Chapter 4301: Tower Form (Part 1)
Chapter 4301: Tower Form (Part 1)
Jirni, Orion, Ryla, and Garrik noticed nothing odd when the Verhens disappeared, and life-sized holograms replaced them.
"Stop right there, or I won’t show you my final form!" Solus extended her arms, bringing the children to a screeching halt.
"What final form?" Teryon asked. "You have three of them, just like Auntie Tista and the rest of us."
No one in the family had actually awakened their bloodline, but the kids considered it their birthright, and nobody objected to Teryon’s claim.
"I’m not an Abomination like Lith, but I have my tower side, sweetie." Solus ruffled her hair.
"No offense, Auntie, but what point is there in a tower your size?" Lenart looked at her in honest confusion. "There isn’t enough space for anyone bigger than Elysia. You would be an oversized toy."
"I said a tower side, not an actual mage tower." Solus sighed. "It’s easier if I show you."
While before Solus had focused on the metal threads of her human life force and then on the crystal stars of the Divine Beast, now she turned inward to the energy mass of the tower core that encompassed her whole being.
The galaxy of her life force spun faster and faster as the tower core flooded the giant violet star at the center. The crystals studded in the elemental stars spread across their surface, trapping them inside.
The metal strands patching the human threads grew in size until they became thick cables that connected the elemental crystals and guided them in their orbit around the only star left.
The energy of the tower core filled the hole in the giant violet first, and then formed multiple concentric layers of runes that wrapped themselves around it. The fire disappeared under the runes, and what was left was the perfect energy sphere of a power core.
Around it orbited dozens of intersecting metal rings that served as mana pathways, compressing the power core into a stable form and keeping its energy from dispersing.
Each ring carried seven equally spaced elemental crystals, each one of a different color. The six elemental crystals split and absorbed the single components of the world energy before focusing it into the Spirit Crystal.
In turn, the Spirit Crystals converted the world energy into mana and released it into the power core in the form of emerald beams. The constant flow of mana nourished the other aspects of Solus’ life force hidden beneath the inorganic matter and nursed them back to health.
As Solus’ life force rearranged itself, her skin went from pink to gold, gaining the luster of polished metal.
Her face became a featureless slate with no nose or mouth, only her eyes remained. On the top of her head rested what looked like a seven-pointed crown that resembled the battlements at the top of a tower.
A different elemental gemstone was inset on each crenellation, with the Spirit Crystal placed right above Solus’ forehead. A rushing prismatic flame emerged from the crown, forming a cascade of fire that replaced Solus’ hair.
Diamond-shaped violet crystals protruded from her shoulders, arms, the middle of her chest, hips, and the bridges of her feet. Jagged white crystals replaced her nails and toes, instead, and more protruded from her forearms.
It was unclear if they were supposed to be weapons or simple decorations. Solus answered the silent question in everyone’s eyes by flexing her metal body. Her nails elongated into claws, her toes into talons, and the white crystals on her forearms extended into short blades.
She would have been an impressive, majestic figure if she weren’t just 1.54 meters (5’1") tall, the same as always.
"Wow." Lith said, going down on one knee to observe Solus’ tower form without the flames on her head blinding him. "I suppose you are covered in invisible runes like an artifact."
"Correct." She nodded, her voice silvery like the clinking of the purest crystal. "Please, don’t ask me what I can do in this form, because I have no idea."
"I’m more interested in the fact you have two golden eyes instead of seven." Lith replied. "Do you think the gemstones on your crown are what in your other forms become your eyes?"
"That’s the same thing I thought when I assumed this form for the first time." She replied. "An artifact has no internal organs and no need for a specific arrangement for its sensory organs.
"If I’m right, my crown allows me to have perfect awareness of my surroundings at all times since I can look in every direction simultaneously."
"You can’t do it right now?" Leran asked as she sniffed Solus and found no human smell.
"Nope. I can barely see and hear you guys." Solus replied. "Whatever senses this form has, they work differently from a human’s, and I have yet to understand how to use them. Still, I look pretty cool, right?"
"Very cool." Lilia neared her hand to the flaming hair, pulling it away the moment the heat became unbearable. "Is this also part of your tower? I’ve never seen a furnace floor or anything like that."
"Good question. Let’s ask the expert. Mom?"
"There is no furnace floor in the tower, sweetie." Menadion shook her head. "Or at least, there wasn’t when I designed and built it. I used the magma from the Crucible to smelt magical metals and the Origin Flames I bought to purify them.
"Natural and magical fire are useless to a Forgemaster. Either you have developed a new floor on your own to incorporate in the tower the effects of your Divine Beast blood, or this is just a manifestation of your bloodline abilities."
"Whatever it is, it’d better be a product of your Phoenix aspect, Featherling." Salaark tapped her foot in annoyance. "I’m very disappointed in you."
"Why, Grandma?" Solus felt hurt by those words. "Is it because I’m a midget?"
"What? No!" The Overlord was flabbergasted. "Who cares about that? I was referring to the fact that you turned into a Dragon, have little feathers, no beak, and no bird traits. What did I do to you to deserve such treatment?
"Why is it that, aside from Tista, no one shows me some love? You all seem to favor this cold-hearted brute!" She pointed at Leegaain, who for once didn’t know what to say.
"It’s not my fault, Grandma." Solus scratched her head in embarrassment, discovering that she felt nothing and that her flames didn’t hurt her. "I’m bonded to Lith, and his Dragon side is dominant.
"The tower must have followed his same proportions in rebuilding my body."
"In other words, this is Ripha’s fault." Salaark nodded.
"First, this argument is stupid." Menadion said. "Second, back then, my only priority was saving Epphy’s life, not preening your feathers. I barely knew what I was doing, and I’m surprised as you are at what happened to my daughter."
"I’m dropping this for now, but not because this is over." The Overlord snorted. "I’m running out of ideas about what to make your holograms say. If we stay here for too long, I could slip up, and someone could notice there is something wrong with you."
A quick mind link brought everyone up to speed about what the holograms had done and said with their friends.