Chapter 4064: Forging the Path (Part 1) "Vital Storm also resembles Meln’s greatest weapon, Life Maelstrom. He thinks he’s superior to me now that Dusk’s crystal grants him many bloodline abilities, hence revealing that I can use Vital Storm will deal a huge blow to his ego." Lith said. "The only advantage Meln has left over me is Doom Tide, but that’s not something he can use without a proper plan. Unless he’s one-on-one against a powerful enemy, he would kill his own troops. "If you also consider that, if the enemy somehow avoids the blast, Night’s tower and crystal become useless, you can understand why Meln doesn’t rely on Doom Tide much. That was Dusk’s trump card because he was a master of Spirit Magic and life force. "Compared to him, Night’s skill as a mage is a joke. She has come up with a few Spirit Spells of her own over the millennia, but she mostly relied on her Chosen and her raw power to win. Night is not a fighter, more like a torturer." "You have no idea how happy I am that Upyrs don’t get Doom Tide." Tista shuddered at the thought. "If they did, every Upyr could have razed entire city blocks by themselves during the attack." "Yeah, compared to that, Frost Soul is cute." Zoreth grunted as the elements stored in her arms released light with growing intensity. "I doubt that my knock-off Swirling Wind would have been of any use against Doom Tide." "Zoreth!" Ryla rebuked her. "Balors may have weaker bloodline abilities than Fomors like me, but they are still genuine." "I’m sorry, Urhen." The Arke raised her hands in apology. "Between my stupid arms and my defeat at the hands of Narchat, I’m really cranky. I meant no offense." "None taken." The Balor smiled warmly, but glanced at Ryla in ill-concealed envy. "I see your point, Lith, but unless I’m forgetting something, your plan won’t be as effective as you think." Morok needed sheer focus to make the air element flow across the entire surface of his proto-energy wings. "Vital Storm does resemble Life Maelstrom, but it’s much weaker. Seeing it will make all humans happy because Vital Storm is still better than anything they have, but Narchat will just scoff at it. You might end up stroking his ego." "You are indeed forgetting something." Lith’s yellow eye lit up, and a bolt of golden lightning snaked around his right forearm up to his hand. "How many people outside this room know how Vital Storm works and can compare its effects to Life Maelstrom?" The Tyrant opened his mouth to answer just to close it and give Lith the thumbs-up. "No one!" He said. "Sure, the Fomors used it on the soldiers during the fight against Ruugat, but they never experienced Life Maelstrom." "Exactly." Lith expanded the Vital Storm across his shoulders until it covered his left arm as well before releasing it into two violent streams of lightning. "Nobody but us has ever fought a Fomor, and Ryla’s people are not fools. "They have hidden the full scope of their abilities in case their deal with the Council goes south. Only their allies in Jiera have seen the Fomors go all-out, but unless they later used Life Maelstrom in battle, they are in the dark like everyone else. "I’m willing to bet good money that when Meln hears about Vital Storm, he’ll throw a huge tantrum." "I’m happy for you, Little Brother." Zoreth gave her all in one last burst of light before starting to wheeze like a bellows. "I’m also incredibly envious of you all." Morok’s proto-wings shifted smoothly from one element to another, while Lith and Tista could now draw the elements inside their feathers without the support of Ryla’s Swirling Wind. The Arke had the worst elemental control of the group, and conjuring her bloodline abilities was painfully slow. Unless she consumed part of the power stored in her arms, it took her so long that she doubted her powers would be useful in actual combat. "Thanks, but you have no reason to." Morok shrugged. "Mastering Swirling Wind with all elements is a minor achievement. I can’t still use the power I absorb through my wings to conjure anything." "He’s right, you know?" Tista sighed. "Lith and I have finally learned how to absorb the elements without Swirling Wind, but our results are underwhelming compared to Ryla and Garrik. "Conjuring any bloodline ability takes us several seconds. If this weren’t training, no enemy would stand there and wait until we’re done charging up." "That’s because without Swirling Wind, your wings can only absorb one-sixth of the elemental energy you got used to during the initial stages of our training." Ryla pointed at Tista’s white feathers. "It’s like learning how to cruise in the ocean and then finding yourself in shallow waters. You need to get used to making smaller movements and avoid reefs to not get beached." "And that despite standing above a powerful mana geyser and in our Indech forms." Lith groaned. "I don’t want even to imagine how bad we’d perform on neutral ground and in our Divine Beast form." "I have all reasons to be envious." Zoreth sighed. "I’m not as good as you at anything. Not even Swirling Wind." She lit up her darkness arm and weaved it around, conjuring a thin black mist. "This is not even half as good as what Urhen can do. Is it because I’m a troll hybrid, or is it just me?" "Both." Baba Yaga replied. "You are half troll, yet you keep expecting a human’s performance. On top of that, you haven’t tried once to understand what your troll side does. You are too busy competing with the others to focus on your own strengths." "I know what my troll side does." Zoreth replied. "It stores elemental power and fires it at will. It would be great, if fully charging a single arm didn’t take days." "I swear to the gods, if I didn’t feel guilty for what Night did to Lutia, I’d either let you stew or beat you up." The Mother said. "Ryla, Swirling Wind on the darkness element, if you please." The Fomor did as bidden, and Baba Yaga grabbed Zoreth’s darkness arm. Without saying a word, she forced the limb to light up and open itself to the darkness element. Zoreth’s fingernails turned pitch-black as before, but there was one major change. The fingers opened the connection to the world energy and drew in the darkness element like Zoreth always did, but the power already accumulated in her arm now pulled at the darkness element as well. It amplified the efficiency of the Arke’s fingers the more her energy reserves filled up. The darkness element inside her arm was akin to thick ropes anchored to her flesh and bones that reeled in the outside darkness, using it to weave new ropes. With a bit of help from Baba Yaga, Zoreth’s arm turned obsidian-black from wrist to elbow in a matter of seconds. "It’s fully charged, you runt." The Mother scoffed. "Remember the feeling and try Swirling Wind again." Zoreth followed the instructions while Baba Yaga’s fingers still brushed against her skin. The Arke felt the darkness in her arm forming a complex framework that supported her fingertips, allowing her to exert greater strength and control over the world energy all around her.