Tezka looked around to familiarize himself with the place, showing no care for the riches or the prized artifacts that Faluel stored inside enchanted crystal cases placed in a circle centered on her bed.
This way, whenever she woke from her slumber, she needed only to stretch one of her long necks to check that everything was still in place and that no thief was hiding in the shadows.
’This may be her house, but it’s not her real lab.’ Tezka thought while casting a life-sensing and an array-detecting spell. ’There is no mana geyser here, and the framework of her containment arrays is not enough to channel the full power of someone like her for more than a few minutes.
’Any plex experiment or powerful Forgemastering processes performed here would suffer from energy leaks that would promise the final result. Judging from the number of barriers of this place and how they can stop people from both entering and leaving, this is a fortress.’
According to Awakened etiquette, scanning your host’s home like that was considered rude. Yet only if the guest Awakened were a friend, otherwise not scanning an unknown place would be considered beyond stupid.
Tezka and Faluel had no meaningful relationship, which gave them justification to take precautions against each other.
It was the reason the Hydra had chosen the only place where she could hope to defend herself from the Suneater as their training spot, and he hadn’t tried to hide his efforts to study the unknown environment.
Acting openly in front of an Awakened you didn’t know or trust was the way Awakened showed respect.
"It’s a nice place." Tezka nodded. "A bit tacky, but I’ve yet to enter a Dragon’s lair that I don’t find tacky. I understand loving art and precious things, but this kind of display is too ostentatious for my taste."
He walked before a bookshelf, reading the priceless tomes’ titles and brushing a finger along their spines with the tenderness of a parent towards their child.
"Thank you, Elder Tezka." Faluel said.
’Take note, Friya, everything here is a subtle dance of praise and threats.’ She actually thought via the mind link. ’He has called my home a Dragon’s lair, putting me on the level of a real Dragon.
’Moreover, he’s taking his time studying not only my arrays, but also the non-enchanted items I consider precious. Had he ignored my arrays, it would have meant he considers my magical powers beneath his notice.
’Had Tezka ignored my books, instead, it would have meant that he doesn’t care about me and he’s e here only to fulfil his end of the bargain.’
’Those seem all positive things to me, Master.’ Friya replied. ’Why are you so tense, and where are the threats you mentioned before?’
’Tezka said he entered many Dragon lairs, not that he was invited to visit them.’ Faluel pointed out, and Friya’s eyes widened at the revelation. ’It means that he broke inside the lairs of many Dragons and none of them has ever managed to stop him.’
’And since you’re not a Dragon, it’s a gentle way of telling you that he can get out of here anytime he wants and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ Friya gulped.
’Keep this in mind the next time you meet a Council Elder.’ Faluel said. ’This is how Awakened talk. We only respect power, and when we meet someone much weaker than us, pointing it out kindly is what we call being gracious.
’Tezka is showing me courtesy while also not letting me forget about the difference in strength between us.’
’How isn’t that rude?’ Friya asked.
’Because he’s declaring that he’s willing to treat me like a peer, but there’s only so much disrespect he’s going to tolerate.’ Faluel replied. ’Never get too fortable when dealing with someone who can kill you with a glare, Friya.
’Otherwise, you’ll let your mouth run too much, and even if you survive the encounter, you’ll have lost any chance to build a relationship with them.’
’Wait, we never had such a problem with you. Heck, even Tezka has never shown signs of hostility in any of our past interactions.’ Friya said.
’That’s because you are young.’ Faluel inwardly shook her head. ’He is treating me like an adult, whereas he considers you and your friends like small children. Do you get angry with Fenrir if she disregards etiquette or says something silly?’
’No, she’s a little child. She doesn’t do it with malice. She just doesn’t know better.’ Friya replied.
’And that’s how someone like you or Lith appears to my eyes. Like a good-natured but ignorant child who says everything that es to their mind and touches things they aren’t supposed to.
’I’m young for my species, and yet I still find your naivety cute, Friya. Imagine as you must appear to someone as old as Tezka.’
Suddenly, the image of Elysia popped out in Friya’s mind. The baby girl was smart and talented, but she was still an innocent baby. No matter what she did, everyone would always give her the benefit of the doubt.
’Exactly.’ Faluel said.
"We can begin our lesson whenever you are ready." Tezka said after a few seconds.
Mind links were fast, and he assumed he had given Faluel enough time to explain the hidden meaning behind their conversation to Friya.
"We are ready, Elder Tezka." Faluel gave him a deep bow, and Friya followed suit an awkward second later.
"Please, let’s drop the honorifics." He raised his hand, gesturing for them to straighten themselves. "We are all dimensional mages here. Rank doesn’t matter. We are here to learn."
"Thanks, Master, I mean, Tezka. Where do we start?" Friya asked.
"From the beginning, kid." Tezka said with a laugh, ruffling her hair and making her feel like an overgrown toddler. "Faluel has bee a dimensional mage after making you her Harbinger, so she knows nothing of dimensional crystals.
"You, instead, have been working on them for a while now. Tell me everything you tried and what you’ve learned from your failures, kid. I don’t want to waste your time explaining things you already know and that Faluel can much more easily learn through your bond."
Friya used a mind link to share her past experiments with him. She started from her attempts to enhance the basic elements for dimensional magic, air, earth, and water, in a white crystal. After that, Friya moved on to all the possible elemental binations she had tried.
After asking Faluel permission, she even explained to Tezka her theory about crafting dimensional crystals by removing the Spirit element from a Spirit crystal with Domination.
Tezka had already admitted to knowing about Domination’s existence and effects. Friya’s thoughts revealed nothing he didn’t already know, only the different angles from which she had tried to crack the mystery of the dimensional crystals.
"You’ve worked hard, kid." Tezka nodded. "Too bad you did everything wrong. Don’t worry, though. You are in good pany. There’s a reason only a few masterpieces through the ages bear a dimensional crystal.
"Without someone to guide you, a dimensional mage can spend their entire life without ever crafting one."
"I understand." Friya tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of her voice. "What’s the correct answer, then?"
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