Chapter 1627 - In The Flesh (Part 1)

After one failure too many, Lith had decided to take a short break from his experiments and focus on further refining his mana core.

'I would have never thought that Forgemastering would be so exhausting.' Lith sat cross-legged on the carpet that covered the floor of his room while the world energy flowed through his seven eyes with each breath he took.

'Menadion's mana enhancing technique that Salaark taught us greatly increases our mana capacity, but at the same time, it puts a huge strain on our bodies. Or at least on mine since Solus's is a mass of energy.

'To make matters worse, after days of working myself to the bone, the cracks in my life force have started to hurt again. It's no wonder that Menadion died if she rushed to face her enemy right after fusing Solus with the tower.

'This kind of procedure pushes both the mana core and the body of the Forgemaster to their utmost limits, to the point that they can get permanently damaged if one is not careful.

'I need to strengthen my core and give my life force the time to recover before resuming my Crystalsmithing practice. Luckily, Demon Grasp allows me to take care of both issues at the same time.'

Demon Grasp was the first breathing skill that Lith had developed for Abyssal Gaze. It allowed him to split the world energy into its elemental components and to use his seven eyes instead of his body to absorb it.

The emerald eye would absorb Mogar's energy signature and replace it with Lith's so that the pure elemental energies would turn into his own mana the moment they seeped through his life force.

This way, the mana core would offer no resistance to the new energy and assimilate it more quickly than with a regular breathing technique. Much to his surprise, after trying out Demon Grasp for the first time, Lith had also discovered that nothing would go to waste.

The seventh component of the world energy, Mogar's essence, nurtured his body, making it grow stronger, bigger, and denser. It also reduced the resistance that his flesh and blood offered to powerful mana flows, allowing him to exert a greater power before suffering from mana abuse.

'I always wondered why feeding off someone else's mana causes mana poisoning whereas Awakened can use Accumulation without such a problem.' Lith thought. 'It's because Mogar's essence never reaches the mana core but it's absorbed by our bodies, refining them over time.'

Lith had devised such technique back when he worked as a Ranger, but at the time he lacked Domination and his attempts had failed.

Now, however, after opening his seventh eye and having learned from the papers that he had found in Urgamakka how to alter his breathing technique, he had finally succeeded.

Lith's technique was similar to Morok's ability to absorb elemental energy through his eyes, but it had no offensive potential and required to have seven eyes at all times, making him the only person capable of using Abyssal Gaze that way.

Solus had tried and failed to develop a similar technique with Domination, but she lacked the emerald streak. On top of that, after studying Lith with the Eyes of Menadion she had discovered Lith's eyes were some kind of mana organ whereas her hair was just hair.

Not possessing such bloodline ability not only was she unable to absorb the split world energy, but it would also return to its original state the moment she stopped using Domination, making Demon Grasp just a waste of time and energy.

Lith used his breathing technique until his grumbling stomach reminded him of the passing of time.

'Dammit, is it already this late?' Lith looked at his pocket watch and realized that his family was waiting for him to have breakfast. 'If I don't eat properly, undergoing any more body alteration will make me weaker rather than stronger.

'Even worse, Mom would nag at me until my ears bleed. Solus, we need to-'

Only then did he realize that there was something off with the tower. Before starting his morning training, Lith had clearly perceived Solus's peaceful sleep in a corner of his mind.

Yet now that space was empty. He had failed to notice it earlier because Demon Grasp required Lith's full focus. Conjuring a steady flow of world energy that his eyes would unravel a split second before absorbing it was no easy feat for a beginner.

While a regular Accumulation technique absorbed the world energy solely when the Awakened inhaled, Demon Grasp also worked while Lith exhaled, refining both his body and core non-stop.

The downside of this technique was that keeping his breathing rhythm steady while also coordinating his seven eyes to avoid an elemental imbalance required so much concentration that Lith wouldn't notice anything less subtle than an earthquake.

'Solus?' He asked again, scared by the prolonged silence.

Lith conjured the Eyes and the Hands of Menadion, but they were now just enchanted pieces of rock. He Blinked to all the floors of the tower, finding that they worked properly but no trace of Solus.

Even the mystical globes that illuminated the rooms had become white and steady.

'This doesn't make sense.' Lith thought while his surprise slowly turned into fear and then into panic. 'I can't feel Solus in my head anymore nor find any trace of her in the tower.

'I've spent enough time here to understand how she feels just by watching at the lights. Usually, their color and intensity vary according to her mood, even when Solus sleeps. Now, instead, everything feels like a cold heartless machine.'

"Solus, answer me, dammit!" Lith yelled at the top of his lungs while running up and down the stairs to find any evidence that could explain her disappearance.

'What if she's dead?' The thought made no sense but his mind refused to work properly.

Lith took his communication amulet out of his pocket dimension and only when he saw that Solus's rune was still there did he sigh in relief. Sadly, it was also unavailable since her amulet was in the dimensional space.

'I have no idea what's going on, but at least she's alright. Before scaring everyone to death and asking Grandma for help, I'd better check if Solus left me a note or something.' Lith bolted to the dining room's table without realizing how absurd the idea was.

After finding it empty like the rest of the tower, he went to Solus's room where he found the shocking answer to all of his questions.

Her bed was unmade with the sheets tossed aside along with several pieces of clothing. The room was messy as if a violent struggle had taken place there.

Yet on the mattress in front of him lay a petite, pretty woman in her early twenties, about 1.54 meters (5'1") tall. She wore a knee-length sleeveless nightgown that left exposed her slender legs.

Her long hair covered her body almost down to her heels and was streaked silver, orange, black, red, blue, and yellow all over, giving the impression that she used a rainbow for a blanket.

Amid the colored streaks, there were locks of a brown so light that her hair shone like polished gold the moment Lith turned the lights on.