"You'll be very similar to Valeron, but not identical." The Overlord shook her head. "Take my children, Sinmara and Surt. Their apex form is still that of their parents, but they have gained different powers.
"Sinmara is a Phoenix of Darkness, the apex of her old Dark Phoenix bloodline, while Surtr is a Dragon of Light, the apex of his Fire Dragon bloodline. In the sa way, the human race has one apex form, but your talents are only yours, Lochra."
"Thanks. I-" A quick rap on the door cut her short. "Co in!"
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I need your help." Friya gave her seniors a deep bow before walking through the door. "I've hit a tall wall with my research, but I can overco it if you are willing to share your wisdom and experience with ."
"I can't speak for the others, but feel free to ask anything you want." nadion replied. "You've been a good friend to Lith and Epphy over the years, Friya. I owe you that much."
"Epphy?" Friya tilted her head to the side in confusion.
"Solus." The First Ruler of the Flas quickly corrected her blunder. "Please, don't mind my slip of the tongue and don't tell Solus about it."
"We'll make up our minds when we hear your questions, child." Baba Yaga said. "I enjoy helping young mages on their journey, but not if they take dangerous paths."
"Do you know what a dinsional crystal is?" Everyone nodded in reply. "Do you also know how to craft one?"
Much to Friya's surprise, this ti everyone but Salaark answered with a no.
"I'm sorry, Friya, but I'm no dinsional mage." nadion replied. "Otherwise, all the pieces of my Apprentice Set would have had seven crystals like the Saefel Set, and now those of the Master Set would have eight elental crystals."
"I can't help you either, child." Baba Yaga shook her head. "In all my years, I have never succeeded in crafting a dinsional crystal, and not for a lack of trying. The few dinsional mages I befriended over the millennia refused to teach , while those who antagonized preferred to die rather than expose their secrets."
"Sadly, I don't know the first thing about dinsional crystals either, but if I did, rest assured I wouldn't share any of it with you." Silverwing said.
"How is this possible?" Friya was flabbergasted. "All of you have the seven elental streaks of the elents like . You are attuned with all elents. How can you not be dinsional mages?"
"All dinsional mages have seven affinities, but not all those who have seven affinities are dinsional mages, child." The Red Mother's form shapeshifted into an Asura for a second, revealing the blessing of the elents on her arms and the erald light of Spirit Magic in her eyes.
"I wish it were that straightforward." nadion sighed. "To be a dinsional mage, one must also be attuned with space, and there's no hair streak, eye, head, or arm for that. It's sothing in your mind."
"Why do you think no one congratulated Lith about Elysia being a dinsional mage?" Silverwing asked. "She has six streaks already, and in ti, she'll gain the seventh. Yet that doesn't make her a dinsional mage."
"Indeed." Salaark nodded. "I'm no dinsional mage either, and not even I can tell if Elysia possesses the necessary talent. Until she learns dinsional magic, there's no way to know."
"If you are not a dinsional mage, how do you know how to make dinsional crystals, Sally?" nadion asked, and the use of the moniker earned her a glare from the Overlord.
"One of my children, Jazhir, was born a dinsional mage, and he agreed to teach ." Salaark replied. "I'm not going to lie. It took decades of practice to craft my first dinsional crystal.
"On top of that, I succeeded only because my son ntored the whole ti, and thanks to my connection with Mogar. If I weren't a Guardian, I doubt that even the guidance of soone as skilled as Jazhir would have sufficed."
"I see." Friya swallowed hard, realizing that the mountain she had to climb was much steeper than she had assud. "I suppose you aren't willing to teach , correct?"
"Of course, I am!" The Overlord snorted. "Swear your eternal loyalty to , join my Nest, and my knowledge is yours."
"I really walked into that one." Friya said. "Second question. Do you know about Domination?"
"Child, anyone who reaches my age and hasn't discovered and mastered Domination is either very dumb or an Abomination." Baba Yaga grunted at the question, and so did Salaark.
"I'm not that old, but I learned about Domination from the Guardians, and in turn, I taught Ripha." Silverwing said, and nadion confird her words.
"What do you an, or an Abomination?" Friya asked in confusion.
"There's a reason if ancient beings like Tezka and many other Eldritches haven't discovered about Domination even though they predate us Guardians." Salaark replied. "To beco an Abomination, you turn your back on Mogar, and Mogar turns her back on you.
"Abominations lose all connections with the world energy, including their elental affinities. They can rember what they learned while they are alive, and hybrids like Tezka or Bytra can regain their bloodline abilities, but the affinities are lost to them.
"It's the reason Abominations and Eldritches use Chaos Magic to do everything, even opening a Warp Steps. Their only affinity is toward Chaos."
On the one hand, Friya was relieved that all those present knew about Domination, or she would have gotten in trouble with Faluel. On the other hand, it made her final question pointless.
"Is it possible to create dinsional crystals with Domination?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Three of the four won replied.
"That's not how Domination works, child." Salaark shook her head. "Domination is sothing you apply to one or more already conjured elents. It can't create anything by itself."
"What if I created a Spirit Crystal and then removed my life force with Domination? Wouldn't that be a dinsional crystal?" Friya asked.
"I tried and failed for over six hundred years before giving up on that technique." Baba Yaga shook her head. "Nice try, though, kid. Great minds think alike."
"I tried until I t Yaga." Silverwing replied. "Then I asked her your sa question, got your sa answer, and gave up."
"I tried once for the fun of it." nadion shrugged. "Lochra had told it was impossible, but I still wanted to see how much better than her I was. Alas, I didn't surpass her in that subject."
"Hey!" Silverwing snarled. "I resent that. You only beat in Forgemastery!"
"I tried that technique and stopped after succeeding." Salaark said, bringing the quarrel between Magi to a sudden halt.
"Did you get a dinsional crystal?" Friya asked, her eyes sparkling with hope.
"No, I created a massive imbalance in the world energy that resulted in an explosion violent enough to level mountains." The Overlord replied. "Luckily for , there are no mountains in the Desert, only dunes.
"Still, it took the wind decades to undo the damage I caused, and I would have died on the spot if not for my powers as a Guardian."
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