“That is what you said about the last one,” Verse replied with a faint smile as he got a handle on his own excitement. “It would be enough to find some traces of history and perhaps a few new runes. Anything else is a bonus.”

The shrine was always optimistic, but he knew better than to expect much from a ruin that was over a hundred thousand years old. Ideally, it would tell him the full history of the ancient races and the details of the war that had made his parents send him to their home world, but he didn’t expect it would be that easy.

This was the second of these places that he’d found over the past few months since leaving Whitestone. The first one had been entirely empty. Whether it was a friend or enemy, someone had made sure there was nothing there.

“These places are scattered all over the world, hatchling,” the shrine grumbled as it followed Verse’s thoughts. “It’s been so long that they’re just ancient ruins for you to explore now. You can’t expect them all to have good stuff. Now go inside!”

Instead of answering, Verse sent his spiritual sense out across the world, scanning the area for unwelcome company. Experience had taught him to be careful. As beautiful as this area was, it was a lawless province that was home to half a dozen bandit groups that called themselves the local sects.

They didn’t deserve the name, but some of them had cultivation levels that weren’t much weaker than his. He’d run into them twice and showed them why it was a bad idea to bother him, but now they had a grudge. Adventuring alone had taught him to be careful.

This time, it looked like luck was on his side. There was nothing nearby that he could sense.

Adventuring alone over the past few months had brought his senses to life and ignited a desire to explore all the corners of the world, but he couldn’t hold back a wry shake of his head. A dragon was supposed to be a solitary beast, but he would have preferred company.

His human side was showing through.

“This would be more fun if Amari or Rain were here,” he said with a chuckle as he turned his attention back to the door. “Or the twins. Maybe after this, I can find one of them for a drink. Imagine what they would think about this. They would be so excited to see an ancient hall, even if it’s empty.”

It was a fun thought, but it would take more than a few days to find them. He knew where they were, but it wasn't close by. Even as an Imperial Knight, he couldn’t just show up at their doors unannounced, not at his current strength. None of their families had a low rank, so they might not even let him through the door.

He was making swift progress, but he was still at the late Essence Condensation realm. His foundation was as stable as a rock, so it was only a matter of time until he reached the peak stage. That was impressive for his age in the middle provinces, but to his friends’ families, he was just a promising junior, not someone to listen to. Visiting would have to wait until he broke through another realm or two.

The Aligned Realm was a basic level of strength for the sects in the Middle Provinces, but the real powers here were in the Primal Spirit realm. If he could reach that, his title would match his strength and he could do what he wanted.

Growing in strength was the main reason he’d come here. He hoped this ruin was different from the last one he’d found. The bloodline energy in the stone was promising, and with some luck, there would be a stronger source inside that he could absorb.

He pushed the thoughts aside as he turned his attention back to the entrance of the ancient dragon hall. The surface of the slab was still smooth after uncounted years, but vines arched over it, concealing the lines that might have once marked out a gate.

It was possible to brute force your way in, but there was an easier way for an Emerald Dragon. He took a deep breath as he focused on his bloodline energy and gathered it into his lungs, shaping a word that wasn’t possible for a human tongue. He released it from his chest as he spoke.

“Open,” he said in the language of the dragons.

The word rumbled through the air of the ancient hall, shaking the walls and floor. It came with the sound of grinding earth and trees creaking in the breeze, of leaves rustling and mountains shifting in their beds.

The stone responded to the emerald power. The tremor spread outward, shifting earth that had lain quiet for uncounted years. A storm of dust and rocks shifted, crumbling away from the face of the opening as the outline of a gate appeared.

Then the stone in front of him split down the center and swung apart, revealing a tunnel deeper into the earth. The walls were lined with brackets for what had once been enchanted light stones. Now they sat in silence.

The current of dust and stone fragments drifted around his body, outlining him in a field of shifting rock that glowed with emerald energy. The echo of the word lingered on his lips like the aftermath of lightning. A wave of fatigue accompanied it, but as he breathed, spiritual energy flowed into him from the world.

The strength from drawing on his Emerald Dragon bloodline was impressive, but he couldn’t do it all the time. Most of that energy went toward strengthening his body in a natural process. When he redirected it, his progress slowed down, but there was no better way to open this gate.

This one was of the simpler applications of his bloodline energy. If he were strong enough, he could raise a mountain with a similar word. Emerald Dragons were highly attuned to the elements, especially Stone and Wood. Fire and Water were there too, just below the surface, but they weren’t as apparent.

Not that it mattered much. His attunement to Fire came from his own training. For regular purposes, it was stronger than his bloodline energy.

The wind rushed ahead of him, filling the old tunnel that hadn’t been open in a very long time. It stretched into the mountain and disappeared around a curve as it headed down. The only dust along the path was from the shifting rocks near the entrance. Except for that, the way was clear.

