"Tell your client that I only ask to meet them once and once I’ve confirmed their identity, I’ll take the mission." Phillard offered his hand and the broker shook it. "I assure you. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" *** Verhen House, a few days later. "What’s this supposed to be?" Lith looked at the two hogtied men at his feet and frowned. "The beginning of a beautiful friendship!" Phillard puffed his chest out with pride. "The guy with the black leather gloves is the broker and the guy with my ax stuck in his skull is the client. They wanted your mother." "Run this by me again, please." Lith’s eyes flared up with mana. "This time from the beginning, and don’t leave out anything." The Lindwurm recounted to Lith the details of his meeting with Sigmur Blackhand and how it had led to his encounter with Ekair Marav, a violet-cored Awakened. Closing the deal had been easy. Phillard had shaken Ekair’s hand in a steel grip to lock him in place and caved his skull with the ax in his other hand. "How is this guy still alive, exactly?" Lith asked. "My current axes are a work of beauty." Phillard always brimmed with pride when he talked about his weapons, considering them his children. "You know those boring ’dead or alive’ missions? "I’m not good with the ’alive’ part so I asked my fellow Lindwurms to enchant my axes with a healing spell. It keeps the tissues from degenerating and acts as a bridge between the cleaved parts, keeping the two halves connected. "My loot is fresh and ready to be delivered but incapable of moving a muscle. My axe only allows communication between the two sides of the brain, not with the rest of the body." "Nice." Menadion looked at the axes with the curiosity typical of a master artisan and studied them with the shamelessness of a seasoned thief. "Thanks, Milady." The Lindwurm gave her a deep bow. "What am I supposed to do with them?" Lith asked. "Kill them. Eat them. Whatever." Phillard shrugged. "I brought them here as proof that I’m not messing with you. These bastards wanted to gamble my skin to get Master Menadion’s work so I told myself: ’why shouldn’t I do the same’? "I mean, I just saved your mother from another kidnapping attempt. Even if I turned them down, they would have sent someone else. I think I deserve a reward." "You sure do." Lith nodded. "Ripha, would you please turn his axes in the best possible configuration with their current materials and enchantments?" "With pleasure, but I need to study both the weapons and their master." Menadion replied. "Please, help yourself." Phillard said, not knowing what he was getting himself into. The First Ruler of the Flames used her breathing technique, the Eyes, and the Ears to deconstruct the Murder axes and analyze their enchantments. Then, she did the same on the Lindwurm’s body, core, and mana flow. "There you go." A quick tier five Creation Magic spell, Flames of the Forge, reshaped the Murder axes to fine-tune their power cores and harmonize their mana flow with Phillard’s. The moment he took them in his hands, he felt the weapons answer his will like a part of his body. The mana flowed from him to the artifacts and back, turning the Lindwurm and his axes in a single being. "This is amazing!" He said. "But also disappointing. You didn’t improve the materials or the crystals." "No, but I’ll offer you a deal." Lith replied. "I’ll take care of these two morons while you pretend you’ve never met them. If you receive or even hear about more black market dealings about my family, come to me. "For each one of these bastards we catch, I’ll give your weapons one free upgrade. Materials, gems, enchantments. Anything you want." "Really?" Phillard’s serpentine lower body waggled in excitement. "Really, but I said one upgrade. Materials, gems, or enchantments. Not all at once." Lith pointed out. "But if I bring you lots of guys, I get them all, correct?" "Correct." Lith nodded. "And Master Menadion will be the one working on my axes, correct?" "If that’s what you want, correct again." Lith shrugged. "I knew it! I’m a genius!" The Lindwurm improvised a short dance of joy. Short because everyone was staring at him like he was insane. The farmhands, the babies, Aran and Leria, even Elysia’s face expressed all the utter disbelief a seven months old baby could experience. ’Do you plan on telling him that my Forgemastering technique is still a bit outdated and that I’ve just learned the secrets of the Lindwurm bloodline’s crafting technique?’ Menadion asked via a mind link. ’And ruin his happiness?’ Lith replied. ’Besides, it’s not like he asked and it leaves us space for more upgrades.’ ’You are a heartless bastard.’ Menadion said. ’That’s what I like the most about you.’ ’I beg your pardon?’ Lith asked in confusion. ’If you were a goodie-two shoes, you’d try to save everyone during a crisis. A heartless bastard like you, instead, would first save my daughter and your family. Only after bringing them to safety would you worry about someone else.’ ’Guilty as charged.’ Phillard stared at the baby girl who felt threatened by the unknown massive scaled creature. Elysia instinctively shapeshifted into her Tiamat form and flew into her father’s arms to glare back at the Lindwurm from a safe and higher position. She chirped and snarled in an attempt to appear menacing but sounding like an excited puppy. "Is this the famous baby Scourge?" Phillard asked. "Yes." Lith nodded. "Phillard, this is my daughter, Elysia. Elysia, this is just Phillard." "Nice to meet you baby Sc- What do you mean, just Phillard?" The Lindwurm grunted as the baby girl nodded at Lith. "I introduce my friends to her as aunt or uncle." Lith shrugged. "We are not that close so you don’t deserve such a title. Not to mention I don’t trust you at all and your sense of humor sucks. "Since we are allies and I need you alive, however, let me remind you that she’s protected. Pull one of your stupid jokes on her and it’s not me you’ll have to answer. I would just beat you really, really hard. They won’t." He jabbed his thumb at a very attractive blonde woman wearing an apron over her sundress and holding a wooden spoon in her hand. Tyris’ stare made the massive Lindwurm feel like a non-venomous snake cornered by a mongoose several times his size. There was no escape and the only variable was how much he would suffer before Tyris bit his head off. "How can you say that? I love children." Phillard lied through his teeth and Tyris’ death stare almost bore a hole in his head in reply. "Fine, I don’t like them one bit. They are noisy, dirty, and smelly." "What are you, five? Here. Hold her for a bit and maybe Tyris will let you leave Lutia alive." Lith put Elysia in the Lindwurm’s huge hands. "P… f… Fillad." Elysia relaxed and looked at the newcomer with new eyes, knowing that her father would never put her in danger.