Chapter 4406: Hidden Echo (Part 2)

"What about your Dragon and Talos form?" Baba Yaga asked. "Did you discover anything about them?"

"Not a clue, and not for a lack of trying." Solus groaned. "The only thing I’m sure of is that I don’t have Dragon Eyes either."

"Don’t worry about it. I was in your shoes two years ago." Lith patted her shoulder. "Tista and I discovered most of our bloodline abilities out of survival instinct or in high-stress situations that pushed us to our limits. It will be the same for you."

"Oh, joy." Solus said. "I can’t wait to almost die to learn a trick or two."

Lith would have liked to point out that at least, thanks to the Bleed, she had a do-over even if something went wrong, but it was a touchy subject for Solus.

Especially after she had given him permission to extract the life force of the last member of the Awakened group who had tried to kidnap the children.

"Let’s get to work, shall we?" Lith said, bringing Elysia with them to the tower as soon as the two women nodded. "Today, we’re going to ask our baby overlord’s help to discover the final Dread Magic rune. Is that okay with you, baby girl?"

"Yah!" Elysia nodded enthusiastically, making a crown of silvery flames appear over her head.

She also patted Lith’s head right, left, and center in what was the best induction ceremony that her short arm allowed her to perform.

"Where did you learn the meaning of a crown and all this?" Lith asked in confusion.

"You just called her your baby overlord." Baba Yaga replied. "How many overlords do you know who are often your guests and spend lots of time with your children?"

"I don’t know what you are talking about." Salaark’s voice came out of nowhere as soon as Lith and Solus glared at the ceiling.

"Gama!" Elysia conjured a small, badly-shaped scepter of fire that she extended upwards for examination.

"Grandma, do you really want to teach Ely that it is okay to lie to your family?" Lith asked.

"That would be bad." Salaark’s voice replied. "Remember, Elysia, good girls don’t lie. Lying is only for grown-ups."

"That’s even worse!" Solus snarled as she saw the baby girl nodding. "Now you are teaching her that she can’t trust adults because they can and will lie to her like you are doing with us! What if she shares your teachings with Val and Ral?"

"Agreed. That’s much worse." Tyris’ voice joined the conversation, accompanied by the sound of the cracking of knuckles.

"Fine, I was wrong!" Salaark sighed. "Lying is bad, Elysia. Grandma made a mistake, but she promises never to do it again."

"Ok." Elysia nodded again. "Lin bad."

"That’s my girl." Lith gently caressed her head. "Remember the rules, Ely. Do not cast magic until I tell you otherwise. If you damage the tower by mistake, Grandma Ripha will be really sad."

"Please, be careful." Menadion said. "This is my favorite toy."

"Yah!" Elysia replied as Lith Warped everyone to the Lodestar.

A snap of his fingers filled the room with world energy, forming a clear connection with Mogar’s will.

"Vinire." Baba Yaga traced the chore rune for light magic and spoke its name clearly.

Elysia turned her head to the side, as if she were focusing on a distant echo, while Lith closed his eyes and immersed himself in the flow of world energy.

"Vinire." Baba Yaga traced the rune again, and Lith saw it even in the darkness that surrounded him.

The first light rune rippled through the world energy like the pinched string of a musical instrument, releasing waves that spread in every direction. Yet there was one more sound behind Vinire that became audible only in the brief interval the waves slowly faded away.

It passed too quickly and was too faint to discern, no matter how much Lith focused.

’How does Ely do it?’ ’He thought. ’Can it be a matter of pure elemental affinity or raw talent? After all, she’s born with all six streaks, whereas I-’

"Vinire." Baba Yaga drew the first rune of light, and this time Lith wasn’t focused on the sound it produced but on himself.

It was the reason he noticed that Vinire’s ripples resonated with the light elemental stars in his life force. At first, he only saw a mirror image of the first light rune, but as it faded away, light turned into Decay and the rune distorted into something else.

"Vinire." The phenomenon happened again, confirming to Lith that he hadn’t just imagined it.

He used his silver eye to amplify the power of his light elemental stars and with it their resonance with the first light rune. As soon as the sound turned into an echo, Lith ignited the spark of Decay in his life force.

The cursed element covered the entire surface of the elemental star, and thanks to Lith’s help, the echo lasted much longer than usual. Vinire disappeared, replaced by the other rune that was now more defined.

"Vinire." Lith focused on the sound, following it as it rose, peaked, dropped, and changed.

The more clearly the echo became, the better Lith could see the second rune. It was similar to Vinire, but also different, like a fraternal twin.

While Vinire was a note hummed with joy, the first Decay rune was yelled in anger. Where the sound of the light element was an ode to life sung during spring, its Dread counterpart was a war cry roared on the battlefield.

’Me and my overthinking!’ Lith inwardly cursed. ’It’s just as Baba Yaga explained to me during our first practice session in the Lodestar. Every rune someone calls upon in the world energy resonates with the corresponding elements in their mana core.

’Learning the Dread Magic runes has nothing to do with streaks or talent. It’s about listening to the resonance that takes place within me, where I can study the first magic runes without the interference of Mogar’s will and the other elements.

’Elysia is so much better than me at listening to the runes because she possesses a higher amount of stable cursed elements in her life force and because, unlike me, she follows her instinct blindly.

’World energy and mana are foreign concepts to her, and she doesn’t waste time trying to understand what we are doing. She just listens to the melody the runes produce.’

"Bi’ra." Elysia said after a while, tracing the first Decay rune with her finger.

"You mean Vikara, right?" Lith still had his eyes closed and wasn’t even using the Dragon Scales to decipher the baby speak.

He knew the right pronunciation of the first rune for stable Decay because he had just learned it as well after fine-tuning the light elemental stars in his life force with his silver eye.

"Yah!" The baby girl nodded, puffing her chest out with pride. "Bi’ra!"

A white light formed on her palm, but then she looked at the frown on Menadion’s face and the fear on Solus’.

"So’y!" Elysia shooed the Dread spell like an annoying fly.

"Don’t worry, baby girl. It’s alright." Solus kissed Elysia’s head, making her coo. "You’ve been great. Thank you for your help, Ely. You can go back to playing with your friends."

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