"He doesn’t want a long life, uh? Maybe he’s planning on settling down with a certain baker girl." Selia chuckled.

"Brina would be a lucky woman." Rena nodded, biting a lobstertail. "Having a Healer in the family is the best thing that can happen to you."

"And the fact that he is so handsome is the icing on the cake." Faluel said, taking the words out of everyone’s mind.

"Having a warrior in the family is much better." Raaz grunted in envy. "Salman already has two green cores and is skilled in Light Mastery. Once he Awakens, he’ll probably reach the cyan and will be able to protect the Cornerstones and Lutia if needed."

"If you are busy, we can teach Spirit Magic to Salman, Uncle Nalrond." Aran said, missing the hidden meaning of his father’s words. "It’s no big deal."

"Thanks, but I’ll do it myself." The Agni replied. "Teaching is the best learning experience, and even though I can’t share much of what Dawn taught me with Salman, I can at least warn him about the intentional flaws in our Rezar legacy.

"A few hints here and there will point him in the right direction, and if Salman practices hard enough, he’ll find all the answers he needs on his own."

Despite Nalrond’s attempts to change the topic, Raaz’s words struck more than one nerve. Salman had gone through a lot of hardships, yet from Elina to Senton, all they could think about was his extensive magical training and already powerful cores.

With Solus’ and Lith’s help, Awakening would take any of them but a few minutes. Developing the skills the Verhens needed to defend themselves, however, would take years, and time was an enemy no one could defeat.

"What’s with this gloomy attitude?" Salaark frowned. "If you are that unhappy with your life here, move to the Blood Desert. You’ll be safe under my roof, and Lutia will only be one Gate away."

"Thanks for the offer, Mother, but that’s not a solution." Raaz sounded grateful despite the edge in his voice. "Lutia is our home. Moving to the Desert would be no different from running away from our problems.

"I want to face them like a man, not cower and hide like a coward."

"Then study and practice hard, rest as little as you can, and don’t complain, Featherling." The Overlord replied. "To gain something valuable, you need to sacrifice something in return. There are no exceptions to the rule, not even for me."

"I know." He sighed. "Gods, I sound like a petulant child."

"No, you are just human." Salaark patted his hand. "The only advice I can give you, Featherling, is to make the choice you won’t regret. Regrets are a burden that only gets heavier with time, and you can never throw them off your back. Believe me, I know that best."

"Thanks, Mother."

Although simple, Salaark’s advice gave everyone something positive to think about and lightened the mood for the rest of the meal.

***

Lith, Solus, Menadion, and Faluel returned to the tower as soon as lunch was over.

"This is the longest and most annoying part." Lith sighed. "We have to find the best way to turn the spells of your choice into enchantments and then compare the final result with your true magic and body casting."

"Can I at least keep the bag off my head this time?" Faluel asked. "I know what enchantments you are going to use. You have no reason to keep them secret from me."

"The single pseudo cores, sure. Once we start working on the power core, however, the bag is on, Professor Faluel."

Lith and Solus worked on the multiple enchantments independently, without comparing notes until they were done with their respective experiments. The method allowed Lith and Solus to express their full creativity in converting the spells and ingenuity to solve the problems that arose with each attempt.

"I’m glad you’ve learned well from me, but this is just boring." Faluel had to sit down and wait until one of them requested her to perform a spell or a specific sequence of runes.

"Do you want a Blade Weapon or a regular weapon?" Lith asked.

"I’ll shut up, then." Faluel sighed.

Working on her dimensional abilities was off the table as well. Every interruption messed with her creative flow, and by the time they were done with the tests, Faluel’s inspiration was gone.

"The single enchantments are done. It’s time for the last step." Solus offered the sack to the Hydra, and she donned it in resignation.

’This is harder than I thought.’ Lith assembled and dismantled the pseudo cores nonstop, switching a few runes here and trying different contact points there.

’I expected this much.’ Solus replied while experimenting with a different arrangement of the pseudo cores. ’The Staff was easy only because it was our own creation. We built on a solid foundation, whereas here we have to start from scratch.

’Also, we could replicate my mana flow in our sleep. We know its every beat, it was only a matter of replicating it to the best of our current skills. Faluel’s mana flow is... foreign to say the least. It doesn’t resemble either of ours.’

Lith inwardly nodded, noticing that the best compatibility between the pseudo cores wasn’t always associated with the most powerful power core. Sometimes, the two aspects seemed to flow together, and sometimes they clashed like opposing currents, each trying to swallow the other.

’It’s complicated, but I’m getting the hang of Blade Weapons crafting.’ Lith thought. ’Putting together the best pseudo cores isn’t enough to craft the best power core possible.

’You have to harmonize the different pseudo cores, so that one core’s areas where the flow is at its strongest overlap and cover the areas of another core where their flow is at its weakest.

’If you choose the right pseudo cores and arrange them correctly, the resulting power core not only has seamless mana flow, but there is also no weak point left. In a way, it’s no different from-’

It was then that Lith understood it.

"Fuck me sideways!" He blurted out as he slapped his forehead.

"I’d rather not." Faluel was so bored that she laughed at her own joke.

"No, I mean I know what went wrong during the reforging of the Sage Staff." Lith shook his head. "I know what we missed!"

A partial mind fusion shared everything Lith had just understood with Solus, allowing his brain to keep working while she rode along.

"This is great!" She said as she started to work on the problem from a different angle. "If you are right, we’ll have to reforge both Ragnarök and the Staff!"

"Please, no kill me, Mom." The Sage Staff whined from Solus’ neck. "Me good. Me do better. Please."

"What?" Solus felt the Staff’s fear of death through her bond with the artifact and rushed to reassure it. "No one is going to hurt you, little one. You have my word. It’s just like when I change outfits during the day."

"Cursing at mirror?" The Sage Staff asked in confusion.

"Not that part!" Solus turned red, and so did the lights in the tower. "I mean that we’ll only change your dress. You will always be the same."