According to the book, during the time the Odi civilization was at the height of its prosperity, they ruled over a vast area in the north that was now part of the border between the Griffon Kingdom and the Gorgon Empire.
The borders were one of the most dangerous sectors, since even if the two countries were at peace from centuries, small and medium sized battles were a common occurrence.
Most of Lith’s patients when he worked at the Academy were soldiers stationed in the north. After copying everything relevant to his research Kalla had to offer, she and Lith discussed for a while what was the best place to start his assignment.
“She’s not a ring fairy, by the way.” Since their last mind fusion Lith was aware that, by saving Protector, he had accidentally revealed Solus’s existence to him. Kalla had witnessed both the conversation between the Ry and Solus back then and her protecting the unconscious Lith now.
Keeping Kalla in the dark was pointless if not even stupid. The more she knew, the more helpful she could be. It was the reasoning that had led Lith to tell the Wight his whole story.
“She’s a person, just like me and you. Solus, these are Kalla, Nok, and Nyka. Guys, this is Solus, my partner.”
Solus had conflicting feelings about that situation. On one hand, she was happy about becoming an active part in Lith’s life. He had already introduced her to his sister. Kalla and her children were the first friends he had made aware of her existence.
On the other hand, Kalla learned about Solus years ago, so it didn’t mean much.
“Nice to meet you, Solus. Scarlett told me a lot about you. You are the first cursed object she has ever spared. Even though after seeing you in action, I don’t think you are a cursed object.”
Maybe it was because of his pampered life, but Nok was a simple minded creature. It didn’t take him much to recover from the surprise and accept Solus as a friend.
“How do you fit into something so small? Is it painful? How do you eat? What are your favorite foods? Can stones copulate? How many cubs do you have? Do the two of you have an offspring together already?”
Some of his questions were shallow, others were personal enough to make her blush.
Last, but not least, she didn’t like Nyka. During the time Lith had been unconscious and she explained Body Sculpting to Kalla, the vampire had cleaned herself with darkness magic. Once she was sure her mother was safe, she had gone hunting.
Now she had raven black hair and emerald green eyes both emphasized by her pale skin. Nyka’s body wasn’t milky anymore but of a light rosy color. Solus could appreciate all the changes proper feeding had triggered because the vampire was still stark naked.
She wasn’t a stunning beauty, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body toned without a shred of body fat. It also made her soft curves perky beyond belief.
Every one of her movements was graceful and sensual, making Solus turn green with envy. Yet that wasn’t the reason why Solus didn’t like Nyka.
“I’m so sorry, big sister. I had no idea he is already taken. I’m really sorry for feeding on your thrall without your permission.” The vampire said giving Solus a deep bow.
‘I’m not a goddamn parasite, I’m a symbiote!’ Solus thought in outrage. ‘Our relationship is already complicated, hearing her calling Lith a thrall irks me to no end. Yet if I clear her misunderstanding, she’ll resume looking at him like a juicy steak.’
Kalla didn’t miss how socially awkward her daughter was.
‘If she ever wants to mingle with humans, she must learn their ways. I might ask Lith to bring her along with him, once he is done with the army.’ Kalla thought.
“I think the best region to start your research is the Etochian one.” She said. “It’s mostly composed of no man’s lands, which will give you the privacy you need, and it holds several ruins. I know because I have been there.
There are several undead communities in the area that I can introduce you to.” Kalla took out of her dimensional amulet small fragments of white alabaster. They turned into white dust that Kalla used to draw several runes on Lith’s palm.
The glowing runes lasted only for a moment, leaving Lith’s skin immaculate.
“If you ever meet undead, do not fight them. Just channel pure mana into your hand and the runes will resurface. Consider it a letter of recommendation of sorts. When I manage to get in touch with Scarlett, I will ask for her help.
She’s likely to know more than me. Scarlett may be able to help you narrow your search.”
“Thanks, Kalla.” Lith replied. Despite all the good news, he was still worried. His body felt off since the moment the refining process had ended. At first, Lith thought that having his body undergone major changes, it would take some time for him to get used to them.
However, the feeling was only getting worse. Lith used Invigoration on himself, finding nothing unusual. Then he switched to Scanner, examining his own life force. There were several scars from when he had saved Protector.
No matter how hard Lith tried, he couldn’t get rid of them. Everything seemed fine again, so Lith stopped using his eyes and tried to listen to the melody produced by his body.
‘So many sour notes. I guess each one represents the life force I lost forever. Sounds almost like a requiem.’ Lith inwardly sighed. ‘Wait. Solus, do you hear that?’
‘Yes.’ She replied while sharing his senses. ‘It’s like there is a second melody on the background.’
Lith focused on the new melody, it sounded like a joyful allegro. After several attempts, Lith managed to reduce the volume of the main life force and to turn up the second one.
Along with the tune, his life force also changed its appearance. If before it resembled a colossus made of red lego bricks and erector set, now it looked like a sealed star. There was an outer shell made of black bricks while the inner part was composed by a stream of raging energy originating from a sphere that he supposed being his mana core.
‘What the heck? How is it possible for me to have two life forces? Why don’t I feel any different?’ Lith thought.
‘It’s better if you open your eyes.’ Solus suggested.
Lith did as instructed, discovering that his body now stood slightly over two meters tall. It was covered in thick curved black scales while his hands and feet ended in razor sharp claws.
‘Solus, what happened to the Skinwalker armor? Tell me I didn’t destroy it. It’s too expensive to lose it in such a stupid way.’ Having a monstrous body scared Lith much less than the thought of having wasted money.
‘Don’t worry, I stored it away the moment you started to change. Look at yourself into the mirror.’ She replied while conjuring a reflecting surface made of ice.
