Supreme Magus

The female Forgotten took a leather glove that hung from her belt and wore it. Then, she placed her left hand on the first carriage and activated the breathing technique of her corps, Clear Mind.

The glove amplified the effects of Invigoration whose energy flooded the carriage like a wave without losing its cohesion as it moved further away from its caster.

'Fuck me sideways! The Kingdom can learn a thing or two from Thrud and so can I. That glove allows anyone to inspect a large surface with Invigoration. I learned how to do it as well, but my technique is neither that quick nor precise.' Lith thought while observing Solus' predicament via the surveillance spell.

The moment Invigoration was about to reach her stone form, Solus Blinked to the second carriage, escaping detection. Luckily for her, Lith's plan had given her a way out.

In order to use the glove and focus on the breathing technique, the Forgotten had been forced to dispel the array.

"It was just an interference." The woman said amid pants after checking every nook and cranny of the cargo. "You can search the remaining carriages while I rest."

Solus exploited the time the Forgotten needed to cast the Life Sensing array again to move back to her original hiding place so that the anomaly seemed to not have moved.

'It seems that glove is more a focus than an artifact.' Lith thought. 'Using it costs a lot of energy and the guard had to use Invigoration to recover from a single use but it's still worth it.'

The caravan started moving twenty minutes later, but it took Solus almost one hour to find a secluded alley isolated enough to open the Steps.

"We are going in." Lith said as he and Tista shapeshifted into a less conspicuous appearance. "Keep your communication amulet at hand. We'll let you know when to start the attack."

"Damn, those Demons are terrifying." Merrik and many others said as soon as the dimensional corridor closed. "They could get inside our houses, spy on us when we work, and we wouldn't even know.

"I mean, you've seen how good Thrud's security measures are yet none of them worked." Solus and the Demons shared Lith's energy signature which made it believable that it was one of them opening the Steps.

"Commander, aren't you scared of the use Verhen might make of them? He has over a thousand of those things at his service and we don't know how far away from him they can get.

"He was here the whole time and the city walls are kilometers away, let alone the outer rim!" The Lieutenant said.

"No, I'm not scared of Lith." Phloria replied. "At least no more than I'm scared of the Council, the Abominations, the Guardians, and any entity that could end our lives on a whim. You should do the same."

Once inside Zehnma, Solus slipped back on Tista's finger.

'What's our next move?' Tista asked while walking hand in hand with Lith to hide their mind link and help Solus to recover her strength.

'We must tour the city and identify the key nodes of the arrays that you have to weaken.' He replied.

'The whole city?' Tista was flabbergasted. 'Even with the Eyes of Menadion, it will take us hours if not days.'

'Maybe and maybe not.' Solus split the artifact into two Monocles and gave one to each of them in order to share the mental burden in three. 'We can't fly but there should be more than one panoramic restaurant in Zehnma.

'Things will go much quicker if we take a good look from above.'

'Excellent idea, Solus.' Lith clicked his tongue at the thought of spending money, but it was better than the alternative.

Even though he knew that there was a Guardian 24/7 standing right beside Kamila, he hated every minute he was forced to spend away and with no opportunity to check that everything was alright.

'Guardians are not omnipotent. A meteor could require Grandma's full attention or an alternative version of myself from a parallel Mogar might endanger the baby's life.'

'You are being ridiculous. That's beyond paranoia. It's certified insanity.' Solus tried to calm him down but her voice lacked conviction.

She was still wrapping her head around the pregnancy.

On the one hand, it set them further apart. The baby and Kamila's Awakening not only would make their relationship last for a very long time, but also made it different from everything Lith had ever had with other women.

On the other hand, however, Solus knew that she would raise the child as well and spend a lot of time with them. Due to her bond with Lith, his feelings were bound to overflow into Solus, making her love the baby no less than if it was her own.

She was still so confused about her future and her own feelings that being a parent scared her to death.

'You don't know that.' Lith replied. 'In Earth's media, that's when some random bad guy pops out at the last second and ruins everything.'

'That's fiction and no one in those stories had a frigging Guardian for a nanny!' Solus said in annoyance, ending the conversation.

They had reached their destination, the starred restaurant Valeron's Tower.

Like the name implied, the establishment took the entirety of the last floor of a large spire. The walls had been replaced by reinforced glass and the building was so tall that the gaze of the customers could wander past the city walls.

To go unnoticed, Tista had shapeshifted into her friend from Lutia, Brina. She had now the appearance of a petite and pretty young woman with golden hair and clear blue eyes.

As for Lith, he had taken his old appearance as Derek McCoy. He was now a few centimeters shorter, leaner, and had sharper features.

"By the gods, smile a little." Tista grumbled after asking for a table for two.

"Whenever you take your Abomination form, you look like someone pissed off at the world and ready to murder the first person who so much bumps into him."

"You are very perceptive." Lith was amazed by her accurate description of his mental state right before his first death. Those feelings still lingered deep in Derek's soul and became predominant whenever he called upon the remnants of his original life force.

"It's not a matter of being perceptive. Anyone with a single working eye could tell you the same. Besides, you're a lucky man about to dine with his pretty wife so you should play your part better." Tista said with a giggle.

"I don't know what's worse." Lith sighed. "If dining with someone who looks like a younger and chipper version of Jirni or being forced to donate money."

"What are you talking about? A donation to whom?" She asked.

"Going out with your own sister is a form of charity since you expect nothing in return." He replied, making the first smile after over two decades appear on Derek's face.

"What a jerk! I want a divorce."

"Not in front of the waiter, dear." Lith chuckled while seeing the awkward expression of the man who was supposed to serve them.