Chapter 4058: Far-Reaching Consequences (Part 1) "I’ll take it." The Drake exhaled sharply. "I’ll bring my stuff to the tower in a while. How long does it take you to make me a lab, Solus?" She closed her eyes for a second before opening them again. "Done." *** The next day, at sunrise, Lith came in person to deliver everything Vexal needed to prepare lunch and dinner for everyone. Later, he patrolled the city with the help of his Demons, checking on the status of the repairs and helping however he could. His presence reassured the Lutians that their Supreme Magus hadn’t forgotten about his promise and drove away looters. When Lith returned to his home after discussing Lutia’s security with the commander of the army regiment stationed there, his amulet was already flooded with notifications. In the end, most of Lutia’s citizens decided to stay. After they read on their Tablets how many cities across the Kingdom had it as bad or worse than Lutia, their pride, the Lith’s promise to protect them, and his financial help settled the deal. Leaving Lutia felt like surrendering to the schemes of the Dead King, and no matter where they moved, nobody believed that Dragons would come to their rescue the next time their lives were in danger. Yet those who had lost both their house and family left without a second thought. Their pride was shattered, and they didn’t care about the protection of those who had already failed them, costing them everything. Those people couldn’t look at their old house without seeing the walls bleed, the furniture burn, and hearing the silence scream with the voices of their loved ones. Like Rizel, the laughter of the Dead King haunted them wherever they went. They needed a place that he hadn’t tainted with his shadow. Where they wouldn’t see him in every dark corner. Finding such places wasn’t hard, but it often required moving to isolated villages in faraway regions. With each person who made their choice, Lith received a notification on his amulet. The Mage Association handled the payments and transfers of ownership, waiting until the end of the month to send him the final invoice. "I should be happy I’m getting my hands on so much land, yet I’m not." According to Lith’s most conservative estimates, he had already enough to make a profit, yet he couldn’t bring himself to smile. "Where is Yaga?" "She’s coming." Solus replied, her expression shifting from sad to angry. "What about the others?" "Zoreth is not a problem, and neither is Ryla." Lith said. "Urhen is the only one who worries me, but I think we’ll manage. She doesn’t know enough about magic to suspect that we bring her to a mage tower. "Besides, she has no reason to question or betray us. She knows that, in the near future, Quylla will use everything we learn to reverse the Fallen state of the Balor race." "Couldn’t this wait a bit? I don’t know you, but I’m still angry at Malyshka." Solus sighed. "I’m not happy either, but you heard the King. We need one trick to show off during the wedding reception so that Meln can’t just deny everything and claim my Indech form is just a farce." Lith replied. "Also, the longer we wait, the longer Friya has to postpone the wedding." "And I won’t be caught dead walking to the aisle with a swollen belly!" Friya grunted. "I don’t like sharing the day of my marriage with you guys, but you don’t hear me complaining." "Mostly because you already did that yesterday and it backfired." Nalrond pointed out. Friya was about to say something snarky when Quylla entered the room and smiled at her. "We’ll resume this conversation later." Friya said with a soothing expression and tone. "I have things to do as well. Today I’m practicing my Harbinger powers with Faluel." "Which leaves me alone with Acala and Dawn for my training session. Just peachy." Nalrond sighed. "Guess nobody will enjoy himself today." "What Harbinger powers do you need to train?" Solus asked. "As far as I know, Hydras don’t have bloodline abilities." "Thanks for being a jerk, Solus." Friya snorted. "Yes, Hydras don’t have a grocery list of powerful abilities like true Dragons, but they are far from weak. I need to practice thinking with my seven heads and get used to a more battle-oriented combat form." She shapeshifted into a taller and bulkier human-Hydra hybrid with all seven heads resting on long serpentine necks. Friya had little of human in that form, her face unrecognizable from the snouts. "Also, Faluel’s blood stored in my body is supposed to give me incredible regenerative powers, but while I carry the twins, I won’t experiment on that unless the environment is safe and completely controlled." "If it works the same way as for Dragon, you are as good as immortal. Even if your head is blown up or your heart pierced, you can regrow them." Lith and Solus had fought a Harbinger in the past. The traitorous Ranger Alman Quaron had survived impossible wounds, giving his master, Syrook, the time to come to his rescue. "Yeah, too bad that doing that consumes a lot of blood, and a Hydra’s is likely to be much less potent." Friya replied. "I don’t know how much blood healing a fatal wound requires, and I won’t risk discovering it on the battlefield. "According to Faluel, once I run out of Dragon essence, I lose all my Harbinger powers until I get infused with more. I need to learn my limits, how much punishment I can take, and most importantly, I need to get used to our damn bond. "Otherwise, the first time Master Faluel and I fight together, we’ll drown each other in babble and be the best distraction our enemy could ever wish for." "Don’t be so harsh on yourself, babe." Nalrond caressed her shoulder. "Sure, sometimes you can be intense, but you don’t babble so much. Especially during battle." "I was talking about Faluel and me having both seven heads planning multiple strategies and weaving spells at the same time." Friya’s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, intense? Also, I don’t babble at all!" "As you said, we’ll resume this conversation later." Nalrond knew he would return from training just to step into another battlefield, but he wouldn’t back down. "Be careful out there. For all three of you." He gave Friya a sweet kiss and then two more to her womb. "You too." She said before Warping away. Baba Yaga arrived a few minutes later in her Mother form. The moment she entered the room, the tension became so thick that it could have been cut with a knife. "I’m really sorry about what happened." She gave a deep bow to everyone without moving from the door. "I rushed to Lutia as soon as Solus called me, but I was away for personal reasons. "I Warped immediately to the Eclipsed Lands to Vladion’s position, but getting here from the Gorgon Empire took me a few minutes. By the time I arrived, it was all over. I didn’t dare show my face because I didn’t want to make things worse for everyone. "It’s my fault if Night survived her first raid on Lutia."