Unluckily for Tista, her companions had enough energy to not miss what had just happened.

"First, I don't even know who or what he is. Second, I'm too tired to even care about him. Gods, this day has barely started and I can't wait for it to end." She replied, feeling the energy Olua had given her being drained by the second.

Once inside, Solus assumed her tower form to boost everyone's recovery ability, but to not get noticed by the arrays protecting Reghia, the transformation required much longer than usual.

Tista fell asleep on the ground as soon as one last diagnostic spell confirmed to her that her brother was fine while Phloria went to the nearest fountain to fill a few flasks with the nutrients potion from one of its taps.

'I'm too tired to eat anything, but we need to recuperate, especially Lith. It will be easier making him swallow something that tastes like honeyed milk rather than like crap.' She thought, wishing that Faluel had allowed Quylla to teach her the IV spell.

Once she returned home, the tower was finally ready.

"Thank you for your help, Phloria." Solus carried both their unconscious friends with Spirit Magic in their respective rooms while dripping the first potion in their mouths.

"Are you sure you can afford shapeshifting? You've gone through a lot as well. Maybe you should remain a ring until you haven't fully recovered." Phloria said with a worried look on her face. read online free

The tower looked as big and strong as usual, but Solus appearing only in her wisp form made Phloria aware of how tired she was.

"Don't worry about me, I've seen worse." Phloria could have sworn that despite being just a wisp, Solus had just made one of the sweetest smiles she had ever seen.

Phloria gulped down a couple of potions and went to bed, too tired for arguing even a second longer. The moment she disappeared behind her door, Solus entered Lith's room to check on him one last time before going to her bed.

She rolled over his chest, feeling reassured by its rhythmical breathing and falling asleep without even noticing.

***

Blood Desert Fringe.

The Dewan tribe did its best to make Nalrond feel as one of their own so they didn't take it well when he refused to share with them any detail about the Rezar's ritual to commune with the planet and preferred to ask for the help of the humans instead.

They would even use Warp Steps to reach a location away from the village so that no one might "casually" stumble upon the ritual.

"I get that you must still be grieving your tribe, young man. I also understand that seeing a bunch of strangers living in your village mustn't be easy for you, yet I want you to remember that all Werepeople are part of the same tribe." Kimo, the village elder said.

"Thanks for your kindness, but I beg to differ." Nalrond shook his head. "Our ancestors share their origins, but that's not enough to make us family. Besides, I'm not planning to stay. There's nothing for me here."

"How can you say that?" Kimo could barely hide how upset he was.

"We may not be Rezars but we are still your people, just like this is still your village. As the last survivor of the Lightkeepers, you have a duty to uphold. Are you really going to let your legacy die with you?"

"That's exactly the reason why I want to speak with Mogar. Our people have got too used to live in peace and have forgotten the reason why we searched for the Fringes in the first place." Nalrond said.

"It wasn't just to hide and cower from the rest of the world like cowards. We came here to find a safe place where to research a way to undo what has been inflicted upon our people or to at least merge our life forces into one.

"We don't have the long life of Emperor Beasts, we can't Awaken, and we have to fight at all times with our other half. Rather than dooming someone else to this existence, I prefer to gamble on contacting Mogar.

"If I succeed, I'll dedicate my life to make sure that Werepeople become a proper race. If I fail and survive the meeting, I don't plan to stay here either. I've learned more in the year I spent outside than in my whole life inside the Fringe.

"If I decide to have children, I want them to grow free to experience everything that Mogar has to offer, to see the marvels of Forgemastering instead of spending their lives like frogs in a dignified well."

"What about Light Mastery? It's a great power that could give Werepeople the strength to fight our enemies. Can't you at least share its basics with us before attempting this madness?

"If Mogar kills you, centuries of your people's hard work will be lost forever!" Kimo tried to make Nalrond reason, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"My people did very little. All I know comes from Dawn." Saying that name made Nalrond spit on the ground in disgust. "The most important thing my new master, Faluel, taught me is that knowledge cannot be granted, it must be earned.

"I won't teach you anything because it would only make you conceited as it happened to my tribe. Besides, what enemies are you talking about? We have no enemies. The rest of Mogar has forgotten about us."

"I can see the damage that the outside world has done to you. You speak of Werepeople as 'us', yet you treat Dewans as strangers as soon as the power of Light Mastery is involved." Kimo said.

"That's because we are strangers." Nalrond Warped away, tired of hearing that nonsense.

He reached an ample clearing and from there he Warped again to an underground complex of caves. It dated back to the early days when the Rezars had entered the Fringe and had mined it in search of minerals or metals.

"Is everything alright?" He asked while checking the runes carved along the ground, the walls and the ceiling.

The group had covered the caves with magic circles comprised of six runes, each infused with a different element. By merging them together, once a circle was completed, it would generate an artificial flow of world energy.

"We're just bored out of our heads." Friya said with a sigh.

The circles were all the same so after a while, the initial enthusiasm had been replaced by the annoyance of doing the same thing over and over again. On top of that, they had also to regularly recharge the finished formations to keep them from fading away.

"Why are you so late? Did someone give you the speech again?"

"Kimo. The old man doesn't know when to give up." Nalrond stared in awe at the nigh-finished work.

Summoning Mogar's consciousness required so much talent and raw power that he had feared four people wouldn't be enough for the task. The runes they had employed were merely containers for the mana necessary to boost the energy signature of its user to the point that it would appear as powerful as that of a Guardian.