Supreme Magus

Chapter 3618: The Beginning of Everything (Part 1)

"Let me guess. Nothing happened during my absence." Lith said.

"No one threatened me or Elina if that's what you mean." Kamila replied. "But something happened. I finished this!"

She pulled out a blue woollen onesie with the name Raldarak embroidered on the chest for him to examine.

"It looks amazing, Kami. Why didn't you make one for Elysia as well?"

"I did, and she ripped it to shreds by shapeshifting." She sighed. "That's when I asked you to make a Skinwalker armor for her, remember?"

"You're right." Lith chuckled at the memory of the baby girl proudly bringing him the ruined cloth, as if it were some mighty beast she had slain.

"Also, now that Friya has become a Harbinger, Orion and Jirni have decided to bring forward the date of her wedding. Ever since you left, they have been working on the preparations and have asked me if they can host the party here at the Mansion."

"I don't see why not." Lith shrugged. "They are more than our honored guests. They are our friends. After everything Friya went through and with Jirni and Orion coming this close to losing another daughter, they deserve some happiness.

"I don't want them to spend their time worrying that the Gernoff might stage another attack instead of enjoying the ceremony and the following party. They are welcome to use the Mansion as they see fit."

"Really?" Kamila was happy hearing such words, but they felt a bit off coming from her husband.

"Really." Lith replied. "As long as they pay for everything needed for the marriage and clean up after they are done. Being a good friend is one thing, being a charity is another."

"Do you want me to use these exact words or can I paraphrase them into something more polite?" She chuckled, feeling like Mogar had righted itself on its axis.

"You must paraphrase them to make them sound polite." Lith furrowed his brow in confusion. "I see no point mincing words with my wife, but I don't want to be a jerk to the Ernas. As I said, they are our friends."

"What kind of not-a-jerk doesn't even offer to contribute to the marriage of one of his closest friends?" She chuckled.

"A non-rich one." He replied, making Kamila laugh harder.

"I mean a lesser-rich one." Lith rushed to add, annoyed by her hilarity. "The Ernas are loaded compared to me, and you know how extravagant they are. They'll get only gold festoons, silver cutlery, expensive and exotic food, the whole nine yards.

"I'd go bankrupt to pay for all that. I'm generous, not foolish."

"I think you need to replace the vocabulary stored inside Soluspedia with a better one." She grunted, recalling how circumstances had made her marriage beyond cheap. "I think you got the wrong definition of generous."

"No, I don't." Lith shook his head. "I'm offering Friya my house, enchanted resources, and protection. In my vocabulary, that's not being cheap since I'm putting your life and those of the members of my family at risk for her.

"You are all priceless existences to me, and losing any of you would drive me insane." He caressed Kamila's face, rubbing her cheek with his thumb and making her heart flutter. "As for my money, I'd rather spend it on you.

"I want to build our happiness. Friya is filthy rich enough to build her own. She doesn't need my help with that."

"What do you mean, spending it on me?" Suddenly, Kamila found his argument sound and logical.

"That you've spent too much time hiding and I've spent too much time away from you in the hope Meln would make his move." Lith replied. "I missed you, babe. A lot. What do you say if we make up for the lost time with a proper date?"

"Do you mean one that lasts more than one evening?" Kamila asked, her eyes shining with joy when she obtained a yes for an answer. "I say it's a wonderful idea!"

Yet her enthusiasm lasted briefly, and a guilty expression quickly replaced her smile.

"What about the children, though? They missed their father for days, and I don't want them to miss their mother too."

"Don't worry, I agree and have already thought about that." Lith replied. "I'll sacrifice neither our family nor privacy. We'll bring the children along during the day and entrust them to my mother at night or whenever we need some alone time.

"I'm a mage and have a mage tower, remember? We are always just one Warp away from a sitter."

"Sounds like a great plan." She stood on her tiptoes to give him a sweet kiss. "Just one question. What if Friya or Nalrond ask you to be their man of honor/best man?"

"Easy." Lith replied. "The marriage will never take place because Quylla will kill Friya. Even if she decides to get a second maid of honor, Tista looks way better than me in a long dress."

"Definitely." Kamila chuckled. "What about Nalrond?"

"We both know that Protector is Nalrond's first choice. If there's a second, it'd better be Morok. The poor guy is the black sheep even among the Ernas and needs to shine a bit." He said.

"Can I start packing already?" Kamila asked.

"Sure. Just give me the time to make sure Mom is okay with this. I don't want to act generous at her expense."

***

Trawn Woods, Faluel's lair, at the same time.

After preparing the magical equivalent of a studio apartment for her Rezar guest, Faluel had returned to her lab to resume her experiments.

'I'm glad the Harbinger ritual saved Friya's life, but it couldn't have happened at a worse time.' She inwardly grumbled. 'I have finally gotten myself a Harbinger, yet I can't tell anyone without endangering the cover of my apprentices.

'According to the official version, they were thousands of kilometers away from here, and they didn't visit me until they gave up looking for the Rezar. On top of that, I had to answer all calls and attend those boring Council meetings even though I could barely stand.

'Worst of all, I had to put my training on hold right when I was on the verge of the closest thing to a breakthrough I had since I've started studying Ufyl's life force.'

A quick Warp Array brought her to the site of her secret lab. The one inside her lair was just for show and for minor projects.

Faluel's real magical lab was located above a mana geyser, which fuelled a powerful set of arrays and many complex enchanted pieces of equipment. It was the perfect place to tap into the Hands of Menadion's full potential.

The Hydra assumed her real form and conjured the Hands in the shape of two six-jewelled crowns. The true power of a Hydra lay in her heads, not in her stumpy forelegs.

'I'm glad Lith gifted them to me and even more glad that Menadion returned from the dead. If only she were a little less like Lith and more like Solus and upgraded my Hands with Creation Magic, my happiness would be complete.' Faluel sighed.

'The Hands is an unmatched artifact, but it's also outdated for over seven hundred years.'