CHAPTER 2: THE BAZAAR'S WHISPER
---
The creak of the main gate was a sound of finality. I stood on the windswept battlements, watching Captain Roric and his twenty guards disappear down the mountain path, a ribbon of steel and determination against the grey dawn.
"Enjoy your last moments of comfort, little brother," Cassian's voice grated from behind me. "By this time tomorrow, you'll be mucking out the stables. Father's been too soft on you. This little 'dream' of yours will be the wake up call you need."
I didn't turn. "Save your gloating, Cassian. You might need the energy for the fighting to come."
He snorted and clapped a heavy, mocking hand on my shoulder before striding off. The seed of doubt he'd planted, however, was a stubborn weed. What if I was wrong? What if my mere presence had already altered the delicate script of fate, causing the ambush to be canceled? The System's promise felt distant, a phantom limb of certainty I couldn't quite feel.
The day stretched before me, an eternity of taut silence. I tried to lose myself in the familiar drills of the training yard, but the practice sword felt like a toy in my hands. My muscles remembered the lethal forms of a man who had fought and died, making these beginner's exercises feel absurd. Every clang of the blacksmith's hammer sounded like a ticking clock.
Seventy hours.
Luna found me there, her approach silent. She held out a waterskin and a hunk of bread. "You didn't break your fast," she said, her voice soft but firm. "You can't change our fate on an empty stomach."
I took them, the simple act of her faith a balm. "Thank you, Luna."
"They don't understand," she said, following my gaze to where Cassian was laughing with his cronies. "But I see it. The weight in your eyes. It's not a boy looking out from behind them anymore."
Before I could answer, a horn blast tore through the afternoon calm, not the long, warning note of an attack, but the short, sharp peals signaling a returning patrol.
Early. They're back hours early.
A crowd gathered as the gatehouse guards strained to open the heavy doors. Captain Roric rode in at the head of his column, but they were not alone. They escorted a dozen disarmed men in the livery of Baroness Katarina, their hands bound. Behind them, the grain carts rolled in, utterly untouched.
The silence in the courtyard was deafening.
My father, drawn by the commotion, stood at the top of the keep's steps, his face unreadable. Cassian stood frozen beside him, his jaw slack.
Captain Roric dismounted and marched directly to the Baron, but his eyes flicked to me for a fraction of a second, carrying a spark I had never seen in them before: respect.
"My Lord," Roric's voice boomed in the quiet. "We followed Lord Leo's instructions to the letter. We took the high ground at Serpent's Pass and waited. Just before noon, two dozen of Katarina's men descended on the pass. We caught them in a crossfire. They surrendered quickly. The grain is secure."
Every head in the courtyard turned towards me. The murmurs started, low and incredulous. Lord Leo... uncanny... just as he said.
"Impossible," Cassian whispered, the word sounding like a curse.
My father's weary gaze settled on me, the calculation in his eyes sharper than any sword. "How?" The single word hung in the air, a demand for the entire keep to hear.
This was the moment. I stepped forward, my voice calm, carrying a weight that belied my seventeen years. "I told you, Father. I had a dream. But it was less a dream and more... a waking. The scales have fallen from my eyes. I see paths forward we never knew existed."
As I spoke, the world seemed to freeze. A cascade of brilliant, azure text erupted in my vision, so vivid it was almost physical.
[Urgent Quest: The Baron's Warning - COMPLETE!]
[+500 Plot Points]
[Plot Deviation Increased: +3%]
[CONGRATULATIONS! Omnarch Bazaar is now UNLOCKED!]
A wave of pure, undiluted triumph surged through me. It was real. I was real.
My father studied me for a long, heavy moment. He saw the change in my posture, the newfound certainty in my gaze. He looked at the captured soldiers, the saved grain, and finally at the stunned face of his heir.
He made his decision.
"Cassian, see to the prisoners. Roric, double the watch on the walls." He turned his full attention to me. "Leo. You have three days. The keep's defense is yours. Command what you will. Show me what this 'waking' of yours can do."
---
That night, in the profound silence of my chamber, I finally let the excitement course through me. With a thought, I summoned it.
The Omnarch Bazaar interface bloomed before me, a vast, shimmering catalog of cosmic possibility. It was overwhelming. Pages of categories scrolled in my mind's eye: [Artifice], [Alchemy], [Architecture], [Agriculture], [Arcana]. Each held sub-menus that seemed to branch into infinity.
I filtered for blueprints under 500 Points.
· [Basic Ward Schematics: 200P] Creates low level magical barriers against malign intent. Effective against minor demons.
· [Reinforced Wall Blueprint: 450P] - Details a mortar mixture and structural design that increases fortification durability by 50%.
· [Mana Conductor Arrow Blueprint: 350P] - Allows arrows to be charged with mana, dealing enhanced damage to magical creatures.
They were perfect. Essential, even. With these, Stonecrest's chances of survival would skyrocket. This was the logical, responsible choice.
But I was not just a defender. I was a revolutionary against destiny itself.
I scrolled further, to the very bottom of the list, where the most obscure and fragmented knowledge resided. And there it was. The entry I had hoped for, the one that made my heart hammer against my ribs.
[Draconic Bonding Ritual (Incomplete Fragment): 500 Plot Points]
[Rank: Mythic]
[Note: This fragment contains the 'Call of the Wounded' ritual, used to initiate contact with a dragon in a state of vulnerability or distress. Full bonding requires additional fragments and immense personal power.]
Nyx. The last Night Fury. Trapped and injured in the Cursed Peaks, waiting for a "hero" who would not arrive for years. A being of shadow and starlight who could become the cornerstone of my empire.
The logical choice was the walls, the wards, the arrows. They would save lives in three days.
The legendary choice was the ritual. It would save our world.
My finger hovered in the air, poised over the shimmering "Purchase" button in my mind. The image of the magnificent, grounded dragon from my memories burned brighter than any fear.
I made my choice.
[Purchase Confirmed: Draconic Bonding Ritual (Incomplete Fragment).]
[-500 Plot Points.]
[Remaining Points: 0.]
A flood of alien knowledge, ancient and visceral, poured into my mind, whispered words of power, specific gestures, and the psychic scent of a dragon's pain.
The game had changed. The race was on.
CHAPTER 2 COMPLETE
Next: Leo begins his desperate preparations and embarks on the perilous journey to find Nyx, leaving a fortified but anxious Stonecrest behind.