Supreme Magus

Chapter 4387: Stooping Low (Part 1)

"With this amulet, we can talk whenever you want, no matter where you are. All you have to do is press our rune, and we’ll come for you." Lith said.

Osyan had only a vague idea of the cost of a communication amulet, but since no one else in the house had one, it had to be expensive. Tessor’s and Geldrid’s shocked expression further confirmed his suspicions.

"Thank you, Mag-, I mean, Lith." Osyan did his best to smile and sound grateful.

He loved the idea of being able to talk freely with Rhami, but aside from that, the amulet was just a homework aid for him.

"It’s too early to thank me, young man. I said presents. Plural." Lith offered the boy the action figures of Valeron the First and a Royal Guard wearing a helmetless Saefel Set and the Royal Fortress armor, respectively.

"Imprint them, please. I enchanted all my creations a bit, and I need to show you how they work."

Osyan did as bidden, having a hard time taking his eyes off his new toys.

He had never had a figurine so well made, let alone a magical one. Lith showed him how to activate the sound and light effects that produced a harmless, scaled-down version of many powerful spells before asking the toys back.

"I’m not taking them away. I just want to show you something." Lith said after noticing Osyan’s pained expression. "Thanks. Now, wish them to come back to you."

The boy instinctively extended his hands, and the two action figures flew toward him while releasing a battle cry and all their enchantments.

"I often lost my toys when I was your age." Lith explained. "With this enchantment, you’ll have no problems finding them."

It was a lie.

Lith had never had toys nor interest in them. What he had as a child was an envious older brother who stole and hid anything he believed Lith liked. If someone in Osyan’s home did the same, the boy would easily identify the culprit and retrieve the action figures.

On top of that, if someone ever accused the boy of stealing the expensive toys, the imprint would prove them wrong and save the foster parents a lot of explanations.

"Thanks!" Osyan said, and this time he was truly excited. "Is there anything else?"

"Actually, yes." Lith nodded. "I’ve reserved a table for us at the Soaring Pegasus, one of my favorite restaurants here in Zeska. I would like to offer you a nice birthday lunch, if you want."

On the one hand, Osyan had never been to a restaurant his whole life. On the other hand, being alone with Lith terrified him, babies or not.

"Would you like to join us, Rhami?" Lith asked.

"It would be my honor, Magus Vehren. Happy birthday, Osyan." She hugged the boy and gave him another action figure depicting a Fire Dragon.

"Cool!" The boy said, unaware that the toy Dragon also came from Lith. "Thank you, Rhami. About the restaurant..."

Osyan still didn’t like the idea much. He didn’t trust Lith, and he’d rather spend his birthday with his foster parents and siblings. Yet refusing the invitation without a proper excuse would have been rude and given Usul more ammunition.

"Don’t worry. You can bring as many people as you want with us. My treat." Lith replied.

"Can we please go, Geldrid? Pretty please?" Osyan asked.

"Sure." She said with a warm smile, not wanting to ruin the young boy’s happiness after the tension of the past weeks.

She had already started cooking quite a lot of dishes, and it pained her to let all that time and money go to waste, but there was no solution.

Or so she thought until Lith handed her and Tessor two matching rings.

"I can smell your delicious cooking from here, Missis Rivenfall, and it pains me to ruin so much of your time and effort." He said. "These are dimensional rings. You can store anything you want inside of them, and it won’t spoil or rot."

"Thank you, Magus Verhen." The couple gave him deep bows, knowing that such artifacts cost a pretty coin and would save them almost as much.

Daily products wouldn’t have an expiration date as long as they were stored inside the dimensional rings. Now Geldrid and Tessor could buy what they needed in bulk and get hefty discounts.

Lith had thought about gifting a ring to Osyan to store his toys, but had decided against it. Otherwise, whenever something went missing, an envious foster sibling might have accused him of being a thief, and Osyan would have no way to prove his ring was empty.

’Even after two decades, Meln’s shadow still lives rent-free in my head.’ Lith inwardly grumbled, throwing Usul a reproachful glare.

"Come on, kids. Go get dressed and remember to carry your presents for Osyan with you. Today we are dining out." Tessor clapped his hands, and everyone ran to their room, Geldrid included.

He stayed behind to keep company to their guests, making small talk and answering their questions about Osyan’s daily life in his new home.

When Geldrid returned and Tessor could go change himself there were just a few minutes left, but he made them do. Lith opened a Warp Steps to the Soaring Pegasus, which made kids and adults alike gape in awe.

One step forward and they were in front of the restaurant. One step back and they returned home.

"Enough playing with magic, kids. People are staring." Geldrid was as enthusiastic about the Steps as the children, but she realized how silly they looked going back and forth nonstop.

The Soaring Pegasus turned out to be a family restaurant with no dress code, allowing the foster family to blend in with the rest of the customers and have a delicious meal.

Lith had also shapeshifted his clothes into something unsuspicious, so no one paid him attention.

After the empty plates were brought away, Lith served a dessert he had prepared himself.

"This is called ice cream." He said. "I know that cold food in winter doesn’t sound good, but give it a try. Also, the cookies that go with it are oven fresh, so they should balance it out."

The initial diffidence was overcome after a single spoonful of chocolate ice cream. The kids ate everything and asked for a second serving and then a third.

"I’m sorry, but no." Tessor said. "You’ve already eaten too much. Any more and you’ll get a stomachache."

The children groaned and whined, but didn’t press on.

"Feel free to save the remaining ice cream for later." Lith said. "The dimensional rings work on cold food as well."

Geldrid happily followed his advice, storing enough ice cream to last them a week.

After everyone was done eating, Tessor suggested going for a digestive walk. He could feel his eyes drooping and knew that if they sat down anywhere, the moment the excitement faded away, they would all fall asleep.

"Thanks for the wonderful day." Tessor found it hard to believe that the man walking by his side was the Supreme Magus, but the more time they spent together, the more Lith seemed just a fine young man.