“A white core, no matter how exceptional they might be, will pass none of their powers upon their descendants. A Guardian, instead, shares a spark of themselves with each one of their children.
“They don’t share more simply because no mortal body can endure such power. A Guardian is the first of their kind. A white core is the only one of their kind. Ever. Do you understand the difference?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.” Tista gave Valtak a deep bow. “It’s just that with my fangs, eyes, and wings, people already look weird at me. If I were to start calling myself Tista the Father of Fire, they would think I’ve lost it.”
“Then don’t.” The Elder Wyrm stood up. “I use the title of Father of Fire not because I want the admiration of other people, only because I’m proud of what I do. It gives me no power or authority.
“You’ve rested enough. Let’s get back to work. You know the drill.”
Tista and Lith buried the remains of their meal and stood up with their eyes closed.
“Well, yes but no.” Valtak laughed. “Put some distance between you and revert to your true form. If you stay too close, you risk injuring each other.”
Once they were in the proper form and position, the Fire Dragon touched their foreheads again.
“Just like before, but instead of using fire magic use Spirit Magic. Any spell will do.”
Emerald Flames burst out of the Tiamat’s and the Hekate’s bodies as Primal Spark split the life force from the Spirit Spells, using the elemental energy to fuel the Immortal Flames.
Every second consumed the mana equivalent of a tier five Spirit Spell and to make matters worse, Lith and Tista had no idea what they were doing.
“Immortal Flames stand above even Primordial Flames. They don’t need world energy to burn and can’t be stopped by things like Doom Tide or those annoying orc shamans’ mana crystals.
“It’s the only kind of Flames you can use even if you ever leave Mogar’s atmosphere.”
“Have you been to space?” Lith asked in surprise.
“Briefly, to destroy a cursed object.” Valtak shuddered at the memory. “I couldn’t beat it as long as it drew upon the world energy so I changed the battlefield. I wish I could have reached the moon but it moves too fast and I can’t hold my breath long enough for a round trip.”
‘And Elder Wyrm like him had trouble destroying a single cursed object.’ Lith thought, realizing for the first time how big of an advantage his tower was on the rare occasions he had used it in battle.
‘He doesn’t know there’s atmosphere on the moon!’ Tista thought. ‘Maybe, if we get to know him well enough, I can ask Lith to grant Valtak his dying wish.’
“But enough talking about me. Even with my help, you can’t go on like this for long. Immortal Flames are damn expensive. Start by moving them over your body.” The Father of Fire said and they followed his instructions.
“Regular Immortal Flames are born out of your pure life force, not mana. As you can imagine, a single blast costs the same as dozens of breaths of Origin Flames. As far as I know, only Guardians and white cores can use them more than once in the same fight.”
‘I would love to tell him that Jormun could do that as well, but I killed him and he was the only Emerald Dragon on Mogar.’ Lith clenched his teeth at the memory. ‘I have no idea how Valtak would take the news and it would make no difference.
‘The two of them have never met and never will.’
“Yet space and cursed objects aside, there’s a good reason to learn how to use them. They have two very useful unique characteristics. The first one is that Immortal Flames can’t miss their target.
“They will keep chasing it until they hit so using them is never a waste of energy. The second characteristic is that just like Spirit Magic, Immortal Flames are born out of your own essence so they answer your will even once they move away from your body.
“You can use them to feel like I taught you earlier and purify any material with great ease. I recommend you to use them whenever you are dealing with a situation you have only one shot at or when there is a life at stake.
“Or one of your treasures.” Valtak shuddered at the thought. “Give it a try.”
Lith and Tista released one emerald sphere each that charged at any target they wanted. Unlike normal Flames, they followed any path their caster set and could change their trajectory at any given moment.
The only downside was that the longer the Immortal Flames had to move the more power they lost. Before they faded away completely, Lith and Tista sent them respectively against the ground and an igneous rock.
Despite the little mass of Immortal Flames left, they both achieved on the first try what the other had done after several tries with Primordial Flames.
“You were right.” Lith panted. “I could see through the ground like I was using my breathing technique. Can Immortal Flames also be used to get rid of poisons and parasites?”
“I can’t see why not.” Valtak shrugged. “It must be one damn of a poison if darkness magic or your breathing technique aren’t enough.”
‘That or the patient has a special constitution, like Solus.’ Lith thought back at what had happened to her inside the Garden.
“I have a question.” Tista said and the Father of Fire nodded for her to continue. “Since Immortal Flames are naturally imbued with our will, can they be Dominated?”
“Yes, but with great difficulty.” The Elder Wyrm replied. “They are like a tier five spell so a Dominator can snatch them away, but only after wiping out your willpower and replacing it with their own.
“Of course, any Dragon can add more or in your case, you can also use your Spirit Eye. Either way, it becomes a tug of war that brings your enemy no advantage. If they focus on your Immortal Flames, you are free to focus on them.”
It took Lith and Tista several tries to learn how to move the Immortal Flames like their own limbs. Then, they needed even more tries to grasp how to use the fringes of the Flames as sensory organs before they dealt massive damage to their target.
Be it a patient or a precious material, there was no point in reaching a perfect purification if they were also burnt to a crisp. Due to the high expenditure in Spirit Magic, Lith and Tista took several breaks rather than using Invigoration.
It not only gave them the time to experience in a scaled version the exhaustion that Immortal Flames would cause them but also to talk with Valtak. The ancient Wyrm answered to all their questions, not only those about the various kinds of Flames.
He told them about his past, his successes and failures. The Father of Fire gave Lith precious tips about how to deal with hatchlings during what he called the Fire Season.
