Chapter 4354: New Deal (Part 2)

"Hi, kids. Man, if you grow up like mushrooms!" Tezka said with a laugh, lifting the kids with his tails. "Have you been good in my absence?"

"Very good." Falco nodded. "Uncle Lith even introduced us to our new friends. Come here, Tempest, meet... Tempest?"

The Ry was so still that if not for her chest heaving, one would have thought she was dead.

"Myrdin, are you okay?" Lenart asked, shaking the fluffy Byk, yet obtaining no response.

"Don’t worry, they just fainted." Tezka chuckled. "My bad. I can have this effect on those powerful enough to understand how strong I am but too weak to fight me."

A bit of cold water made the magical beasts regain their consciousness, and a hug shielded them from the Suneater’s aura. He would never harm the kids, so their presence neutralized the aura he exuded.

"Wimps." Onyx scoffed.

"Like we reacted any differently." Abominus snorted.

"Can you play with us later, Uncle Tezka?" Aran had known the Fylgja for years now and considered him one of the many powerful yet harmless friends of his family.

"If you call Filia and Frey, yes." He nodded. "First, I have a few things to settle with your Auntie Friya. Later, guys."

Tezka’s presence drew many gazes, but everyone knew him and that he posed no threat.

"Back already?" When Nalrond stepped through the door, Friya stood up to welcome him. "Was it a bust or- Master Tezka?"

"In the fur." He replied. "There were... complications, but everything is resolved now. Nalrond will explain the details of our business to you."

The Suneater didn’t like talking about his killings in front of the kids, so he let the Agni share everything with Friya with a mind link.

"I’m glad you got what you wanted, but why did you come here?" She tilted her head in confusion. "We’ve already exchanged contact runes. I have nothing more to offer you, and there’s nothing you can do for me now."

"I guess your husband was too scared to listen to my full conversation with Salanoth, or he lacks the talent to understand the importance of what I learned." Tezka extended his hand, gesturing for Friya to form a mind link with him.

"Infinity Magic? Eternity Magic?" She gasped in disbelief. "Are they real? I mean, are they really possible?"

"Yes, they are." Tezka took back his hand and crossed his arms. "Our deal was that I got a glimpse of a form of proto-Eternity Magic in exchange for my help. What I witnessed and examined at length, instead, was a semi-perfect form of Eternity Magic.

"I got much more than we both expected, so it’s only right that I give you something of equivalent value."

"Really?" Friya’s eyes sparkled with joy like the day Nalrond had proposed to her, irking him to no end.

"Of course, kid. I didn’t get to my age by acting like a grumpy, ungrateful old Fylgja." Tezka snorted. "I always pay my debts."

He glanced at Lith, still feeling a bit guilty for letting Jorl escape.

"Thank you, but that’s too generous of you." She replied. "Teaching me both Infinity and Eternity Magic is-"

Hearing Tezka’s laugh was rare. Hearing him laugh at something instead of someone was even rarer.

"I said something of equal value. Not that I’d make you my heir." He wiped the tears of hilarity off his snout. "I’ll teach you the secret of the dimensional crystals. Are you interested?"

"Are you kidding me?" Friya frowned at his laughter, then smiled at his offer, and frowned again a second later. "Wait a second. This wouldn’t be fair to you, Master Tezka. You don’t know it, but I’ve already become Faluel’s Harbinger."

She shapeshifted into her human-hybrid form.

"Anything you teach me, she’s going to learn it as well."

"It doesn’t matter." The Suneater dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand. "Faluel is no dimensional mage. Anything I say will make no sense to her, even if she reads it word by word from your mind."

"She actually is." Friya cleared her throat. "Maybe it’s because of her seven heads or because the Harbinger bond goes both ways, but Faluel has become a dimensional mage like me."

"This changes everything." Tezka’s smile disappeared as well. "Call Faluel here. Now."

"Now what?" Faluel was in the middle of an experiment when she received the telepathic call. "I really hate it when-"

Friya’s message and seeing Tezka through her eyes replaced the Hydra’s annoyance with a deferential, respectful attitude.

"What can I do for you, Elder Tezka?" Faluel arrived in her human form and dressed to the nines in her Council robes.

"Show me your dimensional skills, child." He replied to her curtsy with a polite nod. "Anything will do. I need to confirm your Harbinger’s words with my own eyes."

Faluel performed Friya’s Dimensional Ruler, the only advanced dimensional magic spell she had practiced.

"Your execution is amateurish, and your understanding is shallow at best." Tezka’s blunt assessment of her skills made her flinch. "But you are indeed a dimensional mage. Since you were not born one and all this is new to you, your performance is amazing.

"Having zero skill means you’re performing Dimensional Ruler out of raw talent. You have plenty of space for improvement. There is no telling how far you can go once you get accustomed to your new abilities and have enough practice."

"Thank you for your praise, Elder Tezka." Faluel gave him a deep bow, feeling the wound in her pride heal as quickly as it had been opened.

"I have only one more question for you, child." The Suneater said. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I can, but why do you ask?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Because my earlier offer is still valid." He replied. "I’m still willing to teach Friya the secret of dimensional crystals, but I also need you to understand the consequences of your decision were she to accept and you to renege on your word.

"If you share anything I teach you with the Hydra bloodline, if I hear of dimensional crystals flooding the market all of a sudden, then I’ll take my knowledge back the only way I can.

"We’d become sworn enemies, and I’d stop at nothing until I’m the only one left standing. Do you understand?" Tezka paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.

"I’m sorry, but what point is there in teaching us a skill we can’t use?" Faluel asked.

"You can use it." Tezka snorted. "You can’t pass it down, though. This is from me to Friya, and from her to her descendants. You are just collateral damage. That’s why if once you are gone, I see the Hydra bloodline with new dimensional toys, we’ll have a problem."

"What’s the difference between my bloodline and Friya’s? Why do you favor her so much?" Faluel felt angry and confused in equal measure.

"Because we have a deal. One that predates her trouble with the Gernoffs." Tezka referred to Friya’s promise to teach magic to Filia and Frey if something happened to him. "Also, all she has is herself and two unborn toddlers.

"Even if her children somehow inherit her talent for dimensional magic, it will take them decades to master a fraction of my knowledge."

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