"Think about it." Solus replied. "Once we figure out where to start restoring your life force, the Harmonizer-like properties of your body will give you the time to adapt and recover from the procedure without the risk of suffering permanent damage. "Conjuring the six elemental flows can’t speed things up but we can still use it to check for side effects and positive changes without endangering your life. At that point, we can decide whether to move forward or restore your life force to its previous state." "That’s true." Ryla gave Solus a small smile. "Thank you." "Don’t mention it. By the way, how come the house is so silent? Where is Fluffy?" "He’s at the main estate." Garrik replied. "He got bored of doing nothing while I practiced so Lucky offered to play with him." "Lucky? Playing?" Lith echoed in disbelief. ’Those words don’t go along together. Not anymore.’ He inwardly sighed. ’It’s more likely Fluffy is getting the beating and the training of a lifetime.’ Lith’s intuition was correct but he didn’t know the half of it. Fluffy returned from every "playdate" stronger, thinner, and with an abject terror of the Ry. "Can you help me find the right amount of elemental energy I have to conjure, Uncle Lith?" Garrik asked. "Any Awakened can help you with that, Garrik." Lith replied. "I have to go, but your big brother and your sister-in-law can do it as well as I can. I leave you in their expert hands." "Pretty please?" The young Tyrant held Lith’s robe, giving him a pleading look. "I’m sorry, Garrik." Lith shook his head. "That kind of fine-tuning requires a lot of time and practice. It’s not a matter of finding the right amount, but of you learning how to recognize it and then maintain it over an extended period of time. "It would take days at best and weeks at worst. I too have a family and things to take care of." "I understand." Garrik sighed, feeling robbed of hope. He didn’t care much about himself. He wanted his life forces to reach a stable condition in order to be Awakened and become capable of working on a treatment for his mother. In Garrik’s current state, he and Ryla were both trapped over the geyser so at least they had each other. Yet he could see how much she suffered from the imprisonment. How knowing that one day her son would go where she could never follow him hurt her. "No need to get all mopey on me." Lith patted Garrik’s shoulder. "I’m not walking out on you. Right now I don’t have the time but I plan on coming back and training with you. I still have to master my own powers." He winked with half his eyes. "Also, if you ever get stuck and need my advice, just give me a call and I’ll come to help you. Okay?" "Okay." Garrik replied, the smile returning to his face. "I should be offended with you, young man." Morok snorted. "Why do you cling so much to Lith? Do you not trust your big brother?" "I do trust you, but we’ve been sitting on this problem for weeks and Uncle Lith solved it in a minute." Garrik replied sheepishly. "With his help, our research would progress much faster." "Nonsense." Lith shook his head. "I solved it in a minute only because of your weeks of effort. You had already set all the groundwork and I just found the flaw." "Also, don’t you dare think you can become a recluse, young man." Ryla waved her finger under Garrik’s nose. "I didn’t free you from your prison in Zeska to let you lock yourself up inside a magical lab. You have friends, a pet, and youth. "I want you to enjoy them all. I want you to have everything I failed to give you while Glemos kept us under his thumb." ’Everything I never had and never will.’ She inwardly added. "Don’t say that, Mom." Garrik hugged her. "You didn’t fail. Everything I have now is thanks to you." "Thanks, sweetie." As Ryla returned the embrace, Lith and Solus silently waved their hands and took their leave not to intrude on the mother-son moment. "I should be offended as well." Quylla sighed. "Garrik didn’t even consider asking my help but I can’t blame him for that. I don’t have extra eyes, let alone those of Menadion. There’s only so much I can learn from deduction." "Don’t say that." Morok said. "You are working on unraveling Ryla’s Fallen Balor life force from her forced Fomor form. It’s a path no one has ever tried before and venturing into an unexplored field of research takes a lot of time." "Thanks for your kind words but they don’t make me feel any less useless. When will the baby powers come up?" She asked. "Heightened senses manifest after the second week." Kamila replied. "Increased strength after the second month and the magic powers after the third. Remember that until the baby doesn’t develop his own powers he can’t amplify yours." After bidding their goodbye and walking through the Warp Gate, Menadion came out of Lith’s shadow. She never stayed in the Void Sigil during the day but often hid her presence to avoid being pestered by strangers. "I still can’t believe it." She said. "How can you be so casual about something this big?" "The baby powers?" Kamila asked. "They are great but between their expiration date and the risks of a pregnancy-" "Not that!" Menadion cut Kamila short, looking at her as if she was making a bad joke. "I mean the fact that Balors and Tyrants are the natural evolution of humans. With everything that happened, I had almost forgotten about it, but only because there are not enough hours in a day to examine every crazy event of your life." "More like natural dead ends." Lith shrugged. "I don’t understand why you are so worked up about it." Menadion looked around to make sure they were alone and then Warped them to the Verhen Mansion’s keep to let Solus conjure the tower. "Come in. There’s something I have to tell you and I know you’ve been keeping a few questions for me on the back burner." She said. Menadion prepared a strong tea and took some oven-fresh biscuits out of the pocket dimension before sitting down with Lith, Solus, and Kamila in the living room of the tower. "Did you ever wonder how I came to the realization that, unlike the rest of the elements, Spirit Magic had to be focused inside the body? About the reason the Battle Form, I mean, the Prime Engine looks like that at full power?" "Yes, we did, Mom." Solus nodded, taking a bite from a biscuit. "We assumed that with your seven streaks and incredible talent, you had gained insights into the secret of human evolution." "Yeah, right." Menadion said with a snort. "Because with a daughter, a tower, lots of apprentices, and a never-ending line of customers, I had time to waste researching human evolution. "I wasn’t a warrior, Ep- Solus, I was a Forgemaster. You and my Forge were my life. I know I wasn’t a good mother but how can you think I would prioritize some far-fetched hypothesis over mending my relationship with you?"