“The bad news.” Friya said almost holding her breath.
“This is most likely to be an inside job.” Noticing her shock, Lith beckoned to her.
“Use your diagnostic spell and follow my instructions. Can you see the greyed out zones near the blackheads and what’s-his-name’s organs?” He said as soon as Friya did as instructed.
‘Why not use a random name like Zolgrish would? His name is Doluth!’ Solus rebuked him.
“Of course, I can. Why?” Her answer surprised him quite a bit.
“Are you telling me you noticed them but you don’t know what they are?”
“Yes, is it a common illness?” She felt greatly embarrassed, by the knowledge gap between them.
“No! It’s what remains after someone gets tortured with magic and only partially healed. Didn’t Jirni teach you anything?” Lith asked.
“Mom is no healer, how does she fit in?”
“Since when did it stop her from being good at her job? Your father provided her with plenty of tools to make up for her lack of magic. We exchanged a lot of pointers while we were in Othre. Bottom line, a wizard did it.” Lith pointed at Doluth.
“That’s the bad news. The good news is that you were right. There is no Griever no poison going around. Someone is harming people with darkness magic just to heal them immediately after.
“That’s why the symptoms vary from person to person. It depends on both the mage’s skill and how the victim’s body responds.” A simple wave of Lith’s hand restored the youth’s health.
“When you said inside job did you mean my men or the house staff?” Friya asked.
“Both. The culprit only needs to have access to Delicious here and some sedative to not wake him up during the process.”
“It would explain why it’s not contagious and how it can return so fast.” Friya pondered.
“The culprit only has to repeat the process as soon as the Healer leaves the house to make them appear like a quack. To what end, though?”
“This is what I need your help for. I need a list of all the victims of the Griever and all the information you can get about the Church of the Six. After all, the main reason why religions don’t take root is because of Healers being good at their job.”
“I’ll ask Wyra to learn everything she can about the church and the Viscount for the list. If he refuses to help, we’ll be on our own, though.”
“We? You’re an adventurer. As far as I know, you can’t serve two masters at once.”
“Neither of you is my master.” Friya gracefully showed him Orion’s masterpiece she wore on her middle finger while making a fist.
“You are my friend whereas Krame is a pompous idiot. It’s not difficult for me to pick a side, even though I doubt we’ll come to that.”
She took out her communication amulet and gave instruction to the core members of the Crystal Shield guild to investigate discretely about the church.
“I’m no expert, but while we wait, I can give you an abridged version of their teachings. I listened to their ramblings so many times that I got the gist of it.”
Lith nodded at her to continue.
“The Church of the Six preaches that in the beginning there were six gods. Each one of them controlled a different element and together they created all of Mogar’s lifeforms. According to the church, the world energy also comes from the six Elemental Sovereigns.
“They also say that long ago the world was at peace because the Sovereigns distributed their gifts equally with every living being. Then, some nondescript evildoers plotted to overthrow them and steal their powers.
“They succeeded yet failed at the same time. The weakened Sovereigns fell into a deep slumber instead of dying and magic as we know it was born. According to this cult, mages are the descendants of those who stole the gods’ powers.”
“This is ridiculous!” Lith blurted out.
“How could normal humans and beasts take down gods? Also, how do they explain the fact that mages can be born from non mages? What good can relinquishing magic do?”
“Beats me.” Friya shrugged.
“Do you have any idea who is the guy with seven eyes on their poster?”
“The supreme deity, the All-Father. Each one of his eyes became one Sovereign while the seventh became Mogar, bestowing mana upon all of his children’s creations.” Friya said.
“The All-Father, eh?” A cruel grin appeared on Lith’s face as a plan to use the church’s teaching against itself formed into his mind.
“Are you sure you’re not adopted?” Friya interrupted his musing.
“What? Why do you say that?”
“It’s no wonder Phloria likes you so much. You’re getting as tall as Dad and your expression right now is identical to Mom’s when she’s hunting her prey. What’s our plan?”
“First things first. Dinner.” Lith replied and his gurgling stomach agreed.
“Are you free tonight?”
“I wish. Now that I have an idea of what the Griever is, I’ll take credit for it with the Viscount and after that, I’ll need to change the detail’s schedule. I’m sure he’ll try to switch the blame on my men and the worst thing is that I have my doubts too. Why?”
“I’m planning to return the ambush. If I catch the guy, I can get new intel. Otherwise, I’ll take out one enemy. It’s a win-win.”
“That’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever said! If they are looking for you, they might even know you’re here. Two against one is too much for anyone. You need my help.” Friya said.
“I’ll need you for the second act, that’s for sure. First, I need to probe their strength and wits. Don’t worry about me. I’m not the ‘master of space’, but I can still Blink to safety if necessary.”
“Gods, don’t use my title from the academy! I can’t believe I used to find it flattering, it’s embarrassing at best.”
‘Seriously, what are you thinking?’ Solus asked.
‘I doubt someone as skilled as the one who made the dagger didn’t insert a tracking spell. Mostly because its cloaking effect makes it impossible to distinguish it amid normal weapons.’ Lith thought.
‘So what? Life Vision is no mana sense, but they can still recognize your energy signature. If they see you near the dagger, they will either stay away or attack together.’
‘First, it’s two against two. They have no idea of your existence and if we prepare the field, speed and coordination can make the difference in mana core level irrelevant. Second, they will never see me coming.
‘As you said, they can recognize my energy signature, but I have more than one, right?’ Lith inwardly grinned.
Viscount Krame was stingy, but it turned out that his avarice only spread those outside of his house. Both the kitchen staff and the ingredients at their disposal were top class, allowing Lith and Friya to enjoy their meal while reminiscing the old days.
It was part of Friya’s plan to weed out the most likely members of the Crystal Shield that would betray the guild at the first opportunity they got.
It wasn’t hard to spot them since they almost popped more than one vein whenever they talked about their specializations, their dreams for the future, or even talking about the Ernas couple.
After dinner, Lith returned to his room and checked with all of his magical senses that no one was spying on him. Then, he stored away the Skinwalker Armor and assumed his hybrid form before Warping away.
