Chapter 3690: Redeeming Quality (Part 1) It was up to Lith and Solus to counter, strengthen, or block the incoming energy flows while retaining the focus not to lose sight of the physical aspect of the fight. Without the synaesthesia effect, using the Ears outside a Forgemastering lab was madness. The artifact would overwhelm its master and crush them under the sensory overload. Even in its unlocked state, using the Ears required discipline and practice. Focus too much on the enemy’s flow, and you’d neglect your surroundings. Focus too much on your surroundings, and the Ears would blind you to the enemy’s moves. Finding the proper balance was like walking on a razor’s edge. Weaving your own spells and using the acquired information to formulate an offensive strategy added juggling with blades to the challenge. Menadion was always there to help Lith and Solus, while Kalla and Nyka shared their insights with them. However, the learning curve was still steep. “Gods, if I’m tired.” Solus clenched her throbbing head. “I need a long bath, a full-course meal, and eight hours of sleep. Minimum.” She and Lith were covered in sweat from their constant sparring. After they learned something new in the Garden of Mogar, they went back to the tower to put it into practice and consolidate their understanding of the Ears. The one with the artifact started on the defence and the one without attacked. Anything but a crushing victory was considered a defeat since the Ears were supposed to give an overwhelming advantage in a one-on-one fight. On top of that, Lith’s spells couldn’t hurt Solus and vice versa, so they could always go all out. If a spell hit, the match was over. “Yeah, right.” Lith panted. “You tell our students there’s no class, dear Void Professor?” Solus was short, but her mass was the same as the tower’s. She was nowhere as martially skilled as Lith, but with the Ears and her mass, she gave him a run for his money like only Feela the Behemoth could. Solus hit Lith hard and painfully enough to beat out of him the bad habit of taking hits from beings much smaller and lighter than him. It was hard for a Divine Beast to feel threatened by humans, but Lith couldn’t afford his battle-senses to dull. “No way!” Solus panted back. “My students love me and I them.” Lith and Solus still held their Void Magic lessons at the White Griffon academy on top of fine-tuning tier five Void Magic. The students always called Lith the Void Magus, and since Solus was credited for creating the new branch of magic, they called her the Void Professor. Solus loved her title and was glad to be recognized for her contributions and talent. Teaching alongside her mother and Lith was a dream come true. Ripha happily joined them to relive the glory of her past and take a look at the Kingdom she had contributed to shaping. Every appearance of the Forge Magus was followed by booming applause and lots of pictures. “Which leaves us with a quick shower, a regular meal, and eight hours of sleep.” Lith replied. “Can you take care of Elysia after the lesson? Valeron and I have our bonding time scheduled.” “No problem.” Solus Warped to her room to wash herself up. Kamila reaching the deep green core meant a whole lot of training and lessons about tier four magic. She took care of the children during the morning while Lith and Solus did it in the afternoon. Quylla overreached by working on reversing Ryla’s fallen state and her newfound branch of magic at the same time, but the unborn twins gave her a lot of energy. Also, she knew that after she gave birth, what now took her one day of work might take weeks if not months. Faluel and Ajatar too were so absorbed in their quest to achieve Dragonhood that they only left the Hydra’s lair to participate in new experiments on Thrud’s generals. Some things were exclusive to each individual bloodline, but others were shared. Only Baba Yaga and Silverwing participated in those experiments. Menadion had no time for that, and her limited skills as a Healer made her presence welcome but redundant. Once the collected data was shared, Ajatar and Faluel returned home, discarding what was useless and keeping what worked for them. For the real work, however, they needed Valeron the Second’s Life Maelstrom. Lith brought the baby boy to the Lesser Divine Beasts, entrusted them with a spark of silver lightning, and then took a stroll in the Trawn Woods until they called him for more. Lith didn’t want Valeron to feel used, so he made the delivery of the Life Maelstrom but a small part in their father-son playdate. Lith showed Valeron his secret clearing in the woods, introduced him to the various magical beasts who resided there, and played with the boy most of the time. Flying around and breathing Origin Flames could be considered training, but Lith used them only to give Valeron a sense of kinship he lacked with everyone else but Elysia. During the playdate, Valeron was free to fly as high and fast as he could. To burst into flames with joy whenever he wanted and with no fear of hurting someone. Lith was always there, giving the boy the space he needed to explore his abilities, but also close enough to intervene if something went wrong. Lith could have brought Elysia along, but again, he didn’t want Valeron to feel an accessory to their father-daughter relationship. Lith wanted his adoptive son to have something just for him. A time and care that was only for him. To let Valeron know beyond mere words how much Lith loved him. “Dya! Dya!” The little boy completed his first barrel roll without feeling the need to puke and flew to Lith to celebrate. “Well done, son.” Lith embraced him. “Next time, remember to relax your wings and steer with your tail, and you’ll be as graceful as a falcon.” Follow new episodes on the "N0vel1st.c0m". “Ahur, Dya.” Valeron thanked his father. “Ahsa, Em’har.” Lith replied in Dragontongue, referring to the baby boy with the word for loved ones. He knew that Valeron called him Dya only away from Elysia, afraid to anger her. “Are you hungry?” Lith asked, and Valeron licked his Bahamut snout in reply. “Good, because I’ve prepared… your favourite dishes.” Lith was familiar with the Trawn Woods and its background noise. The clearing had not gone quiet, or he would have been instantly alarmed. Insects still buzzed and birds chirped, but they were the wrong ones. Those were sounds that didn’t belong to that side of the woods. Lith didn’t miss a beat, his face showing no tension. Yet he wasn’t alone. ‘Either I tell Valeron and he gets scared, or I bolt away and he gets scared. Either way, he gets scared and whoever is after me will know I detected their presence.’ Lith covered his hand in Dragon Scales and warned the small Bahamut of the danger. The silver lining was that the baby was still in his Divine Beast form and, like most Dragons, his face wasn’t that expressive. Yet Lith couldn’t take risks, so he held Valeron tight and unfurled his wings, soaring like a bullet.