Chapter 387: The Lost Region
The staircase beneath the Blue Rose descended far deeper than Kael expected. The sounds of the tavern disappeared within the first flight, leaving no trace of music, conversation, or glasses striking wooden tables. By the time they rounded the third turn, Kael could only hear his boots against the stone and the measured steps of the guildmaster ahead of him.
"You have several underground levels beneath a tavern?" Kael asked. "How much of the Blue Rose is actually aboveground?"
"The part customers need to see."
"That answers neither question."
"It tells you enough to understand why I brought you down here."
The guildmaster continued without slowing. Kael glanced over his shoulder, but the door leading back to the tavern had already vanished beyond several turns.
The stairs ended in a narrow corridor built from bare stone and reinforced with heavy support beams. Small magical lights had been embedded at regular intervals along the walls, their pale glow revealing several doors without handles. Others blended into the stone so well that Kael only noticed them when their seams caught the light.
People occupied the rooms beyond. Kael occasionally heard a chair scrape across the floor, fragments of a quiet conversation, or the metallic snap of a lock being engaged. No one stepped into the corridor or acknowledged the guildmaster’s passage.
"Is this the actual Blue Rose guild?" Kael asked.
"One section of it. Any guild that survives long enough collects more than members and equipment."
Kael looked toward a sealed door as something heavy shifted behind it. "What else have you collected?"
"Information, favors, enemies, and several things people would become troublesome over if they knew we possessed them."
"That explanation has made the basement considerably less reassuring."
"It wasn’t intended to reassure you."
Metal reinforcement became more common as they continued. Plates appeared around the walls, followed by bands of dark alloy set deep into the floor and ceiling. Some carried magic symbols subtle enough that Kael needed several seconds to notice it. The farther they walked, the less the place resembled a guild cellar and the more it felt like a bunker designed to survive an assault.
Kael ran his fingertips across one reinforced section as he passed. "This is expensive work. Are you expecting someone to lay siege to the tavern?"
"I expect everything eventually. Preparation keeps unpleasant possibilities from becoming fatal surprises."
"Andre keeps calling that experience."
"The dwarf has survived long enough to understand the word."
Kael suspected that experience was what old men called paranoia after it proved useful a few times.
The corridor ended before a single door large enough to fill the entire wall. Dark metal covered an inner material Kael could not identify, and its surface offered no handle, lock, or visible Rune.
"What happens if someone uses the wrong knock?" he asked.
"They remain outside."
"You answered quickly enough to make me think something worse happens."
The guildmaster smiled and knocked three times, waited, struck twice, then finished with three more taps in a rhythm Kael could probably reproduce. He possessed enough sense to avoid testing that theory without permission.
A narrow hatch opened at eye level. A pair of eyes studied the guildmaster before shifting toward Kael and lingering upon his helmet. The hatch closed without a word, and a sequence of heavy mechanisms began moving within the door.
Several locks disengaged before the door opened inward.
No one stood on the other side.
Kael paused at the threshold and leaned far enough to check both sides of the entrance. The chamber beyond appeared empty except for the guildmaster, who had already stepped inside.
"Where did the guard go?"
The old man looked back at him. "What guard?"
"The person who opened the hatch."
"I didn’t see anyone."
Kael stared at him. "Everyone connected to this guild seems committed to being annoying."
"We maintain strict recruitment standards."
Kael entered, and the door closed behind him without anyone touching it. The internal locks engaged again. He decided that discovering how they worked would create more questions than useful answers.
After the hidden corridors, layered defenses, secret knock, and unseen guard, the room itself was almost disappointing. A large wooden table occupied its center, surrounded by several chairs, while a closed cabinet stood against the far wall. There were no windows, banners, guild insignia, or valuable objects on display.
"This is anticlimactic," Kael said. "I expected something more impressive after all that security."
"A secure room should avoid advertising what deserves protection. You came to ask about a familiar, so place it on the table and let me see it."
Kael sat opposite him and withdrew the black egg from his inventory. Purple veins still glowed beneath its shell, though whatever had knocked from within had remained silent since the previous day. He lowered it carefully onto the table.
The guildmaster’s casual expression disappeared as he leaned closer. His eyes followed the lines through the shell, examining the egg from several angles before his hand stopped above it.
"May I touch it?"
"You probably know more about it than I do. My entire contribution so far has been holding it while it knocked twice and then ignored me."
"That is not permission."
Kael gestured toward the egg. "Go ahead. If it bites through the shell, move your fingers."
The guildmaster placed two fingertips against its surface. His brow tightened as he remained there for several seconds, feeling the warmth beneath the shell. When he finally withdrew his hand, he continued studying the egg in silence.
"If that expression is your complete analysis, I understand considerably less than I did upstairs."
"I’ve encountered Dark Beast familiars before," the guildmaster said. "They are rare enough that most Climbers never see one, but records exist and a few have passed through the Blue Rose. I have never personally examined a mutated offspring."
Kael summoned the familiar’s status above the table.
[Mutated Dark Beast Familiar]
[State: Unhatched]
"So normal Dark Beast familiars exist," Kael said. "What should I expect if this one hatches?"
"A younger version of the creature that produced it. It will begin smaller and weaker, although neither condition will last if the familiar matures properly."
"Will it be less murderous?"
"The bond should prevent it from treating you as ordinary prey. That does not guarantee obedience, intelligence, or affection. Familiars have instincts of their own, and Dark Beasts possess particularly violent ones."
Kael remembered the creature from the Rift charging through stone to reach him. "That sounds manageable."
The guildmaster looked at him. "Most people would consider that dangerous."
Kael turned the egg slightly, watching the purple veins beneath the shell. "What does the mutation change?"
"That could affect its body, abilities, elemental affinity, instincts, or the way it develops. Some mutations are obvious at birth. Others remain hidden until a familiar reaches maturity or encounters whatever condition activates them."
"So the status tells me nothing useful because the Tower hasn’t decided what the creature will become."
"The Tower may know exactly what it will become. It simply has no interest in telling you."
That sounded much more believable.
Kael rested his forearms on the table. "How do I hatch it?"
𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺
"The method depends upon the species. Some familiars require a steady supply of Mana, while others respond to heat, cold, a particular environment, or the presence of their bonded Climber. A few remain dormant until the person who earned them grows strong enough to sustain the bond."
"What do Dark Beasts require?"
"There are too few documented examples to establish a reliable answer. For now, keep the egg close, avoid exposing it to extreme conditions, and do not try to force the shell open."
"I wasn’t planning to crack it." Kael said.
The guildmaster gave him a doubtful look.
"I tapped it once," Kael admitted. "Andre already complained."
"For once, listen to the dwarf. Familiars aren’t standardized equipment, Kael. You cannot strike the shell with a hammer and expect the Tower to reward your craftsmanship."
Kael’s eyes shifted toward him at the use of his name, but the guildmaster continued before he could comment.
"The greater concern is where this familiar originated. Dark Beasts are connected to Getava, and anything carrying that name deserves caution. And a huge deal of it at that too."
Kael had encountered the name twice. It had appeared in the description of the Black Basilisk and again with the creature from the Rift.
"What exactly is Getava?"
"That question has occupied Climbers, scholars, and guilds for generations. We still cannot agree whether Getava is a country, continent, world, or something that no longer fits any of those descriptions."
"You brought me into a fortified room to tell me no one knows?"
"I brought you here because what little we know attracts dangerous attention. The name appears across multiple Floors in quest descriptions, monster records, item lore, and inscriptions old enough that nobody can translate them completely. Climbers have also entered environments similar enough to suggest they were once parts of the same region. And this little thing came from there."