2185 Life Flames (Part 1)

'Probably it's better if I don't tell them that Scarlett liberated the Eyes from the hands of a mad Griffon-Lich.

'If the artifact also contains his research, I think Vladion and Lith will have a stroke out of sheer greed.' The Wight worried about her bad habit of talking too much for almost one full second.

Then, she realized that the legacy of a fellow Lich would greatly help her research and her mind moved on to more important matters than other people's feelings.

'Don't worry, Lith, we have lost nothing.' Solus kept her own disappointment at bay to soothe his spirit. 'Kalla is our friend and I'm sure that since she knows that I'm Menadion's heir, she'll share with us anything about Mom she might discover.'

Solus had full trust in the Wight and also wanted to keep Lith calm to prevent the Chaos of his Abomination form to twist his mind.

'You are right. Thanks, Solus.' Lith's face relaxed, going back to being a black slate.

Vladion, instead, would take a few hours to finish digesting his own liver.

'Guys, not to ruin your inner monologues, but something weird is happening.' Kalla using the word "weird" was a big tell.

Inside the room where Protheus had reformed his humanoid body, he seemed to be arguing with the mages.

'Dammit, if only we could hear what they are saying.' Lith looked in wonder as the Doppelganger conjured bloodline abilities of all elements before attempting to fuse them with disastrous consequences. 'Can't any of you read lips?'

'Why should someone write on their lips?' The others replied, making Lith facepalm.

On Mogar, mute people would simply learn how to speak with air chore magic or get cured with Body Sculpting, if they could afford it.

"Stop it, Protheus. This is too risky. Instead of recklessly training your new powers, it would be better if you produced an offspring. We need to check if the abilities you gained from the ambrosia can be inherited." In'ya, one of the researchers said.

"To what point?" The First Doppelganger shook his head. "It would take them days to mature and months before their cores become strong enough to fight. Even at that point, their usefulness would be nigh zero.

"If I learn how to mix the Guardians' bloodline abilities and life forces, instead, I would become a one-man army. On top of that, once I spawn more of my kind, I would be able to teach them instead of just making them suffer like I am now."

"Fine." In'ya said with a sigh. "Then I suggest you turning into a Bahamut. The Crown Prince is already a perfect mix of two bloodlines so by mastering his bloodline abilities, you should also practice your fusions.

"Also, whatever we discover now we can teach him once he comes of age."

"Excellent idea." Protheus shapeshifted into his Bahamut form by replicating the tissue of Valeron the Second stored inside his body.

At the same time, the researchers cast their best Body Sculpting diagnostic spells and their breathing techniques to identify the mana organs.

Lith and the others saw the deep Green of the Origin Flames from Protheus' wings mixing with the silver lightning of Life Maelstrom. The flames turned into a golden color and their intensity grew so much that the mages had to step back even.

'The guy isn't even trying to attack, yet I can feel the intensity of that thing from here.' Lith thought, wishing he could hear the discussion.

The researchers had just Warped a block of Adamant inside the room when Vladion pulled Lith's arm.

'Time to move. The patrol was actually mages stretching their legs, but more of them are taking a break and are coming this way.' Lith whined in reply and followed the Firstborn.

He had recognized the Bahamut form from his previous encounter with Protheus and after Solus had seen the pictures of Valeron the Second on Thrud's interlink, Lith now knew there was a second perfect hybrid afoot.

'I wish I could have kept watching. My bloodline abilities are mixed and I'm part Dragon as well. I could have learned a lot from their experiments.'

They passed a few labs where Thrud's mages were researching Forgemastery and Alchemical techniques, but those were of no importance to Lith's group so they moved over.

'This is bad.' Kalla said. 'Thrud has a fighting army and another made of researchers. To make matters worse, I've seen more resources during our stay than in Scarlett's vault. Between human experimentation and immortality, there's no limit to what the Mad Queen can achieve.'

The others nodded, their determination to accomplish the mission was reinforced with every room they passed. They avoided even looking at the contents of the various labs to make haste and avoid wasting more time.

At least until they found the room that the imprisoned Wendigo had mentioned to them earlier. Lith stopped at the sight of the thick padded door, his eyes lost their elemental energy as Decay replaced it.

Vladion would have dragged him away if not for the people coming out of the room and standing in front of the corridor leading to the next flight of stairs to the seventh floor.

"Please, let me out!" Orpal's voice was shaken by tears and desperation. "Whatever Thrud is paying you, I'll triple it. I'll make you my Chosen and teach you Blade Magic."

"Yeah, right." A woman said with a sneer. "We know how that ended for all those stupid enough to follow you. Stop whining and enjoy what time you have left, loser. Once we crack the secret of your tower, the True Queen will kill you."

At those words, Orpal started to cry harder.

"By the way, congratulations. Your brother has recently become the first Supreme Magus of the Garlen Continent. I heard that the True Queen wants to recruit him." The male researcher said, sending Orpal into hysterics.

The two mages laughed their asses off in his face before slamming the door. The soundproofing made the screams end and the corridor turned silent again.

"Dude, that was cruel." The woman was still laughing.

"If you think that was cruel, wait until I tell him about Verhen's child." The man replied. "I bet next month's pay that when Meln hears about the Guardians defending mother and child, he'll crap himself."

"I'm not taking losing bets." She laughed even harder at the idea. "Why not tell him right now? You know, striking the iron while it's still hot?"

"Nah, another big blow so soon would have a small impact." The man shrugged. "Give it time, let him concoct some ridiculous revenge plan, and then, boom. Another bad news and reveal that his plan was a waste of time from the beginning.

"That's guaranteed to screw him up." The researchers were walking past the corridor behind the corner where Lith and the others were hiding.

"That bastard's sole quality is his resilience." The woman said, her voice full of spite. "No matter how much we cut him up, he always heals. On top of that, making his mind crumble is the only way we have to weaken Night and steal her secrets."