Supreme Magus

"Shouldn't you leave some for the others?" Elina asked.

"Nah, they are still too hard. It's better to erase the evidence of this disaster and prepare a second batch later." Solus replied.

"Isn't it too much right after dinner?" Elina said.

"I promise that I won't touch them, Mom." Solus finished the cookies and stood up. "I'm going to my room if anyone looks for me."

She Warped away, leaving Elina alone and sighing.

"She could have at least walked. It's no wonder that Solus gains weight if she doesn't take a single step after eating a mountain of food."

Solus Warped the tower to Lutia long enough to check that no one had left messages for her before moving to the borders of the Gorgon Empire and calling Nyka.

'Ever since we came to the Desert, I've been too busy to call her. On top of that, regular amulets don't work from this distance so we could only talk through Council amulets when Lith and Kalla were both available.

'I wonder how she's doing.' Solus thought, unaware of Elina's worries.

"Who the heck are you and how did you get your hands on my friend's amulet?" Nyka's joy at the sight of Solus's rune blinking turned into rage when she didn't recognize the person projected in the hologram.

The Vampire had been risen by Kalla with Necromancy just seven years ago, yet her body and mind were those of an adult. 

Nyka looked like a young woman in her mid-twenties, around 1.7 meters (5'7") tall with emerald green eyes emphasized by her rosy skin. A vampire was pale only when unable to properly feed and that wasn't her case.

  Her raven-black hair looked almost blue and after her Awakening, Nyka had gained yellow and pitch-black streaks typical of the elemental affinities of her species.

She wasn't a stunning beauty, but undeath gave her smooth, delicate features and kept her body lithe. Yet now it also twisted her face with fury as she bared her fangs and he eyes burned like embers.

Nyka was so enraged that her slender fingers grew longer and her red-painted nails became sharp claws.

"I am Solus and this is my amulet, dummy!"

"Lies! She lives in the Kingdom and no regular amulet can reach my position. Also, she looks nothing like you." Nyka replied.

"Tower Warp, remember? I know a lot of mana geysers from the time when Lith worked as a Ranger." Solus suddenly understood how Lith must have felt back when she had failed to recognize him.

Right after she had regained her body, between the shock of the sudden change and the temporary disappearance of their mind link, it had taken him quite some effort to calm her down.

"Okay, you know about the tower and about the Warp, but how do you explain the rest?" Nyka still didn't believe her.

"What rest? I'm finally human again and I wanted to share the good news with you." Solus cursed at her own stupidity, turning into a wisp, then into her energy body, and then into a human again.

"This is amazing! I waited so long for this moment that I'm having a hard time believing it even though I'm seeing you with my own eyes." Nyka lost her feral features, jumping with joy like a child.

"You have no idea how scared I was back when it happened. I had lost all of my powers and I couldn't control-"

"What do you mean, back when it happened? How long have you had your body back?" Nyka cut her short.

"A bit less than a month ago." Solus lowered her gaze in embarrassment.

"And you are telling me just now? What kind of friend does that?" Nyka replied. "That's it, I invoke my right to kick your ass. Give me your coordinates right now!"

"I'm really far away and undead are not very good with dimensional-" Solus attempted to say, but Nyka hung up the call the moment she learned the tower's position.

"At least at this longitude, it's still night." She sighed. "There's no risk Nyka gets harmed by sunlight."

Solus released the Sentries to check the surroundings of the tower before lowering the cloaking array that made it invisible to the naked eye. She had just moved to the Mirror Hall when she heard someone knocking.

"Solus!" Nyka expected her to be floating in mid-air like usual so her arms were a few dozen centimeters too high and hugged only air.

"That's the oddest kick-ass attempt I have ever seen." Solus embraced her friend. "I missed you and our talks a lot."

"I couldn't stay mad at you. I just wanted to see you in person." Nyka tried and failed to lift Solus to take a better look at her. "Nice rack, shortie."

"How did you get here so quick?" Solus effortlessly lifted Nyka, spinning her around as if she was just a little girl.

"I had help."

"Long time no see, Solus." Kalla the Wight had to shapeshift to pass through the door.

Even though she looked like an undead, she was actually an Emperor Beast whose body had mutated to accept the massive amounts of darkness element that now replaced part of her flesh.

Her height at the withers was over 2.5 two meters (8'3") and her body was as big as a small house. Her skeleton still resembled that of a bear and the white bones glimpsed from time to time under the living shadow that made her skin.

The red light that burned in her eyes could easily be mistaken for that of undead and she wore a pure white crystal the size of an apple on her neck.

"Please, tell me that you've not turned yourself into a Lich." Solus let go of Nyka from the surprise while she was still spinning.

The Vampire managed to avoid crashing against the wall only thanks to her agility, landing on her feet with a backflip.

"I wish." The Wight sighed. "I have a long way to the bright blue and then I have to find a way to reach the violet."

"Then why the crystal?" Solus asked.

"I discovered that by making my phylactery attuned with my life force, I can increase the chances of achieving Lichhood." Kalla replied.

"And I'm stuck. A little help here." The brown Byk following them was incapable of shapeshifting and passing through the door even though his size was way smaller than his mother.

"What are you doing here, Nok?" Solus asked while enlarging the entrance. "No offense but you are the one I least expected to see."

"None taken." The Byk replied. "I just couldn't miss the opportunity to get some fresh air after months spent in a stinky cave."

"The Eclipsed Lands don't stink!" Nyka rebuked him.

"Are you kidding me? Do you know what it means to live surrounded by the smell of blood and of dead flesh when you are on a strict diet? I couldn't get the food out of my head because it was constantly in front of my eyes." Nok snorted.

The word diet stung Solus, making her eager to change the topic.

"It's wonderful to have you all here.. I can finally introduce you to my family."