"Why the other cats just meow while you can talk?" Aran asked Reaper the Manticore, the King in the south.

"For the hundredth time, I'm not a cat!" Reaper tried to appear scary, but the four years old kid failed to notice his deadly fangs, only focusing on the soft mane on the Manticore's lion head, the big round eyes of the feline, and the long whiskers on its snout.

"You're so fluffy." Leria hugged the Emperor Beast's side, destroying the last remnants of his dignity while she climbed on his back and played with his feathered wings.

"Kids are amazing." Phloria was laughing her ass off at the sight of Reaper's miserable expression while the children tried to interest him in their games and toys.

"My soldiers would wet their pants being surrounded by magical beasts like that, whereas…" She pointed at the kids now divided in two teams of three each for their next game.

Half of them were riding Shyfs (puma type magical beasts) and the other Rys (wolf type). The two teams would chase a leather ball in an odd mix of soccer, polo, and wrestling.

The rules were unclear and so were the victory conditions that changed according to the day, weather, and wind direction. The kids enjoyed every second of their games and once a match ended, mostly due to the physical exhaustion of the riders, Lith would bring them back home.

Their respective mothers were ecstatic about having their children too tired to misbehave or to try and avoid their homework. Also, the threat of being grounded and miss the next game was a great motivator.

Phloria had decided to take a sabbatical and was using that time to reconnect with Lith and his family. The undead crisis was far from being resolved but, for all she cared, the army might as well fire her.

Phloria didn't feel she had to prove herself to anyone anymore. She'd rather stop to smell the roses and plan her future than keep risking her life to pursue a dead-end job.

Once he was done with the kids, Lith would spend his afternoon at Solus's tower, studying the two new floors and practicing Forgemastering. She had gained a second floor both above and below the ground, yet he had little use for them so they focused more on the latter.

With her now deep cyan mana core, Solus could hold her human form longer and use that time to Forgemaster together with Lith. They shared the same energy signature and had a hammer each, so in theory by joining their hands they could double the strength of their creations.

In practice, however, they had two completely different ways of Forgemastering and they had to learn how to adapt to each other. On top of that, Solus had to keep the magic circle, empower both hammers, and Forgemaster, whereas Lith was the only one capable of shaping powerful pseudo cores.

It took them several attempts just to craft an upgraded version of the Skinwalker armor because they were so in synch that they would try and fix together the same imperfection that arose in the pseudo core while it merged with the Orichalcum.

The double hit would turn bumps into dents and vice versa, wasting a lot of their energy and making them quarrel. In the end, they decided to split the tasks and put an end to that mess.

With his superior magical force, Lith would focus solely on harmonizing the pseudo core with the armor while Solus with her finesse would take care of the imperfections.

Once Kamila returned from work, Lith would spend the evening with her either on a family dinner or take her out on dates.

Only after not receiving any news from Faluel for over a week did he go to check on the Hydra.

"Is everything alright?" He asked once they were done with the niceties.

"Yes, sorry if I made you worry, but I'm in a bit of a pinch. The climate is still quite rigid and Xedros just took my son, Sedra, as his apprentice." Faluel said.

"This doesn't bode well." Lith said.

"Indeed. I don't like cold and that idiot failed to notice that he's basically a hostage." Faluel sighed.

Lith told her all about his last meeting with the Wyvern and the things Xedros had asked him for.

"Why did you never tell me about omni pockets and about Nalrond's origin? The Fringes might hold the knowledge I need to fix my life force, Protector's, and maybe even a way to restore Solus's memories and power." Lith asked, while Solus was sitting on his shoulder.

Together with the deep cyan core, not only did she obtain new floors for the tower, but also new mass for her stone form. Solus had now a scaled-down humanoid appearance that resembled a 0.6 meters (2") tall stone doll.

She was completely featureless except for two deep cyan mana crystals where her eyes were supposed to be, two deep green gemstones on the back of both her hands and waist-long stone hair.

"For the same reason I never asked Protector why he lied to me about you, or I never asked you how you managed to Forgemaster such a powerful Skinwalker armor, nor about Solus's powers as Living Legacy.

"Because I respect people's privacy and their decisions. I never forced anyone to open up with me, nor did I expose their secrets unless there's a really good reason. I think that Nalrond should tell you the truth only when he feels ready to do it and not because you force him to.

"Give him time and the relationship between you three will be better for it."

Faluel assumed her human form, shaking her rainbow-colored hair in frustration. She didn't like either being overbearing while scolding one of her apprentices or Lith's selfish attitude.

"As for omni pockets, I don't have one so I don't know how they work. Xedros knows about them because he is a dimensional mage and yet even he has no idea how to craft an omni pocket.

"I never told you about them because I didn't even know you had one. Lith, we have yet to begin your apprenticeship and I'm already warning you for the first time. Don't become like Xedros, or I'll cut ties with you.

"Don't let your thirst for knowledge turn into a greed so powerful that it clouds your judgment. Xedros is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve his objectives and is so lost in his obsession that he believes that everyone thinks like him.

"Don't mistake kindness for deception, nor respect for a hidden agenda. When you have doubts, just ask and I'll answer to the best of my abilities as long as it doesn't compromise someone else's privacy.

"I respect you, but I still don't trust you. Minus points for doubting me, but bonus points for stepping forward instead of attempting to manipulate me. Total is zero. Anything else?" She asked.

"Actually, yes." Lith told Faluel about Phloria's imminent self-Awakening and how much she, Quylla, and Friya mattered to him.

"I should be able to make Phloria survive her Awakening, and since she already knows everything about me except for minor details, bringing her up to speed should be easy.

"The problem is that she needs a teacher to survive as an Awakened and I was wondering if you could take her in as well."