2912 Friendly Rivalry (Part 2)
"What about her?" Selia pointed at the sleeping Elysia.
"She was born with a bright red and she broke through the deep orange a few minutes later." Kamila cleared her throat, half-sorry for embarrassing her friend and half-proud of her daughter.
"Damn, then Lith is right. I really suck." The huntress clicked her tongue in annoyance as she studied the baby girl with Life Vision.
Selia outshone Elysia in life force as much as the baby girl outclassed the huntress in mana flow, but being physically stronger than a four months old baby was hardly an achievement.
Valeron was on the same level as Elisya, while Shargein despite being at the bright red and non-Awakened was already much stronger than the Huntress. To add insult to injury, Selia was already running low on mana.
"This is not going to be an issue for long." Selia dispelled Life Vision before mana abuse gave her a headache. "The first levels are the fastest to achieve and I've breathed my all life. I have plenty of training with that.
"The problem is that once I reach the deep orange, I'm going to need a teacher. Which brings me to the reason of my visit. Would you do this for me, Kamila?"
"I already have a lot on my… What?" Lith said.
"Me? Why me?" Kamila replied. "Ryman is a powerful Awakened and your children have used magic since the day they learned how to talk. Even Aran and Leria are better and more powerful mages than I am."
"Which is exactly the reason I want you to teach me." Selia nodded. "The wolfhead and our adorable children are so talented for magic that they use it without thinking. They can't answer most of my questions because they never had to ask them themselves.
"Aran and Leria are good kids, but I don't want to mess up their friendly rivalry with my children. If they teach me, whenever Lilia and Leran mock them, they would also mock me as their apprentice.""Thanks, Mom. You are the best." Lilia and Leran were moved by her understanding of the unwritten rules of childish banter.
"Just like I want to keep my relationship with Lith as it is. With me as his mentor. The teacher who turned him into a hunter and saved his life." She stood on a chair to recreate the height gap of back when he was a child, and patted his head like a dog.
"If he were to teach me, we'd be even! I can't allow that."
lightsΝοvεl ƈοm "What about me?" Solus asked.
"No offense, but you two are joined at the hip." Selia replied. "I don't want Lith to have a laugh at my mistakes and struggles the next time you fuse."
"I would never do that." Lith said with an offended expression on his face.
"Who are you and what did you do with my apprentice?" She asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Not in your face, at least."
"Now I recognize you." She jumped off the chair while the two of them chuckled. "Jokes aside, Kamila, you know how embarrassing it is being taught by someone much younger than you.
"To stumble and fail at things that the rest of your family does with ease. To feel in competition with your own children."
Kamila did know how that felt. Having Aran and Leria as teachers was indeed embarrassing and failing to cast spells that she had always assumed to be elementary stressed her out big time.
"Fine, I'll do it." She said with a sigh. "But I swear to the gods, if you turn out to be a magical prodigy and shatter what little is left of my confidence, I'm going to kick your ass."
"Challenge accepted." Selia offered her hand which Kamila promptly shook.
***
Arch Duchy of Essagor, Vastor Household, at the same time.
The Master finished revising the report from the colony expedition, nodding in satisfaction at Lith's new achievement.
'Good. I didn't pick Lith as my heir because I wanted his help but so far, he's been an invaluable asset to my plans.' Vastor checked the calendar to assess which Guardian would take care of Elysia for the day.
Kamila always kept in contact with her sister which made it easy for the Master to learn about the Guardians' whereabouts without even asking. He would then focus the Organization's activities on the Guardianless country since there was a small chance of being discovered, making even the Blood Desert accessible.
With the opening of the transcontinental Warp Gate, the Organization would soon gain access to Jiera as well. The monster tides with their mutants were bound to provide Vastor with plenty of specimens for his experiments that no one would miss and maybe even suitable monster cores for his Abominations.
Most of the magic metal and crystal mines of the fallen continent were up for the taking. Vastor had to make the most of it while the situation was still unstable and no other powerhouse would notice his mining operation.
On top of that, Jiera was filled with piles of gold, platinum, and precious gems that had been abandoned after the plague. Such things had no value for people whose priority was survival and monsters had no use for them either.
Opening the vaults of the ancient noble households would be child's play for the Abominations and their content would fund the Organization for years.
'I just need to wait until the security measures loosen up a bit. Not even Tezka can come in and out of the capital without risks, but once the Gate is accessible to the public, it will be a breeze for him.
'Even better, with two out of three Guardians wounded by Tyris, we don't have to bother hiding our presence. If they dare try and stop us, we'll deal with them like we did with Ileza.'
A wide grin appeared on Vastor's face as he reached the part of the report describing the beating that Fenagar the Leviathan had endured. Knowing how fierce Tyris' handiwork was, it was safe to assume that it would take him months, maybe years to fully recover.
Until that moment, the starting point of the colonization, Fenagar's turf, would be defenseless.
'What a moron!' The grin opened into a burst of cruel laughter as he opened a second report from one of his sources inside the Empire. 'He messed up with Tyris even during the fight against the lost city.
'Which means that it's unlikely he and his fellow Guardians of Jiera will receive any help against us, even if they manage to swallow their oversized ego and ask for it. The Guardians of Garlen know how to hold a grudge and Fenagar's antics have pissed them all off at the same time.'magic
Vastor took a map of Jiera where Tezka had sketched the rough outlines of the three Guardians' respective turfs. Fenagar's was on the west side of the continent, facing the ocean from north and west.
Roghar's took most of the east side, with access to the ocean from east and north. It was the only one connected to the eastern continent of Zima through a wide stretch of land.