Salem and I swam into the cave, and I immediately felt myself start to gag and choke, the water too thin here to support my – oh. A quick pulse of ether to the construct for the naiad's kiss ritual later, and I took a deep breath of the clean, fresh air in the cave, enjoying the breeze that rushed through the cavern, before I looked around.

The cave was about the size of my bedroom, with multiple strange things located throughout the room, though my eyes were drawn to the back of the room, where a large door was set. It looked a lot like the doors inside the Coven of the Twilight Grotto, but instead of marked with the symbols of the coven, it was entirely blank. I glanced at my ring to see if there was any reaction, but… nothing. Probably just an ordinary portal to bring us back, then?

Scattered throughout the room were pillars covered in runes, each of which seemed to be emitting small amounts of air. Alone, they weren't anything much, but as a collective, they were the source of the breeze that rushed through the entire area. More interestingly, at least to me, was the fact that atop each of the pillars, something was floating. I raised my hand and muttered a handful of words, twisting my fingers in a specific pattern. An instant later, my vision began to glow slightly as the ethersight spell was set into effect.

Somewhat to my surprise, many of the items floating over the podiums didn't actually look like they were meant to be used in the construction of a mage's tool, but rather, were entirely completed and crafted artifacts. The nearest one to me, for example, was a thin cord necklace with three seashells on it. Each of the seashells had magic that looked somewhat akin to a spellglyph, but more flexible, less rigidly constrained to the laws and regulations of Magyk, which indicated to me that it was crafted by affinity, rather than by spell. The spell stored within each of the shells was all the same, a powerful instance of magic that looked somewhat like a fifth circle version of my own aquatic torrent spell.

I didn't know if the shells were rechargeable, or if they were meant to be single use, but either way, three uses of fifth circle magic was a fairly potent bonus to be able to wield in combat.

"How many d'ya think we're allowed ta' take?"

I glanced around, looking for any rules posted that we might have missed, but didn't see anything specific. There was an argument to be made that meant we were allowed to take everything, but the lure of treasure in a cavern beneath the sea seemed like a fairly standard test to me. I wasn't certain how the Erudite had set it up, but I knew that if I had been in charge of design, I'd have a sliding scale of negative effects. Taking one thing and leaving was fine. Maybe two would remove the door, forcing you to swim all the way up. Three might trigger guardians to emerge, like summoned elementals. I was so caught up in designing the mental test that when Salem coughed, I jumped and blushed in embarrassment.

"I don't know for sure, but my guess is that we're allowed to take one thing each? That would also fit with the themes of the crystal caverns, which allow two crystals in total."

"Fine… You're righ' an' I agree, but I was hopin' you'd say we could take it all."

I nodded and began to walk around through the cavernous naiad trial chamber. The rewards here all seemed to be better than the rewards in the crystal caverns, and I was guessing that there were a few reasons why. First of all, it was harder to find than the caverns were. The pool was listed on the map, sure, but there was no indication that there was anything useful for magic within the pool. More than that, even if you went there, you weren't guaranteed to actually find the trial. Then, if that still wasn't enough, I thought that the water-based combat was fairly difficult. Even with the naiad's kiss ritual, a water-based offensive spell, and the ability to summon water elementals, it had been close for me at the end.

Having such good loot, though, made it difficult for me to decide. There were a lot of things that caught my eye: a bracelet that contained a set of four channeled specific water affinity spells for aquatic armor, water torsion bolts, a slicing water pressure wave not unlike aquatic torrent, and an orb of clinging water that could potentially drown someone. That one was especially tempting as a channel, since when I completed the dragonmage ritual, I'd be able to increase the output of the spells with the higher density ether in my pool.

There was a vial that contained a flowing, metallic looking liquid, almost like quicksilver, but radiated a freezing cold frost that I could feel even from nearing the pillar. It looked like a ritual component of some sort, and the amount of power that it held looked close to a fifth circle component. It was likely meant as a core component, and I was guessing it would be fairly compatible with water and metal spells, but if it had any relation to the quicksilver that it looked like, it might be useful with my curses.

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There was a ship, contained within a stoppered magical bottle. The bottle was absolutely brimming with conjuration magic, and that combined with the ship contained within made me almost certain that it could actually summon a boat if opened. The boat within the model wasn't as fancy as the massive pirate ships with dozens of canons that we had fought, nor as sleek and quick as Gerhard's personal vessel, but it was still an entire sailing ship, all for the person who took the bottle. That was tempting.

