Chapter 4407: Matter and Mana (Part 1)
Chapter 4407: Matter and Mana (Part 1)
"No po!" Elysia conjured the crown of silvery fire again, claiming the title of overlord of the house for herself.
"Here you go, your majesty." Lith handed her a small bag of baby biscuits he had ground into a fine powder. "This is your reward. You are free to share it, if you want."
"Dan iou, Dya!" Elysia held the bag like a treasure, hugging her father before being sent back into the Doomslayer crib. "Me hep Dya! Loo!"
She showed her prize to the other toddlers and asked Vyla to split the contents of the bag into their baby bottles. Valeron received a normal cup as the oldest one, drawing the admiration of the smaller babies.
"What did you do, Ely?" He asked.
"Do no." She shrugged.
Just because her father asked her to help him in his experiments didn’t mean she had any concept of magical research.
"Can you show us?"
"No." Ely shook her head. "Dya no."
Since their father had asked her not to use magic, Valeron dropped the argument and focused on enjoying his milk with biscuits.
Meanwhile, in the Lodestar, Lith had already developed a few tier one Decay Magic spells and was ready to move on to tier two. Before that, however, he taught everything he had learned to Baba Yaga and waited for her to master the spells.
"This has gotten easier with practice, but it’s none the safer." She said after a minor mistake in weaving an unknown spell directly with true magic caused one of her fingers to rot and fall off. "One stupid mistake and Vikara hurts you more than it hurts your enemy.
"At least they can hope to dodge or block such a simple spell with a barrier, whereas the little bastard strikes at you from inside your body."
"How could you fail a tier one spell, Malyshka?" Solus asked. "You are a powerful mage and have already mastered the other five Dread elements. This should be child’s play for you."
"You’re not wrong, Solus, but you’re not right either." The Mother replied. "I’ve mastered up to tier three of the other Dread elements, true, but only after practicing them with fake magic first.
"It gave me the time to get used to the fear they instilled in me until I managed to overcome it. Just because they belong to the same branch of magic, the six Dread elements don’t work the same way and instill each a different kind of fear.
"I bit more than I can chew and paid the price for it. Don’t worry, though. I’m as good as new." Her ring finger was back in its place as if nothing had happened.
"What kind of fear does Vikara inspire?" Lith asked.
"The fear of aging." Baba Yaga said. "The fear of growing so old that you don’t recognize the reflection in your mirror. Of becoming helpless and weak."
"This doesn’t make sense." Solus replied. "You are an immortal white core. This kind of fear shouldn’t affect you."
"I can’t age, Solus, but everyone else can." The Mother sighed. "What Vikara shows me is not my own decay, Solus, but that of the people I love. I see the children who live in my tower lose their minds to dementia.
"I see you and Lith become frail things that beg for the sweet relief of death. I see my undead children lose their sanity as the millennia pass and become worse than Liches. The rot can take place in the mind as well as in the body, Solus."
"Thanks for the depressing picture. Be right back." Lith Warped away, hugging his parents, sisters, and then holding Kamila for several seconds without saying anything before returning to the tower. "Everything is fine. Everyone is fine."
"You could have checked on them with the Watchtower." Solus said.
"I only believe in what I see." Lith snorted. "Also, the Watchtower can’t give anyone a full-body rejuvenation session."
"But everyone is Awakened now, and Rejuvenation has little effect on them." Solus was flabbergasted. "As for Tista, she is a Divine Beast and her life force is intact. She’s probably going to outlive us."
"I know, but I don’t care." Lith shrugged. "I needed to be sure."
Baba Yaga’s words had stirred his worst fears and memories. Only certainty that his loved ones were fine could dispel the ghosts of Carl, Yurial, Lark, and Mirim that haunted his mind.
Manohar was more like a poltergeist. A memory so annoying that you couldn’t decide whether to be more saddened or relieved by his passing.
"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you." The Mother gave Lith a deep bow. "Yet Solus needed to know. If she ever learns Dread Magic, she’ll face my same fears."
"Don’t apologize." Lith sighed. "I may not experience Dread Magic’s side effects, but I know fear all too well. Are you done with tier one Decay magic?"
"Yes, but from the way you talk, I’m guessing you have something in mind other than tier two." Baba Yaga nodded.
"After watching Tezka using Mirror Magic to fight against Jorl, I have a hypothesis I want to put to the test." Lith replied. "As you know, the Cursed Elements affect mana and physical matter each in a unique way.
"My theory is that it happens not only when clashing with the spells and enchantments of your enemies, but also your own. If we want to develop tier four Dread Magic and live to tell the tale, we can’t overlook such a possibility."
"It’s an interesting idea." The Mother pondered. "At the moment, Mirror and Dread Magic have the same potential. Developing the upper tiers would upset the scale since Mirror Magic can’t be used along with other elements.
"What do you have in mind, Lith? Two Cursed Elements or one Cursed and the other normal."
"I like to start from what I know." A flick of Lith’s fingers conjured the hologram of the fight between Orulm and Acala. "That spell is called Void Hunger. It mixes Chaos and air, so combining one Cursed element with a normal one is possible."
Lith moved everyone to the Firing Range and had Solus leave the room, just to stay safe.
"I’m not going to weave two elements together and hope for the best." He explained to his confused half. "Yaga is going to shoot a bolt of lightning, and I’ll intercept it with a tier one Decay spell to study how the two elements interact.
"Worst case scenario, the Decay made from my mana will have only secondary effects on me. The Firing Range should be completely able to shield me. Baba Yaga, instead, has her white core to protect her.
"Between her nigh-immortality and the Firing Range, there is no way a tier one spell can inflict her permanent damage."
"Let me guess." Solus sighed. "I share your energy signature, but if something goes wrong and I get hurt, the tower would take damage as well. The Firing Range would become less effective, and I would suffer more wounds, starting a vicious cycle."
"Correct." Lith nodded. "As long as you are safe, we are safe, Solus."
"I couldn’t have said it better." Menadion clung to her daughter like a Koala to a tree. "You can begin the experiment anytime you want, Lith."