"If I'm right, by using a single aspect of your life forces, the lack of interference from the others should make it easier for us to trigger your skills." Aalejah said.
"What if you are wrong?" Lith asked.
"Either you will not be able to use those skills in your Tiamat form until you find a way to adapt them to its life force or we are just wasting time." She shrugged. "If you have better ideas, I'm open to suggestions."
"I have none." Lith sighed. "It's better to start from the Dragon form. I still have the creeps remembering how being an Abomination felt."
'Also, I don't want Aalejah or Phloria asking me why I look like Derek McCoy instead of Lith Verhen in that form.' He actually thought.
Lith focused on the stars that comprised his life force and turned into a red Voidfeather Dragon whose back, spine, and wings were covered in black feathers. It was just as tall as the Tiamat form, reaching 20 meters (66 feet) of height from head to toes.
The main differences were the long neck that took one-fourth of his height, the 7 meters (23 feet) long tail coming out from his back, and the shorter hind legs.
From the Control Room, Inxialot stared at the scaled titan, racking his brain for an answer that kept eluding him.
"What was I supposed to do when Lith starts training? The Council yelled it at me several times, but I can't remember for the phylactery of me." He asked Nero but the cat was deep asleep and unable to answer.
"You have to call Council." Ratpack rolled his eyes, feeling more like a senior caregiver with each passing day.
"Correct. Thanks, Zolgrish."
"You are welcome." The Lich replied to not admit that he had no idea what they were talking about.
The two undead were tasked with taking care of Urgamakka 24/7 since they had no need to rest nor apprentices that they could favor while the rest of the Awakened would just check the footage from time to time.
After discovering Lith's bloodline ability to shapeshift into four different species after the Gargoyle attack, the Council had ordered Inxialot to alert them the moment that the Tiamat transformed again.
The surveillance system allowed them to rewatch the events, but it was impossible for them to use their mystical senses on a recording. The ancient Awakened needed to spectate at the event live and to open small dimensional passages to be capable of studying the phenomenon with Life Vision.
Having more fascinating matters at hand, like learning again how to control his bladder again, Inxialot had forgotten about the order.
The Council had reprimanded him at first, sanctioned him at the second oversight, and begged him to do his frigging job after the third.
Only the direct intervention of the Guardians and their promise to make him suffer if it happened again had persuaded the King of the Liches to stop worrying about his experiments, about his bladder, about his experiments on his bladder, and to focus on the Tiamat at sunrise.
"Finally!" The Council of the Awakened and that of the Guardians roared in unison at the sight of the red-scaled Voidfeather Dragon.
"Gods, you have no idea how much I hate you right now." Raagu, the human representative said to Feela while wishing she had worked harder to ensure that the Tiamat became part of her faction back when he was just a nameless Wyrmling.
"Gods, you have no idea how much I hate you right now." Feela the Behemoth, the Beast representative said to Faluel while wishing she had taken Lith as her own apprentice instead of leaving him in the care of the Hydra.
"Gods, you have no idea how much I love you right now." Salaark said to Leegaain while wishing that the child that was growing in her womb would resemble the one on the screen.
"Okay, what is a Dragon supposed to do and what about Phoenixes?" Lith said while looking at the thick ruby scales that covered his body and feeling as uncomfortable as if he was wearing a mascot costume.
He was completely unaware that privacy in Urgamakka was just a word since the security measures were shielded even against the powerful detection of the Eyes of Menadion.
"The only thing that Dragons and Phoenixes have in common is the Origin Flames." Aalejah said.
"Dragons are creatures of cold logic and most of their bloodline abilities come from their innate understanding of the laws of magic. Phoenixes, instead, are creatures of raw emotions and their skills are just a physical manifestation of their passions.
"Since you have already shown to be capable of using Origin Flames, we should move to-"
"Wait. After my sister reached the deep blue core, she gained a form similar to a Tiamat. Yet while she became instantly capable of emitting Origin Flames from her body without harming herself or her equipment, I have yet to manage that." Lith cut her short.
"I'm sorry, but I know nothing of Origin Flames. My only guess is that her Phoenix blood runs thicker than yours. Phoenixes are known for their ability to turn into a living mass of flames so I assume that what you described is a basic skill for them." The elf said.
"Agreed. What I meant to say is that first I want to check if this form has a greater affinity with Origin Flames." Lith nodded while he took the small Yggdrasill staff into his huge hand.
Suddenly, the feeling of discomfort disappeared and he became capable of moving in his Dragon form as if he was born with it. Lith felt the urge to fly out of there and reach for the skies, yet he couldn't afford to waste so much time.
"Scratch that. Cast a spell, please. Any of your original spells will do. Your boss just made this body feel as comfortable as my own." Lith's brain was working faster than ever and countless ideas popped into his mind every second.
Yet he had no idea if it was just the consequence of holding the Yggdrasill staff while having a Dragon's form or the staff triggering a bloodline ability by harmonizing his mind with his body.
Aalejah performed a simple tier one spell, Clean Home. As much as the elf loved the idea of helping Lith, having a spell that she had worked hard to develop stolen with just a glance would have been beyond infuriating.
Lith stared at her with Life Vision, discovering to be capable of following the flow of mana even inside the elf's body with a clarity he had never experienced before. Solus and the Councils held their breath, waiting for the answer to their silent question.
"Dammit, I have no idea how to replicate your spell." Lith sighed and so did the others. "I guess I don't have Dragon Eyes."
"Are you sure?" Aalejah said, trying to cheer him up. "Maybe you just need to get used to that form. I could cast it again and-"
"Of course I'm sure!" Lith stomped his foot in anger, cutting her short. "And no, don't bother repeating your spell. It's not like I didn't completely grasp it, I just didn't understand anything! I- What the fuck?"
Lith's back was ablaze, covered in black flames that radiated from every single feather on his back.
