Chapter - 627

"It seems we were lucky, son." Said General Vorgh while dispelling the arrays he was keeping at the ready.

"Usually when Jakra manages to get out, things go downhill fast."

"Is Jakra the dragon's name?" Lith asked.

"No, that's how we call him. Her. Whatever that is. We've tried multiple times to communicate with him, but it never works. A dragon would be a powerful asset, so we've tried bringing language experts and giving him food.

"Yet the only thing he is interested in is getting out, so we are forced to kill him every time. We still have no idea why so many powerful creatures have been locked inside Huryole, but we cannot allow any of them to escape unless we are sure they can be trusted.

"In my book, whoever spews fire first and talks later, is unworthy of trust." Vorgh waved his staff, creating a Warping Array leading to the closest Gate.

"Ranger Verhen, you'll remain here until the next reset. If by then Jakra is still trapped, then you'll resume your regular duty. Don't hesitate to call for help."

After Solus confirmed Lith that they were alone, he Warped to the nearest mana geyser and had her assume her tower form. He had no need to camp in the middle of nowhere when he could use the Surveillance Mirror on the tower's first floor to keep an eye on Huryole from a distance.

"I know it may sound hypocritical coming from me, but I think Vorgh is too paranoid. That dragon can only escape out of pure luck. Huryole has several floors and we never managed to fully explore even one of them in the short time between resets." Lith said, taking their most recent prizes out of his pocket dimension.

"Agreed, but if you look at the bright side, it's like you got a few hours leave." Solus welcomed him in her wisp form.

"Yeah. There are far worse ways to spend your birthday, Solus. Happy birthday." Lith confirmed on his clock that it was more or less the same hour when thirteen years ago he had spoken with Solus for the first time and given her a name.

"Thanks!" She said brimming with joy. She only needed a shred of consciousness to stand watch with the Mirror. The rest was focused on the task at hand. It was one of the most difficult things Solus had ever done, but she wanted to do it anyway.

"Lith, can I ask you something as a birthday present?" She asked.

"Anything you want. Within reason, of course."

"Can you promise me not to get angry?" The wisp rested on his shoulder, wobbling in anxiety.

"I can try. That much I can promise. Are you sure that's all you want for your birthday? You're making me feel like I set the bar so low for you that…"

The wisp left his shoulder and stopped in front of his eyes before starting to grow in size, cutting Lith short in surprise. Soon Solus was in her humanoid form, wearing a simple dress with a flower design that left her shoulders and arms exposed.

"Well? What do you think?" She searched his neck for the vein that she knew would throb whenever he was really angry, no matter how good his poker face was.

"That it was about time you told me. I was really starting to feel left out." Lith said, his neck vein calm and composed.

"Plus, if you waited more, it would have made my birthday present kind of awkward." He handed to her one of the Orichalcum hammers they had forgemastered. Its shaft was slimmer and more delicate compared to the other one.

The words "Maker of Wonders" had been magically engraved of both sides of the shaft. The hammer's head featured an actual hammer on one side and a pick on the other.

"You knew all along?" Solus felt embarrassed and frustrated at the idea of having spent so much time worrying for nothing.

"It wasn't that hard to guess. First, you refused to keep me company when I bathed…"

'That happened way before I got my body.' She thought.

"… then, you started to press me to 'go to sleep' or left me to spend time with Tista. Plus, there was the increase in the food expenses and the bills for clothes Tista bought but never wore.

"If you consider that I knew that once the first floor of the tower would be restored you were meant to acquire your body made of light, it was almost obvious." Lith shrugged.

"So, you're not angry?" She asked.

"No. I know all too well the difference between sharing your secrets because you want to and because you have to. I honestly don't understand the reason why you kept it a secret from me, but I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt.

"You look gorgeous in that dress, by the way." Solus brimmed with joy at those words, and so did the tower.

She hugged him, feeling for the first time Lith returning the embrace. Solus then told him that the reason she hadn't told him about her new form was that she didn't want to mess up his relationship with Kamila.

"I just wanted you to be happy. I realize that now it��s like you are living together with two women at once and I didn't want to force you to lie to Kamila. I decided to come clean with you because I think my past could help us with your problem."

Solus started to share with him all of her memories, about the Forgemastering method she had witnessed during her visions and how different the enchanted items she remembered of were from those they currently used.

They watched the memory of her adamant hammer over and over, comparing it with the sword they had recently acquired. There was a striking resemblance between them.

"Maybe this Master Menadion of yours was also a teacher in an ancient academy. If I'm right and Huryole really is some kind of twisted version of the six great academies, maybe this sword was one of her works." Lith handed Solus both the book and the enchanted item, hoping they would trigger one of her flashbacks.

Solus ran her fingers over the runes engraved in the blade. Each time she did it, they turned from blue to gold for a split second, emitting each one a different musical note.

"This hasn't been crafted by Master Menadion. Don't ask me why, but I'm sure of it. I think it might have been Forgemastered using one of the techniques she shared, though. It feels so familiar to me that it can't be just a coincidence." She said.

"What about the gibberish. Can you read it?"

"No. What's worse I don't recognize any of these spells. I don't think I have ever seen them before." She replied.

"Maybe it's because Menadion was an Awakened too. If like Master Silverwing she decided to pass her knowledge onto fake mages, this is not what she would have taught you. According to your memories, you were likely to be her Awakened disciple." Lith pondered.

"If you are right, why did she do this to me?" Solus pointed at the tower and then to herself.

"Most powerful mages are batshit crazy." Lith didn't know what to tell her.

"Or maybe it was just the result of a failed experiment. The really important question is: do you really want to spend your birthday working or do you have anything in mind?" Lith asked.