His steps were light as he headed inside, scanning every surface for traces of what had once been. Except for the light stones along the walls, there wasn’t much here by the entrance, but he could feel the bloodline energy in the stone as a constant presence.

“How did they get the energy to stay for so long?” he asked. “It feels like a natural presence in the stone now.”

“When an Emerald Dragon lives in an area, the stone nearby absorbs its energy and takes on magical qualities,” the shrine replied. “It just takes a long time. It’s faster if the stone is infused with blood or if a dragon is buried nearby. Dragons eventually disintegrate into the elements that formed them, and the stone can absorb some of that. That’s where some spirit stone veins come from.”

As the shrine continued to explain, Verse listened with one part of his mind and turned the rest to studying the ancient hall as he headed inside. It didn’t take long for the bare walls to change to ornate carvings that depicted landscapes and dragons flying. There were other elder races mixed into the designs as well. Ten races made up the Kin, the name the early inhabitants of the world had used for themselves.

They’d been allies back then, before their leaders left to fight a war in the stars. Now, the remnants of their civilizations fought more often than not.

The carvings showed tall and broad-shouldered giants that had to be the Elemental Titans, while the enormous hawk-like beings were the Tempest Rocs. A bird covered in flames marked out a Nirvana Phoenix, and a golem-like creature rising from a volcano was a Magma Giant. Only five of the races were shown on the walls, which left him wondering about the others. They must not have lived in this region.

He followed a long path through the tunnel as he headed for the inner hall. After a while, he had to stop again, since the ceiling had collapsed into a pile of rubble that was blocking the way. The tunnel was about twelve feet wide and fallen stones covered it from one side to the other.

He frowned as he studied it, trying to figure out what happened here. It looked like this area had stayed the same since the tunnel was closed, so it was a very long time ago.

The walls ended in abrupt lines where the blockage started, so sheer that they had to have been cut. The ceiling was scorched from an explosion that had probably brought down the stones. Here and there, jagged gouges ripped across the walls, just under the scorch marks.

“That’s not natural,” he said, as his frown deepened. The change of finding an intact dragon hall was growing smaller. “There must have been two fights. The first one left those gouges and the second brought the ceiling down. But the murals end so sharply that there might have been a trap that went off first. Do you think this place was used as a defensive point?”

“Either that or some thieves tried to get in and were buried here,” the shrine agreed. “That would be the best result. Anything that can make a dragon collapse a cave isn’t something you would want to mess with yet. It probably happened before the entrance was sealed, since the rest of the tunnel is clear.

“There’s no sign of an enemy escaping this way either, which means it could be buried under that rock or still inside, but it’s been so long that it should be fine to push through. There’s not much that can live this long. If there’s something left inside, you need to get it.”

Verse nodded in agreement. Blasting a path through wasn’t a good idea if the stone was loose, but he had another option. His hand rose as a series of runic symbols along his arm flared to life, glowing like an arcane tattoo.

The symbols were Talisman Soul Inscriptions, a type of temporary runic talisman. It took a little while to create them, but they were useful. He’d prepared a few for the exploration of this cave.

A rune flew out from his hand. It was yellow with Earth energy and its structure was fused with the draconic word for Stone. His chest rumbled as he spoke its name to activate it.

“Shifting Stone.”

This talisman only took a little bloodline energy, but it was augmented by the draconic word. The language was a large part of the dragons' strength and the words resonated with the natural energy of the world. Using it with his talismans gave them a strength beyond their realm.

The talisman flared as it shot toward the rubble in front of him. It was the concept of ancient stone beneath the world, compressed by the mountains above. When it struck the rubble, the loose stones shuddered. A gap appeared at the center of the rubble and then swiftly grew wider. At the sides of that gap, the stones flowed away, creating a solid tunnel that swiftly expanded. Before long, there was an opening just large enough for Verse to walk through.

The stone walls on the sides of the gap were fused together into a solid archway that held up the rubble. It was a little over six feet high and three feet wide, and it extended for about twenty-five feet toward the far side. There was no light inside, but that wasn’t a problem.

The problem was the presence of more rubble at the end of the tunnel. The talisman hadn’t managed to get through the collapse. He shook his head as he threw another talisman out. He only had a dozen and he didn’t want to use them all here. A few had to be saved to dig his way out if the place collapsed.

The talisman sank into the remaining rubble, which flowed away to the side. When it finished forming an archway, this time he could see the faint outline of the original tunnel walls farther on. He scanned the structure with his spiritual sense and it seemed stable, so he walked in.

The floor of the new tunnel was formed out of fused stone, concealing most of what had happened here, but here and there, a shard of bone was visible, making it clear that the path was littered with corpses.

He stopped at the first piece of bone, his hand hovering over the top as he studied it. It wasn’t dragon bone, nor anything from the Deian race that he’d seen near Whitestone. Those were insects and didn’t have bones like this. It also wasn’t human, which made sense. Humans had arrived on this world much more recently.