Though all of those were interesting, one thing reigned supreme above all the others: a vial of deep sea dragon's blood, sealed within a single use time-stopping vial. It was a bounty of near endless opportunities, at least for me.

For one, I could likely use it as another component for a mage tool ritual, just like I could with the metal. The power coursing through the blood was also roughly fifth circle, and I figured my attunement with it would be higher than it would be for the liquid metal, given that I'd be using a draconic component as a dragon. But that felt like a waste. It wouldn't be a waste for an average mage, sure, but I had some rather unique applications for the blood that the average mage didn't.

Because I also thought I might be able to use it during the dragonmage ritual. I still wasn't sure if I'd work on expanding my bloodline and then incorporating it into my ether pool or if I'd incorporate it, and then attempt to form a second bloodline, but either way, this presented some interesting options.

If I went with the first, then I'd be able to potentially pour the flame into the brazier during the ritual and weave in some command over water into my bloodline. That would turn me into something rather new, and I thought, interesting, especially after I fused it with the pool of ether in my spirit. If I used it for the second route, I'd get more standardized, but no less potent, effects. I'd have to form the constructs for my existing bloodline in my ether pool, giving me some of my draconic powers, then by using the blood in a new ritual – likely modified from consume bloodline – I could theoretically become a sea dragon. That was nothing to sneeze at.

Whatever I wound up doing with the blood, there was no other item in the room that matched it in terms of usefulness to me specifically. That didn't mean that it was the strongest item in the room – that would be a spiral snail shell that was dripping with such deadly levels of magical venom that even I, with a draconic physique, was scared to touch it – but it was absolutely the best fit for me personally.

I lifted the vial from the pillar, slipped it into my locker, and glanced at Salem. He was debating between a feather – odd, this deep in the ocean – and a bright red piece of coral.

"Siren's feather," Salem explained, pointing at the first one. "Not sure what the aerial siren breed is doin' here, but I guess they do still lure sailors to their doom an' such."

"I thought all sirens were fish people, like merfolk," I commented as I examined the feather.

"They actually all started out as birds. They looked a lot like harpies, an' some scholars think they were originally harpies 'at absorbed mind-alterin' magic,, but their bloodline adapted more an' more to be water based, an' now there are the sea ones an' the air ones."

"I do see how a siren could be a good pick for your magic," I agreed as I studied the coral. That one was confusing to me. To my ethersight, the coral looked to be somewhat like a magical item, or maybe a bloodline that had been imbued into an item? No, that wasn't quite right. Maybe like someone had imbued the item with a vast amount of chi? That felt closer, but I was increasingly sure that I had never seen exactly this brand of magic before, and I couldn't place what it did, or if it was just meant to be broken down and used in mage tools.

"True-crimson coal" Salem said, letting out a wistful sigh. I waited a moment, blinking at him, and he looked at me. "Ah, righ', you're not from Hydref. It's a material sometimes found on the coast a' the demon lands, an' it's absurdly rare. Druids go wild for it."

"What does it actually do?"

"For as long as ya' own it, it improves your luck. Luck's a rare affinity, an' in the entire school'a divination magic, there are only a few spells tha' use it. I dunno if I'll even see somethin' like this again. But also, m' not a Druid. I cannae empower it with the world's magic an' use it as a source a' great power. It migh' make life a lil' bit easier, make me a lil' bit safer an' all, but s' not gonna be anythin' crazy."

"How long does it last?" I asked, only for Salem to shoot me an odd look. I shrugged. I still knew so little about druidry that I felt it was a fair question.

"Till the coral dies, of course. S' part a' why m' so annoyed. If I take it, m' gonna need a saltwater tank an' all that stuff."

"Ahh, I think I see the shape of it now. It's a long lasting luck charm, but it requires upkeep and focus. The feather is a potent increase to your power that requires no upkeep, and has more direct, tangible benefits. That's a tough one."

Salem nodded and waffled back and forth for some time before eventually selecting the feather. I paused for a long moment, waiting for some reaction from the cave, before we stepped through the door and emerged back in the sunlight above the pool.

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