"I actually do." Solus took a small package from a secret compartment in the walls.

"Happy anniversary, Lith."

He destroyed the gift paper, revealing a cylindrical ring made of an alloy of gold and Orichalcum, with a blue mana gem set in the middle of it.

"The cloaking ring! That's why you didn't rush me making one. Does it have any special abilities?" Lith's Orichalcum armors had proven to be better than he had planned. The adamant was able to enhance a pseudo core in unexpected ways.

"Not that I'm aware of." Solus said.

Lith imprinted the ring before slipping it on his right forefinger.

"How does my mana core look like now?"

"Red, and your life force appears to be at human levels."

"Interesting. Normal cloaking items do not affect the life force. Maybe it depends on the fact that I'm wearing two at once. Let's see if it works the same for you too." Lith put the ring on Solus's right hand, but she felt her heart pounding anyway.

Her light body disappeared with a pop and her dress fell to the ground.

"Fuuuuu…" Solus's voice made the tower's wall tremble for several seconds until she managed to make her body reappear.

"...ck! That cost me a lot of stamina. We can't check the effects on me until I return in my gauntlet form. To add insult to injury, I don't have much time left before I need to rest. Taking human form drains a lot of energy." She said, her mood was getting worse by the second.

"Then revert to your wisp form. I don't want you to disappear in the middle of dinner. We've waited for too long for the moment when we could share a meal together." Lith said with a sigh.

They spent the time before supper studying the unknown blade. The metal it was made of was nothing special, the mana crystals it was fused with were just cyan, and its pseudo core was rather simple.

If not for the runes, Lith wouldn't have given it a second look.

"I don't get what purpose can engraving runes have. There's nothing special in this blade. Its mana pathways, its mana circulatory system, and even its pseudo core is insignificant."

"Maybe they have a special effect. We should try it out." Solus was out of options. She couldn't find any reason to waste time engraving runes as well.

Lith reluctantly imprinted the blade with his mana. He would have preferred not doing it, because the weapon would have no market value until the moment he died. Solus created a test room, using earth magic to shape several dummies of different durability.

The sword made short work of those as hard as wood, but was unable to put a dent on rocks. Lith channeled his mana through the pseudo core and activated its effect. The pseudo core suddenly grew in size and power, yet the mana pathways remained stable.

The excess energy was drawn to the runes and spread across the entire weapon. A split second later, several air blades cut down all the remaining dummies, even the ones made of stone, before hitting the tower walls.

"Damn, that was unexpected. Are you alright, Solus?"

"Yeah, don't worry. That thing is too weak to hurt me. Do you think what I think?"

"Yes. The runes somehow compress and stabilize the pseudo core, allowing even common iron to withstand such a powerful magical energy. Also, despite the cyan mana crystals, the spell had the same firepower that normally would require blue gemstones." Lith had determined the strength of the spell with Life Vision.

"The problem is that we have no idea how to carve them, nor if their number, kind, or position holds a special significance." Solus said.

"Nor we know when they have to be applied. Before or after the Bonding spell? Before or after the Forgemastering process?��� He asked.

Lith opened the booklet, but he couldn't decipher a single word.

"We need a library, an archaeologist, or both."

"I doubt there are many dead language experts. Most of them are likely to work for the Crown." Solus said.

"Sharing our discovery will be the last resort. If this kind of knowledge spreads, Awakened ones will be able to convert it into true magic, just like us. I don't want to lose our edge on the competition." Lith put away both the sword and the booklet, searching his memory for someone trustworthy they could ask for help.

"Maybe and maybe not. Remember that Awakened ones have a long life. This knowledge might be lost to fake mages, but it could be common among the Council or whatever it's called.

"The Crown might actually be aware of it as well. Do you remember the insanely powerful weapons Thrud had? Or Vorgh's staff? They are impossible to make, even at our current level, at least without the runes." Solus pointed out.

"Are you saying that I'm the only idiot who doesn't know about it?"

"No, more like you are part of the 99% population who doesn't have access to it. Also, the book is damn old. Magic makes progress over time, so the method described might be good for you who are starting from scratch but it's likely to be old news.

"Unless we evolve it into something unique by combining it with your talent for Forgemastering and my abilities as a tower, of course." Solus was intrigued by the idea.

Mana geysers gave them an edge that no other mage, even Awakened ones, had.

Lith took it less gracefully. Having spent hours exploring Huryole, risking his life, and almost facing a dragon for almost nothing made him want to scream.

Almost.

"Fine! It's dinner time. Let's eat something and then I'd like for us to do something I always dreamed about ever since I've seen your light body form." Lith said.

Solus needed sheer willpower to not blush. Lith's dirty mind plus seeing him with his girlfriends too many times had rubbed off on her over the years.

When they moved to the dining room, Solus discovered that Lith had stored a small banquet inside his pocket dimension.

He had no idea what Solus liked or disliked, so he had bought a lot of stuff from his favorite restaurants. Most of them were meat dishes, but there were also vegetable soups and grilled fish.

Solus ate to her heart content, brimming with joy. Usually she could only consume food already stored in the tower, but aside from pastries and meat, Lith didn't carry much along with himself, at least not already cooked.

Solus had no idea how to prepare a meal and neither did Tista, so her eating habits until that point had been pretty repetitive. Solus lived it more like a date rather than as a birthday, having all of Lith's attention for herself.

He asked her all about her new body. How it worked, how much she could feel, and experience.

"It doesn't feel like skin, but it's soft, warm, and pleasant to the touch." He said while touching her naked arm while using Invigoration on her. Lith wanted to check if there was any way to speed up her recovery process.

"No. I mean, yes. I mean, thank you." The situation was getting more awkward by the second. Solus was swallowing non stop out of stress.