Chapter 4274: Turning Red (Part 2)

"Of course, it has to remember that! Just my luck!" Solus swore like a sailor until she was out of breath.

"Look at the bright side." Menadion pointed down. "Your armor is repairing itself, so it’s not destroyed. It will be fine in a few hours. Until then, put on something else, and let’s go back to the living room. Even better, let’s get out of here."

The tower’s quaking had never stopped, growing in strength with every minute.

"Just a moment." Solus used water magic to freeze herself, knowing that she was about to burn in shame the moment she met the eyes of her family. "Okay, I’m ready."

"You’re finally back." Lith took a good look at her, happy to see she was alright. "Is everything okay?"

"I doubt I’ll ever be okay again, but if you’re asking about my life forces, then yes. I’m more than okay."

"Not to rush you, but the kids are getting scared." Kamila said.

"And for a good reason, let’s go." A wave of Salaark’s hand brought everyone outside the tower and inside the Mansion’s keep.

The tower began to absorb the materials in the ground, adding them to its own mass and rebuilding its missing floors.

"Not going to lie, I was getting seasick." Morok said. "Now let’s continue the earlier conversation in the kitchen. I don’t know why, but I’m craving a short stack of pancakes."

Solus blushed, and Quylla almost popped a vein, but the kids beat them both to the punch.

"Pancakes!" They all yelled in enthusiasm.

"Me too." Lenart mumbled, making the women’s anger pop like a soap bubble.

"Of course, dear." Rena lifted him in her arms and caressed his head. "You can have a short- I mean, all the pancakes you want."

***

Lots of pancakes and a bit of an awkward silence later, Acala had enough.

"Look, I know we are not friends, and this is family business. We can leave if you want."

"Speak for yourself." Dawn replied while pouring chocolate cream. "I love pancakes, and these are the best I’ve ever had."

She ate with the same gusto as Solus and almost as many pancakes, drawing several unflattering comparisons from the kids.

The Horseman was tall and slender, while Solus was short and with baby fat.

"Thanks, I guess." Lith replied. "Solus? It’s your choice."

She had almost forgotten about Acala, but the simple question was enough to remind her of how many people had seen her and how much they had seen. Solus almost choked on a mouthful of pancakes, but it wasn’t the reason she turned red and teary.

"It’s a bit too late to worry about that." She sniffled. "I don’t care if Dawn listens, and Acala already knows about me way more than I’d like. He can stay if he wants."

"Then, I’ll go first." Lith nodded. "Grandma, why did Solus get her Divine Beast form at the violet? I got my Wyrmling form at the blue and my Tiamat form at the deep violet. Isn’t her development late?"

"Not at all, Featherling." Salaark shook her head. "You are forgetting about her life force’s condition. Manifesting a Divine Beast’s form with so many cracks would have threatened Solus’ life and slowed her recovery.

"The tower and her own body suppressed her dormant bloodline until it was safe for her to harness such power."

"My life force is also cracked, though. Yet my bloodline awakened at the blue, just like Kelia’s should, and she’s healthy." Lith pointed out.

"The cracks in Solus’ life force go so deep that they reach her mana core, Featherling." Salaark shook her head. "Your condition, even at its direst, was not comparable to hers. You couldn’t make efforts back then, whereas she couldn’t survive alone.

"The recent breakthrough restored her life force and mana core enough to withstand not only the physical might of a Divine Beast, but also the vigorous mana flow necessary to fuel and activate mana organs.

"Until today, even if Solus’ body withstood the transformation with the help of the tower, her mana core would have shattered. Also, there’s one more critical difference between you two.

"You were born with Divine Beast blood, Featherling. Your body already possessed all the necessary building blocks to harness the power that slept inside of you. What you lacked was the strength and mana flow to manifest it.

"You became a Wyrmling first because with a blue core, you could only tap into a fraction of your bloodline. Only when you reached the deep violet did you gain a body and the auxiliary cores you needed for a full bloodline awakening.

"Solus, instead, was born a normal human without a single drop of Divine Beast blood. She gained it solely because the complete destruction of her original body forced the tower to rebuild her from scratch by using your life force as building blocks.

"You could say that, until today, there wasn’t enough of you in her to trigger the transformation."

"Are you saying that now we are really blood related?" Solus raised her eyes from the table as the shock drained color from her face, giving her a deathly pallor. "Did the tower turn our lie into truth?"

"Not at all, Featherling." Salaark replied. "You are still the daughter of Ripha and Threin, and if you perform a Blood Resonance spell, only your Divine Beast side would resonate with Lith like it would with any Dragon or Phoenix.

"What I mean is that the tower used the composition of Lith’s life force to rebuild yours. It followed the instructions left by Ripha, giving you the body you currently possess, but used a hybrid life force as raw material.

"So, until your wounds didn’t heal enough and you didn’t gain enough Divine Beast’s meat on your bones, your acquired bloodline couldn’t awaken. It’s the reason you showed no reaction to the Demon Dirges, Solus.

"Keep in mind that you regained your physical body barely a year and a half ago. What you had before was just an energy construct. The transition may have seemed sudden to you, but if you remember, during your first months as a human, you needed both Lith and a mana geyser just to exist."

"You’re right." Solus pondered. "At first, staying away from a mana geyser was torture, and if Lith wasn’t by my side, my human body crumbled in minutes."

"My point exactly." Salaark nodded. "You needed time for your health to recover, and by the time that happened, you didn’t experience a Wyrmling form because you already had a body and core strong enough to become a Divine Beast."

"Speaking of your Divine Beast form, Auntie Solus, can you show it to us?" Aran asked. "We barely had the time to take a look before you stripped down and covered yourself with your wings."

"I didn’t strip down in public!" Solus suddenly regained color. "I mean, I did, but it was an accident."

"Divine Beast! Divine Beast!" Teryon and Falco chanted with Lenart half a beat late and barely mumbling.

"I second the kids’ request." Lith said, eager to change the topic. "I noticed a few oddities I couldn’t confirm earlier due to your... abrupt leaving."

"Fine, but I have a problem. The breakthrough almost destroyed my Voidwalker armor, and I have nothing of that size. Can you help me, Grandma?" Solus said.

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