Caeden could only laugh. How ridiculous was this? Another Throne spawned from his first throne. Was that even supposed to be possible? If so, it seemed like a load of bullshit. Then again, the whole point of this little excursion back to the CMS had been to bring Sharp to where it was supposed to be instead of the soul equivalent of an embryo. Maybe it was always supposed to be a Throne.

Caeden had no idea. Worse, he wasn’t getting any coherent impression from his new shroud. Normally, either the name of the domain or the feeling from the shroud itself would have some clues as to what the domain was all about, but Blade Forge offered up nothing but impressions of burning heat, molten metal, sharp implements, and evaporated sweat. But there were also hints of other things at the edges.

The beating of drums, the steel scraping against steel. The roar of thousands of warriors’ battle cries. The screams of the dying. And there were other things, quieter than the rest but no less potent. A soft sizzle, like meat over a fire. The subtle flickering of an open flame. It was a confusing mess of sensations, and it left Caeden feeling lost.

Luckily, he knew who to talk to to get some answers. Rising from his meditation position, Caeden very nearly stumbled. He had briefly forgotten how drained he was after the evolution process, but his body let him know as soon as he started moving. He was bone tired and worn out. Evolving his own shroud was incomparable to the strain of doing it to someone else’s.

For a second, Caeden almost used a smidge of Physical Enhancement to push back the fatigue before he remembered what he’d just done. Evolution put a massive strain on the unintegrated shroud and put him at risk of a rupture. It shouldn't be near as bad as previous instances since Caeden’s soul was now reinforced by his new shroud, but he wouldn’t risk it until that was actually confirmed.

Internally, Caeden was about as certain as he could get that they had succeeded. Somewhere soul deep, he felt more solid, more real, than he ever had in his entire life. It felt how he imagined seeing for the first time would to a blind man. He’d never noticed the absence of that stability until he had it, but now he couldn’t imagine how he’d lived without it.

Taking a moment to sit down and adjust to himself helped settle some of the vertigo and raw tiredness he was feeling, so he was up and on his way back to the CMS before too long. In fact, Caeden felt like he recovered much faster than he should have without infusing himself with shroud, but that might have been his imagination spinning up extra benefits to his newly reinforced and integrated soul.

Unlike last time, it only took a moment for Caeden to be drawn back into the soul realm after he raised Forged Infinity.

Welcome back! Now, let’s see how it went…Damn, that’s impressive.

Caeden briefly ignored the researcher, instead taking a look at himself. Or, more accurately, at his soul. Once again, he wished he could get this view any time. For all her troubles, Cat’s ability to see soul damage and peer into the soul plane had been an endless boon to him over the last couple of months.

Looking at himself, Caeden could understand the impressed sounds coming from the grey figure hovering over him. First of all, his soul was nearly a thousand times the size it had been, using the researcher for scale. No longer pea-sized, it was closer to an apple or pear. Comparatively, the increase was massive. Still, Caeden thought his soul was, at most, slightly larger than what he remembered of his friend's souls from their first visit to the CMS. Compared to the researcher, he was still tiny.

The ball of purple and gold denoting Physical Enhancement was unchanged, now much smaller compared to his soul. It looked slightly worn but not nearly as beat up as Caeden would have feared. Just a few ragged edges, no serious tearing or bulging that indicated a true concern. As expected, the researcher had been right. Integration with his first shroud had reduced the strain on Physical Enhancement, even though it wasn’t directly affected.

Of course, Caeden’s soul was completely different. No longer was it a relatively featureless white ring with the mesh of Sharp encasing it. Finally, it resembled the complete souls of his friends, a detailed form that represented his shroud.

Surprisingly, it wasn’t a perfect match to his sigil. His friends had also had some minor variants because of their splinters or higher forms, like the spider on Erik’s soul that had represented Sauma’s old Arachne form or the different parts of Lily’s soul representing her splinters. But Caeden’s soul wasn’t a throne. Instead, it was a coiled dragon with steel scales that appeared to be hollow, the underbelly filled with roaring flames and molten metal instead of flesh or scales.

Its horned head rested in the coils; eyes closed as if asleep. It had four four-toed feet, one of which clutched a knife dripping blood. Caeden gazed in awe, stunned at the majesty of his new soul. Then he felt a bit embarrassed. Who was so narcissistic that they were impressed with their own soul? That just sounded silly. Still, it was beautiful, projecting an air of grace and power that was almost tangible.

Damn, kiddo. I wasn’t expecting that. A draconic soul. Then again, you did evolve your shroud while integrating it with your soul while bonded to a monster of draconic descent. Dragon lineages tend to spread real easy, so that's something. Looks like you’re still recovering from the evolution process, but you definitely succeeded. Congratulations, kid. You’re not out of the woods yet, but this is a massive step in the right direction. Especially with a draconic soul. You’ll be much less vulnerable to soul damage now.

I feel amazing. More solid. It’s like I was barely alive this whole time, and now I’m suddenly in peak health. Caeden tried to describe the sensation of integrating his soul.

Honestly, that’s exactly what was happening. You’ve lived your entire life a half-inch from death. It’s a miracle you’re alive at all. Let alone that you’ve managed to progress this far this fast. You might find yourself experiencing explosive growth from now on.

Yeah, I know we briefly touched on that before, but I’m not sure I follow.

Well, it’s pretty simple. Much of the progress made with a shroud growing your utility, control, and capacity is determined by the depth of your integration. Since you’ve been operating at essentially zero integration this whole time and still succeeded to this degree, I’d consider you nothing short of a genius.

