“What do you mean?” Morok asked.
“The adults who accompany the kids accelerate their own aging as well. Also, there would be no point in giving them Magus Chairs to play with if the monsters didn’t care about the children.” Quylla’s throat felt parched but her voice was steady.
“Which brings us to the next point.” Faluel said. “We came here in the hope that Glemos’ test subjects were more like Echidna and less like Typhos. Yet there’s no point sparing their lives and giving them a safe haven if they behave like regular monsters.
“What we found here means nothing without context. It could be a way to cull the weak with a sprinkle of mercy just like it could just be a playground for children whose bodies remain unfallen even away from the mana geyser.”
Her words made the others sigh in relief and tense up at the same time.
“Hence we are currently stuck. Not only because we have yet to find the exact location of Glemos’ secret lab but also because we have no idea what to do once we find it.
“I’m not going to risk our lives by showing mercy and restraint towards creatures that may not deserve them. Based on what we saw during the raids, we are going to fight an entire populace of reverted monsters, some of which have managed to evolve.
“Also, we’d be fighting in their own city where they have the home advantage, whatever the Tyrant’s bloodline left as their legacy, and the gods know how many deadly arrays at their disposal.”
“Agreed.” Morok nodded. “First, we have to find an access point. After that, we have to infiltrate their city and determine if a parlay is possible and if they even deserve one. Only then we can come up with a plan.
“If they’re nothing but bloodthirsty warmongers we might as well alert the Council and storm the underground complex. We can still call dibs on my bloodline legacy because finders keepers.”
“He means that by discovering the monsters’ hideout, providing the Council with an access point, recon, and intel about the enemy’s numbers and formations, we can uphold Morok’s birthright to the spoils of war.” Ajatar rolled his eyes in frustration.
“That’s what I said. Just with much fewer words.” The Tyrant said with a snort.
“There’s no calling dibs in politics, you runt.” The Drake’s words came out in a low growl. “If our claims don’t have solid foundations, we risk getting robbed.”
“I risk getting robbed, you mean.” Morok replied.
“Whatever. Now let’s resume our search until Nalrond and Friya get back. We can’t call them without the risk of exposing their presence and we have yet to find a clue to how to get in.”
The group spread out again yet no matter how much they searched, they only found more evidence of children’s games.
‘Let’s try this.’ Lith closed his eyes while constantly calling upon Solus via the mind link.
There was still static, but the closer he got to her position, the louder it became.
‘Okay, she’s right below me now.’ He had found a point where he could almost hear fragments of words from time to time. ‘Too bad that almost only works for nukes and grenades. I need Nalrond to get closer.’
About half an hour after their departure, the Rezar and Friya resurfaced.
“It’s as deep as it’s huge.” Nalrond said as soon as the group had converged to his position. “We spent this whole time just circling around the underground complex to determine its size and we were far from over when we left.”
“How big are we talking about?” Lith asked.
“Do you remember the lab of the Lich from where we mine our silver?” The Rezar asked, obtaining a nod in reply. “Bigger.”
“That’s not all.” Friya said. “The entire place is brimming with mana to the point that it blinded Life Vision. Based on what you told me, it’s similar to Kulah. The power of the mana geyser is trapped and focused on the city, that’s why we can’t see it from above.
“We needed to get really close to distinguish the runes of the arrays but there were too many and they were too bright to make sense of them without exceptional Eyes.” She emphasized the last word while looking at Lith.
“Great, so you basically discovered nothing useful.” Morok snorted. “Why didn’t you at least finish exploring? There must be a tunnel somewhere that we can use to get down there.”
“Because I was freaking out.” Friya crossed her arms. “After spending so long in complete darkness and witnessing arrays powerful enough to wipe us out I started to panic. You can go with Nalrond next if you think you can do better.”
“No need to get defensive, sister.” Morok raised his palms. “I hear you. Between Kulah, the Feymar mines, and Glemos’ labs, I’ve had enough of caves for two Awakened lifetimes.”
“Me too.” Quylla shivered at the memories of all those adventures.
Not for the danger she had gone through, but because this was the first time that Phloria wouldn’t be with her.
“I miss her too.” Lith patted Quylla’s shoulder. “Yet I’m the perfect candidate for the mission. Thanks to my link with the tracker, I can receive all the intel we need just by getting close.
“Also, with my Eyes, I can read runes better than a human.” He made his five extra eyes open to hide Menadion’s appearing. “If we find an access point, I’m going in alone.”
“Did you discover another bloodline ability? How does it… Never mind. Please, continue.” Morok was really curious about Lith’s alleged newest bloodline ability.
After all, the multiple eyes of both the Tiamat and the Tyrant derived from the evolution of their respective human side. Morok hoped that the two species shared enough similarities that he could develop Lith’s same abilities or at least use them as a lead to discover his own.
Yet he swallowed his question knowing that best case scenario the Tiamat would refuse to answer and worst case scenario Lith would give Morok a straight lie.
‘Solus was with him way before Salaark was in the picture so the story about her being an apprentice of the Overlord is bullshit. I still don’t know who she really is or where everyone but me and Ajatar go from time to time.
‘If his newfound power is even close in power to Domination or Dragon Eyes, he won’t tell me either without a good reason. My only question is why Quylla knows and yet she refuses to tell me anything about Lith.
‘I’m the one she’s going to marry yet it’s his secrets she keeps!’ Morok inwardly grumbled, putting such thoughts on the back burner for the umpteenth time now.
Every time Quylla went to the moon or in the tower to help Lith to Forgemaster a new piece, she would leave Morok behind without making an excuse or lying.
She would just say: “I can’t tell you so please don’t ask me. I don’t want to choose between my best friend and my fiancé.”
“Yes.” Lith replied, lying through his teeth with an ease that gave goosebumps to those who knew the truth, fooled Ajatar, and didn’t clear the Tyrant’s suspicions one bit.
