The group started to follow Ajatar’s plan, attacking the magical formation at its center, where the density of the runes was the highest but where also there was no interaction with the rest of the network.
‘Remember, we don’t need to take it down. Only to temporarily loosen the spell enough for Lith to slip through undetected.’ Ajatar said via the mind link.
Faluel’s seven heads kept studying the hologram, passing any new information she inferred to the Drake who was in charge of dealing with the array. The younger Awakened acted as his limbs, following his directions and focusing solely on keeping the portions of runes he had already unraveled in stasis.
The scene reminded Lith of an operating room where a surgeon cut open the patient while the rest of the staff made sure he hadn’t to worry about anything but the task at hand.
‘This is the best I can do.’ Ajatar said when only a thin layer of energy separated them from the underground complex. ‘Any more and the array would either crumble or send a distress signal I can’t stop unless I turn the array off.’
‘Don’t worry, this is more than enough.’ Faluel said. ‘Kids, cut the mind link with anyone but me and follow my lead.’
Lith, Friya, Tista, and Morok linked each with a different head, letting the Hydra almost take over their bodies. They had no experience in combining their Domination abilities but they were eager to learn.
The mind of the Hydra was a gentle, soothing presence that guided their senses, teaching them how to not be blinded by the colossal energy mass surrounding the underground complex and also feel each other’s presence.
‘Back when I taught Dominance, you focused solely on the spells you had to take over and on reacting by instinct in order to avoid any delay due to second thoughts or hesitation.
‘That’s all that a beginner Dominator needs to know to fight on their own. In situations like this, however, it limits your perceptions.
‘In order to combine our bloodline abilities, you need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture, like when I taught you how to obtain the same effects of Scanner with your respective breathing techniques.
‘Ignore the spells in front of you and try to feel your surroundings.’ She said.
‘What are we supposed to look for?’ Lith asked, hating generic instructions.
‘Willpower.’ Faluel replied. ‘Each of your eyes gives you a different elemental affinity but that’s only one part of Domination. They also give you the ability to perceive the willpower imbued within the elements and replace it with your own.
‘That’s the real difference between mastery over the elements and Domination. At high levels, you can perceive the will of those around you and use it to judge their true character and intentions.
‘Just how I did with you guys when we first met.’
‘That’s why you accepted to help me and took the others as your apprentices as well!’ Lith’s eyes went wide in surprise, all seven of them.
‘Indeed.’ She telepathically chuckled. ‘I could feel that below your pile of secrets, there was no malice. Little heart, sure, but no ill will. As for Friya, if not for her valiant heart and a deep sense of honor I would’ve never even considered taking her as my Harbinger.’
Friya smiled nervously, wondering how much the Hydra knew about the many times she had inwardly cursed her mentor during their private lessons.
‘Don’t worry, it’s no mind reading. As I said, I can perceive intentions, not thoughts.’ Faluel furrowed her brows, noticing that everyone but Morok seemed to be worried. ‘Also, our goal is much simpler. You just need to take your first step above the beginner level.
‘Feel the strong willpower that I’m projecting outward and add your own. Don’t fight for control or mess with the arrays. I’ll take care of that and your interference would make matters harder for me.
‘It’s no different from pouring more mana in a tier five spell you’ve already cast.’
‘Except that the spell is not our own.’ Friya said. ‘Domination requires both mana and willpower so if we fail to harmonize either of them with yours, we might trigger the compound’s defensive systems.’
‘I know.’ The Hydra nodded. ‘That’s why I won’t attack the arrays until we are ready. Now get to work.’
The eyes of Faluel’s seven heads lit up as she identified the focus points of the remaining layer of the array and prepared to overpower them. Her Domination was active but had no target so that the others could more easily perceive her and not mess up in case they failed.
‘Fuck me sideways.’ Lith thought. ‘Once Solus learns that she’s missed this lesson, she’s going to be royally pissed off. Also, I could really use her help now.’
The aura of the Hydra was an imposing presence, but it was nothing compared to the complex network of arrays that extended as far as his mystical senses could perceive. It was like appreciating a candle’s flame while under the summer’s sun at noon.
On top of that, every fiber of Lith’s Domination was used to feel the mana first and then to attack the enemy’s willpower second. Now he had to ignore the mana, feel the willpower, and support it.
Having three other sources of willpower trying to connect with his target made Lith’s perceptions even fuzzier. The others fared no better, needing to look at Faluel to pinpoint her position through the messy cloud of mana surrounding them.
‘Guys, there’s a reason I had you link each to a different head. Don’t try to match each other. It’s beyond your current capabilities. You focus on me and I’ll do the rest.’ She said while gently nudging their attention in the right direction by drawing their consciousnesses.
Having a foreign presence so deep inside their heads was a traumatic experience and the Hydra had to move on eggshells to not leave long-lasting traumatic effects on their psyche.
Unless one was used to sharing their mental space like a condo, of course.
‘Okay.’ Lith gave her more access than Faluel had ever believed possible, sharing with her his senses and his ideas about how to complete the task at hand.
Even through his eyes, the Hydra easily perceived her own energy signature and pointed it out to him. As soon as Lith identified his target, he succeeded in filtering out the sources of interference and could move on to the final step.
He now had to have his own willpower overlap with that of the Hydra instead of overwriting it as he had always done until that moment. His first attempts resulted in failure since even though Lith and Faluel wanted the same thing, the way they wanted to achieve it was different.
Lith had already used a similar technique in the past to combine the powers of his eyes with those of his Demons. Yet not only did they share his same energy signature, removing the issue about mana, but they would also just erase the enemy’s willpower and then leave Lith in charge.
Now, instead, he had to learn how to keep his will strong enough to use Domination while also being flexible enough to cooperate with Faluel instead of competing.
