'This way, if in the future Tezka "casually" rids the Kingdom of Jorl and the Black Throne, and takes the mage tower as compensation for his services, the Royals won't have any reason to suspect I'm the one who leaked the information to Tezka.
'They will think it was just a coincidence, and even if they want the Black Throne for themselves, they won't dare challenge Tezka. We'll be free to conduct our research without the Corpse, Lith, or anyone else breathing down our neck.'
The King, instead, found himself cornered by Tezka's logic.
'What he says is true. Many miraculous things happened during the past few months, and those who made them possible are assembled here. This is a perfect opportunity for Tezka to talk with them, yet I bet it's just a ruse.
'Soone as powerful as him and with a good relationship with Verhen could have t him and Fyrwal anyti he wanted. The problem is that without a good reason, I can't turn Tezka away without provoking what the other guests will perceive as rightful anger.
'After all, he has perford a ritorious act by helping the Kingdom against the Upyrs, and I was the one who crowned Tezka a Magus the past year.
'Sure, giving him the title was just a knee-jerk reaction triggered by my survival instinct, but I can't say that out loud without making a fool out of myself.'
"Feel free to join us, Dinsional Magus Tezka." ron stepped aside, waving the Suneater in. "You are most welco."
The King and the Queen exchanged a glance, worried about what might happen if Tezka learned about the Black Throne. They weren't aware that the ship had already sailed, and there was nothing they could do about it.
It was a problem for another day that had just dropped on the already ters-tall pile of contingencies they had to prepare for.
"Thank you for your hospitality, Your Majesty." The Suneater bowed with the most upsetting of smiles on his snout. "And my sincere thanks to your ancestors for picking the deep violet as the Magus robe color.
"It's the sa as my dinsional crystals, and I can't help but think that Valeron the First chose violet in my honor. After all, just like there are countless mages but only a few each generation can beco a Magus, crafting dinsional crystals requires a person just as rare."
Those words struck Friya, who turned to nadion.
"Is it true? Is it that hard to create a dinsional crystal?" She had made progress in her studies, but was nowhere near succeeding.
"No, it's harder than that." nadion sighed. "It's the reason none of my pieces carried a dinsional crystal. Back when I had my tower, it granted the spatial awareness of a dinsional mage, but not their talent.
"I never succeeded in crafting a dinsional crystal, nor did I et soone who could make one my whole life. Yet I'm certain that if my life weren't cut short, I would have learned the secret behind dinsional crystals."
The First Ruler of the Flas puffed her chest out with pride, her confidence bordering on conceit like most first-class artisans.
Tezka had just taken a few steps inside the Main Hall when Fyrwal's guest ca forward to face him.
"Which one?" Two fluffy ears covered in silver fur erged from the top of her head while seven long tails, each streaked with a different elental color, appeared out of the small of her back. "Which one are you?"
"Tezka the Patriarch or Tezka the Suneater? Answer !" She snarled, revealing a mouth full of pointy fangs.
The ancient Fylgja staggered as if a blow to the stomach had knocked the wind out of him. His poise and ttle evaporated like mist under sunlight, leaving him diminished. His size and power were still there, but his majestic aura was gone.
Until the mont his gaze had t the silver-haired woman, Tezka had looked like a warrior emperor walking among the least of his subjects. Now, instead, he looked like a convict in front of a judge.
"I'm both." Tezka replied after a long mont of silence, after he found the strength to raise his gaze from his own feet. "I'm the Fylgja who invented dinsional magic, taught it to our people, and led them to greatness as their Patriarch."
Tezka had seven of his tails shapeshift to mimic the woman's, removing the black on his fur and leaving only the silver and elental streaks.
"Yet I'm also the arrogant fool who refused death's embrace and turned against his own kind without even realizing it. I'm the Eldritch Abomination you know as the Suneater." Tezka's fur turned pitch black, and his erald-streaked tail disappeared.
"The good things I've done don't erase the bad ones, but the opposite is true as well. I am Tezka. A patriarch, an Eldritch, and now an Eldritch-Warg hybrid." Tezka's fur regained its silver and black color, and the number of his tails rose to ten.
"Label however you like. It can change who I am more than it can change the past, kid. Now that I've answered your question, you should answer mine. Who are you and why do you care about ?"
The silver-haired woman cried when she saw Tezka's magnificent silver fur and seven tails. Then, her tears dried up, and her body stiffened in horror when he turned into the incarnation of the monster of the stories that her parents told her when she was little.
Yet when Tezka found back his strength and regained his true appearance along with all his tails, the woman's knees buckled. She found herself on one knee, her head low in respect despite the conflicting emotions she still had to sort out.
"I'm Lylka the Fylgja, Patriarch Tezka." She replied. "I've co here from Zima, where our Summoner clan now resides, in the hope to et you."
"Zima." The Suneater pondered. "I had you run to the other end of Mogar to save your lives. It was a wise choice on your part and a monstrous act on mine. For that, you have my deepest apologies."
Tezka brought his right open hand to his heart and gave Lylka a deep bow.
"We've heard about your return to life years ago, but we refused to believe it. Then, we learned of your involvent in the War of the Griffon. Of how you had stepped out of the shadows to save a couple of human kids.
"It gave us hope, but we still didn't dare reveal our presence. It might have been just a whim, and we couldn't risk drawing the attention of our ancient nesis." She continued.
"It wasn't until we read about you attending Magus Verhen's birthday gala and everyone surviving the encounter that we knew that our Patriarch had truly returned.
"Your involvent in the attack on the young yet already mad World Tree only steeled our resolve to et you. The Dragons from Zima praised your valor and unmatched power. They told us about all the lives you saved that day.
"The Dragons also told us about your deal with Magus Verhen and how you stuck to its terms even when he denied you your prize."
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