Lith didn't want Protector to leave, but he hadn't much of a choice. What Faluel said was true, plus she was willing to explain to him the secret behind his seven eyes, no strings attached.
Or at least so she said.
Even if she were to refuse to teach him about runes, even if she placed unacceptable conditions for his apprenticeship, between what he had learned about Origin Flames and what he was about to learn, it was more than he could have ever asked.
'I don't like this, but since Solus will leave together with Protector, our secret is safe. Moreover, if things go south, I can always use our mind link to ask them both for help.' He thought.
After Protector left, Lith also cut off his mind link with Solus, in the case that the Hydra had some way to notice it. Both Scarlett and Gaaron had somehow established a mind link with him.
If Awakened knew how to form them with anyone, maybe they also had a detection technique. Lith had to play it by ear and caution had always been his strong suit.
"Please, sit." Faluel said as she materialized a simple round stone table and two padded armchairs. A transparent crystal bottle of wine appeared at the center of the table, along with two silvery cups and several plates of food.
"I thought you were supposed to teach me, not to invite me to a date." Lith snarled, not sure about what was happening.
"Your hunger is annoying." She replied a split second before Lith's stomach grumbled. Killing six Awakened had made him work quite an appetite, but due to his stress, he had failed to notice.
Faluel poured herself a glass of wine before starting her explanation.
"Do you know why people and beast alike have shades of different colors in their hair?" She asked.
"It's supposed to be the blessing of the six gods of magic." Lith replied between mouthfuls. After a simple spell had confirmed to him that the food was just food, he had helped himself. "It means that a person is talented in a specific element."
"That's partially true, but there are no such things as gods of magic. It's just the way mortals refer to the first six Guardians, but I suppose you've no interest in lore. I'll go straight to the point.
"Thanks to mana cores, anyone can use magic, but if you paid attention during your academy years, you should have noticed that there are actually three levels of magic. The first is the simple use, something that any fake or true mage can do.
"No matter if you need a formula or a series of thoughts, you still mix your mana with world energy and obtain an effect." Faluel said and Lith nodded for her to continue.
"Then there is the mastery over the elements. It's what Lochra Silverwing taught to all races who didn't know about true magic. It's the ability to infuse them with your willpower, evolving them from a simple tool to an extension of yourself."
Lith nodded again. The most advanced spellcasting required to manipulate the elements, conjuring them wasn't enough. He had spent quite a bit of time trying to infuse even his low tier spells with willpower, to improve their versatility in combat.
"Last, but not least, there is dominance over the elements. This is something that not everyone can do and even those who can are limited to an extent since it requires an innate affinity towards the elements.
"Dominance is the ability to take control of someone else's spell and make it your own. Talented geniuses can even absorb them."
Her words reminded Lith of both Irtu the Byk and Thrud's weapon. The former had managed to feed upon Lith's Plague Arrow, something that he had never managed to explain before.
The latter, instead, could do the same thanks to Arthan's Sword, a replica of the Royal Sword, making her nigh invincible.
"Are you saying that…" Lith almost dropped his fork in surprise.
"Indeed I am. The shades in someone's hair are the indicator of what elements you're attuned with and that you can achieve mastery over. You should have noticed that some people have more than one shade." She twirled her multi-colored hair with a playful smile on her face.
"Wait. My mother has red shades but a pitiful red core, how is she supposed to have mastery over the fire element?" Lith asked.
"What does a red core mean to someone who can Awaken, aside from good luck?" Faluel rose her eyebrow. "If your mother were to Awaken, you'd find out that she's a great fire mage."
'Damn. This means that the advantage that women have over men in the field of magic is even bigger than I thought. It also explains why even after Awakening I didn't get any shades- Wait a minute!' Lith's thoughts suddenly froze.
"Nailed it in one." Faluel said as if she could read his mind, whereas she had just read his expression.
"Humans usually only have one shade due to their egotism. Your kind can rarely empathize with the needs of Mogar, which limits them greatly. All magical beasts, instead, start with two elements, the ones they can naturally use.
"Except for rare cases that's their cap as well. You might object that between one and two there's not such a big difference, but during a battle between equals, with their cores and equipment on the same level, it's quite handy.
"It's also one of the reasons why the Griffon Kingdom spares no expenses to buy my services from time to time." She played with her hair again as her eyes light up with mana of seven different colors.
Red, yellow, black, white, blue, orange, and emerald green.
Lith still remembered from their first encounter how Scarlett's fur had shades of all those colors but green and orange. Based on what Faluel said, the creature's potential was amazing.
"What exactly does the emerald green stands for?" Lith asked.
"Pure mana. How do you call this?" Faluel used tendrils of spirit magic to move the bottle and refill both their cups.
"Spirit magic." Lith replied.
"We Hydras call it mind magic, instead. It allows us to perform several spells that the other elements can't." She formed a transparent green barrier around herself and then established a mind link with Lith.
'This is just to give you an example.' Her thoughts reverberated through his mind, giving him the creeps.
"Protector has shades of red and white, which means he could have dominance over at least two elements, three if we count air magic. Why did you send him away?" Lith asked.
"Because that pup has still a lot to learn about magic. Right now, he's using your memories as a crutch, but that can't last forever. He needs to gain solid foundations to become a master, and only then should he worry about dominance.
"Any other path would only be a waste of time and energies. I'll be honest, I don't like teaching you about dominance either. You're too damn young and you don't even know about spirit spells." Faluel sighed.
"Then why are we having this conversation?"
"Gods, that's why I hate kids. Have you been listening to me earlier? Because dominance is a secret between Awakened just as Awakening is a secret among humans.
"You have seven eyes, in case you failed to notice, and three of them are already active. I'm willing to teach you how to control them only to prevent others from finding them out. That or I might just kill you."
