Headed by a Snake

Spilling out of the mundane box and dumped onto the table was a heavy blue crystal, about the size and shape of a human heart. Within it, the outline of a fractured snake skull glowed whitish-blue.

Though it appeared like the sealed skull had some significance-- it was a visual illusion created and powered by the stone, itself. Ultimately, Maximus' treasure was a mana rock... one that radiated high-purity frost mana.

"Eep!" Athena jumped up, wide-eyed in wonder, "H-how did you open that?! W-we never found a key for it!"

Tycon grimaced, "It wasn't locked."

"O... oh," Athena sat down on the floor quietly, her face glowing a deep shade of red.

Tanamar dared to scowl at Tycon as if the young lady's embarrassment was his fault.

Tycon shut his eyes and briefly consulted his System. The stone was cursed. No surprise. It had minor sentience, as well.

Without the box as a subtle limiter, the crystal pulsed its mana outward, chilling the immediate area and causing Tycon's teeth to chatter. He stepped away, wary for an attack and... annoyed.

As the fates had decided that Tycon was always to encounter things he did not like, the stone's frost mana enveloped him... and only him. It made logical sense. He was the most handsome person in the room, after all.

...Also, he had the strongest passive mana signature.

Errant thoughts invaded his mind. Suddenly inspired, Tycon had the most wonderful idea to murder his allies on behalf of that useless snake god.

He'd start with Victorius. He immediately conceived a feasible plan-- more for efficiency than for enjoyment.

Which one would be next? Greer, perhaps? And his extravagant strumpet of a wife, as well. Sol Invictus does not discriminate based on gender, among other things.

That's probably where the killing would stop, though. Everyone else remained useful.

⟬ The Host has successfully resisted a Third-Circle Domination effect. ⟭

...Oh. Was that the attack?

Tycon frowned, crossing his arms.

« System, inquiry: Did... ⌈Mark of Pride⌋ activate? »

⟬ ⌈Mark of Pride⌋. Demonic Seal. Prevents domination-effects from Fourth-Circle spells and lower. Strongly increases resistance against energy drain through bodily fluids. Inscribed by Lucifer of Pride. ⟭

⟬ Negative. System response: The Host resisted the effect before ⌈Mark of Pride⌋'s activation. ⟭

Tycon glanced back to the others. Tanamar had faithfully stepped in front of the sitting Athena, his shoulders visibly relaxing after the danger had passed.

"Move your butt, Tanamar!" The curious young lady was still sitting on the floor, peeking out from beside her footman.

There was nothing left to see, save a cool blue miasma still hanging in the air. Tycon dispelled it with a casual swipe of his hand.

The frost mana spread out to the corners of the room... though a thick cloud of it drifted towards Athena. Though Tycon was certain it was bereft of sentience, it doggedly sought her out, like a tiny droplet of water reaching out to join with a larger bead.

The mana flowed into the young lady... naturally and harmlessly.

« System, inquiry: What is the affinity between this relic's mana and Athena? »

⟬ System response: 88%. ⟭

Tycon raised an eyebrow in amusement. He had a theory to explain Athena's high affinity, but he wanted to verify... "Athena, what is the story behind this box?"

The seated Athena frowned, remaining silent.

"You can tell him, Athena," Tanamar helped her to stand. "We can trust him."

"Y-yeah, I know..." The girl sniffed, pouting her lips, "It's still... I just... I still miss him, so much."

...

The young lady told a tearful story. Tycon had to gather all the information and reorganize it to make sense of it. He had deciphered worse, so he did not mind.

It was several years prior. Athena was still a child and Maximus had only recently joined the Church's special forces. The box was a spoil from one of the Warmage's first missions and he intended it sealed in the underground vault, never to be opened.

Years later, Maximus returned-- over a year prior to the current date. He had changed. Little was left of the kind, soft-spoken elder brother in Athena's memory. Though the young lady's faith was shaken, her love for her brother could not be diminished-- though not for lack of trying on his part.

Sanctum Parmularius Maximus' team was massacred down to one. Maximus himself was so grievously injured, he fell in rank. He was listless, paranoid... temperamental. He left the manor soon after... but he left very insistent instructions.

The box was to never leave the manor.

He didn't say anything about not using it... or even opening it --just that it must neither be sold nor given away. And most certainly, it was not allowed to fall into the hands of heretics.

As Tanamar gently consoled the sniveling mess that was Athena, Tycon quietly reviewed the information.

He was both annoyed, yet awed by what had transpired. It was no coincidence that Athena had developed an affinity to frost mana. Maximus had purposely left a powerful, high-mana Frost Stone within the manor with Athena's well-being in mind.

Likely, Athena always had a high affinity to frost mana. In such close proximity, the Frost Stone's residual high-purity mana was absorbed by the young lady over several years. This explained her unnaturally large mana pool and her ability to control it with precision.

It was not an exaggeration to say every breath she took was infused with high-purity mana.

Still, Tycon would not carelessly expose Athena to the Frost Crystal directly. A Third-Circle Domination magic was not something she would be able to easily resist.

However... he could draw a formation-- engineer a ritual that bypassed the relic's sentience. He didn't even need outside help. He could use the stone, itself, as the ritual's power source.

As Athena's affinity with the relic was incredibly high, she would have no issue circulating the stone's power through her mana circuits. He needed only to create a way to control its flow in order to avoid mana overload.

Tycon ran a few simulations in his head with the System's help... It was possible.

But would she agree to it?