Lith took another sip of the tonic and nodded.
‘Feela is right. Back on Earth, even something dumb like social media became a great tool for stalkers, psychos, and thieves of all kinds. There’s no telling what the wrong person might accomplish with a magical legacy.’ He thought.
Once the Behemoth left Faluel’s lair, Lith could finally speak freely with the Hydra. After studying with Solus his fight against Jakra to deepen their understanding of Origin Flames, Lith had noticed how his last attack had dealt much more damage than it was supposed to.
“How the heck did I do that?” He showed Faluel the fight from start to finish so that the Hydra could study both opponents.
“I’m sorry, I know nothing about Origin Flames. That’s why we keep using Domination. I need results and you need to train your eyes. Spewing flames with a trial-and-error approach would just waste our time.
“You need to accept Xenagrosh’s offer and get some training with her or wait to finish your apprenticeship to have the time you need to master them.” The Hydra said while pointing out the mistakes Lith had done during that fight.
Jakra was such an expert fighter that made her stare at him in awe more than once, wondering how could have Lith possibly survived facing such a monster.
“I meant the last slash! The one that cracked his armor and put the Emerald Dragon out of commission.” He replied.
“You’ve just complained that you don’t have the time to even breathe normally. Do you really want to add another thing to your to-do list?” Faluel asked.
“Fuck me sideways! Solus?” He was too tired to think, leaving the decision to her.
“Tell me via a mind link and I’ll share it with him the moment our schedule has a spot open. Lith can’t be trusted with such knowledge. He would just torture himself the whole time until he finds a way to practice it.” Solus said.
Lith nodded, knowing that she was right. If power was involved, he would easily become obsessed with anything that could increase his battle prowess. He would have no peace until he found the person behind the Balkor cards and made them pay.
‘That kind of attack is known as a tier Blade spell.’ Faluel said via a mind link.
‘What’s that?’ Solus asked.
‘The reason why almost all Awakened sooner or later become Forgemasters and why Rulers of the Flames are so prized by the Council. To give you an example, if Spirit Magic can be considered tier six magic, Blade Magic is considered tier seven.’
‘What?’ Solus was flabbergasted not only because she had failed to understand how powerful Spirit Magic was, but also because Faluel’s words made her wonder how Tower Magic had to be ranked.
‘Think about it. Spirit Magic can do everything that the other kinds of magic can, but in an easier and more powerful way. On top of that, it’s not hindered by arrays, hence tier six. Okay?’ Faluel asked.
‘Okay.’ Solus nodded.
‘The same stands for Blade Magic. It can do everything that Spirit Magic does, but better, hence tier seven.’
‘How does it work, exactly?’ Solus pondered those words, reaching the conclusion that based on such definition, Tower Magic added one tier to any kind of magic it was applied to.
After all, now Lith and her could cast Spirit Tower magic and if they learned Blade Spells, then tier eight Blade Tower spells would be born.
‘Blade Tier spells require at least one piece of equipment with a power core. At that point, the wielder has to synchronize with their equipment until it becomes akin to a part of their body.
‘Only then can the mage add the power of the pseudo cores and of the runes to that of their own mana core, allowing them to exceed the limits that even a bright purple core has.
‘To oversimplify things, let’s say that Blade Tier spells require the mage to fuse with their equipment as if it was a living legacy. Hence my hypothesis is that, since you are alive and back then you were fused with Lith’s equipment, you two triggered a Blade Spell.’ Faluel said.
‘Good gods! If Lith knew about this he would never let me hear the end of it.’ A cold shiver ran down Solus’s back at the thought of how much Lith would have whined until he got the opportunity to train Blade Tier spells.
It was enough to make her ears bleed.
‘Wait a minute. What does Blade Magic have to do with Forgemastering and Rulers or the Flames?’ She asked.
‘This is easier to understand. To became one with your equipment, you need to be attuned to it. It’s not a matter of power or complexity of the enchantments so much as of choosing those that are natural for you to use.
‘Those spells that, even though they might not be the most powerful, suit your combat style best. Becoming a Forgemaster allows you to craft all kinds of gear and to experiment in the hope to find the right one.
‘I know Awakened who wasted their entire fortunes without ever achieving Blade Magic. As for the Rulers of the Flames, they were all famous for being able to know what kind of equipment their clients would be attuned with.’ Faluel said.
‘Can you use Blade Magic?’ Solus asked.
‘I have my Hydra legacy and I’m a skilled Forgemaster but it’s not that easy. Otherwise all bloodlines who practice Forgemastering would learn it. Blade Magic it’s both a matter of equipment and of the user, that’s why many people just give up on it.
‘You may know the entire procedure and yet never manage to use them for reasons you can’t really understand until you get there.’ Faluel said. “By the way, have you two seen this?”
The Hydra showed them the images of the fight between the Horsemen and the Kingdom’s champions, making Lith’s and Solus’s jaw drop to the floor.
“How did you get those footages? They aren’t anywhere on the Kingdom’s interlink.” Lith said.
“From the Emperor Beast’s network. The survivors of those battles passed their memories to our Forgemasters with a mind link and in turn, they converted them into data that could be shared. It would have been easier if we had more Light Masters.” Faluel sighed, yet she had no desire to share such power with others.
“What did the Corpse do? What did Valeron do? Who the fuck are those people?” Lith pointed at the various moves that had turned the tides of what looked like impossible battles.
“Respectively, I don’t know, Solus knows, and those are King Valeron’s teammates.” Faluel chuckled.
“That woman with the rainbow hair resembles you a lot. Are you two related?” Solus asked after noticing too many similarities between the unknown mage’s visage and her mentor’s.
“Correct. That’s Fyrwal, my mother.” She nodded.
“Your Mom helped to found the Kingdom?” Lith and Solus blurted out in surprise.
“Yes. She also gave a great contribution to the Hydra legacy thanks to what she learned from Valeron.” Faluel said.
“Is she still alive?” Lith asked.
“Of course she is! I’m barely over 300 years and an Awakened Hydra’s lifespan is around 3,000 years.”
08/29/2021: extra chap!
