Thrud didn’t miss his latest deception but she pretended to, breaking the stalemate.
"I like a power-hungry imbecile like you even less than you like me, but even imbeciles have their purpose. You have something I want, the secret of Awakening, and I have something you want, the secret to becoming a Dragon.
"Would you be interested in the trade?" She said with a charming smile.
"Tell me another." Xedros laughed heartily at those words like he hadn’t done in centuries. "I traveled to a Fringe on my own just to be rejected by Mogar. I’ve spoken with countless Dragons and none of them had a shred of wisdom to offer.
"Your whelp is still wet behind the ears and you’re not even an Emperor Beast. How could either of you know anything about the secret of evolution?"
"You’re right. I’m no Emperor Beast, yet Tyris’s blood runs through my veins." Thrud said, never stopping to smile. "Among the many horrible rumors you heard about me, did any of them mention how with each cycle, Arthan’s Madness makes my Griffon blood thicker?"
A spark of Life Maelstrom enveloped her body, overcharging the Sword of Arthan and allowing it to forcefully switch the ownership of the lair from Xedros to Thrud.
Yet instead of being scared, Xedros felt happier than ever as the solution to all of his problems had just been offered to him on a silver platter.
"Just tell me what you want to know." He said.
***
Distar Region, Faluel’s lair.
The apprenticeship resumed as soon as the men from the Ernas household completed the Warp Gate inside the barn of Lith’s house, which took barely a couple of days. Like all the Gates belonging to a magical household, it could only be used by those with a special pass.
"I’m the one paying for it, after all, and this is the only way I can cover more contingency situations than most can even conceive. Besides, we won’t barge into your house without a very good reason and you know it." Jirni said, ending the argument before it even started.
Lith didn’t like much the idea of not having full control over his turf, but the advantages of having a personal Warp Gate far exceed the inconvenience of anyone possessing a Royal Override to access the barn.
Now Kamila could come and go freely from Belius and bring Zinya wherever she wanted. His family, instead, could evacuate the house at a moment’s notice or just use it to visit the Kingdom at will.
On top of that, dimensional sealing arrays didn’t work on Warp Gates, allowing reinforcements to come instantly no matter the situation.
"Glad to have you back, guys. We’ve got a lot to talk about." Faluel said while Warping them straight to her lair.
In her human form, the Hydra looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, about 1.7 meters (5’7") tall. Her face had an oval shape, with rainbow-colored eyes and long hair of seven different colors that framed her fine features.
The simple grace of her slender body seemed to be perfectly attuned with her demeanor, making the final result much more stunning than the sum of the single parts.
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