Supreme Magus

Chapter 4432: Unique Combination (Part 2)

"I too think Lith is right." Quylla replied. "Babies must have a high affinity for magic, or Ely, Ral, and Val couldn’t make so much progress so fast. Yet why did Manohar only warn us about Ral and Ely using the Rune Stores?

"What’s the difference between them and the other children of our home?"

"The unique combination of their mana and talent." Lith pinched his nose in frustration. "With their little mana and short attention span, a normal child using the Water Store would have just a better feeling for the water element and maybe soak the toy enough to make it float.

"As their core develops, the Water Store would conjure more water and work as a teaching tool that becomes more effective over time. By then the child is supposed to have enough mana for a prolonged play session and be smart enough to control their powers.

"To an Awakened child with a blue streak and the elemental affinity of an evolved human, however, the Water Store is not only a focus for their elemental powers, but also a weapon.

"The resonance between the runes woven in the toy and Elysia’s mana allows her to control the water element with only a fraction of the focus that she’d need without the Water Store. In a little over ten minutes, she mustered enough mana to hurt someone."

"What about the other Rune Stores?" Quylla said. "Do you think Ely would be able to combine their effects and obtain multi-elemental spells if she used them together?"

"Good gods!" Kamila became as pale as a ghost. "That’s not something I want to find out. Elina, I think that the Rune Stores will do wonders for Surin, but they are too dangerous for my children.

"I don’t want to think about what might happen if Ely and Ral mistake the Rune Stores for toys and use them to squabble against each other. Please, make sure to always put them away before every play date."

"You have my word." Elina nodded. "I swear to the gods that if Surin reaches anywhere near that level of mastery, she won’t see the Rune Stores again until she’s old enough to receive Lith’s lesson."

"I’m going to ask Dhiral for a couple of sets of Rune Stores for my twins, but I promise I’ll be careful as well, Kami." Quylla said. "Orikan and Jirya are not Awakened, but they are also evolved humans.

"I’ll let them play with the Rune Stores only under strict supervision and take them away the moment the twins try some funny business."

"Which probably means after five minutes." Morok snorted. "Elysia is a sweet kid who only wants to have fun with her friends, whereas Orikan and Jyria are the embodiment of competitive spirit.

"I can already see them work like crazy to one-up each other and end up shooting elemental beams like rice at a wedding."

"If that happens, the Rune Stores will have served their purpose, and we’ll put them away forever." Quylla replied.

"Unless those two little imps don’t join their forces and find a way to make Rune Stores out of elemental energy." Morok conjured replicas of the toys with the help of his wings and eyes. "What then?"

"I’ve changed my mind." Quylla swallowed hard. "I’ll ask Manohar the Second if he thinks the twins can safely use the Rune Stores and trust his judgment. He was spot on about Elysia."

"This is the end of Mogar." Solus sighed. "Hearing the name ’Manohar’ and ’trust his judgment’ in the same phrase can only be an ill omen."

***

Lith and Jirni were still packing for their trip to Esha when Quylla returned from the White Griffon Academy.

"That was fast." Jirni checked the clock and counted less than five minutes. "How did it go?"

"Manohar, I mean, Dhiral happily agreed to make more Rune Stores, but when he heard they were for my twins, he jumped into Ryssa’s arms and started to cry." Quylla sighed. "I’ve never seen her get so angry before.

"Ryssa kicked me out of the room and into the Warp Gate that brought me back here in a single move." Quylla turned around, showing the footprint of the Dryad on the back of her dress before its self-repair properties made it disappear.

"Thank the gods." Jirni said. "I mean, look at the bright side, sweetheart. It means that your children possess such a talent for magic that even Dhiral acknowledges them."

"Or maybe that they possess such a talent for destruction and mayhem that even someone named after Manohar is terrified of them." Quylla plopped on the nearest chair. "What about you? Are you done with the preparations?"

"Almost." Jirni replied. "Picking our aliases is a critical aspect of this mission. We need someone real, with a spotless background, and that small-time nobles don’t have the clearance to reach at the moment even if they try.

"Otherwise, someone might notice the same people are in two different places at the same time and blow our cover. Moreover, if a high-status noble performs a background check on our aliases, we’ll be notified instantly.

"It will expose the presence of new potential investigation targets and prove that something bigger is going on in Distar. It’s just a precaution, but I’d rather not be caught unprepared if these bandits are just the tip of an iceberg we can’t see yet."

Once Jirni found Orion’s and her new face for the next few days, she studied their personnel files thoroughly. It was unlikely they would meet someone who knew their aliases in Distar, but Jirni never gambled in the line of duty.

She also watched the available footage of the woman she was going to impersonate, memorizing her speech pattern, mannerisms, and gait.

"I hope you don’t expect me to learn all that stuff." Orion said as he watched his wife turn into a perfect imitation of the original Assistant Constable Ytana Sokra. "I’m terrible with accents."

"Of course not." Jirni said while altering her vocal cords until her voice became identical to Sokra’s. "I’ve picked a Knight Guard as green as grass for you. He’s as stiff as a mannequin, stammers a lot in the presence of superior officers, and doesn’t say much except for ’yes, sir’ and ’no, sir’."

"Cadets." Orion chuckled as he studied the available videos of Asani Trairen. "I swear to the gods, they act all the same. We call this the Rookie Mold."

"Then it shouldn’t be hard for you to behave like that." Jirni nodded. "Just fix your voice and remember that you must be formal with Lith. He’s no longer your peer, but the man Asani Trairen dreams to be."

"I can do that." Orion recorded the original form of his life force in a Life Sculpture before altering the natural sound of his voice.

’What are you going to do, Solus? Do you want to stay at the Mansion to look after the others, or do you want to come with us?’ Lith asked via the mind link.

’If we find a few mana geysers, I can do a bit of both.’ She replied. ’Otherwise I’ll stay with you while you interrogate the nobles and look for anything out of the ordinary on them or in their houses.’