‘Baby steps.’ Lith thought, using his own fingers as a scaffolding for the spirit magic barrier. Soon his left hand was covered by a thin and eerie green glow.
‘This stuff wouldn’t block a pen stroke and is thinner than a hair, but it’s still a barrier.’ He thought. ‘Now let’s try to move it away from my fingers.’
A sudden knocking on his door made him yelp and shattered the infant spirit spell.
‘Nice job.’ Solus laughed. ‘If we ever have to use it in battle, we must hope that our enemy is as silent as a mouse.’
“Lith? Do you mind if I come in? Phloria asked.
“Not at all.” Lith tried to open the door with a spirit spell and failed miserably. Even from barely a few meters of distance, the green glow was so faint that Solus’s mana sense could barely perceive it.
“Do you want to come down for dinner? You’ve been locked in here all day and I was beginning to worry. Besides, Mom and Kamila will be here in a while.” Phloria said.
Only then did Lith look out of the window above his desk and notice that it was way past sunset. The realization drained his energy and made his stomach grumble. He had been so absorbed in his work that he had failed to notice the passing of time.
“Thank you, Phloria. If it wasn’t for you, I’d starve. I’ll join you in a minute.” Lith put away all the papers Solus had worked on, leaving Phloria amazed by the amount of research he had done and by the amount of mana still lingering in the room.
It was enough to make the hair on her neck stand up.
‘How the heck can Lith write and weave spells at the same time?’ She thought. ‘Either each one of his eyes has a mind of its own or being a hybrid is just one of his secrets.’
She couldn’t even consider the idea that Lith had lied to her. After all, she knew that there were still many oddities about him that even having two life forces couldn’t explain.
“One more thing. Tomorrow is Yondra’s funeral and you told me that she had entrusted her last message to you. I’ve been tasked to return her body to her family, do you want to come along?” Phloria asked.
Lith nodded and followed her downstairs. He hadn’t known Yondra Mefaal for long and they had started off the wrong foot. Yet she had been the first to recognize his talent and make the offer for him to inherit her legacy.
Even though death had prevented her from keeping her part of the bargain, Lith was willing to fulfill her dying wish.
***
Mogar didn’t have a specific set of clothes for funerals nor specific rituals to pay a final farewell to the departed among its customs. Some would mourn them and cry while others would throw a party to celebrate the life of their beloved ones rather than focus on the way they had died.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Yondra’s funeral took place at the Black Griffon academy instead at her home. Lith and Phloria wore their uniforms, while Quylla wore her White Griffon Assistant Professor clothes.
Phloria had to answer to the Mefaal family and the Black Griffon academy for having failed to protect Yondra, while Lith was only there to impart to them her last words and check how Rainer was doing.
Quylla had no reason to be there, but she had insisted on coming because it was a rare occasion to speak with both Lith and Phloria without arousing Friya’s suspicions.
She was itching to learn the latest news about Lith’s relationship with Kamila, but between their respective work plus Kamila’s and Friya’s meddling, she had never gotten the opportunity to question him. Until now.
The Black Griffon Auditorium was as big as a football field now that Headmaster Onia had removed all the furniture to make space for her guests and the banquet.
She had even replaced the Black Griffon’s banners that normally hung from the walls, replacing them with magical tapestries recounting Yondra’s numerous achievements since the day she had enrolled. The enchanted fibers rearranged themselves cyclically, each forming a slideshow about a specific event.
The room was full of high officials from the army and the Association who had come to pay their respects. Due to the several Professors who had met their fate during the expedition, only the faculty of the academy was truly grieving.
Attending a funeral was a sad event, whereas attending six of them in as many days was mostly annoying. Phloria had a stern look as she apologized and bowed to all of Yondra’s friends.
She didn’t share her colleagues’ attitude and had taken part in each memorial service as if it was the first one. Even though she was aware that predicting the survival of a mad civilization was impossible, it didn’t make her feel any less guilty.
“So, how did Kamila take the news?” Quylla empathized with her sister’s situation, but she had never been close to Yondra and she had waited too long for her answers. Lith had never been fond of public displays of affection, so even if they lived under the same roof, Quylla had no idea how his relationship fared.
“Better and worse than I thought.” Lith replied while Phloria almost choked on her drink in surprise. She was curious as much as Quylla was, but she was too tactful to resort to such straightforward questions.
“Better because she has decided to accept me. She never considered breaking up or taking a break. Worse because she was royally pissed when she discovered that three more people knew about me and you were one of them.” Lith looked Quylla in the eyes, managing to keep a straight face.
“What? She worried about me and not Phloria? Why?” Quylla was the one among the Ernas sisters who had the best relationship with Kamila, so she couldn’t understand such a reaction.
“Exactly because of Phloria. She assumed that you and I, you know, bow chicka wow wow.”
“We what?” Quylla had no idea what Lith’s tune meant.
“That the two of us at some time had shared a similar degree of affection.” Lith tried to be as delicate as he could since the three of them were surrounded by a bunch of bored strangers.
“Gods, no.” Quylla couldn’t stop herself from laughing at the idea. “Phloria and I might not share the same blood, but that would be too messed up.”
Phloria started chuckling as well, allowing herself to forget for a moment about her sad duty.
‘Kamila really is a strong and wise woman.’ She thought. ‘I guess that she has learned from her harsh past rather than just be scarred from it. A certain Verhen guy should follow her lead and stop being so afraid of…’
A loud tongue clicking made her blush in embarrassment. Headmaster Onia was staring at her in spite.
“Laughing at the memorial service of someone who died because of your incompetence is beyond tasteless, Captain Ernas. I guess that your household truly deserves the nickname of the Royal branch family if not even six dead Professors from the great academies can put a dent in your brilliant career.
“Headmaster Marth told me many great things about you. Yet it turns out that the only thing you are good at is running away, even at the cost of paving your way out with dead bodies.”
