Supreme Magus

Chapter 3844: Dimensional Crystals (Part 1)

"Eww!" Tista shuddered at the idea. "I mean, I know I can pluck my feathers, but it’s extremely unpleasant. Also, to cover the wings of my armor, I would need to pluck them all. It’s the same as self-mutilation."

"I know." Salaark nodded. "That’s why I said you can get all the feathers you want, not that it would be easy."

"What is not easy?" Lith said while checking the crystal case where he had stored his old scales for the Spark to refine.

Tista told him everything, and he furrowed his brows at the news.

"Grandma, I have a question." He said, and the Guardian nodded for him to continue. "Unlike Tista, my feathers stay where they are unless I get wounded. Can I expect them to molt as well?"

"Yes. Is it a problem?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. What about my Demons?" Lith replied. "What will happen to them if their Void Sigils one day fall off? Losing any one of my Demons would be a huge blow for me, but losing Ripha would break Solus’ heart."

"I wish I could reassure you, but the truth is I don’t know." Salaark tormented her lower lip. "You are a new species. Your body makes its rules, and there’s little I can do about it. Yet I have a theory, if you are interested in hearing it."

"Any theory is better than nothing." Lith said. "A theory from someone as knowledgeable as you is almost a certainty, Grandma."

"Thank you, Featherling." She ruffled his hair. "I don’t think you have to worry about your Demons. Their essence is bound to yours, and the change in the runes inscribed on your feathers when you bond a Demon to a Void Sigil is the proof of that.

"If my theory is correct, that bond is permanent until either of you or an external force severs it. Molting is no external force, just a biological necessity. I believe that when you molt your Void Sigils, the new feathers will still carry the rune belonging to the Demons bound to them."

"Thanks, Grandma. I hope you are right." Lith said.

"And so do I." Salaark caressed his back, forcing his feathered wings to pop out so that she could examine them. "Losing Ripha would sadden me as well."

"Little brother, do you need all those precious, huge scales?" Tista looked at Lith while fluttering her eyelashes and using her patented puppy eyes stare.

"Actually, I do. Why?" Lith’s reply was cold, his heart hardened after suffering countless such stares from mischievous yet adorable little children.

"Because I hoped you could lend them to me for my armor." She pointed at the ugly thing that Ishka’s Honor was. "Pretty please, little brother."

"My answer is yes, you can have scales, but also no, you’re not getting mine." Lith replied.

"You’re making no sense, Lith. How can I get one without the other?" Tista asked.

"Easy. I’ll replace most of the scales on the Voidwalker armor with those I have shed. You can have Syrook’s scales for Ishka’s Honor. A Black Dragon or a Tiamat makes no difference to you."

"I see." She nodded. "By replacing Syrook’s scales with your own, you add an amplifier that will enhance the Voidwalker armor’s enchantments and channel your mana like an extension of your own body. Good thinking."

"If I’m lucky, it will also grant my armor better resistance to all the kinds of Flames I can produce." Lith said. "It’s a pity I don’t have enough scales."

"What do you mean, you don’t have enough?" Tista asked. "You and Syrook’s corpse are the same size."

"There’s a reason I said I’m going to use most of my scales for the armor instead of all of them." Lith replied. "First, I’m going to make a version of Voidwalker armor for everyone using my scales as the main material.

"I always wanted to give the members of our family more than a Scalewalker Orichalcum armor, and now I can. A full Adamant armor would be wasted on them, but with my scales as a base, the amount of magic metal needed is small.

"The new armors won’t be as good as my Voidwalker armor, but the improvement in their capabilities will be considerable."

"I still remember the times you gave us your successful prototypes." Tista sighed in nostalgia. "Ever since we’ve met Grandma, however, you don’t need prototypes. You have her recycle the materials until you perfect your technique."

"Exactly." Lith nodded. "I upgraded the amors as my Forgemastering skills improved, but there’s a limit to the mana Orichalcum can contain. My scales are a much better mana conductor and offer no resistance to my enchantments since the energy signature matches."

"Still, it will only take two scales for an adult and one for a child. You still have everything you need for your armor." Tista pointed out.

"No, because I’m going to coat the grip of both Ragnarök and Double Edge with my scales. Amplifiers, remember?" Lith replied.

"I see." She nodded.

Ragnarök would need but a sliver of one scale, whereas Double Edge would need many.

***

Meanwhile, Friya sat cross-legged in her room, holding a white mana crystal in her hands. The world energy seeped into her body just as her mana seeped into the gemstone, connecting them in a never-ending cycle.

The pristine light of the crystal shifted to each one of the elemental colors, with the emerald green as the last before the crystal turned white again.

Nalrond sat in front of her, using Accumulation while he revised Dawn’s most recent teachings and realized that his vaunted Rezar’s bloodline legacy was nothing but a death trap of her making.

Coming to terms with the stupidity and hubris that his people had cultivated for generations was a humbling experience, but he refused to avert his gaze from the truth just to spare his wounded pride.

’Pride won’t make me a better warrior.’ He thought. ’Pride won’t help me protect Friya from whatever will come next. It won’t help me protect my baby boys. Gods, I’m going to have baby boys!’

The thought shattered his focus and gave him a panic attack. His breath became fast and shallow, forcing him to use a leather bag to stop himself from fainting out of hyperventilation.

"Gods-dammit, Nalrond!" Friya dropped the white crystal and grabbed her own leather bag, using it to breathe inside until she managed to calm down. "I told you not to think about the twins."

"I wish it were that easy." He sighed. "I wasn’t expecting it to happen so fast, let alone to become a first-time father with two children! I mean, sure, we aren’t using protection anymore, but lots of couples I know needed months to conceive."

"Yeah, and we’re not even married. We need to finish the preparations for our wedding and do it quickly!" Friya said, triggering another panic attack for both of them.

"Please, let’s talk about something else." Nalrond said as soon as his breathing stabilized. "Anything"

A noble’s wedding was always a big event, but Friya wasn’t a noble. She was an Ernas. As a member of one of the four founding pillars of the Kingdom, her wedding was bound to be a matter of state, with countless guests and the entire Ernas family coming together for the occasion.