"Not really. Think about Wyverns. They are lesser Dragons and can use them as well." Aalejah replied.
"Point taken." Lith's upper lip curled in disgust just at the thought of being even remotely similar to Xedros or Qisal.
"No need to be disappointed. As I said, the single parts are lesser species, but the Tiamat might hold the same potential as your ancestors. The bad news is that you probably don't share most of the abilities of the species that comprise your life force.
"The good news is that they will all be unique to the Demon race and that the other species won't be able to replicate them." The elf said.
"I'll consider it a good news once I discover them." Lith grunted, feeling more tired by the second.
Too tired to continue practicing or even to assimilate the knowledge stored inside the Eyes of Menadion.
"Wait a second." He stopped the elf before she could remove the shielding cloth from the Yggdrasill staff. "Do you still feel guilty about endangering my life and embarrassed about your earlier outburst?"
"Yes." She blushed violently, not knowing which event she regretted the most.
"Then do me one last favor and we'll call it even." Lith said with a soft smile that creepily reminded the elf of the World Tree.
"Depends on the favor." She replied.
"It's nothing much. I just want you to identify a few things for me and your assurance that you won't talk about this with anyone." Lith tried to ease her worries.
"Is this about Forbidden Magic or stolen goods?" Aalejah was naïve, but not stupid.
Even though it was her first time outside the Fringe, she doubted that a favor could be that simple. Soul Vision showed her a predatory grin on Lith's face that didn't bode well.
"No. You have my word." Both his faces nodded, reassuring the elf to some extent. "My problem is that I acquired them in a peculiar way and a late friend of mine warned me never to show them to others."
"Then why do you want to show them to me?" She asked without never turning Soul Vision off despite the burden it took on her mana and focus.
"Because I can't find them in any book in any library that I had access to until now." Lith said with a sigh, hating to admit how desperate he was for help. "Not even the books in my master's home mention them so they must be very rare items."
"That or she keeps some of her tomes out of the reach of her apprentices." Aalejah said.
"I don't see why Faluel should consider herbariums part of her bloodline legacy, but I guess anything is possible." Lith shrugged. "I told you everything you needed to know, just tell me if you are going to help me or not."
"Sure." She replied while sighing in relief. There was no harm in identifying a few plants.
Or so Aalejah thought until Lith took all the herbs he had left from the Dryad's reward out of his pocket dimension.
Her mouth fell to the ground, along with that of the Council members that were still looking at the scene, Faluel included.
'That little prick! Apprentice-mentor bond my ass. He trusts me so little that he never showed that stuff to me.' She thought, yet a small smile was all that appeared on her face.
"Where did you get this stuff? One of those things is incredibly rare and you see so many different kinds of natural treasures only in the betrothal gift of a plant folk. Did you marry a Fae or what?" Aalejah asked while picking and examining the mystical plants one at a time.
"No. I got them when I was still 12 and I didn't have to marry anyone." Lith replied.
"Then how?" The elf knew that she would either receive no answer or regret asking the question, but her curiosity was too strong.
"Long story short, I got them as a ransom for sparing a Dryad's life after I saved her from a Puppeteer Abomination that possessed her body. I killed it, unwillingly saving her life and a forest.
"Then things got complicated and her sister gave me this stuff. Now if we are done with your questions, you can answer mine. How the heck do I use these plants?" Lith's words didn't make anything clearer, they just raised more questions and some laughter.
"That's my blood indeed." Salaark said while chuckling. "He came, he conquered, and he got paid for it."
The rest of the Council, however, grumbled under their breath with the only exception of Leegaain. He had no need for such things because he grew them inside his biomes, having discovered for ages how to cultivate natural treasures.
Everyone else, however, could only curse their bad luck and the laws of the Council that kept them from stealing Lith's treasures. If just one of them knew about the mystical plants, they might have planned an underhanded scheme to seize them.
With the entire Council as a witness, however, the moment Lith got robbed and a Council member conveniently crafted an artifact that required one or more natural treasures, the others would discover the truth.
The culprit would be punished harshly and the artifact seized, making an example out of them. Splitting the treasures was off the table as well. There were so few left that they could be used for a couple of artifacts tops.
"This is a Thunderstone flower." Aalejah said while holding what looked like a bellflower whose petals were of mud-brown color while its stem was of bright yellow.
"It has the ability to harmonize the earth and the air element, allowing to anything that it's imbued with the Thunderstone's essence to retain the hardness of earth while also still being capable of tapping into the air element's full potential."
'I have to research the flower a bit to make sure of it, but judging from her words, this thing should basically turn anything into a superconductor. If I'm right, I already know how to use it.' Lith thought.
He had often thought of recreating or weaponizing Earth's technology, but he lacked too many tools and materials for it. At least until that moment. Mogar's geology, for example, was primitive at best.
Prospectors knew what rocks and sediment would be found nearby deposits of white marble, precious metal veins, magic crystal, and metal mines, but they had no idea what a semiconductor or any kind of rare element was.
To be fair, even if they did, Lith was no engineer.
He knew the principles that allowed modern technology to work, but he had no idea how to build an AC/DC generator. Until he found a way to reproduce technology by combining physics and magic, there was nothing he could do.
"This, instead, is an Earth Root. It's very precious for Forgemaster who specialize in crafting golems." Aalejah picked a bunch of ugly-looking small black potatoes.
They emanated such a terrible stench that if not for their intense magical aura, Lith would have thought they were just dung that Ryssa had mixed between the beautiful flowers as a mockery.
"After being pulverized and refined, it allows the mage to create a mana circulatory system in their creations before bonding them with the mana crystals.." She said.
