"There you go." nadion gave the artifact back to Faluel who looked at it in confusion. "To reseal the Hands you just need a telepathic command but to remove the lock again you always have to input the code manually. Did you morize the sequence?"
"Not a chance. I'm still struggling to accept I'm standing in front of the legendary Ripha nadion. All I could think of is how nimble your fingers are." Faluel scratched her head in embarrassnt. "Do you mind writing the code down for ?"
"Wow, Mom, you have a fan." Solus chuckled. "Once you are done writing the sequence of gems, add a signed dedication at the bottom."
"I'm actually against writing down this kind of things." nadion said while jotting the code down on a piece of paper. "Promise to keep this safe and that you will burn it as soon as you morize the code."
"I will. Thank you." Faluel sniffled as she read the dedication:
"To Faluel the Hydra, a precious friend and wonderful teacher. Ripha nadion."
"It's too soon to thank her." Solus said. "She's going to teach us how to use the unlocked pieces of the nadion Set and when I say us, I don't an just Lith and ."
"Really?" Faluel stored the note in her dinsional amulet before her tears smudged the ink.
"Yes, dear." nadion nodded. "Even though I didn't choose you and Tista, Solus did. I've known you two for years and I trust my daughter's judgnt. Now you are the rightful owners of your respective pieces of the Set.
"There is no point making you waste ti reinventing the wheel or risking the secrets of my legacy being lost to ti forever."
Her words moved Faluel, filling her heart with admiration for the wisdom and generosity of the First Ruler of the Flas.
"My mother is forgetting to say that she didn't co to this decision from the goodness of her heart." Solus clicked her tongue. "We convinced her to do it only after explaining to her how much you and Tista an to us."
"Epphy, stop embarrassing in front of your friend!" nadion blushed up to her ears. "I was just trying to make a good impression on Faluel"
"First, my na is Solus. Second, you keep saying you want to fix your past mistakes, Mom. You can start by being honest with those closest to you. If you keep lying, I will never understand if you really have changed or are just pretending to have changed." "Fair enough." nadion sighed. "What Solus said is true, Faluel. I used to keep secrets
even from my dearest friends and ended up paying the price for it. Bad habits die hard but I'm trying to be better.
"Please, don't take it personally. It's not that I don't trust you. I'm used to not trusting anyone. With my tower, my talent, and the pieces of my Set, I didn't want to give people even more reasons to covet what was mine by telling them how powerful they really are."
"Don't worry, Ripha. My mother told what kind of person you were... I an, are and I see your point. Besides, I'm used to dealing with jerks with trust issues. Isn't that right, Lith?"
"Guilty as charged." Lith shrugged. "In my defense, history proved Ripha right and I'm still alive to this day only because no one knows the exact limit of my abilities. Myself included."
"When can I co to the Desert for my lesson on the Hands?" Faluel asked.
"Depends. If Tista is available, we might as well do it now." Lith replied. "Unless you got a prior commitnt."
"Even if my schedule were full, I'd empty it for Ripha nadion." The Hydra wore the Hands, trying and failing to detect any significant change in its enchantnts.
"One mont." Lith contacted his sister who was still in the Desert. "It's okay. Tista is waiting for us."
One Steps brought them to the tower and one Tower Warp brought them back to Salaark's palace.
"Thanks, Lith." Tista took the Mouth from his hands, sighing as she brushed her fingers over its surface. "I only wish I was stronger and that we found a way to unlock all the pieces of the Apprentice Set earlier.
"If I had already reached the bright violet, I could have co with you. Maybe, by working together and with the full power of the Set, Valtak would still be alive today."
"I miss him too, big sis." Lith lowered his gaze for a mont. "Don't beat yourself up. If anything, it's my fault. I overestimated my forces and underestimated the World Tree. This ti we didn't co out victorious because of one of my plans, only thanks to dumb luck."
Tista opened her mouth but failed to find consoling words. She actually shuddered at the thought of how close she had co to losing her brother and her best friend. "Can I?" Not knowing what to say either, nadion placed her hands on the sides of the Mouth.
"Sure. I'm sorry" Tista cleared her throat from the lump of saliva constricting it. "This is how you unlock it." nadion obscured Faluel's vision and placed her index finger on the bottom left gemstone of the Mouth.
Then she moved it in a zig-zag pattern, touching all the elental crystals with a single stroke. Once she was done, she tapped the forehead, the nose, and the chin of the Mouth.
The gemstones lit up and what looked like tribal war paint comprised of six different elental energies covered half of its surface. The amount of mana the Mouth emitted gave Tista goosebumps, the surprise making her almost forget about the Father of
Fire's death.
"It works the sa as the Hands." nadion dispelled the cover of darkness and jabbed her thumb at Faluel. "You can lock the Mouth with a thought whereas you can only unlock it manually."
*Thanks, Ripha." Tista caressed the surface of the artifact, staring at it in awe as if she was seeing the Mouth for the first ti. "Is there any chance you can upgrade it to modern magic? Not to sound ungrateful but outdated is outdated."
"Seconded!" Faluel nodded.
"You wish! I-" nadion scoffed and was about to say more but Solus' glare killed the words as they rose from her throat. "Know very little of modern magic. Upgrading the pieces of my Set would require complex high tier Forgemastering spells beyond my
current abilities.
"The only way to do it would be to share the original blueprints with Sally and have her dismantle and update the Hands and Mouth. Now, Solus, I know I'm trying to change but giving away my life's work is not part of the plan.
"You and Lith haven't shared everything you learned through blood, tears, and sweat and neither will I
"I know, Mom, and I wasn't going to ask you to." Solus replied.
"Yet in your shoes I'd get on the books and I'd do it fast." Lith pondered. "The Maw of Bytra is already better than the current Mouth of nadion and there's at least nine of them, not just one. Also, based on what I've seen, they are already unlocked."
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