"I can believe my memories gave him an edge, but knowing and doing are two different things. Where did you find the mana crystals to make those things? They seem to be made with true magic." Lith projected one of his little brother’s favorites fairy tales to keep the children busy. "As I already told you, after almost dying by the Valor’s hands and receiving your memories, I understood how lacking my magical knowledge was. As soon as Selia and I settled down in our new home, I searched for a teacher." Protector said. "Just like humans, beasts too don’t spread the secret of Awakening unless it’s strictly necessary to keep the balance among the races. The law is very strict, you can’t even Awaken your own children if you aren’t willing to put your life on the line for them." "What do you mean?" Lith had no notion of the social rules among the Awakened ones. "You are responsible for those you share our secret with. If your disciple breaks any law, you pay the consequences along with them. Since Awakened ones have a long life, only after a century the bond between master and apprentice is considered broken. "It’s never hard to know who gifted who with Awakening, since no one gives such a gift freely. Also, when the Council captures a criminal, they can be very persuasive." Ryman’s words made Lith think that Jirni would feel at home in the Council. "Don’t you want to be Awakened, Selia?" Lith asked. "Honestly, I don’t know. I prefer a good life to a long one. Not to mention that I should start to study magic and I never had a good relationship with books. I don’t know how long Ryman has left to live. "To me, outliving both my husband and children is a fate worse than death." She ruffled the kids’ hair. They were two little angels now that they had stopped destroying the house and she wasn’t forced to chase them around. "Unlike humans, however, we don’t hide our identity. I found my master, Faluel the Hydra, simply by asking the magical beasts of the Distar Marquisate for directions. Convincing her to teach me wasn’t easy. "A disciple takes a lot of time and effort. Being an Awakened isn’t enough to be accepted by a master. You have to prove to be reliable, talented and to have an affinity with your future teacher. Because of your influence, I was interested in learning about healing and forgemastering. "I had to prove my worth by doing all kinds of jobs for her for almost a year before she took me in." "A year? I wouldn’t have lasted that long. During that time, I completed half of my studies and I’ve made a lot of connections within human society." Lith said. "An Emperor Beast wouldn’t have taken you anyway. Back then, you were just a human. Even Scarlett considered you a dangerous anomaly. Faluel would have probably chased you away, if not worse." Ryman shook his head. Selia was more interested in Lith’s light show than in all that talk about Awakened and Lith’s nature, which made him wonder. To Selia, Lith asked: "What did he tell you about me, exactly?" "After the scare he gave me with Lilia, I gave him only one condition if he wanted us to get back together. I demanded that there wouldn’t be any more secrets between us. "He told me all about himself, but he only told me about you what he needed for his story to make sense. I’m fine with it and I never pried further. He never shared with me your secrets aside from you being an Awakened, how the two of you met, and what you did together. "Your parents are almost of my same age. We grew together in Lutia, so there’s no chance one of them is an Emperor Beast. They would have never let one of their children suffer from hunger or illness as Tista did. "I’m really curious, but if you don’t want to tell, it’s fine. Just consider that you are unlikely to find someone as open minded as me." Selia said pointing at Ryman. Lith hesitated, not knowing to which one of his two hearts he should listen to. On one hand, he was certain that Selia wouldn’t be too shocked if he decided to show her his hybrid form. With an Emperor Beast for a husband and two little shapeshifting wrecking balls born from their love, she had proven to have an inhuman tolerance for weirdness. Yet they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. She had helped him a lot before he entered the White Griffon, but they had never got that close. He had never willingly revealed his hybrid nature elf to anyone except for Phloria. Showing it to Selia before than to his family or Kamila, made him feel bad about himself. "Thanks for the offer, but I’ll pass. For now." Lith said. Selia dismissed the issue with a shrug and fell asleep shortly after. Her body was aptly trained to rest as soon as the kids allowed her to. "What kind of jobs did Faluel ask you to do?" "Many things. I had to kill rogue magical beasts, human hunters that kept harming her forest, and sometimes even deal with Abominations." "It sounds like she was making you do her job for her." Lith said. "Mostly, yes. Each task was actually a test to see if I could be trusted with more power. Not all of those she pointed me at deserved to die. Humans are more complex than beasts. They are so grey that most of the time is really hard to tell if they are bad or just desperate." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶 Lith had the impression that Protector was now talking about him. "After winter has passed, come find me. I’ll introduce Faluel to you. She seemed to be very interested in your Wyrmling form and she is an invaluable teacher. Even with your memories, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without her help. She provided me both the materials and the mana crystals." Protector pointed at all the forgemastered marvels furnishing his house. "What’s a Wyrmling?" Lith asked. It wasn’t the first time he heard that term. "A hybrid between one of the draconic species and something else. She thinks you are one of them because of your scales and because you can use Dragon Fire." Protector replied. "I can use what now?" "Maybe you know them as Origin Flames. You know, the fire you breathe from your mouth? Not everyone can use them, which makes them special." "Do you know why?" Lith couldn’t believe his luck. He might have found a proper Awakened teacher and learn about Origin Flames, all in one day. "Sorry, no. Not even Faluel can use them, so the first time she mentioned them to me was before sending me to Zantia." Lith spent the night at Ryman’s home. He studied the pseudo cores of Ryman’s creations to appreciate the difference between his own results as self-taught with those of someone who had a master. ’It seems I’m really talented for Forgemastering. My work is in no way inferior to Protector’s.’ He thought. Before leaving, he exchanged communication runes with Protector and Selia. He also gifted some of his toys to the kids. He had prepared a new set of fairy tales projectors and miniature models. They were shaped like mages and magical beasts and could emit light of different colors as if they cast different spells. Lith could always make more and Selia needed a way to keep them busy when Ryman was away.