Chapter 3980: Poisoned Blade (Part 1)

While staring at the drawing of the hand sign and the magic word for the Zero Cursed Element, Lith felt as though he were staring at a very sharp blade coated in poison. It was dangerous even for its wielder, had to be handled with care, and every part of it was deadly save for the hilt.

"What about you, Solus?"

"I feel terror." She swallowed hard. "The moment I look away from the paper, the magic word gets blurred in my mind and I’m happy for that."

"It must be because of your cracked life force and mana core, sweetie." Menadion said. "Mirror Magic is more dangerous for you than for an average person."

"What about Lith?" Kamila asked. "His mana core is healthy, but his life force is cracked as well. Why doesn’t he feel fear?"

"Because he carries the Cursed Elements as well." Leegaain replied. "They are not as stable as those in Elysia’s life force, but they still grant him a resistance to Mirror Magic. I mean, as a practitioner. He is still vulnerable to Cursed Elements like anybody else."

"Then it’s settled." Lith said. "I have to learn the basic spells of Mirror Magic that Elysia knows."

"What? Why?" Kamila asked, jumping from her seat.

"Because someone has to, and I’m the only one who can." Lith replied. "Mirror Magic is faster and deadlier than normal spells, Kami. Now everything is fine, but if Elysia throws a tantrum, someone has to stop her.

"I can react in time and neutralize a Cursed Element with its opposite before someone gets hurt or worse."

"What about the protection of the Guardians?" Solus swallowed hard.

"We protect Elysia and Raldarak only. We have no care for those who may get struck by the spells of the babies." Salaark shook her head. "Moreover, once Ral is born, Kamila will be on her own."

The Verhens stared at her in disbelief, feeling betrayed.

"Wait, that came out wrong." Salaark raised her hands with the palms out. "You are safe under my roof. I meant that once you go back to the Kingdom, the rules of my hospitality don’t apply."

"Thanks, Mother." Raaz sighed in relief.

"You are welcome, Featherling."

"This is excellent news, but it puts me on a deadline." Lith rubbed his chin. "I’ll have to use our time in the Desert wisely."

"I can’t save you from yourself, Featherling." Salaark said. "I can heal your wounds, but unless I am right beside you, I can’t stop a Mirror spell gone awry before you get hurt."

"Thanks, but there won’t be a need for that." Lith replied. "I’ll practice in the Firing Range after confirming that the tower can conjure Mirror Magic spells safely."

"The counter spell settings!" Menadion said in understanding. "You’re going to set the Firing Range to neutralize your Mirror Magic spells, whether they succeed or not, to keep yourself safe."

"Exactly." Lith nodded. "The Firing Range will be my safety net, and Solus’ Immortal Body array will treat my injuries until Grandma arrives."

"Couldn’t you set something like this inside our home as well?" Kamila asked. "I mean, entrusting the tower to seal Elysia’s powers so that you don’t have to take so many risks to learn Mirror Magic?"

"I could, but there are two problems with your idea." Lith replied. "Elysia is smart and kind. After we told her not to use Chaos magic, she never did it again. It’s unlikely she’ll use any other Cursed Element while in the safety of our home.

"When we are outside, however, Elysia could react badly if she feels threatened or thinks someone is going to hurt one of us. There’s not always going to be the tower to stop her."

"It makes sense." Kamila’s shoulders slouched. "What’s the second issue?"

"That the Firing Range doesn’t neutralize just one spell but all of them." Lith said. "It means that Elysia wouldn’t be able to use magic inside our home while everyone else can. She would be sad and ask us why we are being mean to her. If we lie to her, she’ll resent us..."

"And if we tell her the truth, she’ll feel like a monster and be afraid of her own powers!" Kamila completed the phrase for him. "Good gods, it’s a lose-lose situation."

"Yes, but that’s not all." Lith said. "When I train in the Firing Range, I want Elysia to be with me."

"Why would you do that?" Elina asked. "What if something goes badly and she sees you getting hurt?"

"That’s the idea." Lith replied. "Elysia considers all forms of magic as toys, but as I said, she’s a smart girl. If she sees what her ’toys’ do to me, she’ll understand how dangerous the Cursed Elements are.

"Besides, you heard Grandpa. These chore magic runes are perfect, and I’m naturally resistant to Mirror Magic. That and the Firing Range will ensure that, unless I make a huge mistake, I’ll only get a few scrapes.

"Consider this a lesson for me and Elysia both, Mom. I’ll learn the secret of the Cursed Elements from her, and she will learn restraint from me."

***

With Elysia already scared and dejected, Lith decided to postpone the training to a later date and check the Firing Range first. Luckily, the accident on the beach had been recorded and analyzed by the tower.

Chore magic required a single rune, and Lith added the hand sign and magic word for Zero to the Grimoire.

"Good." The holographic screen flashed yellow, but the warning was for Lith and Solus. "The Grimoire recommends avoiding using Zero spells, but the Firing Range can conjure them without risks for you and the tower, Solus."

"What about Chaos and Cinder?" She asked. "Also, to counter Chaos, we need the basic rune for Decay magic, and I don’t think asking Elysia to listen to the world energy for more Cursed Elements is a good idea."

"It’s not, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves." Lith replied. "I’ll start with Zero since we have everything already. As for Cinder and Chaos- Fuck me sideways!"

The light flashed bright red as several warnings appeared on the holographic screen.

"Yeah, this is not good." Solus nodded. "The Grimoire says there is no known rune for the magic words Ekrasu and Iratho. Any attempt to find them might damage the tower."

"How is this possible?" Lith asked the mainframe. "It’s just chore magic. How can it damage the tower so much, even after it regained most of its power?"

"I can answer that." Menadion appeared between Lith and Solus. "Each failed attempt would inflict negligible damage to the tower, but the Grimoire would perform hundreds, if not thousands, of attempts per second.

"If you factor in that there’s no telling how long it might take, we are talking about considerable damage that will affect Solus’ health and recovery."

"What if she set a limited number of attempts after which the tower has to stop until it completes the self-repairs?" Solus asked.

The warnings turned to orange.

"It says it’s possible, but you will still feel pain, Epphy. A pain that won’t stop until the rune is found." Menadion said.

"I can take it." Solus replied.

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