"Point taken." Solus cleared her throat in embarrassnt. "Then how did you discover that Spirit Magic can be channeled through the body?"
"The answer to that is a secret, young lady. My secret." Ripha waved her finger under Solus' nose in a motherly way that made her smile. "One you can't share with others. Any of you. Are we clear?"
"You have my word, Ripha." Lith said and Kamila nodded.
"Yes, Mom." No matter how many tis nadion heard that word, it always lted her heart.
"Good." Ripha caressed Solus' head, tracing her daughter's features with her fingers. "The truth is I did gain insights on the secrets of human evolution, but not in the way you think. Do you rember what Yaga said about her Asura form?"
"We do." Lith nodded. "The Asura form is the apex of the Odi race. Baba Yaga discovered it while researching her condition as a white core and… Fuck sideways!"
"What?" Solus wasn't used to seeing Lith's jaw falling on the floor and staying there. "What am I missing?"
"The answer to your original question, sweetie." nadion replied. "I know more about human evolution than the Tyrant bloodline ever discovered. Even more than most of the Guardians. There are only two people who know more about it than I do.
"Tyris and Leegaain. Can you guess why?"
"Valeron!" Solus said as the various pieces of the puzzle fell into place. "I an the First King, not the baby. Malyshka ntioned he had reached the apex of the human race."
"And he asked my help to study it." nadion nodded. "I had already developed the Eyes and used it to understand his newfound abilities. Before you ask, we had a friendly deal. I could use everything I discovered to further my tower's battle form as long as I shared it with him first.
"Valeron's goal was to find a way to pass down his powers or at least part of them to his descendants. Like a Guardian. He didn't believe mankind was ready to make the leap so he wanted to start with the Royals.
"His plan was to make them undergo evolution at the sa ti as they beca fake awakened to check how they would use their abilities. As you already know, Arthan happened and Valeron died before we got anywhere.
"After that, I dropped the project and focused on my tower."
The room fell silent while Lith and Solus pondered the implications of Ripha's words.
"Couldn't you apply what you learned to yourself?" Lith asked. "You do have seven streaks and evolution would have increased your powers."
"Yeah, but they work nothing like Valeron's eyes. Why do you think I gave the tower wings instead of eyes? It's because it's the only way I found to make it work." nadion replied.
"Before moving on, Mom, can you please show us what Valeron looked like in his apex form?" Solus asked.
"Sure thing, but rember that this is part of the secret." As soon as Solus nodded, Ripha conjured a hologram from her cupped hands.
It was a humanoid figure, over two ters (7') tall. It wore the Saefel armor and wielded the Saefel blade. What looked like six feathered wings, each comprised of a different elental energy, burst from his back like jets of fire.
It reminded Lith and Solus of many things. Typhon, the only Awakened Fomor they had ever t had wings like that but they were more matter than energy. Morok's wings were similar as well, but much rougher and with the six elental energies mixed together.
The difference between Valeron's wings and Morok's was the sa as that between the masterpiece of a genius artist and a childish doodle.
The Pri Engine's wings were the best next thing Lith and Solus had ever seen but they still lacked sothing of Valeron's majesty and might.
The skin of the First King was of a deep erald green that extended to his hair, turning to a slightly deeper hue. Every centiter of his body was infused with the power of the seventh elent, what reached the surface was just what he failed to contain.
Every centiter of his body but his eyes. His seven eyes arranged in the sa pattern as his wings and each one burning with a different elental energy.
"Aside from the Spirit Eye their position is different, but those are my eyes!" Lith said. "Valeron had six wings and seven eyes."
"Correct." nadion grunted with ill-concealed annoyance. "Sohow, your human side skipped millennia of evolution and reached the apex. Or at least part of it. Your skin is not erald and you have four wings instead of six but the resemblance is undeniable."
"Is that why the Griffons are so determined to kill ?" Kamila asked.
"Am I of Royal descendance?" Lith asked.
"Respectively, probably and absolutely not." nadion rejected the ridiculous idea by sweeping the air with her hand. "You can bet your ass Tyris checked already as I did. You don't have one drop of Valeron's blood.
"Like it or not, it's all you."
"Why should I not like it?" Lith was puzzled.
"I was talking to myself!" Ripha grunted. "Bottom line, after Valeron's death I couldn't just sit there and look at him to collect new data anymore. On top of that, I had better things to do than working on a maybe.
"I set the project aside and gave my all to my daughter and tower, in this order." nadion looked at Solus, hoping to receive her approval.
"Thanks, Mom." She said with a smile.
"Don't ntion it, baby." nadion smiled back. "I planned on passing the tower on to Solus and then working together on human evolution once we had moved past our differences. We had a long ti ahead of us. Or rather, we were supposed to."
As Ripha sighed and wrung her hands, Solus moved behind her for a hug.
"We still do, Mom. Nothing is lost."
Lith and Kamila left the room to give mother and daughter so privacy and ponder the latest revelation while they waited to be called back.
'Fuck! That's why Roghar was so curious about . If rumor of this leaks, all races will have more than the hots for pairing up with their won. I will have to literally beat them away with Ragnarök.'
'Sounds good.' The blood-thirsty sword clacked its latches in enthusiasm.
'No, it's not.' Kamila replied. 'Even worse, the mont Elysia opens her first extra eye, the entire Mogar will know that Lith's powers and potential for evolution can be passed down and things will get even ugl-'
A telepathic signal gave her and Lith the all-clear to return to the living room.
"Thank you for your thoughtfulness." Demons didn't produce snot, but Lith could tell from Ripha's cracked voice that she had recently cried.
"You're welco." Lith replied. "While we are at it, we have one more question."
"We." nadion echoed with a chuckle while moving her eyes from him to Solus. "It sounds as heartwarming as it's infuriating."
"Why do we get a headache while trying to study the pieces of the Apprentice Set?" Solus asked. "Shouldn't we instantly acquire every bit of information about them? I an, you made both sets and the Master Eyes supersede the Apprentice's."
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