That day, Lith and Solus were alone because Selia and his parents were out choosing the furniture for the huntress' new house, Protector was on a mission for Faluel, and Kamila was helping Jirni with a matter of the utmost importance that would keep her from returning home for a while.
Lith was supposed to be happy since he could spend the day as he saw best, but he was actually incredibly bored. The reason for his bad mood wasn't his family, quite the contrary.
It was the lack of company and distractions that forced him to admit that his magical knowledge had hit a wall that he couldn't overcome alone.
Lith had already checked the tower's surroundings with the Sentries and knew there wasn't anyone around. Instead of Warping to his destination like usual, he could afford to take a stroll back home to calm his nerves.
More than the Council's meddling, it was the lack of a purpose that was eating at him from the inside. All of his lives he had always had a goal, something to strive for, whereas now he felt like he was stuck in a limbo.
He reached his personal secret clearing in the Trawn woods and sat on a rock, letting the familiar scenery soothe his grumpy mood.
'This was our first training ground, back when we had no idea you could turn into a tower.' Lith thought.
'Yeah, we have a lot of memories connected to this place. Here I explained to you the difference between true and fake magic, you fought Irtu to the death, Tista learned how to swim in the river…' Three dimensional doors opened, cutting Solus short.
"You're a hard man to find, Lith Verhen." A stunning young woman said while her associates moved to Lith's sides, trapping him inside a triangle formation.
She was about 1.76 meters (5'9") tall, with wheat blonde hair and clear blue eyes. Everything in her figure from her fair skin to her curves bordered on perfection, reminding Lith of Tista.
At a first glance, she seemed to be in her early twenties, but if she was an Awakened, appearances were bound to be deceiving. The other two were handsome young men, both taller and burlier than Lith.
Their perfect physique coupled with the focused expression that Lith associated with a true mage silently weaving their spells left little space for guesses.
'Either one of my human enemies recruits solely stern-looking top models as their goons or these guys are Awakened.' Lith thought.
"Unless you're here to tell me that the Council has given Faluel its consent to make me her apprentice, you'd better scram. I'm in a bad mood today, and three jackasses invading my turf make it even worse." Lith was happy for the distraction.
He could use some human-shaped stress balls to vent out a bit.
'Solus, how tough are these guys?' Despite his bloodlust, he kept a level head and checked his opponents' level before doing anything rash.
'Your intuition is right, they are all Awakened. The woman has a deep blue core, while the men have a bright cyan mana core. Their physical strength is simply unbelievable, they are on par with Treius.' Solus's thoughts were filled with shock and incredulity.
She clearly had a hard time believing her own mystical senses.
Lith inwardly cursed his bad luck and sprang into action. He remembered Treius all too well. The youth from the Blood Desert had merged with the Black Star, a Living Legacy that had bestowed upon him the physical prowess of a real Dragon.
Even if the three youths had mana cores weaker than his own, Lith knew he couldn't afford to underestimate them. In the past, he had defeated several opponents stronger than himself with teamwork or cunning, so there was no reason they couldn't do the same.
To make matters worse, his enemies had not only the numerical advantage, but also access to insanely powerful relics that put them on Treius's level.
"How dare you threaten the emissaries of the C…" Cylla Gernoff froze in surprise seeing Lith charging at her and then sneered at his arrogance.
She was the strongest mage in the group, while the other two had been sent to physically restrain Lith in the case he resisted his arrest.
Cylla would have gladly done everything on her own, but not even Awakening could overcome the natural gap in strength between men and women if they had the same level of body refinement.
'Don't worry, Solus. Even though we are outnumbered, we are not outmatched. We are both much stronger than back when we defeated Treius and now we even have War on our side.' Lith slammed his fists together, making Solus assume her arm protector form.
It covered his right arm from the hand to the shoulder, with one of the deep cyan gemstones embedded on the back of his hand while a green crystal rested on both his elbow and shoulder.
A second stone glove covered his left hand and forearm, bearing the second cyan gemstone. The more Solus regained her strength, the bigger her physical form became, allowing her to turn into a more complex defensive artifact.
War appeared in Lith's left hand with a burst of emerald flames, screeching its fury the moment the blood sheath that shrouded its senses shattered. The three Awakened could feel a cold shiver running down their spines, yet they conquered their fear and activated all the mystical protections that their masters had bestowed upon them.
Lith lunged forward, forcing Cylla to move right in front of his fist.
'The moment she blocks my right cross, I'll pivot on her guard to move behind her and use the momentum for…' Lith's multi-layered attack plan crumbled when Cylla failed to move a muscle.
His fist connected with her face, breaking her nose, jaw, and sending her flying outside the clearing like a living meteor. The Awakened woman bounced against a few thick centuries-old trees before stopping.
Lith was still trying to make sense of the events when the two other Awakened unleashed several tier three spells against him.
"Seriously?" Lith asked Solus while he used War's World Mirror enchantment to redirect the incoming attacks so that the red-haired guy's spells would hit the brown-haired one and vice versa.
'I never said they were as strong as Treius after he fused with the Black Star.' She laughed her ass off at his amazement. 'You added that part yourself. I just didn't bother to correct your mistake.'
The spells cut deep into the youths' enchanted armor, but they were too weak to deal lethal damage.
The red-haired guy executed an overhead strike with an enchanted mace that broke into pieces when clashing against War. The angry blade shattered the weapon without losing speed and then cut through the youth's armor, almost severing his right arm from the shoulder.
'Why did you do that?' Lith used the gushing blood to reform the scabbard and put War away.
It made no sense to waste its power on weaklings.
'Because you always fight terrifying monsters. Seeing you wipe the floor with some "regular guys" for once is refreshing. It's also the perfect occasion to check how strong you have become compared to Awakened with a master.' Solus replied while playing in his head the boss theme of Ultimate Fantasy 77.
