'No one survived, silly child.' Jirni thought.
'There is no other possible explanation for all the resources of the Kingdom failing to find a single traitor alive. The army deployed to the scene several investigation teams in a matter of hours after Orion gave the alarm and they have yet to find anything.
'Be them humans or undead, the contact runes of all those involved in the attack have disappeared from the face of Mogar. Even my contacts in the Undead Courts reported several high-profile members going missing about at the same time.
'A thorough investigation will take a while, but so far we found only corpses and piles of ashes. Something, maybe Lith, slaughtered them all.'
"I'm ready to testify, Archon Ernas. The truth must be revealed." Wyra mistook Jirni's silence for consideration about the risks that a trial involved.
"That's as brave of you as it would be pointless. You didn't see Deirus's hologram nor hear him give any order. All we have is your word against both a dead man who can't be interrogated and one of the most influential Archmages of the Kingdom.
"Unless you have a death wish, do not mention Deirus unless a Constable asks for Kallion's exact words. Otherwise, Deirus would have an easy time claiming that either you're accusing him because of your loyalty to the Ernas Household or that Kallion was simply bragging." Jirni said.
"Are you saying that after all he did, Deirus will not face justice?" Phloria jumped up.
"Yes, dear. You got away with your life, and that's more than most in that camp can say. Don't worry about it. Playing dirty is a game two can play." Jirni's soft smile while she thought about her opponent sent a cold shiver down everyone's back.
***
Dusk Court, a few hours after both mage towers left the Feymar mines.
After the contact runes of the officials of the Dusk Court involved in the joint mission with Deirus had disappeared from his contact amulet, the Hushed King had mobilized both his best scouts and spies.
He tasked the former with checking the events in Feymar and the latter with finding out if the humans or the Council were responsible for the massacre. Yet after days of investigation and spending a small treasure to grease the usual wheels they had all come back empty-handed.
"Run it by me again. How can a battalion strong of 500 elder undead plus another of 1000 thralls we spent years infiltrating the army disappear overnight along with most of the original members of the expedition?" When Dusk was younger, he had the habit to kill the messenger who delivered bad news.
The problem with such an attitude was that the next messenger would still deliver the same news, but it would take longer since no one wanted to report anything to him.
"We have no idea." Lukah the Vampire, Dusk's personal aide said.
"What about the mines? How could we lose them without putting up enough of a fight that not a single person lived to tell the tale?"
"We have no idea." Lukah shrugged.
"This doesn't make sense. My sources in the Awakened Council tell me that no powerful elder had any interest in our operation nor in the Ernas girls. Yet to bring such devastation so quickly it would take Mom's prowess, an Awakened assault team's, or at least someone like Raagu." Dusk drummed his fingers on his Davross throne.
"Keep investigating and leave no stone unturned. If this is the work of an unknown player, it could compromise more operations. The mines and Deirus are irrelevant, but we can't let this shadow take us by surprise again."
***
A few days later, Village of Lutia, Verhen Household.
The tower's warp and Phloria exchanging her communication rune with Solus made it easy for her to get in touch with Tista. Lith's sister taught Phloria the basics of Awakening, starting from the breathing techniques Invigoration and Accumulation.
Phloria had still a lot on her mind and would've preferred to stay away from everything remotely related to Lith, but Spirit Magic forced her hand.
All living creatures on Mogar were more than just flesh and blood. They had not only a life force, but also mana that came from their cores. In normal conditions, the core slumbered due to the dampening effect of the impurities.
Once Awakened, however, a core would constantly produce a mana flow parallel to the bloodstream, no matter if its owner knew breathing techniques, like the self-Awakened, or not, like Salaark's Feathers or Tyris's Queen's Corpse.
An Awakened core's mana output could be boosted by the mage's willpower and emotions. Spirit Magic was the consequence of the bond between the mage's core and their will.
Unlike all other kinds of magic, it didn't need any connection with the world energy, which made Spirit Magic both more versatile and wilder.
Lith had discovered it back when he was just a toddler and his core was so weak that Spirit Magic could barely shove spoons down his brother's throat. He had spent months mastering Spirit Magic until he could use it as if it was another of his limbs.
Tista had Awakened with a cyan core and had received Lith's training from day one, allowing her to not involuntarily hurt her academy mates. Phloria, however, had a blue core and just vague notions about what being an Awakened implied.
Whenever she was angry, the first hapless fellow who bothered her could feel an invisible hand crushing their throat or crotch, while when she was sad the objects in the house would float in front of the terrified eyes of the domestic staff.
Rumors about the Ernas Household being cursed were increasing by the day and after Phloria had realized that self-discipline wasn't enough to stop those phenomenons, she had been forced to ask for help.
She already had enough trouble adjusting to her newfound physical prowess that made Phloria break one cup out of two she used, but hurting people was way worse. Items could just be bought, but the fear and pain she unintentionally inflicted upon her victims couldn't be fixed that easily.
"Don't worry. Spirit Magic at its tier zero is easy. You just have to learn Lith's breathing techniques." Tista said.
"Are you saying this is just first magic?" Phloria had almost killed several people and destroyed a lot of things even from a great distance, something impossible for elemental first magic.
"Yes. Now breathe along with us." Tista nodded.
The three women were sitting cross-legged on the ground floor of the tower. Due to the violent nature of her Awakening, Phloria had never learned how to perceive the flow of world energy in her surroundings.
Such skill was the first step to control Spirit Magic.
"Take deep breaths from your diaphragm and you'll also draw small amounts of world energy. After you inhale, contract your lower muscles, so you'll hold your breath and the energy as well. Before exhaling, try to feel the excess of mana that's in your body.
"Once you manage to do it, you have to focus on the world energy getting in and out of your body with every breath. At that point, all you have to do is to use your core to draw in and absorb great amounts of world energy instead of small bits." Solus used air magic to speak while showing Phloria the correct breathing rhythm.
