Supreme Magus

Chapter 3906: Human Disguise (Part 1)

”Good point.” Quylla nodded. ”Ryla, you are next.”

The Fomor touched the crystal case, obtaining the diagnosis she expected. Only the projection of her life force surprised her.

It also looked like a colossus made, but comprised only of lego bricks and an erector set’s pieces of six different colors. On top of that, unlike Urhen, the elements coursing through Ryla’s life force overlapped in multiple points, forming thin emerald streaks across a few blocks.

Yet the overall flow was jagged and irregular, and the elements more often than not clashed instead of harmonizing with each other. The violent conflict between the elements strained the Fomor’s life force and drained her mana.

On top of that, Ryla had six elemental spheres at the level of her physical eyes and two whirlpools on her back. At the zenith of their expansion, however, the vortices’ upper part almost split into two for a brief moment before collapsing into one again.

”What does this mean?” Urhen and Ryla pointed at the whirlpools.

”Off the top of my head, that Ryla is closer to Awakening than you, Urhen.” Quylla replied. ”A Balor and a Fomor both gain multiple sets of wings upon Awakening.”

”Your interpretation is correct, Quylla.” Baba Yaga nodded. ”Gods, what a mess.”

”What do you mean?” Solus asked. ”This is no different from what you’ve shown us about the Odi’s evolutionary path. Gradual and steady changes, remember?”

At those words, Urhen’s eyes lit up with hope and Baba Yaga scowled at Solus.

”Please, they are nothing alike.” The Red Mother scoffed. ”What I’ve shown you in private and under the alleged banner of confidence was the natural development of the Odi life force.”

”I’m so sorry, Malyshka.” Solus blushed hard. ”I didn’t mean to-”

”Yet you did, and apologies change nothing.” Baba Yaga cut her short. ”As I was saying, natural development implies both deep and superficial changes. Do you remember the inner lights?”

”Yes.” Solus nodded.

”Those weren’t just due to the development of mana organs, but also due to the new powers, limbs, and affinities gained after each successful evolution. In Ryla’s and Urhen’s case, instead, the evolution is artificial.

”Their life forces present solely superficial changes and are unsuited to withstand the abilities they currently possess. The constant flow of world energy from their Harmonizers makes up for the lack of deep changes and allows them to keep their unfallen state.”

”What are the deep changes of a human supposed to look like?” Ryla asked.

”We are about to find out.” The Red Mother replied. ”Morok, if you please.”

”Sure.” The Tyrant allowed her to examine him thoroughly with Sun and Moon before touching the crystal tank.

Everyone ignored the readings and focused on the image of his life force. It resembled a flaming green eye surrounded by six rings, each of a different elemental color.

They spun horizontally around the eye while keeping a steady horizontal orbit around it.

”Every time I see this, I can’t help but wonder whether the first Tyrant shaped his life force like this on purpose or if he was just lucky.” Quylla said. ”Either way, it’s no wonder Tyrants managed to pass themselves as Emperor Beasts for all this time.”

”Indeed.” Morok nodded. ”Before reaching the violet, there were no rings surrounding my life force, and it became elongated only after I Awakened.”

”That and the lack of conspicuous mana organs helped.” Baba Yaga said. ”Now, however, I doubt you would manage to pull the wool over the Council’s eyes, child.”

The Red Mother zoomed in, revealing the presence of six small elemental spheres in the middle of the green eye and two small whirlpools on its external layer.

”That’s similar to Ryla and Urhen!” Morok said.

”Not really.” Another flick of Baba Yaga’s finger focused everyone’s attention on the space between the six elemental spheres.

A seventh sphere, much smaller and unstable, lay in the middle. The other six constantly poured part of their energy into it, but only a fraction of their power managed to coalesce into Spirit Energy, making the final sphere much less than the sum of its single parts.

”Is that my Spirit Eye or just the reason I need to merge my other six eyes to obtain it?” Morok asked.

”It’s irrelevant for our current problem, so I’ll leave finding an answer to you.” The Red Mother shrugged. ”This, however, is another story entirely.”

A quick tap on another rune, and the Infirmary moved on the six rings surrounding the emerald eye. At first glance, they appeared to be a stable mass of elemental energy, but only until one took a very close look at them.

Then, each ring turned out to be comprised of a thick bundle of threads infused with the power of their corresponding element.

”Threads?” Morok said in disbelief. ”Like Lith?”

”Like Lith is a big word since we have no idea what his human life force looks like.” Baba Yaga replied. ”But the resemblance is undeniable. Now, please, use your powers. There’s no need to go all-out. Even something small will do.”

She moved back on the emerald eye and revealed what lay beneath Spirit Magic’s glow. A great bundle of threads moved around small blocks and rods that instead maintained a fixed position.

The constant flow of the threads allowed for an easier shapeshifting and for the elemental energies to freely travel across the bundle. The eye carried all six elements, and it looked emerald from the outside only because they effortlessly mixed with each other and the life force.

The external rings worked both as safeguards and amplifiers. They dispersed the excess elemental energy when Morok absorbed it via his eyes or wings and boosted it before he released it.

”And you noticed all this after a brief examination while I was at rest?” Morok slowly depowered his bloodline abilities, staring at Baba Yaga in amazement.

”After studying those two, it wasn’t that hard.” She replied. ”It’s your turn, Lith. Show us what you can do.”

”Sure.” He offered his hand to Baba Yaga, who looked at him as if he were joking.

”Right. I forgot you studied my life force plenty of times.” He moved toward the crystal tank, but the Red Mother stopped him.

”What do you think you are doing?”

”What you asked me to do.” He replied in confusion.

”No, you are not. I asked you to show me your human life force.” Baba Yaga said.

”I’m in my human form, and this is my human life force.” Lith’s confusion quickly turned into annoyance.

”Are you sure?” The Red Mother asked. ”Do me a favor. Assume your Eldritch life force and touch the tank.”

Lith did as she asked, and the Infirmary displayed the image of the Void that surrounded the stars and threads as it collapsed on itself. It took the form of a black sphere that fed upon external energy while keeping everything inside safe.

A corona of silvery flames outlined the black sphere, which was also surrounded by a violet ring comprised of the world energy that the Void constantly absorbed from its surroundings.

”Now the Voidfeather Dragon, please.”

The black sphere opened up, and the galaxy it contained rearranged itself into a single constellation that resembled a Dragon.