Supreme Magus

Chapter 4522: Make it Better (Part 2)

"No!" Tista blushed up to her ears. "Why does everyone always think of me when we talk about children?"

"Because you’re the only one without one, Auntie." Leria replied. "Mom?"

"No, it’s not me either." Rena cleared her throat in embarrassment. "We’ll continue this conversation later."

The following day, the Verhens went to the Blood Desert to visit Althika without the children. Raaz decided he would check on the baby next and overcome his irrational fear of Erkin.

"How are you doing today, Althika?" He asked, his lips twitching often as he gave her a tense smile that almost resembled a feverish grin.

"I’m still very tired, Mister Verhen." The Dryad needed Baba Yaga’s hand and heavy blankets to face her friendly opponents. "No matter how long I sleep, I feel exhausted, and my entire body aches as if someone has just finished beating me up."

"I’m sorry to hear." Raaz said, and much to his surprise, he was sincere. "How is our little Erkin?"

Using the name Lith had given the baby made him appear more human and less monstrous to Raaz’s imagination.

"His condition is much better than when he was a Vurdalak." Althika smiled only when talking about her son. "Erkin’s not tormented by his father’s madness anymore, and he’s happy all the time now. Yet he too feels weak and aches."

"That’s normal." The Crone said. "You two underwent a procedure of unprecedented magnitude. Your life forces need time to recover and heal from the scars left by Lith’s Dread Flames."

"She’s right child." Salaark nodded. "I’d gladly help you, but I have no idea how the Dread Flames work or how your life forces survived the destruction of the Upyr and Vurdalak side.

"All I can tell you is that you and Erkin are fine, and on the way to a speedy recovery. Any clumsy meddling is likely to make things worse rather than better."

"About that." Lith said, drawing attention to him. "Maybe I know someone who can help. I’ll be right back."

He Warped out of the room and returned a second later, holding Valeron the Second in his arms.

"Val, this lady is Althika, and she carries your cousin Erkin in her belly. Say hi to her." Lith said.

"Hi, Auntie Alt... Alkt...."

"Call me Allie, sweetie." The Dryad chuckled at how cute he looked as he tried to say her name.

"I’m sorry." Valeron blushed a bit. "I’m not good with difficult words."

"Nonsense, you’re doing great." Lith moved the baby boy closer to the Dryad, and she caressed his hair. "You’re very smart for a boy your age."

"Thanks, Auntie." Valeron smiled at the compliment.

"Val, your auntie and cousin are recovering from a bad illness. Is there anything you can do to help them?" Lith asked Althika’s permission to let the boy touch her, and she nodded.

"I don’t know, Dad, but I can try." Valeron held the Dryad’s hand and shuddered.

He felt her pain, the open wounds in her life force left by the destruction of Orpal’s fragment and her Upyr side, and the imbalance the Vurdalak blood had wrought upon her.

Erkin fared even worse. Lith had restored his original life forces, but they were all weak, burned, and scarred. The Dread Flames had cauterized the cuts to perfection, but that didn’t make them any less tender or sore.

He listened to the melody of their life forces, finding no discordant note. Val then used Life Score to read mother’s and son’s symphonies, finding that every note was right, just a bit out of place. They would move into their right position once the life forces healed, if they healed completely.

"You’re okay, Auntie." Valeron said. "You and Eky are okay."

"Thanks, sweetheart." Althika would have taken his words as just baby talk if not for how serious everyone else was. "I needed good news."

"I can make you better, though." Valeron looked at her with his big, silver eyes. "Can I?"

The question took the Dryad by surprise, and she looked at her hosts before answering.

"Val’s not lying." Leegaain said. "The choice is up to you."

"I have no idea what’s going on, but I can assure you’re safe under my roof." Salaark said. "No ill will befall you or Erkin here."

"Can you really make my son better?" Althika asked, and Valeron nodded. "Then, please help him out."

"Thanks, Auntie!" The baby boy lit up with joy and shapeshifted into his Bahamut form. "I promise this won’t hurt a bit."

"What won’t- Gods!" Valeron the Second infused himself with his Life Maelstrom, and a thin layer of Life Flames wreathed his body.

"Don’t worry, Auntie. They don’t burn unless I ask them to. See?" Valeron touched his clothes and the bedsheets, yet the golden flames didn’t spread or blacken anything.

Althika tentatively placed her hand on the Bahamut’s muzzle, finding it pleasantly warm. Instead of burning her fingers, the Life Flames washed her pain away as if a balm were being applied to her skin.

"I trust you, Val." She nodded. "Go on."

The small Bahamut breathed a gentle stream of golden flames that wrapped themselves around the Dryad, covering her from head to toe. They slowly seeped under her skin, burning the scars, wounds, and the pain, converting them into pure energy that filled the gaps in Althika’s life force.

Once Valeron was done with her, he moved on to Erkin. His Life Flames lapped at the burn scars in the baby’s life forces and nurtured them back to health. The golden fire wrapped the human, Dryad, and the Divine Beast sides, igniting them with inner light that shone brighter than the sum of its single parts.

Yet no matter how strongly the Life Flames burned, mother and child experienced only the warmth of a tender embrace.

"I’m sorry, Auntie." Valeron reverted to his human form, panting. "I’m too weak. I couldn’t do it. I’m..."

He slumped asleep in Lith’s arms the moment he took Valeron off the bed.

"Why did he apologize?" Althika asked. "I didn’t feel any discomfort, and now I’m better than-"

A pillar of orange light emerged from her body, and another descended from the sky as Mogar assisted the Dryad in her evolution into a Titania. Althika’s vines dug deep into the fertile soil of Salaark’s oasis, extracting large amounts of nutrients and water.

It was no different from how a plant folk regenerated their wounds, except that new mass formed and the old one grew in size and power. The Dryad underwent a complete metamorphosis in a handful of seconds.

The transformation was so smooth and natural that no one had any issue recognizing Althika in the much taller and beautiful redhead in front of them. It was also the reason no one noticed Tyris’ arrival.

"What? How?" The Titania’s utter disbelief didn’t stop her from checking on her son before examining her new body.

Erkin was better than fine. His life force shone bright and healthy, with no traces of his healing wounds.

"It seems the Vurdalak blood was the reason you failed to evolve upon reaching the blue core, child." Baba Yaga replied. "The invasion of the Upyr life force had infected your Dryad side and stopped its natural development."