Lith had already forged and dismantled his Scalewalker armor several times, but had yet to find a way to give it a power core.
Once he was banned from his own lab, he would either use Abyssal Gaze to refine his mana core or train in the use of the Eyes of Menadion in-between naps. For the first time in his three lives, Lith could finally relax and put his worries aside.
Salaark's presence and might had a soothing effect on him to the point that even Death Vision didn't bother him. As long as the Overlord was in her palace, everyone was safe, sealing Death Vision's mind-wearing effects.
Tista, instead, hated the Desert more with each passing day. Due to her flaming red feathers, she was considered a Phoenix and an adult at that. Alas, all of her skills were considered severely lacking.
She had to take flight lessons before breakfast, magic lessons during the morning, and fight lessons during the evening. Tista wasn't even allowed to go back into her human form except that for the meals so that she would familiarize with her new body until claws, flames, and wings would become second nature to her.
"Worst vacation ever." She said during dinner, panting non-stop.
"I like it, instead." Lith said. "I can finally practice without the worry that my failures will rob me of precious materials. On top of that, now that I finally have some time to rest and think, I can organize all of my magical knowledge in a more efficient way."
"I like it too." Solus said, showing her golden body that now had nails, eyelashes, and even irises. "I have yet to go back to my ring form even for one second and I can spend a lot of time with Dad too."
Solus couldn't bring herself to call Elina "mom" because she still had a few memories of Menadion and they were all very precious to her. Threin, instead, was just a name and Solus knew nothing about him except for the things that Silverwing had told her.
It made Raaz very happy and pissed Elina off big time.
"I'm sorry for being often absent, sweetie, but managing a big farm is a full-time job. Also, the fact that you and Lith are often away for your experiments doesn't help." He replied with a sigh.
"Grandma, a friend of mine would like to come and visit. Is it a problem for you?" Lith asked while handing to her Friya's introduction letter.
"As long as you vouch for them and they behave, not at all." Salaark opened the envelope, reading Friya's request to visit the Heavenly Plume tribe and join Lith in his studies about the Davross.
Before purifying the magical metal Lith wanted to learn from Xenagrosh how to control his Origin Flames. Otherwise he would destroy the Darwen that comprised about half of the Davross ingots and with them the chance to craft anti-magic equipment.
On top of that, Friya wouldn't miss for the world the opportunity to try out her craziest ideas on the most powerful metal on Mogar. Salaark's Creation Magic allowed Lith to lend his ingots to anyone for their experiments since they would always return to their original state.
"Thanks." Lith nodded. "One more thing, Grandma. Xenagrosh is going to visit me in a while and she says that she wants to introduce me to a few of my siblings. I'd really like to meet her peacefully without having to hide in some dark corner of the Desert.
"Can you tolerate her for me?"
"Keep her out of my tribe, of my palace, and away from my people." Salaark didn't like having competition.
She had brought Lith there to make him get acquainted with the Phoenix side of the family and to show him what the nest could offer him. Mogar's orders or not, she didn't trust either the Master or their Organization.
The idea of Lith spending time with such dangerous creatures was far from alluring, but Salaark only wanted loyal followers, not slaves.
'Like all Featherlings, Lith has to make his own experiences in order to make the important choices of his life. I can only hope he won't do something that he'll later regret.' She thought.
"Solus, do you want to join me or do you want to stay in the tower?" Lith asked.
On the one hand, she was really curious to learn more about their alleged big sister and about Origin Flames. On the other hand, however, staying out of the Heavenly Plume tribe meant losing her physical form and slow down the recovery of her power core.
The tower was very close to restoring another floor and with it, she dearly hoped to get back her human body as well.
"I'd like to come with you, thanks." She replied after weighing her options for a while.
'I really want to meet the rest of the family, even if I have to act just as a ring. Also, if Xenagrosh teaches us something, the Eyes of Menadion could make a big difference.' She thought.
The following day, Lith had to travel by flight for several kilometers before reaching a neutral spot where he was allowed to meet with his Abomination side of the family.
"You are looking good, little brother." Xenagrosh said after coming out of a Chaos Warp.
Unlike regular dimensional magic, by switching darkness with Chaos, an Abomination pierced through space. It allowed them to travel much further than a regular Gate and to ignore sealing arrays, making up for their lack of Spirit Magic.
Just like Lith spent most of the time in the Desert in his feathered Tiamat form, Xenagrosh had arrived in her Shadow Dragon form and armed to the teeth as well. She could trust Salaark's word, but one of her children might not agree with her decision and Xenagrosh couldn't take any risk.
She stood over 30 meters (100 feet) tall, with two sets of yellow eyes on her snout whose vertical pupils searched the area around them for traps. Her wings were translucent due to the thin layer of shadows that filled the space between the bones where most Dragons had a membrane.
Her black scales constantly changed shape and size, but they always overlapped to perfection, forming an impenetrable natural armor. Sky Piercer, the clawed glove that Bytra had crafted for her, covered Xenagrosh's right hand.
"You look good as well." Lith replied, noticing how both the shape and the position of the six violet crystals on Sky Piercer were similar to those of the Hands of Menadion. "What are we going to do today?"
"I don't have much time and neither do you." She replied while Warping them both away.
"What do you mean?" Lith instinctively took one step back, offending her.
"I'm not threatening you, you moron! If I wanted you dead or captured, I would have asked Tezka instead of wasting my time and taking the risk of letting Salaark know about my presence." Xenagrosh said in outrage.
"I'm sorry, but in my defense, I think that we Dragons are terrible with conversation starters." Lith replied.
"Apology accepted." Xenagrosh snorted and ignored his attempt to shift the blame on her. "What I meant is that Origin Flames are bound to put a great strain on your body. I almost died several times and I'm a frigging Eldritch!"
