"You," He repeated again. Now I know he's calling me exactly. Do I escalate this? No…play my cards right. Be patient. He must not know.
I looked at him, but I couldn't tell if he could see me. He motioned for me to come and stand by his side. I did, slowly though. Slow, paced steps. I could feel every pair of eye balls on me. Just watching.
Steadily. Uncomfortably.
When I got there, I still couldn't see his face, but just pure shadow casted over it. I assumed had to stand side by side. When I did, he spoke yet again.
"To gain what we need, cannot only be taken by just physical power, but magical prowess as well. This is why the planet, Gaia, has given us this."
He turns slightly, and I hear the sound of swooshing in a glass bottle. He brings a silver potion from behind him, presumably the crate that was behind us as well, and throws it towards me. I catch it.
"The ultimate power. A single sip, and your power could be quadrupled. Taking all from low level Initiates, and Adept, to high ranking Apex mages. Reshaping Aurea Islands won't just start from us."
"Behold, the Silk of Gaia."
Everyone roars, but I only look at the drink more. It's silver…but sparkling. Potions…don't normally sparkle, no. I'm trying to remember what left I did do. Wasn't my department, I had others to feed me potions before raids and whatnot.
But, even the most extravagant and best potions for boosting stats and magical prowess was never…sparkling. It was almost like looking into the sea of stars. I held the potion at several angles, watched as it ran around.
It didn't have the same speed as water, no, looked just slightly thicker. Could this be what Vaniti saw the first time around? In the first attack? No wonder why she was able to spot that their mana signatures were fraudulent…they were probably being boosted by this, of course.
"Take it, brother. Gaia chose us all equally." He told me. A soft generosity in his voice and actions. Just…too bad it's being used for the wrong thing.
I look down at it. [Dragon's Authority] didn't warn me of any danger. No vibration in the horns. But still, it felt off. I'm already strong as is. I don't need to take illegal potions. If I'm mid-level Ascendant, will this send me straight to high-level Exalted?
I'm not taking that chance…but all the eyes were on me. Everyone was watching me.
Alright, bottoms up…!
I unwrapped the cloth from the top, checked for each eye watching me. If I wanted to get out of this somehow…then I would need them to believe that it actually did work.
Pressing it against my lips, I didn't take a sip, no, not at all. Forced to mimic the sounds of gulping as I slightly left some space for the potion itself to miss my mouth entirely and trail down my lips in a messy effort. It was like that for just a few seconds before I kept the potion bottle in the air before wiping my lips.
Great, none consumed. Don't know what that it. But since my mana signature is being kept low…and none of them know…they I gotta kick it. Send it right to Ascendant level.
Maximum.
Wind gusts kicked back as I stood perfectly, flies, paper, and even soft items like strands of rope went flying in the vicinity as my mana surged. Everyone watched, even stepped back, feeling the amount of mana pressure.
It was just too great, almost like gravity pushing against you.
When it died down, my cloak hood fluttered off many heads of them. Gasps rang out as well. A few cloaks even fell to their knees.
Especially the leader, for one.
"A-amazing…" He says. He must've bought it. Looking back at the drink, only half remained. No way he believed that cultist boost could take you from Initiate all the way to Ascendant. Just absolutely no way.
Just one fake sip and a gust of wind, and that's all it takes to make me a spectacle? Just more and more I'm seeing how easy it was for me to be the boogeyman of all dragonkind.
He wore a black eyepatch, his other eye was gray. Muddy brown hair with…abnormal silver patches. Should've had wrinkles, but never did. He was old, but didn't look old. A quick sense…and, wait, no, that's it.
There was two powers, both that I would say were relevant to mine…but even him. Even he's on it. His mana signature didn't feel pure, no, it felt…reactive. Like the moment on the verge of just casting a spell. Combusting into a spell, morelike.
If anything, it looks like he's had a couple of drinks that weren't just water. Looks like he's been living off of this Silk Gaia potion for…days, weeks, months—even. It didn't feel stable. Now…what lead me to believe this was earlier, I didn't notice the difference when Vaniti pointed it out, even after.
Maybe those were just the ones who had a quick sip, first time indulging in this. The leader? This guy?
His hair is even revealing it. He's had this potion one too many times.
This isn't just a stat boost. It's a drug. Could the leader even be…overdoing it potentially?
I look towards the others. The many, many cloaks in line. They could all be addicted to this. And there's no telling where they got it from. Underworld, maybe? Made? I don't know.
But…if this gets out? Since this is all living underneath Aurea, then regardless of who's Chancellor or not…they might enter a crisis. A Silk Gaia potion crisis, where everyone's hooked on this thing—I can't allow that to happen.
Without much thinking, I took out my hand from my cloak. From behind us was multiple crates of this potion. Black flames weaved across my arm, and then into my hand. From there, it formed into a ball before being shot out slowly.
The flames weren't just a regular mage's fire, no. It was Infernal, the best fire any Dark Dragon can conjure.
It spread like rot, and in seconds, the crates were scorched down to bubbling glass and molten metal. The Brotherhood stared—frozen. Confused. Until someone screamed aloud.
"He's destroyed the silk!"
That's when they happened to move on cue.
Mana signatures surged. Blazed. Multiple. Tens. Hundreds. More cloaks lit up with glyphs, spells primed already in their hands like bombs waiting to detonate.
My pointed ears twitched, hearing a hiss through the crowd. A voice, dry and sharp.
"Traitor."
I scoff, I was never one to begin with.
I look at my cloak, the brown cloak, and it seemed to me that the illusion was fading off. The colors returned to it's natural midnight black, and the silver chains attached to me also appeared.
I eyed the leader, and what appeared to be his assistant. Although the smaller one was still cloaked with their hood on, he looked at me, face drenched in anger and fury.
"I'll paint the ground with your blood, you hear me…?!" His anger slowly rising. He rushed off, quick, fast. I was going to react anyways, before I felt someone pass right by me.
Blonde, almost a blur, but my eyes caught up. Jonah tagged him on his chest—no, stabbed him with a silver spike that disappeared just as fast.
The assistant took a step back, not saying a word. Staggered, but Jonah had already vanished.
In the next second, he reappeared above the Brotherhood line, mid flip, tossing multiple knives into the crowd. They detonated on contact, bursting into spheres of smoke and flashing sigils that disrupted incoming spells.
He landed by my side again, business suit fitted on yet again. Dusting off slight rubble from his shoulders.
"I can't believe we are doing this now…I wanted to try it at least," He mocks, that smirk arriving on his face yet again.
I scoff, "You're lucky I like fancy explosions. Now, fight, or we both die here."
He nods, not hesitantly, readily. Steadily. He's built for moments like these.
I shouldn't have expected it any other way.