Supreme Magus

Chapter 4405: Hidden Echo (Part 1)

"Let’s call things by their name, Dad. Lith’s paranoid as usual." Tista shook her head.

"He’s also right." Solus said after a brief call to Baba Yaga. "Malyshka said it’s part of her plan, and that she’ll explain everything tomorrow when she comes here to practice Dread Magic with Lith."

"Wonderful!" Kamila said with the enthusiasm of someone who had found a parking ticket on her windshield. "I can understand following the news of the fight between the Organization and the Undead Courts, but what’s the rule about amulets and meals?"

Everyone put their communication amulets down in emergency mode, refusing any call that wouldn’t be marked as urgent.

"Thank you very much." Kamila sighed. "We live in the same house, yet we see each other so rarely that I’d like for us to have an actual conversation."

"You’re right, Sis Kami." Aran nodded. "I missed you a lot. Almost as much as Mom and Dad."

"I’m so sorry, son." Raaz pinched his nose. "Being an Awakened is much more work than I expected. Between studying, practicing magic, and doing the bare minimum to supervise the work in my fields, I barely have the time to use Accumulation."

"Our children warned us, and there is no turning back now." Elina fought hard to suppress a yawn. "Gods, I used to love reading, but I swear that if I see another book, I’ll scream."

"How was your day, Kami?" Lith asked, hoping to change the topic to something more cheerful.

"Exhausting." She replied, bursting his hopes like a soap bubble. "Dimensional magic is driving me crazy. I’ve been practicing it ever since I was pregnant with Elysia, and I’ve yet to Switch once.

"I can’t believe you guys crammed so many difficult subjects in just one year."

"Tell me about it." Selia snorted. "I just graduated from Loop to Pilfer, and it took me months just to get there."

’I better not tell them that I mastered the Switch spell months ago.’ Jirni thought. ’I wonder if I’m progressing so fast thanks to my innate talent or because magic is not a hobby for me. My life and the future of my little Dripha depend on it.’

"We all had a stronger core than you and an authentic passion for magic, Kami." Lith replied. "You are training just to keep up with Elysia’s development and be able to chase her around once she grows up."

"I know, but practicing magic full time yet achieving so little is frustrating." She replied. "My greatest success is promoting my core to bright green, but just the thought of how painful the breakthrough to cyan is going to be makes me want to cry."

Aran and Leria were only one stage behind her in the development of their cores, and only because their young bodies needed time to adapt to the increasing power they stored.

They had undergone only one major breakthrough, and they still had nightmares about it. The idea that the next one would be much worse made them turn pale.

"Okay, enough talking about magic." Solus said. "If the mood gets any gloomier, the babies will worry something bad has happened."

"What about me?" Rena grumbled. "I was waiting my turn to vent a bit."

"Another time, please." Solus raised her hands with her palms out. "Does anyone have good news to share?"

"I do." Senton released a deep orange aura. "I’ve finally broken past the red, and I can now use magic for more than a few minutes before being forced to use Invigoration."

Everyone gave him a short round of applause.

"Congratulations, Dad." Leria puffed her chest out with pride for her father. "I can’t wait to practice magic with you."

"Thank you, pumpkin." Senton didn’t remind her that he would stop his magical training right after reaching the green not to spoil his daughter’s joy.

"I don’t know if it counts as good news, but I can get further than 100 meters before feeling the need to check on Ral now." Lith said. "Soon my homing instinct should calm down enough to allow me to spend a few hours outside on my own."

"This is great news! We can finally go out on a date!" Kamila said with a bit too much enthusiasm to be polite. "Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with you all, but this is starting to feel like a boot camp with no privacy.

"I don’t get to spend a moment alone with Lith, let alone my thoughts." She looked at the babies’ child seats.

Elysia, Raldarak, and Valeron had no concept of personal space. Whenever they felt lonely or wanted to see their parents, they would use Spirit Magic to open even the bathroom door and barge in.

Putting them inside the Doomslayer crib didn’t help since they would cry at the top of their lungs until someone came to reassure them.

"Mama!" Raldarak giggled at her, making Kamila feel guilty at the idea of leaving her baby boy’s side even if just for one hour.

"Don’t worry, Kami. I’ll take you on a date as soon as I can." Lith’s words were met with cheers from the babies’ side of the table.

Elysia and Valeron had developed their own definition of date, and had passed it on to the others. According to them, a date was when their parents brought them out of the house, played with them until nap time, and let them try lots of tasty new foods.

"Dade, Mom. Dade!" Solkar said, making his older siblings chuckle.

"Oh, dear." Selia pretended to be embarrassed. "This dashing young man is asking me out. What should I do?"

"Change his diaper." Protector replied after a couple of sniffs. "As for the ’date’, anywhere but Lutia is fine. I know that no one is going to bother us again, but I need to relax without constantly looking over my shoulder."

***

The following morning, Baba Yaga reached the Mansion as promised and shared her plan to capture Orpal with Lith and Solus.

"It’s an interesting strategy, but I find it hard to believe that the Master gave up on a stable source of income that easily." Lith pondered.

"Yet it’s what he did." The Mother shrugged. "I question his motives as well, but I couldn’t afford to look the gifted horse in the mouth and took what he offered me. By now, Dawnie should have already conquered five more cities."

Lith could tell by looking at the map that they were all medium-sized trading hubs with limited potential or influence over their respective regions, but that much was a given.

Only a madman would give away a gold mine, and Vastor had heavily fortified the Organization branches in the cities he couldn’t afford to lose. Dawn conquering any of them without both factions suffering major casualties would have exposed her agreement with the Master.

"How is the training of your Indech form going, Solus?" The Mother asked.

"It’s going great." Solus replied. "My atrophied mana organs are developing slowly but steadily. All the time and effort Lith spent developing the training exercises with Ryla is paying off.

"I can already use Swirling Wind to an extent. It’s only a matter of time until I can conjure my elemental bloodline abilities."