Supreme Magus

Chapter 4383: War Against Time (Part 1)

”They are from Rathi, so I doubt you’ve ever seen an Ishara outside of books. Here’s what they look like.” Fyrwal projected the hologram of a creature with a humanoid upper torso and a scorpion’s lower body, jogging Faluel’s memory.

”Of course! Those are the bastards who almost killed Solus. How could our clan let them in? The Isharas are dangerous, arrogant pricks, Mom.”

”That could be said about all Divine Beasts, dear.” Fyrwal furrowed her brow. ”When did Epphy meet Isharas, and why would they try to kill her?”

Faluel used a mind link to bring her mother up to speed with the events that had led to the rescue of the nameless fungus folk.

”That’s it? I don’t see anything wrong with it. In the Isharas’ shoes, I would have done the same thing.”

”What?” The younger Hydra jumped up in outrage, but her mother’s cold glare smothered the fire of her rage. ”You’re not making any sense, Mom. How can you say something like that?”

”Gods, you’re so accomplished that sometimes I forget how young you are, Fanny.” Fyrwal massaged her temples. ”You are blowing this out of proportion because of your deep attachment to Epphy, but try taking her out of the equation for a moment.”

She paused until Faluel calmed down and nodded for her to continue.

”What remains is one of the legendary Hordes and a bunch of Awakened who want to catch them to uncover the secret of the white core. Does it still sound unreasonable after I put it this way?”

”It is unreasonable, but I know that everyone in our Council would do the same, either in secret or publicly if they have even a shred of justification.” Faluel sighed. ”Like you said earlier, all powerful people are competitive when it comes to gaining more power.”

”And that’s why the clan council wouldn’t have rejected the Isharas even if we knew about their clash with Epphy-”

”Solus.” Faluel corrected Fyrwal, cutting her short.

”My bad, I’ll be more careful.” The Elder Hydra raised her hands. ”I told you, their primordial blood is thinning, and that’s the worst nightmare for all the descendants of the Guardians.

”Also, the Isharas have accumulated vast amounts of knowledge about evolution and are willing to share it with us along with their bloodline abilities. Imagine how much easier our research would become with unlimited Life Maelstrom and high-density world energy.”

”I understand that, Mom, but I still think our clan council made the wrong decision.” Faluel said. ”The Isharas are-”

”Desperate, and so are too many of our fellow Hydras.” Fyrwal returned the favor. ”Fanny, the white core is not just a matter of power, but also of longevity. Why do you think everyone agreed so easily to invest so many resources in this project?

”Why no one argued for one second about Baba Yaga joining us and reaping the benefits of our research for her undead? Because Emperor Beasts die at 3,000 years of age while Divine Beasts can live up to 10,000 years!

”No one of our elders wants to die. No one of our youngest wants to see their parents, siblings, and grandparents die. This is not just a race for evolution, it’s also a war against time.”

The last line stopped Faluel’s retort in its tracks, and the tone with which Fyrwal delivered it derailed it. She sounded too invested in the matter to be just empathizing with their relatives.

”Are you okay, Mom?” Faluel sat down slowly and lowered her voice.

”I’m fine, baby girl, but I’m also past the 1,500 mark. Half of my life is gone.” The Elder Hydra sounded scared like Faluel had never heard her, even when Fyrwal had taken arms against Thrud or the World Tree.

”If I become a Divine Beast, I can live 5,000 more years instead of just 1,500, but every day that passes I lose about ten days of potential lifespan. 1,500 years sound like a long time to someone as young as you, Fanny, but I’ve already lived that much.

”I know how quickly 1,500 years pass, and I don’t want to die. If someone like me can understand why the Isharas were ready to kill Solus to get their hands on the secret of the white core, what do you think our elders would respond to your objection?”

”They would dismiss it just like you did, just with much harsher words.” Faluel shuddered at the realization of her mother’s mortality. ”If the Isharas are so important to you, I won’t do anything that might get them kicked out of the project.”

”They are, and thank you, baby girl.” Fyrwal sighed. ”If it makes you feel any better, as part of our deal, the Isharas have joined the hunt for the Dead King. We have an entire bloodline of Divine Beasts on our side now.”

Faluel found such generosity uncharacteristic for a species as egotistical as the Isharas. The deal they had offered was too skewed in the Garlen Council’s favor. The Hydras would have agreed to let the Isharas take part in the research just for their bloodline abilities.

Sharing their bloodline legacy and putting their lives on the line to fight Orpal’s army of Upyr was beyond suspicious. Yet Faluel put all those paranoid thoughts aside and focused on her mother.

”I’m sorry, Mom. I should have asked Ajatar to let you join us back when he developed the method to awaken his Dragon bloodline. I know that he said that he won’t disclose it until the war against the Dead King is over, but I’m sure that if I tell him that I need it for you, Ajatar will...”

Fyrwal remained silent, but her expression of utter confusion interrupted her daughter nonetheless.

”Didn’t he tell you?” The Elder Hydra asked.

”What was he supposed to tell me?” Faluel replied.

”Believe it or not, unlike a certain someone I know, Ajatar can do math and sent me every bit of his research after he was done revising it with Dragon Eyes.” Fyrwal passed Faluel a thick folder.

It contained Ajatar’s observations on his previous Drake life force, his current Dragon life force, and those about Faluel’s life force. He described how he had become a Dragon step by step and suggested several methods for adapting the procedure to a Hydra of Faluel’s bloodline.

The last page was a brief letter in which the Sapphire Dragon thanked Fyrwal for allowing him to join the Harmonizer project and expressed his worries about her entering the second half of her life.

He concluded the letter saying that he knew how precious every day was to Fyrwal and wished her the best on her bloodline awakening.

”I’ve been working on this for a while, and Ajatar was so kind that he helped me brainstorm every issue I encountered so far, even at the cost of taking time off his own training schedule.” Fyrwal said.

”I didn’t know anything about it.” Faluel was flabbergasted.

”Interesting.” Fyrwal fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously. ”Either Ajatar is doing it for you and doesn’t want to make you feel indebted to him, or he is doing it for me and doesn’t think you should be involved in our private business.”