Chapter 4586: Perfect Blueprint (Part 2)

"Please, don’t thank me. It’s just common sense." The Dryad replied. "As for what you did, if every plant folk who went out of their way chasing power had to die, we’d be extinct."

"I know, but Meln..."

"I agree that was too much, even for a plant folk, but I’m not here to judge you, Althika." Ryssa said. "I’m here to offer you my friendship and hospitality."

"Really?" The Titania took a step back and looked around, expecting some sort of trap to spring on her.

"I know that trustfulness isn’t common among our kind, but I’m being honest." The Dryad said. "I won’t deny I have a low opinion of you for what you did with Narchat, but I also have a good opinion of you for the many sacrifices you’ve made for your son’s sake.

"Giving up on your Divine Beast form and cherishing your baby boy after Lith reverted him into a helpless human is no small feat for someone like us.

"You turned your back on the power of the gods and your entire clan just to keep Erkin safe. You deserve more than the benefit of the doubt for that. You deserve my respect.

"And since we are both Dryads surrounded by hatholes who want to harm our children... what was that?"

"Language!" Salaark’s voice echoed in the room. It was a soft hiss, but carried the full brunt of her annoyance.

"Please, Grandma, tell me this is about Erkin." Kamila sweated bullets. "I can’t be pregnant again."

"Yes, it’s about Erkin." The Overlord replied, her voice filled with disappointment and regret. "But-"

"No! End of the story." Kamila snarled. "Please, Ryssa, continue."

"Long story short, you can use company and a change of scenery from time to time, and so can I." The Dryad said. "Most humans either can’t relate or don’t care about my struggles. They see me like a talking potted plant, and that’s infuriating.

"I can come to the Desert, and you can come to the White Griffon. You will be safe there. You have my word."

"It would be lovely. Thank you." Althika held the hand Ryssa offered her. "Would you like a fruit? I have to warn you. They are very sweet."

"Not a problem. I have a sweet tooth and-" Ryssa picked something that looked like a peach and took a bite, almost choking on it in surprise. "Gods, this is delicious!"

"Slow down!" Althika raised her hand as the Dryad wolfed down the fruit and went for another. "They taste too good. If you eat too many, every single other piece of fruit on Mogar will taste unripe to you. I speak from experience."

"Can I take one to go? For Dhiral?" Ryssa asked.

"Depends. If your son is so smart, do you trust him not to grow an entire orchard of them?"

"No. I don’t." The Dryad replied, putting the peach down as if it were a live grenade.

***

Verhen Mansion, at the same time.

"Gods, I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Magus Silverwing." Quylla said.

"Please, just call me Lochra." The First Magus said as Quylla studied her Balor life force, then Urhen’s, and then compared notes with Ajatar to decide where to point his Dragon Eyes next. "All these honorifics feel underserved and are exhausting."

"Still, you deserve our gratitude, Lochra." Quylla replied. "Studying the perfect life force of a Balor and a Fomor whenever I want is going to shave at least two years off the time I estimated my research would take.

"If only Lady Yaga allowed me to study her life forces as well, I could give hope to lots of Zelex’s people." She turned to look at the Mother with her best puppy eyes impression.

"Keep using honorifics with me, child. It’ll remind you of our relationship." Baba Yaga stood up and Warped into Bloodhaven before Quylla could plead the trolls’ case for the umpteenth time.

"There’s something I don’t understand, Quylla." Ryla asked. "If Lady Silverwing-"

"Lochra." Silverwing snorted.

"If Lady Silverwing’s Balor and Fomor life forces are perfect, then why aren’t we already cured?" Ryla didn’t dare disrespect the First Magus. It wasn’t just because of the help Silverwing was giving her people; it was also because of her Valkyrie form.

If Lith’s Indech felt like an emperor to the evolved humans, Silverwing’s apex form felt like a demi-god.

"All you have to do is reshape our life force according to hers, right?" The Fomor asked.

"Wrong." Quylla replied. "Fomors like you are artificial, Ryla. You followed a completely different evolutionary path from Silverwing’s. Never forget that the moment you step outside the mana geyser, you don’t turn into a Fallen Fomor, but a Balor.

"Your life force is still riddled with rank one fragments that need to be unraveled and evolved properly before I can cure you or Garrik."

"What about Urhen, then?" Ryla asked, and the Balor enthusiastically nodded. "Balors are the natural evolution of humans. What stops you from reshaping her life force following Lady Silverwing’s blueprint?"

"It’s not that easy, kid." Silverwing raised her hand to ask the evolved humans for silence. "Have you ever heard the term ’fallen core’?"

Urhen and Ryla nodded for the First Magus to continue.

"A life force is the vessel that contains a mana core, and its shape determines the form the mana core takes and how it interacts with the different elements in the world energy. Sure, Balors are the natural evolution of humans, but that was many millennia ago.

"If your race had Fallen just a few years ago, Urhen, Quylla could fix you up in a minute, but that’s no longer the case. Over time, the changes in the Balors’ life force and mana core have become permanent.

"Your Fallen state is your normal state, and any alteration to your life force and core is bound to meet resistance and potentially trigger side effects. Quylla is devising a process to gradually revert your Fallen life force and keep your mana core stable until it settles down into its new form.

"If she moves too fast, you might die. If she unwittingly alters a keystone of your life force, your mana core will collapse..."

"And I’ll die." Urhen swallowed hard at the idea.

"I’m sorry, but Lochra is right." Quylla said. "The balance between life force and mana core is delicate, and the slightest mistake might worsen your condition. The bad news is that devising the right procedure will still take time.

"The good news is that once I’m done, I should be able to assist humans evolving into Balors, and Balors into Fomors."

"Unless the latter requires Awakening." Silverwing pointed out. "Magical beasts can’t become Emperor Beasts without Awakening, just like plant folk don’t become Fae just by bathing in sunlight. I don’t see why humans should be any different."

"Isn’t that cruel towards the common people?" Ryla said. "I mean, I know that the secret of Awakening has been well-kept since the dawn of time for a reason, but..."

"But what?" Quylla shrugged. "If Lochra is right, any Awakened human can just wait to reach the blue core before evolving, so that they can become Fomors in one go. As for the non-Awakened, most of them are stuck with the core they had at birth."