"What are you two carrying on about?" Asked Daren, who noticed the slight commotion.
"Nothing important." Nonchalantly answered Axus.
"So, where did you find the artifacts?" Asked Kellen, finally joining into the conversation.
Daren looked over to Axus before explaining, "Some were from the city-states in the empire while the rest we recovered in other kingdoms while chasing after the Order."
Kellen nodded his head in understanding. Since many of the kingdoms from the past were occupied by the Empire, it wasn't very surprising that they could easily obtain any artifacts that were held by conquered kingdoms within their territory. However, when looking at it from a different perspective, having all the artifacts gathered in a single location would pose a massive risk.
A risk that was already exploited by the Descendant Order, in which they easily were able to obtain multiple artifacts. Ones that would have been spread out within the empire's borders, if not for this vault, making them harder to obtain at the same time. Kellen could already tell that the remaining artifact is not truly safe, unless…
Kellen walked over to Daren and inspected the gem on the brooch very closely. Sure enough, as Kellen got closer, the gem began to pulse slightly quicker and began to produce a faint blood red mist that wafted towards his skin.
Kellen could hear the faint beating of a heart coming from within the gem.
'Well are you gonna absorb it already or not?' Asked Nergal.
'But Axus and Daren are here. What the hell am I supposed to say after absorbing that thing right in front of them?' Responded Kellen, annoyed by the obnoxious words of the old demon.
'Who gives a shit? You're gonna have to do it sooner or later. Besides, it doesn't seem like that legionnaire would actually care at all.' Persuaded Nergal.
'Yeah, but there's also Daren here.'
'Look kid, isn't that Order chasing after my power too? If you absorb it, then you will be doing Axus, Daren, and hell even this empire a favor.' Said Nergal, who continued to push Kellen.
Kellen thought about the demon's words and debated whether such a thing was truly the best course of action in their situation. Would the Order still even care about the artifact if the gem was missing from it. If not, how could they figure out the purpose of these "keys" then?
His conflicted thoughts were interrupted and the outcome was decided for him as Axus snatched the brooch from Daren and tossed it over to Kellen.
Kellen caught the brooch in his hand with surprise, before feeling the familiar searing pain penetrate into his hand that held the artifact.
'Fuck…' He complained to himself as the gem detached itself from the brooch and embedded itself deep into the flesh of his palm.
"Well? Do you notice anything strange?" Asked Axus with a straight-face as Kellen's contorted slightly from the pain.
Kellen didn't answer the legionnaire as the power of the blood core coursed into his hand and then into his veins. The heat of his blood raised as the power of the core flowed into it and collected at his heart.
His veins began to glow slightly with a reddish light that traveled from his hand, up his arm, and into his chest. This light soon began to glow throughout the rest of his body before simultaneously extinguishing.
Kellen released a gasp as the shock and heat his body was enduring died down. Daren looked over at the new recruit with wide eyes that continuously shifted from the disappeared gemstone to Kellen's body.
"What the fuck was that?" Daren cried out in shock.
"Ah, finally, some actual results." Stated Axus in satisfaction.
Kellen held a similarly shocked expression, like Daren, as he looked over to Axus in surprise.
"I can explain!" He hurriedly blurted out to the legionnaire.
However, as Nergal had guessed, Axus seemed to not care at all about Kellen's mysterious interaction with the gemstone. Rather, the legionnaire simply clapped his hands and nudged Daren with his small elbow before saying, "See I told you bringing him in was a good idea."
"What do you mean, a good idea? He just fucking destroyed the artifact!" Cried out Daren, who pointed from Axus to Kellen with bulging veins beginning to show on his enraged face.
"Exactly, now we have a weapon to use against those little rat bastards that keep hoarding the artifacts." Said Axus, who walked over to Kellen and slapped the kid's arm.
"If he is able to break the artifacts, then what can that bastard Order do about it after they're all destroyed?" Said Axus while waving his hand towards Daren.
Daren slapped his own tired face while trying to understand his idiotic legionnaire's actions. Axus was quite an odd individual and could even be described as a lunatic, but for some annoying reason, the legionnaire's hunches and actions always seemed to work out.
It was just that Daren still did not know this "Kellen". Was he trustworthy? Was he someone they could rely on in a pinch? Did he really have the skills that Axus had described? He didn't know, and what Daren didn't know, worried him.