“Italith?” he asked with a frown as he tried to place it. He’d never met one of the strange scholarly race that was nearly extinct now, but he had seen images of them from the shrine. They were human, but taller and thinner than was the standard in the empire now. “No, too big...and it has a slight blue color. One of the other Kin?”

“That appears to be an Ice Titan bone,” the shrine confirmed. “Maybe a shoulder blade. Strange that it would be here. They didn’t come to these halls very often. They prefer the ice plains and mountains to the north.”

“Was it a friend or an enemy?” Verse asked as he lifted his hand away. There was no trace of energy left in the bone. Most of it was sealed in the stone he’d moved, but now that this edge was exposed to the open air, it might crumble away.

“Who knows,” the shrine said with a shrug. “It could be either. According to what Memory told you, after all the elders left there were a lot of wars between the ancient races. It’s why the records are such a mess and no one remembers the Kin. Without wiser heads to keep them in line, they drove themselves to extinction. This is probably left over from that period. The other hall you found might have been emptied at the same time. You won’t find out by standing here.”

Verse looked over the floor, identifying more shards of bone that had been caught up in the collapse. Not all of them were from Ice Titans, but he didn’t recognize the others. They were probably from an allied lesser race, as the Kin had thought of them.

Now they were fused together into the stone he’d moved. It would have to do for a burial, since there was too much weight pressing down to keep shifting it.

At the far end of the tunnel, the same bloodline energy he’d felt before was back, once again radiating from the undamaged stone. Whatever had happened, it hadn’t collapsed the entire tunnel.

For the next half hour, he moved through the old tunnel. He had to stop one more time to clear a cave-in that was even bigger than the first, which used up another three talismans. There were even more scattered bones in that pile. He shook his head as he continued on.

Eventually, he reached what had once been the inner hall of the old fortress. It was a long pillared hall with a soaring ceiling, one that was high enough to make him feel like he wasn’t even underground. Dozens of chambers opened along the sides, marking out what had once been shops and private rooms. This hall had functioned as a fort and a marketplace where people could trade supplies and rest.

This Emerald Hall was more complex than the last one he’d seen, but as he scanned the interior, there were only two things that drew his attention.

One was a formation at the center of the hall that shone with emerald energy. It was dim, but still present. It wasn’t very large, about ten feet across, and there was something at the center that was hidden. A strong sense of bloodline energy was coming from whatever was there.

The second thing was buried in the stone below the formation. He couldn’t see it, but it had an even stronger sense of bloodline energy that was pouring upward toward the hidden object. All around it, spirit stones were embedded into a support formation, but they were so old that they were barely holding on.

It had been a strong formation once, but it couldn’t keep up with the passing years. Just the fact that it was still operating spoke to how well it had been constructed.

“This had to be something that an Emerald Dragon left behind,” he said with a grin. “Even if there’s nothing else, it’s progress.”

“Hmph, go see what it is,” the shrine insisted, his grumbling giving way to a bit of excitement of his own. He wanted to find his old master, so any lead was good. “I don’t sense any danger from the formation. It’s just bloodline energy with a support structure, so it’s probably a message someone left behind, one that can only be accessed by a dragon. It should be safe enough.”

Verse studied the formation as he walked toward it. He wasn’t familiar with that many types, but he had a basic understanding of them in his memories and the shrine had started to teach him the dragons’ methods. He also had the advantage of the draconic language. Many of the runes in front of him were based on those words, giving him a basic idea of the formation’s intent.

It was more complicated than he was used to and set up by someone more advanced than him, but it wasn’t anywhere close to the formations he’d seen at the Heart of Memory. There was no sense of danger from it, just bloodline energy, so after a moment he reached out and touched the edge of the circle. As soon as he did, the area filled with emerald light.

The formation came to life as the runes that made it up began to rotate. Lines of spiritual energy connected, flashing from one side to the other as they arced across the distance. Within seconds, the area was a web of crystalline green threads surrounding the object at the center. They brightened as energy infused them.

A sense of heavy pressure emanated from it, one that pressed on his bloodline, but it was a familiar presence. He’d felt the same thing from Memory when the ancient dragon’s bloodline awoke his own, but this wasn’t as strong. After a moment, the shape at the center became clear.

It was an oblong emerald scale that was curved on the upper edge and narrowed to a more jagged edge on the bottom. From one side to the other, it was as large as Verse’s hand, and longer from top to bottom. It looked like it had been ripped away. There was a faint trace of emerald blood on the edge.

It was a dragon scale.

The formation shuddered as energy drained out of the spirit stones and Verse cursed under his breath as he yanked some fresh ones out of his spatial bracelet and began replacing them. His hands blurred as he tried to hurry.

