'My problems will die with me, but hers will last forever if we don't find a solution. On top of that, even if she decides to not bond anymore after Lith is gone, her death would be slow and excruciating. No one deserves that once, let alone a second time.' Friya said via the mind link.
Nalrond's body shivered as ancestral visions of what had happened to his forefathers during captivity flashed before his eyes. He didn't actually witness them, but those stories were passed down from parent to child from a young age and imagination could easily fill the gaps.
"I'll ask about this first and about Lith second, if that's okay with you." He said.
"Thank you very much." The girls gave him a deep bow of gratitude before looking at their respective Projections, hoping to have overcome part of their own issues.
Alas, Rome wasn't built in a day.
While Nalrond had changed his mind after a deep self-introspection thanks to all he had experienced since he had started living at Protector's house, Friya and Quylla were just driven by the affection they felt towards their best friend.
Their decision wasn't based on what they had come to realize their issues were so much as something they would have done the day after Lith had damaged his life force anyway.
It didn't make their sacrifice any less important, but it didn't help them either. NovelWell.com
"By the way, have you understood the meaning behind Quylla's Projection?" Morok asked.
"The only thing I can think of, is that she wearing the Magus robe and being devoured by her own spells means that Quylla is afraid of her own potential. That she believes that no matter how powerful she gets, she'll always be her worst enemy."
"That's actually pretty close." Nalrond opened his eyes wide in surprise.
Morok grinned at the shocked expression everyone else in the cave wore, refusing to believe their own ears.
'How can someone so stupid also be so wise from time to time? I swear, it's as if Morok just refuses to think about anything he doesn't consider important.' Nalrond thought.
"After explaining to the village's elders the meaning of the deep purple robe, they told me that such Soul Projection means that Quylla is a very ambitious person and that she knows it. Her ambition, however, is not backed by confidence so much as by self-doubt.
"They also said that Quylla's Projection is born from the fear that her powers will betray her when she needs them the most. Someone who holds back because she's scared of the consequences that tapping into her true potential might hold." Nalrond said.
While the others completed the last preparations for the ritual, Quylla thought long and hard about those words.
'The things Nalrond and Morok said hurt too much to be wrong. I am my worst enemy. Ever since Nalear forced me to kill Yurial, I refused to study offensive magic because I was afraid of what might have happened if someone controlled me after I became a proper warrior instead of a pipsqueak.
'Then, even after Kulah, I focused more on improving my physique than my magic because seeing what the Odi had managed to accomplish made me wary of Body Sculpting.
'Just like I didn't give my best to learn Light Mastery because I don't want to become like Manohar. A powerful mage whose ability only chained him and put him on more battlefields than most soldiers experience their whole life.
'People calls him crazy and undependable, but maybe he's just tired of being used. That would explain why he runs away so often. If I become anything more than a Mage, then I might receive the order to hurt someone I love.' She thought.
The robe of a Magus wasn't just a decoration, it was proof of how highly the Kingdom considered the mage and a reward for services rendered. Quylla knew that the moment someone wore such a robe, not only their power, but also their burden would surpass that of everyone else.
'I'm not really afraid of my powers so much as of how they can be used against me.' Only then did Quylla notice that the snakes her Projection's flesh turned into didn't have animal eyes but rather those of Nalear, of the Royals, of Deirus, and even of Jirni.
All people who she thought that wouldn't hesitate to exploit whatever ability she acquired in pursue of their own interests. At that realization, Quylla's Soul Projection changed. It looked the same as before, but now it hesitated before casting the spell as if it knew what would happen.
Yet the Projection cast it anyway and the cycle repeated itself endlessly.
Meanwhile, Nalrond made a small cut on his palm, and then he used earth magic to mix his blood with the ground inside each of the magic circles.
"The elders of my village taught me that while the six elements forming world energy serve to open a channel, this part of the ritual symbolizes how life comes from Mogar and to Mogar it has to return. A way to pay our respects to the Great Mother." Nalrond waved his hand at the circles.
"I'm sorry, but that sounds more like superstition than magic." Quylla pondered, noticing how a faint emerald green mist formed inside each circle where Nalrond had spilled his blood.
Yet no one else managed to see it until she pointed it out to them because of their lack of mana perception.
"Thinking back at Faluel's lessons about Spirit Magic, I believe that your elders were wrong. The blood is a powerful vessel for life force so it would make more sense if the whole ritual is nothing but a huge mind link."
"Think about it. Even by using six elements at the same time, no one can create world energy, because the real deal possesses the will of Mogar. By mixing life force to them, however, we can obtain the next best thing to Spirit Magic."
"Following this theory, you might amplify the effects of the ritual by adding your life force to the light and darkness runes after placing them at the opposite sides of the circle. This way, they can relay and spread the life force evenly."
Quylla showed him a hologram where the runes had been rearranged so that light and darkness were respectively at 6 and 12.
"You can't imbue life force into a rune, only willpower." Nalrond said.
"That's true for the other elements, but not for light and darkness. It's the same principle behind the spell we use to share our vitality with patients. Draw the other runes first and leave light and darkness last.
"Then, draw them at the same time, using light to hold your life force and darkness as a conduit." Quylla explained.
"Quylla, this ritual is hundreds of years old. The greatest minds of my tribe worked on it for generations to improve it and failed. Do you really think-" Nalrond drew a new circle just to humor her, yet the result made his jaw drop.
Even after adding his blood, normal circles were still comprised of six runes, each one of a different color, and only had a faint mist within.
The one obtained following Quylla's instructions, instead, not only did all of its runes turn into a bright emerald green the moment it was completed, but it also resonated with the nearest circles, dyeing them green as well.
