"Well, the silver lining is that I'm learning how to cook and that by spending so much time together, we're both recovering much faster than usual." Solus used her holograms to project both Lith's life forces and the power core of the tower.

The former almost perfectly overlapped while the latter had become less hazy, allowing them to take a good look at it.

The complexity of the tower's power core still baffled them, but Lith and Solus hoped that by studying it, they would understand the method that Menadion had used to fuse Solus with the artifact and learn how to reverse the process.

A couple of days later, Lith was so bored that he called Friya to learn if they had learned anything about Solus's condition from the Fringe. During his recovery, he had already informed she and Quylla about both Solus's dream and the meeting with Silverwing.

"I'm sorry, Lith, but Nalrond is in worse shape than you are." She said while dabbing the sweat from her training. "Now that Morok isn't around, however, I can tell you we all think that Menadion's shade protecting the answer means that she had found a solution before dying."

"It makes sense." Lith nodded. "Judging by what we learned about Menadion, it's likely that she had developed the procedure to keep what had happened to her husband Threin from repeating itself.

"Since the core of a dying person always cracks, she must have taken that into account. We need to find out everything we can about Menadion. Maybe she left some of her notes to one of her apprentices or at least some clues.

"Silverwing said that Menadion had lots of disciples and they all lived inside the tower. It's likely that one or more of them even helped her with the project."

"Easier said than done. Menadion is a legendary figure. Almost all ancient households who practice Forgemastering, even the Ernas, claim that one of their ancestors learned from her.

"It's all bogus, by the way. At least for us. I can ask Dad to check the rumors, but with all that's going on, he's not going to put much effort in such a wild goose chase unless I give him a good reason to." Friya said.

"It's better than nothing, thank you." Lith ended the call and used Invigoration for the first time after almost a week.

According to Solus, his life force had perfectly recovered for a couple of days already, but with his life on the line, Lith didn't feel like taking unnecessary risks. First, he checked the cracks in his human side, finding no change in their condition.

He even looked through a window while letting go of Death Vision to make sure that it didn't get any worse. After seeing plants wither, rocks crumble, and his magical beast neighbor die several times in the span of a few minutes, he sighed in relief.

Death Vision was, for the lack of a better term, a curse that he had suffered ever since he had sacrificed his life span to save Protector's life after Balkor's attack. Ever since that day, unless Lith focused to keep it at bay, Death Vision turned the world around him into a gruesome nightmare.

'It's still as awful as the first time I experienced it, but at least I can deal with this level of mental pressure.' Or so he thought until his eyes fell on the meal he was preparing.

Vegetables turned into a mold while the meat rot and maggot spawned at a speed visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. Lith closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening them again. Everything was fine, but his appetite was ruined.

Then he conjured one chore magic spell for each element, keeping darkness magic for last. Only after making sure that it didn't turn into Chaos did he shapeshift back into his human form.

"How do you feel?" Solus asked.

"Much better. I can't wait to practice magic again." Lith said.

"That or we could go back to the Griffon Kingdom. Putting an ocean between us and Silverwing would allow me to rest much easier."

"I don't know. I didn't do much after getting here and according to Xoth the Nue, between the three of us we've racked enough merits to get our hands on some good stuff." Lith didn't care much for crystals, but he had a dire need for enchanted metals.

Lith and Solus spent the rest of the evening practicing Light Mastery until their companions returned from their respective duties.

Fighting on the front lines hardened Tista by the day, and having valuable companions that watched her back allowed her to learn from every mistake she made. She still sucked with every single weapon man had ever created, but her mastery over the Battle Mage specialization improved with each fight.

"I'm happy we came to Jiera." She said while wolfing down her food. "Here there are only Awakened and Emperor Beasts. For the first time in my life, I'm just a regular person since all Awakened are handsome and shapeshifted beasts are just gorgeous.

"Once we get back home, I want to hang out more with people from the Council. At least there no one will bother me for my powers or my physical appearance."

"I'm glad to hear that at least one of us is having fun." Lith said. "Tomorrow I'm going to visit the mayor and ask him about our rewards. Do you want me to request for something in particular?"

"I've already got all the mana crystals and Orichalc.u.m I need back home. Adamant would be wasted on me so feel free to take my share." Phloria said with a smile on her face.

Even though she had been forced to resort to the oldest trick in the drill sergeants' book, turning herself into the heartless monster that the recruits hated, she was happy with the results.

She had given the people who lived in the human district a common enemy that inflicted upon them the same hardsh.i.p.s. It allowed them to empathize with each other.

That along with sharing their hard-earned meals and the language barrier crumbling with each lesson they took, was slowly turning a bunch of refugees into a community.

"If you give me the Orichalc.u.m and the crystals I need for my experiments, you can take my share as well, lil bro. Until I get at least a blue core and much more experience with crafting, Adamant is wasted on me as well." Tista said.

After the meal, everyone went to sleep and the following day Lith went straight to Xoth's office to place his order.

"Adamant?" The Nue's monkey head managed to look as flabbergasted as any sane ruler would be after hearing such a request. "Look, son, not to be ungrateful, but it's not like you did much aside from sleeping."

"I was injured in the line of duty! You can ask Olua or Bodya if you don't believe me." Lith replied in outrage.

"It's not a matter of mistrust so much as that the reward for a single mission depends on how hard it is. You faced a Puppeteer Abomination, not an Eldritch." The Nue gave Lith a couple of ingots of Adamant, each one weighed about two kilograms (2.2 lbs).