“We can talk, but my time is precious so let’s cut to the chase.” Lith replied with a glare that brooked no questions about his personal life. “What are you doing here, Crank?”
“It’s Baron Crank Zaseer of Mirana, now.” The Hyperion gave them a small bow. “Even after you dropped me like garbage, I still fought my fair share of Thrud’s goons and cashed my reward.”
“Please, tell me that we aren’t neighbors.” Lith had no clue where Mirana was since he had taken the maps of Lustria out of Soluspedia from the day he had enrolled in the White Griffon.
“Gods, no!” Crank seemed to be even more revulsed than Lith at the idea. “I’ve taken a fief in the west, in one of Thrud’s occupied regions. The Royals are in dire need of new and trustworthy nobles and I of subjects used to working for beasts.
“Everybody wins.”
“Then if it’s not a courtesy visit, why are you here?” Solus glared at the Hyperion, still remembering his insensitive comments after Phloria’s death.
“Because your husband still owes me my Light Mastery lessons, young lady. I didn’t come earlier because I didn’t want to intrude on your grief.” Crank’s reply was only half true.
The other half was him remembering his own comments as well and how badly they had been received. The Hyperion had waited a bit to make sure that the storm would pass and heads would cool down.
Otherwise his own might have gotten cut off.
“And for that, you have my thanks.” Lith nodded. “Follow me. You’ll be my guest for lunch and we’ll start the lessons first thing in the afternoon.”
“Really?” Crank and Solus asked together, respectively with a smile and a frown.
Spending the time she had left with Lith teaching the nasty furball was not on the list of things Solus wanted to do.
“Really.” Lith echoed, walking them home where they all received a warm welcome.
Elina and Raaz were proud of Solus. They wanted to hear everything about how the magical community of the Kingdom had reacted to her presence. Rena and Tista asked Kamila about her new boss and tried to understand the Queen’s endgame.
Crank, instead, was grabbed and pinned down by the children.
A talking pet was already amazing, but a pet who was willing to wear clothes was even better. They put outfits taken from their toys on him and Crank ended up dressed as a soldier, a mage, and then like a princess.
The long and frilly pink gown from one of Leria’s dolls was itchy and uncomfortable. The Hyperion had lots of mean things to say, but that day Salaark was on shift and her glare was enough to not make him utter a word when a small blonde wig was put on his head.
The food was amazing and the servings were so hearty that they made up for the earlier annoyance.
Crank stuffed himself so much that when he woke up, he discovered that he had taken an afternoon nap with the kids.
“Good, you are up. Follow me.” Lith beckoned at him yet Aran and Leria followed as well.
“He’s talking to me!” Crank took the toy clothes off in annoyance, eager to regain a shred of dignity.
“No, I’m talking to all of you. Now move.” Lith shook his head.
“Wait, what?” Crank’s annoyance grew when Abominus and Onyx trotted behind them.
“I’m going to kill two birds with one stone.” Lith replied. “Aran and Leria will teach you Light Mastery so that I fulfill my part of our deal and they deepen their understanding of magic.
“It will also serve as practice for when my daughter and my little sister are born.”
“So I’m going to be their science project?” Crank said in outrage.
“They are skilled with holograms and can teach you everything I can. Also, I’ll be at home so whenever they fail to explain something clearly, you can always ask me for help.” Lith said.
“By the way, do you want the spoon-fed method or not?”
“No spoon feeding.” Crank shook his head. “If I just learn by rote, I’ll never move past the holograms. I need to figure out problems by myself as much as I can if I want to learn how to conjure hard-light constructs.”
“Excellent choice.” Lith turned to Aran and Leria. “This is not a game so take it seriously. Teach him as I did with you and by answering his questions you’ll realize what your own magic is lacking. Do not hesitate to ask my advice if you or Crank feel slumped.”
“Can we teach Abominus and Onyx as well?” Leria asked, hoping that her steed would soon evolve and catch up with Onyx.
“Sure.” Lith’s reply made Crank groan.
“Great, I risked my life for something that these pups get for free!”
“They are our friends and risked their lives for us countless times.” Aran said, noticing that the more honey badger spoke the less cute he seemed to become.
“Fine, kid.” The Hyperion sighed. “Can you really create holograms?”
Aran and Leria didn’t like his tone so they conjured the most complex images they could control. A starry night from Aran and a small Voidfeather Dragon from Leria. Yet the kids had not learned how to add colors so the holograms were in black and white.
“It’s better than nothing. Please, start.” Crank nodded.
“Elemental magic can be divided into three branches. The elements of balance-“
“I know magic, kid!” Crank cut Aran off. “I’ve practiced it since before your family moved to Lutia so quit with the lecture and go straight to the juicy part.”
“But if you don’t learn the basics, you’ll never understand the principles of Light Mastery.” Leria said.
“Please, kid. I’m an Awakened Divine Beast over 500 years old. First Magic is the foundation of true magic. If some non-Awakened runts can do it, it can’t be that hard.” The honey badger said with a sneer that wasn’t cute at all.
“Fine!” While Leria explained everything from the start to Abominus and Onyx, Aran taught Crank the basics of Light Mastery.
One hour and several questions later, the Hyperion still failed to have the sparkles of light coalesce into any form but a sphere. Two hours later, the situation was still the same.
“Okay, kid, clearly you are forgetting something important.” Crank snarled.
The only silver lining was that Abominus and Onyx fared even worse, wasting their time playing with the air and water elements for some reason.
“I didn’t forget anything because there’s nothing to forget. You just have to think of the air as solid matter and make the light element give it shape according to your imagination.” Aran opened his palm, conjuring a replica of the honey badger.
“You’ve been telling me that for hours yet I keep failing. It means you are not teaching me right.” Crank replied.
“No, it means that you are not listening.” Leria said, creating a second honey badger hologram.
“Call Lith right now! I’m done playing with a bunch of stupid hairless monkeys who waste my time and-” Crank yelled at the top of his lungs, emitting a bright violet aura that terrified the children and made them cry.
