Chapter 4384: War Against Time (Part 2)

"Very funny, Mom!" Faluel’s anger crashed against Fyrwal’s hilarity, quickly subsiding in ill-concealed annoyance. "What about Grandpa Falgor? What does he think about the Isharas’ involvement in the project?"

"He shares your doubts." Fyrwal replied. "He warned the clan council that if Selkis’ descendants are half as conceited as she was, they are bad news. Yet he didn’t oppose letting them help us.

"Father only advised us to tread with caution and use the Isharas more than they can use us. This way, when they pull the rug out from under our feet, we’ll still come out on top in the ensuing battle.

"Father doesn’t trust the Isharas, but he believes their contribution will speed up the Harmonizer project and save many lives."

"He said ’when the Isharas pull the rug’, not if." Faluel pondered. "Is his life one of those he thinks will be saved? Have you shared Ajatar’s findings with Grandpa, Mom?"

"I tried, Hatchling." Fyrwal’s tone turned somber. "Your grandfather is old and doesn’t have long left to live. I wanted him to go first, but he flatly refused. He says that after living as a Hydra for almost three millennia, turning into a Dragon feels like betraying our forefather.

"That he’d rather spend his final years as a veteran Hydra than have a few decades left as a Dragon as green as grass. Father wants to enjoy the time he has left, not spend it learning how his body works from scratch."

"I can’t blame him." Faluel sighed. "Normally I’d say that he should just live like a Hydra in a Dragon’s body, but I know the greed that haunts our species all too well. Grandpa couldn’t help himself.

"Not mastering his new powers would be like living with a constant itch you refuse to scratch."

"That’s his reasoning as well." The Elder Hydra nodded. "If you have something to say to him, Fanny, don’t wait too long. Father is still in good health, but he has volunteered for the front lines in the next conflict.

"He wants to die as he lived. As a proud Hydra fighting to make Mogar a better place for his children."

***

Verhen Mansion, a few days later.

Life had almost gone back to normal for the Verhens and Lutia.

Raaz spent most of his mornings at the farm, planning the spring work with his farmhands. Sometimes, he looked towards Bromann’s home, and the empty plot of land where once the cozy cottage stood made Raaz miss his old friend even more.

Elina had already resumed going to Lutia to buy groceries and other everyday necessities. She always brought Surin with her to both face her own fears head-on and remind the shopkeepers of what she would have lost if not for the Fastarrow kids.

Lith had given her a map where he had marked all the hostile merchants, and Elina refused to speak with any of them. If they approached her, she only glared at the merchant until they ran away with their tail between their legs.

Vexal’s bakery and the Drinking Wolf tavern had lost quite a few clients in Lutia, but had gained many more from all over the Kingdom. Oshek and Hida were planning to expand the establishment, while Vexal asked for Senton’s advice about opening bakeries in other cities.

Lith, instead, was still inspecting the artifacts he had collected in the Invincible King’s Armory and studying Dread Magic’s effects.

"We’ve triple-checked the place." Locrias said. "There is no trace of the blueprints for the anti-cursed object array and not a single magical formation is left standing. Tezka’s spells flattened them all."

"What about those devices that Salanoth spread throughout the cave?" Lith was no dimensional mage, but he could feed them to the tower and maybe help it improve the Watchtower.

Worst case scenario, they might have helped Friya with her studies.

"Either Tezka came back here before us and took them away, or they crumbled with the cursed ring’s death." Trion shrugged. "We’ve looked everywhere, but not even the Eyes of Menadion can detect any signal."

"I was afraid that would be the case, but it was worth a shot." Lith recalled the Demons into the Void Sigils on his feathered wings and Warped back to the nearest mana geyser, where the tower waited for him.

"Let’s go home, Solus." A wave of his hand activated the Tower Warp and brought them back to the Mansion.

"Too bad it was a bust, but we earned a lot already. Let’s try not to complain too much about this." Solus had become much less easygoing about the spoils of battle after awakening her Vritra bloodline.

She still wasn’t sure whether it was true Dragon Greed or just spending too much time with Lith.

"I’ll do my best." He replied while taking his communications amulets out of his pocket dimension. He always stored them whenever he didn’t want to be traced or disturbed. "The real issue for you is Double Edge.

"We have more than enough Adamant to craft something big enough to host the Fury. If the new Double Edge can replicate all of your hammer’s enchantments, it should also duplicate itself for the Furies’ Flight.

"The Sage Staff, however, is a different matter." He pointed at the shrunken artifact on her neck. "It... She’s much bigger and longer. Making something with her proportional range and mass wouldn’t leave enough Adamant for your armor."

"It’s no big deal." Solus replied. "We can craft something only for the Fury until we find the corpse of something big and powerful to host the Staff. We can dismantle the first version of Double Edge at any time thanks to- Look."

One of the runes on Lith’s Kingdom amulet was blinking. Someone had tried to contact him while he was in Jiera.

"Who’s that, and why don’t I recognize that rune?"

"Because it belongs to a person you’ve never met." Lith hesitated for a second before pressing the rune and listening to the message. "This is the contact rune of Rhami Ahsol, the social worker who follows Osyan’s case."

The amulet’s gemstone conjured Rhami’s hologram. She hadn’t changed much since the last time Lith had seen her a year ago. She still wore her light brown hair in a ponytail and silver-rimmed glasses that softened her sharp features.

"I’m sorry to bother you, Magus Verhen, but you asked me to inform you about any matter involving Osyan Neral, no matter how small." She cleared her voice. "The boy is fine, and there is no problem with his foster home.

"Osyan is slowly recovering from the trauma of seeing his parents die and Zeska fall during your fight with the Dead King. Having reliable parental figures is helping him to come out of his shell and behave as a normal child."

"Then why contact me?" Lith snorted. "I could have read all this in the weekly report."

"The reason I’m contacting you may sound silly to you, but I believe it’s important for Osyan’s recovery." The hologram said as if answering his question. "The boy has developed a friendly rivalry with his foster siblings.

"They are orphans who have nothing left to their names, so they tend to brag and exaggerate about anything positive in their past lives." Rhami paused for a moment, averting her gaze in embarrassment.

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