"Nonsense." Faluel shook her head. "I see that you diligently used Lifestream to nurture your mana core and that the constant practice of Forgemastery at a level beyond your own brought your impurities together.
"Now is not the ti to rest, but to make one last push to achieve a bright blue core."
The lesser version of the Hydra's breathing technique that Friya used was still more effective than Lith's old Invigoration, allowing her to progress at a faster pace.
"By the way, is it true that a Harbinger shares their master's bloodline abilities?" Friya asked.
"Yes." Faluel nodded, liking her enthusiasm. She had expected Friya to whine and beg her to take a break from training.
"Why didn't you ever ntion this before and what would I get if I beca yours? Dragon Eyes? Origin Flas?"
"You wish." Faluel said with a sneer. "I don't have Origin Flas and if having a Harbinger was enough to not need to pay a Divine Beast for them, all lesser Dragons would have one. No, you can only obtain the sa bloodline abilities I have."
"But, you only have Domination and your seven heads!" Friya blurted out in disappointnt. "I already have the streaks of my own so I have no use for your Domination and growing six more heads would make into a monster!"
"And that's why I've never ntioned any of this before." Faluel said with a sigh. "I'm an Emperor Beast, not a Divine Beast. I'm already lucky to have a few bloodline abilities instead of none like most of my kind."
"This is great!" Friya's voice oozed sarcasm. "What's the Harbinger of a Hydra capable of doing, exactly? I an aside from things that any regular Awakened can do."
"They can Dominate the sa elents that the Hydra has already mastered and they can shapeshift into a hybrid Hydra form. It allows them to grow more heads and obtain a physical prowess between that of an Awakened human and an Emperor Beast." Faluel replied.
"If I fail your test, can I ask Lith to beco his Harbinger instead? According to Syrook, he is a Divine Beast." Friya pouted in annoyance.
"So that you can share with him my breathing and Forgemastering techniques? Sure!" Faluel clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Of course not. You fail, you die. I have been crystal clear about it from the beginning.
"You have beco pretty arrogant for soone who begged to take her in. Soone that without wouldn't even be an Awakened and would be stuck with her pretty bright cyan core!"
The Hydra didn't shapeshift into her true form nor did she bare her fang. She just stared down into Friya's eyes until she lowered her gaze.
"You are right. I'm sorry, master Faluel." Friya gave the Hydra a deep bow. "Without you, I would know nothing about true magic and spirit magic, let alone Domination."
"Good girl." The Hydra patted her head, smiling. "Also, there's an unwritten rule to never take a Harbinger of the gender you are interested in. That's why I took you and Syrook took Quaron."
"Why is that?"
"Because the relationship with a Harbinger is very intense. The blood bond and the mind link cause the Harbinger to be influenced by their master's mood even when they receive no order." Faluel replied.
"Imagine what would happen if the master were to take a fancy to their Harbinger."
"I definitely don't want to be Lith's Harbinger." Friya swallowed a lump of saliva at the idea.
"Yeah, unlike Solus, you wouldn't be his peer, but his servant. Also, I have no idea if a Tiamat can have a Harbinger." Faluel said while soone knocked on the door of her lair.
No array could block a Spirit Warp, but they could still kill whoever opened one without authorization.
"Welco-" The words died in the Hydra's throat when Solus walked through the door in her human form, using the Sage Staff as a walking stick.
"Elphyn nadion?" Faluel fell onto her butt from the shock.
She had recognized the lost daughter of the First Ruler of the Flas from one of the paintings that her mother, Fyrwal, kept in the dining room.
After the encounter with Silverwing, the entire group beca pale. The Hydra was too young to have ever t Solus back when she was alive and Lith had never planned to let her know about the tower.
"That's how you could craft powerful artifacts even before receiving my lessons and why you didn't hesitate to offer the Hands of nadion to . You possess the tower of nadion!" Finally all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
Faluel knew from her mother about the slaughter of nadion's apprentices that had taken place shortly before her death. Lith's odd Forgemastering prowess, Solus's unusual behavior for a cursed item and her getting stronger over ti finally made sense.
"Guilty as charged." Lith had no point in denying the obvious. "I was planning to tell you one day, but not like this."
"Not while I'm stronger than you, you an." Faluel knew him enough to understand his way of thinking. "Judging from your lack of surprise, you knew it all along, Friya. You are the worst Harbinger ever."
"Master Faluel, I-"
"I don't care." The Hydra cut her short. "Now, young man, if you still want my help, you'd better tell how you two t from the beginning, but this ti I want the truth."
Lith hesitated for a second, looking Solus in the eyes until she nodded. Then, they took Faluel's hand, forming a circle, to share with everyone their story up to their latest eting with Silverwing.
"I'm pissed off at you two for lying to for so long, yet I'm also proud of you. You did the right thing." Faluel embraced them both, glad that they had survived two encounters with a hostile white cored Awakened.
"If you told about the tower too soon, I might have been tempted to take it for myself. Also, the mont I told my mother about Elphyn, she would have reacted just like Silverwing.
"Mom despises humans and she would have never left the daughter of an old friend at the rcy of a stranger."
"Did Fyrwal know my mother as well?" Solus asked.
"After King Valeron faked his death, he dedicated every mont that he couldn't spend with Tyris to the study of magic in order to improve the lives of both his descendants and subjects." Faluel said.
"He studied under both Silverwing and nadion, becoming a friend of both. Mom didn't trust any human, so at first, she followed him to make sure that they wouldn't take advantage of his good heart and then she beca their apprentice as well."
"Does she have so of my father's paintings?" Solus said. "If I could see them, I might recover my mory and rember who killed ."
"Yes, she has one depicting you and nadion." Faluel nodded. "My mother also has paintings of all of her fellow apprentices, but she made them herself.
"When Threin married nadion, my mother had long finished her apprenticeship and for Awakened standards, his existence was too brief for him to befriend Mom.. After his death, my mother would make you a portrait every year on the day of your birthday to carry on the family tradition.
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