"There would be no point in making any, since Kelia is going to leave them behind." Lith replied. "Her goal is to rush the third year and reach the fourth. Only then will her real life as an academy student start." "I know, but I still think she needs company, and I mean someone her age." Solus said. "After losing Dusk, she shuts down the moment she stops working. At that point, pulling her out of her shell becomes very hard." "Put yourself in her shoes." Kamila said. "If Lith lost you, the only people who could relate to him are Kelia and Acala. The words of anyone else would just sound like platitudes and wishful thinking." "Point taken." Lith nodded. "What about you, Solus? Did you have fun in our absence?" "I wish." Solus groaned. "The moment you left, everyone got back to their jobs, and I was as alone as I was bored. I spent all my free time in the Garden practicing with the Ears of Mom." She used a quick mind link to explain everything the First Ruler of the Flames had taught her the previous day. "Very interesting." Lith pondered. "But are you sure that with your cracked life force and mana core, you can afford such a strain in my absence?" "I'm going to regret saying this." Solus took a deep breath. "There is no need to spend any mana or physical strain. The Ears don't manipulate or consume the world energy, they just allow you to follow its flow. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 "The closest thing to this kind of training is listening to a symphony orchestra and trying to recognize which instruments play at any given time. It requires a lot of focus, and listening to the same thing over and over gives you a massive headache, but that's it. "It's nothing I couldn't recover from with a bit of rest and silence." "Which means we can alternate training. One uses the Ears while the other recovers, and we exchange our knowledge before handing over the artifact." Lith pointed out. "This will double our progress speed while we master the Ears!" "And here comes the regret." Solus groaned. "Since I'm already doomed, we might as well ask for Mom's help. Our version of the Ears may be different from the original, but the basic principles are still the same." "Excellent point, Solus, but let's talk about that later." Lith said. "I know you are obsessed with work, but I'd like to spend a bit of time with my family before disappearing into the tower again." "Since when am I the one obsessed with work?" Solus snarled. "I just spent two days of total relaxation. What have you been doing in my absence, and with the freedom to use the tower to go anywhere you wanted?" Lith asked. Solus opened her mouth to reply and became red, realizing she hadn't even considered visiting her friends during the past two days. So, she shut up and Warped everyone to the dining hall where the rest of the family was waiting for them. *** Gorgon Empire, Eclipsed Lands, underground city of Lightkeep. Kalla the Wight was in the middle of her umpteenth experiment when her communication amulet lit up, conjuring the 3D hologram of a beautiful woman. "Not now, Nyka!" Kalla grunted. "I'm on the precipice of a decisive breakthrough in my research." "Good for you." After weeks of silent isolation in the dark, the woman's voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Kalla's ears, and the light from her hologram blinded the Wight. "Listen, I'm-" "I said not now!" Kalla hung up the call. "Gods that damned thing bothers me every five minutes." Yet it had been months since the last time she had used her communication amulet. "It's weird, though. I'm pretty sure the hologram isn't supposed to appear until I answer a call, and I'm also pretty sure I didn't." Kalla dismissed the minor mystery and resumed her research. For almost one minute, until the hologram popped up again. "Don't you dare hang up the call in my face again!" The nagging woman said. "I'm-" "Not interested!" Kalla hung up again. "Youths these days. They need discipline. When their mother says no, it means no. I'm disappointed in you, Nyka." The Wight turned toward the empty space where her daughter sat when she came to visit. "Damn, Nyka left without even saying goodbye. I'd better put her scolding into writing, or I'll end up forgetting about it again." Kalla scribbled for a whole minute before she noticed there was something wrong with her research notes. "Who dared waste space on my research notes with a long-winded rant about respect and obedience? Who snuck inside my lab just to insult me and ruin my work?" Kalla had no idea those were her own words and addressed to Nyka. "Nyka, did you see if someone…" She turned at the empty chair again, already oblivious of her daughter's absence. "The one time I need her, she's not here to nag at me. Story of my life." Kalla was on the verge of exploding when what she considered the only possible explanation for the meddling with her lab notes struck her like a lightning bolt. "This is a death threat! I must have disrespected someone, and unlike me, they haven't forgotten my slight. I'm in dang-" Her amulet lit up again, interrupting her delirium. "For the last time, I need to talk to you. This is an emergency!" "I know this is an emergency, Nyka! Somebody just broke into my lab! They must be after my Eyes and are going to kill me to get it! Send help!" Kalla pressed the alarm button to isolate her lab and conjured her best spells, ready for whoever was coming to get her. "What's all this noise, Mom?" Nyka opened the door after hearing the alarm. "I've heard you scream and you never scr-" "Face my wrath, you craven cur!" The Wight unleashed everything she had against the flabbergasted vampire woman. "You can get my life, but you'll never get my research! Wait, that came out wrong, I mean-" "Mom!" Only her powerful blood-red core and a Spirit Barrier saved Nyka from the unrelenting onslaught of tier four spells. "It's me, Nyka!" "Nyka?" Kalla tapped the Eyes of Menadion, which confirmed the identity of her daughter. "Why did you try to kill me? Was I such a bad mother?" "What in the gods' name are you talking about?" The young vampire yelled in frustration. "It's you who attacked me the moment I stepped inside your lab. Thank the Red Mother, you still have a bright blue core. "About the bad mother thing, the jury is still out." "How can you say that?" The Wight said as the shadows comprising her snout twisted into a pained grimace. "For starters, you are an absent mother." Nyka replied. "Also, you're absent-minded even those rare times a year I manage to take you out of your lab, and you've just tried to kill me! That's how." "Nyka, you are not making any sense." Kalla knew to be innocent, but for some reason, those accusations still stung hard. "You were there with me when you called me on my amulet over and over, disturbing my work."