“Why do you think the Rezar that Nalrond saw never shared his knowledge with his clansmen? Werepeople are a tight-knit community, it doesn’t make any sense.” She asked.
“I have a couple of ideas about it.” Solus’s words made everyone open their eyes wide.
“First, Mogar has the habit to change its appearance based on the guest. Remember that Arthan and Menadion represented the answers respectively about me and Lith, whereas the Rezar was the only question Nalrond asked for himself.
“It’s possible that just like Mogar took his human appearance, the answer took the form of the part of himself that he rejects.”
“What about the second hypothesis?” Friya said.
“If the shade wasn’t Nalrond himself, then maybe the Rezar was an Emperor Beast.” Solus replied. “Maybe they tried to help the Werepeople but failed to find the Fringe to pass them the answer. If I’m right, then maybe the answer is out there, somewhere.
“Even if Nalrond failed, we have still learned a lot from his attempt. Lith’s answer lies in Arthan’s research, mine in Menadion’s past, and Nalrond’s just has to reach out to his Emperor Beast cousins.”
“What if you are wrong?” Friya asked.
“Then it’s even better. It means that all Werepeople have the potential to become one, just like all Awakened have the potential to reach a violet core. It’s only a matter of understanding how.” Solus said.
“I have an idea.” Coming from Morok’s mouth, those words sounded out of this world.
“What if I attempt a mind link with Mogar while mister crybaby recovers? If Lith’s girlfriend is right, then by asking two questions for others and one for me, we can check if the answers change their appearance based on who asks the questions.
“On top of that, I’m the only one who has no self-esteem issues so I might be able to kick some solid ass.” He pointed at the Soul Projections of the others that expressed how heavy they felt their respective burden.
“What does Morok mean, he has no issues?” Solus asked.
Friya explained to her the phenomenon of the Soul Projections, making Solus so curious that she activated the hologram function after hiding behind Phloria’s back. Unfortunately, they weren’t shown by the amulet.
Quylla solved the issue by using Light Mastery to project holograms of their respective Soul Projections.
“Dammit. I wish I was there with you. We could have finally solved a lot of mysteries.” Solus wondered if her own would have shown how she looked like and if Lith’s would clear the secret behind his life forces.
“What do you think of my idea, invisible woman?” Morok asked while looking around the projection of the tower’s room without being able to find the source of the voice.
“I believe you are right. Based on your Projections and how the village elder interpreted them, you are the only one who might tap into his full potential in the mindscape. Remember that your real strength is not the limit.
“If you believe yourself invincible, you can make it true.” Solus replied.
“Thanks. We’ll make a second attempt as soon as we recover our strength. If Mogar is the asshole you described to me, then I think I can cheat my way to victory. Especially if we use Quylla’s circles instead of the regular ones.” Morok said.
Solus had no idea what he meant, but she was too tired to talk any longer. After wishing her friends a good night, she ended the call.
“I’m going back to sleep. Are you staying here?” Phloria asked.
“Yes. The closer I am to Lith the faster I recover. Also, his life force has yet to stabilize. If his condition gets worse, I’m the only one who can take care of him.” Solus said while resting on his chest to use Invigoration on Lith.
She could see the doubt in Phloria’s eyes, but Solus couldn’t blame Phloria for questioning her true motivations since her own words didn’t convince Solus as well. The tower was her body, staying in the same room wouldn’t make her mystical senses more accurate nor her response faster in the case something went wrong.
“Try to get some rest. There’s no telling when you’ll need your full strength.” Phloria closed the door and returned to her own room with her mind in disarray.
‘After Balkor’s attack, I stood by his side all the time together with Solus, yet back then I wasn’t aware of her existence. Now, however, the same situation would be awkward.
“Not only because he already has a girlfriend, but also because the more time I spend with them, the more I realize how much of our relationship we shared with Solus. I can’t believe how complicated things have become in just a few years.’ She inwardly sighed.
Inside Lith’s room, Solus thought the same things, but coming to a different conclusion.
‘I hoped that the closer I got to obtain a human body, the clearer my feelings would become, yet they are only getting messier. The only silver lining is that my relationship with Lith can’t become more complicated than this, can’t it?’ Solus thought.
Meanwhile, in the streets of Reghia, a lonely humanoid figure walked the streets while looking at what looked like a compass the needle of which was made out a pure white crystal.
‘Dammit, I can’t believe that Ripha screwed up this badly. The Pathfinder is supposed to point me at her tower the moment I come in a radius of 1000 kilometers from it, no matter if the tower has been imprinted or not.
‘Yet the needle keeps spinning as if it can’t recognize the tower core’s signal.’ Just like Menadion, Lochra Silverwing had no idea that fusing a living person to an artifact would alter its energy signature to the point of making the Pathfinder useless.
After several attempts, Silverwing stopped cursing her bad luck and started asking for directions. After all, the number of Wyrmlings who came from the Garlen continent and temporarily resided in Reghia amounted to one.
Once she found the building, Lochra remained impressed by the layers of arrays that made her Life Vision pointless and nullified all of her detection spells.
‘Whoever did this sure has talent and cunning, but they must also be very young. Their formations have power but lack stability.’ She thought while using Spirit Magic to alter the flow of world energy in the runes and stretch them just enough to slip through the arrays without triggering any of the alarms.
‘If the tower could draw the full power of the mana geyser and the kid who stole it mastered its defenses, this would have been much harder. Luck is by-‘ Once she opened the door of the building, Lochra froze seeing how run-down Menadion’s tower was.
Memories and reality overlapped for a second, making her shed warm tears.
‘Good gods. The tower has never been so small, not even when Ripha had just finished the crafting process and it had yet to absorb the energy needed to tap into its full potential.
‘This is all my fault. If I didn’t go into seclusion for one hundred years just to finish one of my experiments, I would have answered that damn call. My disciple and her daughter would still be alive.’ Lochra thought.
