"Why? Do you want an autograph or do you have something you want to tell me, young man?" Varn was actually older than Lith but the height gap was enough to make him feel like a boy. Between Lith’s status and his nasty reputation that the original citizens of Lutia liked to keep alive, Varn felt his soul abandoning his body. The color drained from his face and his knees went soft. "I don’t think it can work between us, Brina. I’m sorry." Varn turned around and ran like his life depended on it. "I knew it was too good to be true." Brina sighed in disappointment. "Finding a good man is hard, but when you find someone who seems perfect there must be a catch." Brina was approaching the 24 years of age and was in a rush to find a husband. Past 25 she would be considered a spinster and become the target of even more gold diggers. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦 Despite his many flaws, Vexal was a good businessman and now had three bakeries in Lutia. As the city expanded, not everyone could afford a horse or to walk for an hour just to buy some bread. Vexal had bought out the competition and replaced it with his most trusted apprentices who had gained enough experience in making bread and dealing with customers by working with him. Continue reading on freewebnovel Vexal was worth a lot of money now and, as the heir to the family business, so was Brina. She had many suitors, but most of them were only interested in what she had to offer. "Thanks for helping me with the selection process." Brina sighed. "It’s not like I do much. I just stand there and glare at them as you claim we are good friends." Lith shrugged. "What a mean thing to say! We are friends." Brina slapped his shoulder with minimal force. She had learned the hard way what happened when a human hit a Divine Beast already. "No, we are not. I just buy your bread." Lith shook his head. "And you should be happy about it. Being the Supreme Magus is not all flowers and rainbows. My friends are under constant threat and need protection. "Don’t you remember what happened to Zinya Yehval? Her house was razed to the ground twice and she almost died both times." "Yeah, but she got acquainted with an Archmage who ended up marrying her." Brina replied. "It’s the happy ending of a wonderful love story if you ask me." Lith looked at her like she was crazy. "Come on, Lith. Give me a hand. Is there anyone you can introduce to me? I don’t ask much. I just want a good man. I don’t care if he’s a little weird or awkward. I’d prefer a human, but at this point even a Dragon is fine." "Like you could get yourself a Dragon." Lith scoffed. "They are very picky and have a long lifespan, you know?" "That’s it! You really are a meanie. Isn’t that right, kids?" Brina asked and Valeron and Elysia shook their heads in reply. "Be honest with me. Do you think I screwed up by turning Nalrond down?" A few years back, Brina had gone on a single date with the Rezar. She had cut him off after learning about his magic powers and potentially dangerous life. "Big time." Lith replied with such enthusiasm that it irked Brina to no end. "But don’t worry. A woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. Lady Ernas asked me to thank you on her behalf if the subject ever arose." "Lady Ernas? The Archduchess?" Brina went pale, pulling her Tablet out and conjuring the hologram of Quylla, the most notorious of the two sisters. "Yes, but the other one." Lith conjured Friya’s hologram, making Brina feel like a dingy mutt in comparison. "They are about to marry, but he’ll just become a Duke. The Archduchy and the titles that come with it belong to Nalrond’s future in-laws." "Gods-dammit!" Brina stomped her foot in frustration. "Please, Lith, you have to help me. I clearly suck at picking men!" "I’ll do what I can." He replied. "I make no promises, though." *** After the shopping time, the Verhens returned home for lunch. Lith and Solus took no break from their family day which allowed Lith to drain most of the life force of the Awakened he had shoved in the Bleed early in the morning. He had set the extraction parameters to maximum efficiency which required the longest time and inflicted the maximum suffering. Lith despised Forbidden Magic but he despised those who had almost taken his mother away and traumatized her even more. He would have killed them through agonizing pain anyway. The fact that they ended up as Solus’ first-aid kits only made their deaths more meaningful than their lives to him. Elina went all-out in the kitchen again but, this time, Lith agreed to delay the lessons about Creation Magic until early afternoon, when Solus had already digested most of the food. By then, there was no trace of the seven Awakened Lith had sacrificed to the Bleed except for two tanks filled to the brim with life force and a third one with its bottom covered by a thin layer of liquid. "We’ll resume from where we stopped." Menadion gave Lith and Solus their Orichalcum coins studded with a small yellow crystal. "Begin." Completing the task was just a matter of time and before the end of the afternoon lesson, Menadion had assigned them Orichalcum coins with green crystals. They presented multiple mana vessels from which dozens of capillaries originated. Lith and Solus completed the task with ease. The following day Menadion presented them with Adamant coins she had forged for the occasion and bonded them with cyan crystals. "Fuck me sideways!" Lith said while studying his coin. "Once I remove the crystal, or rather, after I learn how to do it without making a mess, there will be more deformed metal than healthy metal." "And the healthy bits are scattered throughout the coin at that!" Solus added. "What did you expect?" Menadion snorted. "Look at your own equipment. There is almost no part of the Fury and Ragnarök that isn’t flooded with mana from the runes, the crystals, or the enchantments. "Tier five Creation Magic requires that you can pull apart and Forgemaster stuff like that on the spot. Not in the safety of your tower or after taking your time studying the artifact." "It’s no wonder we couldn’t figure tier five out on our own." Lith groaned. "Our foundations weren’t muddy. They were comprised of mud." "Less whining and more working." Solus whined. The bond between the energy and the Adamant was much stronger than the Orichalcum, making the dismantling process long, difficult, and often messy. One moment of distraction was all it needed for the cyan crystal to overpower Lith’s and Solus’ Creation Magic and bring them back to square one. After that, they had to restore the coin’s natural configuration. Adamant ore was already one of the sturdiest materials on Mogar and, after purifying it with Origin Flames, its properties were further enhanced. Too little darkness energy and the enchanted metal would form weak, wrong bonds that still required lots of mana to be broken and lots of focus not to destabilize the rest of the coin.