Any of those after the Ernas's heads could hire a mercenary Beast like Gadorf to do the dirty work for them. Faluel wouldn't let a stranger in her home nor the letter reach Quylla before examining it thoroughly.
"No way I'll entrust my hope and dreams to someone I just met. If you mess up, I'll be done for. Do you mind if I wait for her here?" Morok said.
"Yes, I do." Faluel snarled at Morok for taking the words out of her mind and saying them out loud. "Go away. When Quylla arrives, I'll tell her about you and then she can decide whether wants to call you or not."
"Yeah, right. If I had her contact rune, why the heck would I go through this hassle just for a goddamn letter? I'll speak slowly so you can understand. I only asked your permission out of courtesy. I'm not going to move from here." Morok sat on a rock and looked up at the brightening sky.
"I beg your pardon?" The air around Faluel started to crackle and her hair to dance in the air. Challenging the authority of a Lord was no laughing matter, especially from those who weren't even part of the Council.
"Man, first the stinky Drake and now you. You Lords sure are pretty dumb, but at least you smell good and have a tight little ass. Do you mind turning around so at least I can look at something nice to pass the time?" He asked.
"That does it!" Faluel roared and shapeshifted into her real form.
Her short, stumpy body was as wide as a building and as sturdy as a mountain. It allowed her to move nimbly on the ground despite her size. On top of that, by shifting the weight on her four legs, she could keep the balance even when her seven snake heads and their respective long necks moved in completely different directions.
Each one of her seven heads had its scales streaked of a different color and their eyes shone with different elemental mana. Faluel exposed her sets of fangs while towering at a height of 20 meters (66 feet)
"I take that back. I don't mind big butts but yours is just too much." He mocked her while unsheathing his blades. "It takes more than an overgrown snake to scare me off, sis-"
Faluel's first head swooped down while empowered by earth fusion. Morok tried to dodge it, but she moved too fast. He took the hit and almost plunged into the ground, like a nail hit by a hammer.
"That was my first and last warning. Get out of my turf, now!"
"No way, this isn't even my final form!" Morok shapeshifted and his skin became snow-white, with only one big red eye in the middle of his forehead, another eye the size of a football appeared on his chest, and two more on his shoulders.
His appearance was still humanoid, but he was now over two meters (6'7") tall.
His nose had disappeared, leaving only two slits on his face and his mouth was full of several rows of shark-like teeth. Faluel immediately recognized the Emperor Beast known as Tyrannical Eye, or just as Tyrant.
They were the magical beast equivalent of Balors, but unlike them, Tyrants weren't part of the Fallen races and their mastery over the elements wasn't as developed. Like Hydras, they were naturally gifted for the art of Domination, but even the strongest Tyrant could only develop up to six eyes.
Domination over the seventh element, mana, was impossible to them.
Morok exploited the split-second Faluel froze in surprise to open his four eyes and pour four beams of focused elemental energy onto his own weapons. The blades absorbed and amplified the beams turning them into pillars of great destructive powers, each one aimed at a different head.
"I recognize that weapon. I crafted the Baby Fangs for Glemos's son. Is that really you?" Faluel effortlessly dispelled the pillars and nailed Morok to the ground with one of her forelegs.
"Do you know my old man?" With no mana left and his body more battered than after his trip to Kulah, Morok thought that having a civil conversation wasn't such a bad idea.
"Yes. Hydras and Tyrants are usually on good terms due to our similar abilities. Why are you still using that junk? I gave it to your father as a present the day you were born. Baby Fangs are just a learning toy to help a young Tyrant to choose their weapon and master the power of their eyes." Faleul said.
"Because my father is an asshole! He told me it was my coming-of-age gift and that he had paid for it dearly." Morok cursed Glemos's name in many creative ways.
"You already have four out of six eyes open. How old are you exactly?" Morok had one eye more than Lith opened, which piqued Faluel's curiosity.
Sooner or later, she would have to teach him Domination, and having a training partner of similar talent would speed up things greatly.
"I'm 24. Why? On top of being a short-fused grandma, are you also a cradle snatcher?" Morok regretted those words the moment they came out of his mouth. "I'm sorry, I meant those words but not to say them out loud!"
Adding insult to injury didn't make things better. Faluel hit him again with one of her heads and knocked Morok out. After shapeshifting back into her human form, the Hydra checked Morok's equipment and found it mediocre.
"Glemos, your son is as much of a jerk as you are. Our children are supposed to be better than us." Faluel then took Jirni's letter and examined it with Invigoration.
The pseudo core on the envelope needed a specific imprint, otherwise the slightest damage would trigger the enchantment and destroy the letter inside.
The Hydra locked the unconscious prick in one of her lair's cells and waited for her students. When they arrived, aside from Lith, Solus, and Tista, everyone seemed out of a sleepless night.
They had deep bags under their eyes, yawned non-stop, and judging from their slouched backs, they were far from excited at the idea of receiving a new lesson.
"Master Faluel, not to sound ungrateful, but could you please give us a bit of free time?" Quylla said. "We arrive here at sunrise and leave past nightfall after getting so tired that we can barely keep our eyes open.
"I do love magic, but I want to be able to visit my parents and maybe take a little care of my personal life. We work so hard not even at the academy. On top of that, we always had the weekends free."
Friya felt the same way, but since her situation was precarious at best, she didn't even dare to nod.
'Who would ever want a Harbinger who asks for vacations before even starting her job?' She thought.
"This is just your third day here, Quylla, and it was you who insisted on taking part of my lessons. The point of this is to strengthen your bodies and allow you to wield powerful magic without collapsing." Faluel checked everyone's condition with Invigoration.
"Phloria, your body is stable enough to use Invigoration, but I strongly advise against it. The same applies to all of you. Invigoration is a great tool, but if abused it can hinder your growth."