Realizing that the small legionnaire was refusing to budge on his decision, Daren sighed and walked over to inspect the recruit.
If Axus was the brawn and idol of their legion, then Daren was the brains behind the operation. Axus may not have had any concern or questions regarding the strange phenomenon, but Daren definitely did.
Before Kellen could make any sort of protest, Daren grabbed his hand that held the now empty brooch.
He studied the previous location of the gemstone before checking for anything strange on the boy's body. Besides a higher than average body temperature, Daren could not find any discrepancies in Kellen's physique or features.
"Was your body temperature always this high?" Suspiciously questioned Daren.
Kellen gulped before answering, "Yes sir, I've just always been this way."
"Probably because he has a divinity of flames, is my guess." Added Axus from the side.
Daren's fake smiling face twitched at his legionnaire's moronic input.
"What happened to the gemstone? I saw it disappear into your body just a moment ago?" Continued Daren with his investigation.
"I'm not exactly sure… But I believe I somehow absorbed it." Replied Kellen with a fake oblivious expression of his own.
"I see. And have you ever been in such contact with an artifact before?" Asked Daren with narrowed eyes.
"Truthfully, I am not sure. I once saw a sword that had a gemstone like the brooch, and when I picked it up, the same thing happened." Explained Kellen while scratching the back of his head.
Daren paused his inspection to look back up at Kellen with surprise.
"You found another artifact?" He asked.
"Well, I guess it must have been an artifact. It had a strange power that seemed to be able to turn people to stone. But, after I absorbed the gem on its hilt, its power disappeared." Replied Kellen as he somewhat explained the situation he had experienced in the underground Myria Kingdom.
"Interesting… After absorbing the stone, does anything happen to you? Do you feel anything strange?" Interrogated Daren.
"I mean, besides a heat flash and the raise in my body's temperature, not much. I do feel slightly stronger after some time has passed, but nothing ridiculous." Answered Kellen while carefully choosing his words.
"Is that where your aura comes from?" Asked Axus, who entered the questioning as well.
"I think so, if you're referring to the strange energy I feel when wielding a blade, then yeah, I guess." Said Kellen while shrugging as if he had never thought about it before.
"Have you ever confirmed whether you had a divinity or-"
"So your flames get stronger after absorbing these stones then?" Interrupted Axus, who became noticeably interested in this aspect.
"Well, yeah, whatever those stones are storing inside of them seems to intensify my flames. Actually, I'm pretty sure that it's somewhat similar to an internal furnace. I guess you could say the stones are like fuel, and every time I absorb one, the flame inside me grows." Described Kellen.
"We should test this theory out by having a spar between-"
"So, what about before you absorb them? Do you feel anything strange then?" Daren barged back in.
"I wouldn't say that I can't feel anything strange… Whenever I get into closer contact with the gemstones, I feel a pull towards them that I can't really explain. But, if I'm farther than a couple meters away from them, then it's more like an itch I can't get rid of." Kellen explained.
"Hm, I've never heard of such a thing before. The Inferno Legion's legionnaire has a divinity of fire but I've never heard him describe such a thing happening to him before…" Mumbled Daren, who became lost in his thoughts.
"Come on, let's not get all caught up in the little details. Kellen, I want to test out your newly gained strength." Said Axus as he eagerly pushed Kellen out of the vault.
"Hold on! What happened to luring the Descendant Order?" Complained Kellen in protest.
"Right! Axus, where do you think you're running off to now?" Joined in Daren, who came back to reality.
"It's not like they're gonna be here in a couple minutes." Said Axus, who continued to push Kellen's lower back.
"But how are we supposed to bait them here now? The artifact is destroyed! Do you think they'll still be coming here for this?" Asked Daren while holding up the gemless brooch.
"Can't you just make a fake stone and call it a day? We can get those bastards later." Argued Axus as he gave up on pushing Kellen and now began to drag him against his will.
"Daren can't you do anything about this?" Yelped Kellen as he fell to the floor and was dragged off by the battle crazed legionnaire.
"Well… He actually has a point. You go with him and come back later. I'll figure something out for the artifact situation." Answered Daren while begrudgingly agreeing with the reckless legionnaire.