Well, I mean, my integration hasn’t been at zero. Caeden had been working hard to bring his integration up, but it had never been at zero with Sharp. Obviously, he couldn’t place an exact number on it until he’d met the researcher, but he knew it wasn’t zero.

Oh, I understand your confusion. Integration doesn’t stop once your soul has joined with your shroud, like what you just accomplished. This is literally the baseline all shrouded are born with. That was the metric I had set Forged Infinity to monitor. It was tracking your external integration, the process of a soul and shroud becoming one entity. Now you need to work on internal integration, exercising and manipulating the soul to better use your shroud.

This is the process that can increase your shroud control and broaden your horizons. Luckily, it’s raised using the same process you already know, meditation while manifested. But you should focus on getting Physical Enhancement to the external integration threshold first. That, too, should be easier now. Honestly, everything will be easier for you now that your soul is so much more robust.

Why didn’t you tell me about any of this sooner?

You didn’t need to know it. Internal integration doesn’t fucking exist until external integration is complete. There was no point in telling you about something that didn’t even apply to you yet. Plus, it's genuinely not something you need to worry about. You’re a damn savant, and you were before your soul was complete. Now, I don’t even want to think about how fast you’re going to grow. Your soul is literally over a thousand times stronger than it was before. That level of increase is absurd.

Now, forget about all that shit. What’s up with your new shroud? Caeden could hear the eagerness in his voice. Come on, spill.

What do you mean? Can’t Forged Infinity tell you? I thought that was the whole point.

You just evolved and integrated a shroud. Forged Infinity was designed for your old shrouds and your old soul, not how you are now. Plus, your increased soul strength means I can’t peer into it the same way I used to; your innate defenses are better. I can’t just take a peek without resorting to more…invasive...methods. So, what’s up? I’m damn curious about what happened to you. There’s never been a dual-shrouded with a Throne before, so no one has ever evolved their own shroud. Plus, your unique situation has me thinking that the domain produced from the evolution must be pretty special.

I guess you could say that.

Hah! Your soul is already impressive enough for me to get a rough impression. Is it a dragon-related domain? Considering the shape of your soul, that is what I was expecting. Perhaps a creature shroud with a dragon-leaning creature type or something related to fire or other physical components like scales or fangs?

Honestly, I’m not sure. The domain is weird, and I don’t get a definitive impression from it. It’s not like Sharp or even Physical Enhancement. Also, it’s a Throne.

…What?

It’s a Throne. My evolution produced a second Throne, which I would have thought was impossible. I mean, if Thrones can produce new Thrones, that seems wildly powerful. Why aren’t there more, if it’s possible? Seems like every Throne holder would evolve as many shrouded as possible just to get more Thrones in their forces, considering how powerful they are. Plus, the process would speed up exponentially. Every Throne evolved could evolve more people and add up to ever more Thrones along the way.

No, no. I heard the part about the Throne. It’s likely a consequence of you evolving the shroud during an integration, something that’s normally completely impossible. The integration would have unforeseen effects on the evolution and create the heightened levels of power necessary for a Throne to emerge. No, what were you saying before that?

Uh, the domain is weird? Caeden was thrown. His vague impressions of Blade Forge seemed far less important than the fact that it had evolved into a Throne, but the researcher had dismissed the fact out of hand like it was hardly worth mentioning. He had no idea why.

Yes. That. Elaborate. The extradimensional being’s words had grown clipped and short, with a ner-physical pressure attached to every word.

I don’t know what else to say! The sensation I get from my sigil is different from Sharp or Physical Enhancement. Those had solid, exact impressions. Sharp sounds like blades against a whetstone and smells like freshly spilled blood. Physical Enhancement makes me feel like I’m a hundred feet tall and made of the densest, hardest metal imaginable. Just completely overwhelming and indestructible.

But that’s all they feel like. Very specific feelings and sensations that define what they are. Sharp sharpens, and Physical Enhancement makes everything stronger. This…This was different. Blade Forge felt like a thousand different things all at the same time. I have no idea what the domain is supposed to be because the name isn’t exactly specific, and the impressions are even wilder. I mean, is it supposed to be about forging blades, like it helps me do that? Or does the shroud forge blades for me? Maybe it means the shroud creates a forge tailored for making blades. I don’t know.

There was a long silence.

Blade Forge…Blade Forge…The researcher started mumbling. Come on, come on. Where’s the listing of rare configurations? No, not there either. What about combined archetypes? No. Maybe Extraplanar? Or Subdimensional? Not there either. Nothing. Not anywhere on a single list of fundamental concepts or mortal designs.

Caeden, I need you to give me permission to access your memory. I need to use it as search criteria to figure out what your shroud is now. The researcher said. There was an almost manic edge to his voice.

Um, ok? Caeden was starting to worry. The researcher had never once shown any real emotion beyond mild amusement and general curiosity. This tension and escalating intensity was new and alarming, coming from a being whose strength and age Caeden could hardly comprehend.

Moments later, Caeden’s concern grew into actual fear as the world started shaking. The glowing light of the Pillar in the distance, shining even on the soul plane, wavered and shook as the chains holding it in place over Caeden’s head rattled from some unknown force.

Caeden’s soul shook, vibrating like a tuning fork. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but it was coming very close to hurting him in ways he couldn’t afford.

Slowly, slowly, the intensity started to lower. The shaking slipped into rattling, then even lower into a more audible sound. At that point, Caeden finally realized what was happening.

The researcher was laughing.