Page 89 of Daemon Master

But of course, he could imagine all too well how Serenity Corp might’ve justified the atrocities to themselves. Anything for the greater good.

He found Seymour and Freya at their usual spot along the village outskirts. From the state of Seymour’s aura, Adrian guessed he was working on his melds. For an instant, Seymour’s aether aligned with Tremorfist’s, the two resonating in unison, and Adrian held his breath. He puffed it out when the tenuous reverse Surge splintered before it could fully form. Still, he’d have to congratulate Seymour later—even coming that close to the difficult meld was worth celebrating.

Freya, meanwhile, appeared to be practicing with Metamire’s technique. Adrian had rarely seen it in action, and he took a moment now to watch as the undulating daemon fired offVolatile Boltsat crude targets erected around the clearing. Each blast of energy manifested as a random element with the same shifting inconsistency as Metamire’s form.

Most of the bolts found their mark, but occasionally, Freya would have to rush over to stamp out a patch of burning brush from a missed shot. Shadowlash sat off to the side by herself, keeping an eye on both daemon masters but mostly taking thechance to rest. HerCloak of Shadowsflickered around her, the darkness rendering her partially incorporeal.

Eventually, Freya noticed Adrian and waved, starting over. “Adrian! What are you doing here? I thought you were planning to spend today aetherforging.”

“You better not have given up already,” Seymour said as he broke off his own exercises to join them. He squinted at Adrian. “Please tell me you’ve got something to report.”

Adrian’s earlier distress came flooding back, and he blurted, “It’s daemons!”

Freya glanced at Seymour, who shrugged. “What’sdaemons?” she asked.

“Kali’s relics!” Needing an outlet for the frantic energy churning within him, Adrian began to pace, gesticulating wildly as he spoke. Fallen leaves crunched underfoot. “Watching Ghosttear the other day, I realized Kali’s relics possess the same inherent instability he does—like the aether doesn’t quite align. So, I started thinking that perhaps they came from the same source.”

“Project Paragon,” Seymour said with a grimace. “Makes sense. But what does that have to do with imbuing daemonic techniques?”

Adrian’s stomach churned as he reluctantly forced out the words. “Crastley’s notes made it sound like Project Paragon was about searching for alternative ways to harness a daemon’s aether without the need for bondstones. Well, what if they succeeded?”

Freya understood first, gasping as she clamped a hand over her mouth. “Oh. Oh, no.”

Adrian nodded wearily.My thoughts exactly.

Seymour scowled as his gaze flicked between them. “Will someone tell me what I’m missing?” Both his daemons let out low growls, echoing their daemon master’s frustration.

“Kali’s relics don’t just mimic daemonic techniques,” Adrian explained dully. “Theyembodythem. Unlike regular aetherforging where a daemon master invests their aether along an object’s natural aether currents to strengthen them, this new method utilizes a daemon’s very essence instead, effectively imprisoning them so that their technique can be activated on command. But based on the degradation in Kali’s relics, this process appears to be unstable. Over time, the artificial aetherforgings crack and allow the stored energy to leak away.”

“And when the vessel breaks and the power fades…” Seymour whispered as he caught on.

Adrian closed his eyes and nodded. “Hopefully, the daemon would already be dead by then. Otherwise, it would be like…” He swallowed. “Like they’re slowly being ripped apart as their essence is used up bit by bit.”

There was a furious rustling of leaves, and he snapped his eyes open to find Freya had taken up pacing in his stead. Metamire’s gelatinous bulk quivered in her wake, his shifting form bristling in a way that mirrored his daemon master’s distress.

“There must be something we can do,” Freya said, her voice tinged with desperation. “If they’ve been imprisoned within the relics, maybe we can figure out how to set them free.”

Adrian bowed his head, fixing his gaze on a broken branch. “Whatever Serenity Corp did to meld them with the relics is no ordinary reverse Fusion. It’s as if every speck of their aether has been seared into the device. There’s no way to untangle it back into a corporeal body.”

Freya whirled, balling her hands into fists. “Serenity Corp can’t get away with this! If the League knew the truth, they’d be horrified!”

“Maybe.” Seymour flexed his jaw. “Maybe not. People can turn a blind eye to a lot of injustices for the illusion of peace. They might accept this as a necessary evil.”

Freya’s eyes blazed. “Then we’ll show them how wrong they are!”

“We?” Seymour raised an eyebrow. “Last I checked, this wasourcrusade, not yours.”

Freya squared her shoulders and raised her chin in a defiant glare. “This should beeveryone’scrusade.” A hint of uncertainty flickered across her face. “Ever since you got here, you’ve spoken about your plans as though it’s the two of you against the world. But I…I want to help, however I can. And I’m sure there are others in the Enclave who would feel the same.”

Suddenly, Freya’s hesitation when they’d discussed the tournament and their other plans made a lot more sense. It wasn’t mere curiosity that drove her, but something deeper. Perhaps that was why she’d been so quick to adopt the true bond when the rest of her people balked, as well as the source of her underlying tension with her mother. Adrian doubted Elana would be pleased at the prospect of her daughter leaving the sanctuary she’d sought to build.

Seymour considered Freya for a long moment before slowly nodding, a newfound respect softening his expression. He turned back to Adrian. “I assume this means those illusion charms of yours are a no go?”

“Actually, I’m not sure we need to give up on that plan quite yet,” Adrian said, a bit of the weight lifting from him. “Understanding how Kali’s relics work offered some insight into possible alternatives. After all, they’re not the only examples of advanced aetherforging we have.”

“The journal!” Freya said.

Adrian nodded. That had been the one bright spot in his studies over the past couple days. “It operates on a similar principle, channeling a daemon’s imbued power to mimic a technique—in this case, Heartrender’sMirror Imageto transform the pages into nonsense if you don’t possess a truebond. But unlike Kali’s relics, the enchantment appears far more stable.”