Supreme Magus

Chapter 4076: Backtrack a Bit (Part 1)

"You’re right. Sorry." The moment she stopped feeling the newborns’ skin against her own, weakness took hold of Quylla again.

Faluel needed to use Invigoration on her just to keep Quylla awake.

"Come to daddy, my beautiful twins!" Morok said with open arms.

Orikan and Jirya exchanged a glance before staring at the anomaly in suspicion. Morok was the only man in a room full of women, making him stand out amid the small crowd like a sore thumb.

"What’s with those faces? I’m your father! Search your hearts, all four of them, you know it to be true!"

From behind the door, Lith had to snort to suppress a laughter.

The twins recognized that voice. They had heard it countless times when their mother talked, argued, laughed, argued, cried, and argued. They knew Morok’s voice well, having heard it for months, but they couldn’t put a face to it until that moment.

Orikan and Jirya giggled and cooed as they were brought closer, welcoming their father with the cutest smiles.

"You guys are the most magical thing I’ve ever made." The Tyrant’s voice became hoarse, and his eyes misted from emotion. "And unlike back when I attended that boring academy, I had fun in the process."

"Morok." Quylla grumbled, too weak to yell.

"I’m just being honest." He replied. "I’d be damned if the first thing I tell our twins is a bunch of lies. Now, you took a lot from your mom, but since she’s too tired to do it, I’ll be the one to check how much you’ve taken from me."

Morok used his breathing technique to study the life force of the twins. They were hybrids, so they had two. The human life force looked exactly like he expected. A giant red baby made of lego bricks and erector set connected by a red thread.

The Tyrant one, however, left him stunned. It still looked like a giant baby, but it was emerald colored. There was almost no trace of listels, and the few he could spot moved along the emerald threads together with the bricks, resembling caterpillar tracks in slow motion.

Six small spheres, each of a different elemental color, rested in the middle of the babies’ heads. They formed a tight circle, forming a seventh, perfect emerald sphere at the point where they all overlapped.

Two small whirlpools on their backs drew the world energy and fed it to the spheres in the head.

"That’s... wow."

"What is it? Is anything wrong?" Fear allowed Quylla to sit up, her eyes burning feverish.

"It’s easier if I show you." He shared what he had just seen with everyone via a mind link. "Now, there’s no reason to be worried. Let’s see if there’s any change once they shapeshift into their Tyrant form."

Morok changed his appearance, growing taller and bulkier, with a wide maw on his face and four extra eyes across his exposed skin.

The twins froze in confusion for a second before resuming their baby noises.

"What is this? Insubordination? Where’s our special father-children connection?" Morok touched the twins’ skin, but nothing happened. "Come on, guys! When Lith touched Elysia, she shapeshifted along with him.

"We can’t start our relationship like this. You’re not even Awakened."

"This is not a competition!" Quylla snarled. "They are babies. Let them be."

"Fine." Morok grumbled. "I forgive you only because you are the greatest babies ever. You can let the extras in."

"I’m not an extra! I’m the grandfather!" Orion barged in first, his long legs and powerful core gave him a significant edge against the competition, AKA his wife.

He reached Morok first, then stopped and waited for Jirni.

"Thanks." She said, regretting her short stature not for the first time in her life. "I appreciate that you didn’t take them both and then handed one to me."

"Nonsense." Orion shook his head. "I would never do that to you. I was just too eager to see our grandchildren. Who do you want to hold first, dear?"

"Orikan." She replied. "With such a handsome name, he’ll surely grow into a fine man."

"Then I’ll take this beautiful young lady." Orion nodded. "Come to grandpa, Jirya."

Once again, the babies’ expression turned confused, giving the newcomers an inquisitive look.

"They seem smart." Jirni crooned. "I hope not too much."

"Yeah, sure." Morok cut her short the moment Jirya and Orikan resumed cooing. "Let me be clear, you’re not allowed to exchange babies. Once you’ve done, Ryla and Garrik are next. She’s my aunt, he’s their uncle, and you already got your turn."

"Thanks." The Fomor sniffled, overwhelmed by the joy of being part of such a moment.

"I’m an uncle!" Garrik raised his arms in triumph. "I’ll be much better than Aran. It shouldn’t be that hard."

"You bet." Leria snorted. "You set the bar pretty low."

"Hey!" Aran grunted. "Not today. Let’s behave for Auntie Quylla."

Orion and Jirni had many objections to raise, but those words wiped them all away. One look at their daughter’s tired expression was all they needed to put their pride aside.

’We are Quylla’s family, and they are Morok’s family.’ Orion and Jirni thought. ’It’s only fair. No, it doesn’t even tip the scales since the babies are named after us.’

Garrik and Ryla took respectively Orikan and Jirya, holding them as if they were the most precious treasures on Mogar. Soon everyone got their turn, cooing and fussing over the babies like they had never seen a newborn their whole life.

After a while however, the twins started to cry.

"Are they in pain?" Morok asked. "Is this due to some imperfection that keeps them from shapeshifting?"

Not once had the babies taken their Tyrant appearance, making everyone wonder if they even had one.

"Sort of." Scarlett replied while bringing the twins back to Quylla. "They are hungry, but I doubt this has anything to do with their Tyrant form."

"Okay, everyone but the women, get out." Quylla said.

"What about me?" Morok asked. "I know all four twins."

"You can stay, sil- Ouch!" Luckily for her, all the men had turned around and walked towards the exit the moment feeding was mentioned.

The twins had just shapeshifted into small Tyrants, ripping Quylla’s nightgown to shreds with needle-like fangs and claws. Instinct drove them home without need for help or support.

"Bossy much? I needed just one second." Quylla held the babies anyway as they ate to their hearts’ content.

"You saved your powers for what really matters. Just like me." Morok nodded with pride.

’I’d ask him if he means food or my breasts, but I’m afraid of his answer. Especially in front of my parents.’ Quylla sighed. ’Since we are at it, I’ll take a look at the babies myself.’

She used her breathing technique, Guiding Light, to study the babies’ life force. The human one was just as Morok had found it. The Tyrant’s life force, instead, had been compressed into a flaming green eye.

The life force of the twins was now so dense that the seven small spheres were invisible, unless one knew where and how deep to look.

"Guys!" Quylla shared her discovery as well, leaving everyone flabbergasted.

"This is weird, but Tyrants are evolved humans, after all." Morok pondered. "Maybe, the kids’ life force can change its appearance to human without the need for Body Sculpting, just like Lith’s."