He only had a few dozen medium spirit stones. The cost made him grimace, but it was what the formation needed. As soon as he replaced the last one, a surge of energy flowed through the runes as the formation stabilized.

A hazy green energy flowed up from below the ground at the center of the formation and surrounded the scale, restoring its luster. The energy below grew thinner as it was consumed.

“Stop the formation!” the shrine shouted suddenly. “That’s enough for the scale. Get the source before it dissipates!”

Verse didn’t hesitate as he leapt forward. A tracery of silver scars that looked like scales appeared on his skin as he focused on his bloodline connection to stone and drove his hand into the ground.

His hand sank through the stone like it was surrounded by water, and when he pulled it back again, an emerald stone was in his palm. It was connected to the formation by a dense strand of emerald light.

The shrine in his dantian shook as a wave of profound celestial aura flowed out from it and sliced through the connection between the stone and the formation. The difference in quality between the shrine’s energy and the stone’s was intense. The stone was at least a couple of realms lower.

Despite that, the stone glowed with a draconic presence that was much stronger than Vere. The exterior was translucent like crystal and suspended inside was a single drop of shining emerald blood. The power radiating from it filled the room with a sense of growing things and herbs.

As soon as the connection between the blood and the scale broke, the strain on the spirit stones increased sharply. Cracks appeared as they took on the full burden of the formation. They wouldn’t last much longer.

Verse held the stone in one hand as he reached out for the scale with the other. As soon as he touched it, a majestic voice echoed in his mind. It was clear and authoritative with strength that filled the hall. Each word was accompanied by an image that was as real as life.

There are now few dragons remaining. I am one of the eldest who still lives. This record and others like it have been left behind for anyone who is sleeping, so you will know what happened and to avenge us.

Verse’s eyes widened as he heard the voice, which was so similar in some ways to Memory’s. It echoed with vast strength. He had been hoping to find a trail of history, but now that it was in front of him, it was a surprise. It was the first trace of his race that he’d found.

He listened intently as the words continued, trying to understand. It seemed to be an account of the Elder War, the event that took place around 50,000 years ago that led to the death of the Kin who remained on the world. He’d learned about it from Memory, but that old dragon hadn’t known all the details.

Some generations after the elders of the Kin left to face the Inferno Stars, the Emerald Halls were attacked by a unified force of Magma Giants and Netherblood Demons. Before that first attack, we were not aware of their alliance, but the truth came quickly.

It’s not clear if it was the demons’ idea or if the giants finally gave in to their base instincts, but we suspect the demons were behind it all. They never joined the war and hated that we had. One of their promises was to make sure we suffered for it.

The words brought images of battles where giants made of dark stone and flowing lava fought with dragons, crashing into the mountain sides and wrestling in rivers of molten stone.

Shadowy figures skulked around the edges of the battlefields, hurling nets and placing traps wherever they could find an advantage. They faded in and out of sight, but he could see pale skin and eyes that were as dark as the shadows. Their eyes had no whites, just a vibrant darkness that felt alive.

The Ice Titans came to assist us in accordance with the old treaty, but like all the elder races, they were few in number. They were unable to change the tide of war. The last of them perished by our side.

The vision changed, showing powerful beings with blue skin and white hair that looked like giants made from carved ice. Frost gathered across their skin and snow fell in their wake. Behind them, a gleaming sapphire cavern that reminded Verse of the Heart of Memory appeared next. It was filled with intricate formations that revolved around a blue sapphire core at the center.

After its protectors were destroyed, the Heart of War that belonged to the titans was seized by the demons. The younger races that followed the Ice Titans also fell under the demons’ control. That Heart’s strategic enchantments and their numbers gave them an impossible advantage. They attacked the other Hearts and all the outposts of the Kin. One by one, they were conquered.

The vision shifted to marching lines of tiny figures, the younger races as they were seen from a dragon’s view while flying. Their ranks stretched for miles across the ground and they glowed with spells from the Hearts.

Without the elders, our defenses fell until only the Heart of Memory was left. Its location was unknown to both us and our enemies. That old dragon is irresponsible but clever. He hid long ago during one of the lesser conflicts, and now no one can find him. I hope that he survived.

Other images of the war flashed by, and Verse memorized them as he listened to the record, but before long the visions came to an end. The last thing the voice said was an update on the status of the war.

This region is too close to the location of the Heart of War, so we are abandoning the halls here and shifting the battle to the south, where our forces are stronger. If you hear this record, come and find us. I will leave directions in the scale for you.

Whether we win or lose, remember my name.

I am Galdred the Green.

Avenge us if you can.

A map of the world imprinted itself into Verse’s mind, as well as the location of dozens of other Emerald Halls and some places that had been held by the dragons’ allies. It was an intense wave of information, but it was buffered by the bloodline energy here.

When it passed, the locations shone vividly, calling him to find them.