Supreme Magus

"It took me only a bit of practice to understand that magic follows the laws of physics." Lith said. "Laws I know and exploited to see farther than my peers.

"Also, Solus' memory loss was not as problematic as you might think. She had no preconceptions to disregard or habits to resist. With her wits and my knowledge, we reached further than any mage our age, even Awakened.

"Sure, we had no clue about high tier magic and specializations, but the White Griffon academy filled those gaps for us." Lith shrugged.

Menadion needed a few minutes to put together those words with the visions she had just witnessed and what she had learned over the years as a fly on the wall.

"Let me be clear." She said once she was done drawing her conclusions. "I still don't like you. I think you have treated my daughter and your parents horribly. You have stomped on Epphy-"

"Solus." He corrected her.

"Solus' feelings and deceived your parents more times than I can count. The good things you have done for them don't erase all the bad things you have done for everyone else.

"That said, now I respect you. You've gone through things that would have broken me and others that did break me. I'm not a hypocrite. I know that in your shoes I would have done the same if not worse because that's what I did after Threin and Epphy died."

"I know." Lith nodded. He was aware of Menadion's attempts to resurrect her husband and preserve her daughter's life, even if it meant using Forbidden Magic.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry. My daughter deserved someone better, yet she survived only because she ended up in the hands of someone as bad as I am." Ripha looked him straight in the eyes. "Does Kamila know?"

"Yes. Everything." Lith replied.

"Lucky bastard." She grumbled.

"I know that too." Lith refilled the cups and the plate. "Is there anything else you want to ask or tell me?"

"I… no. Or rather, yes. Your parents. Do Elina and Raaz know you are not their son? That you are a vengeful spirit possessing a corpse?" Menadion asked.

"No, they don't." A cold glint flashed behind Lith's eyes. "And they don't need to. I've wondered for a long time if I should tell them or not. I saw myself as some kind of monster the same way you see me. Then, I realized I was wrong, just like you are now."

"Care to elaborate?" Menadion had yet to digest the many revelations she had received. Her mind was too messy to be certain of anything.

"I didn't kill the baby, Strata. He was dead before I arrived so I'm not possessing anything. This body is mine and it's born of Elina's and Raaz's flesh and blood. They know me from the day I was reborn here.

"They named me Lith after my 'miraculous' resurrection. They raised me with love and affection. I'm the only Lith they know and they are the only mother and father I've ever had. Knowing from where my soul comes would change nothing.

"They are my parents and I'm their son." The finality in Lith's tone brooked no argument nor did Menadion feel the need to.

"Keep up like this and sooner or later I might like you, kid." She raised her mug to it. "I've had enough answers for one night. My head is killing me. Is there anything you want to ask me? Besides the obvious lessons, of course."

"Actually, yes." Lith replied. "I've chosen this place for our talk because I didn't want Solus to overhear us in case we argued but right now I can use your opinion on a matter that's been bugging me for a while.

"What do I do with the Apprentice Ears?" He asked. "Based on the wording of my promise, it's yours. You saved Solus and if you want to keep the artifact, I will respect your decision."

"Why don't you want Solus to listen to this?"

"Because she would be torn between taking away the prize you deserve and the guilt from Valtak's death." Lith replied. "She feels responsible for his demise and wants to compensate his family.

"At the same time, Solus loves you deeply. After everything you have sacrificed for her, even asking your opinion about who should receive the Ears would make her feel like she's guilting you into giving up on your prize.

"This way, we can settle the matter between us without burdening her conscience."

"You are the one who spent seventeen years in her head. I'll trust your judgment on that." Menadion nodded. "What would you have done if I wasn't involved in the matter?"

"I would have given the Ears to Valtak's Brood." Lith replied. "Tezka and the others helped me greatly, but without Valtak's sacrifice there would have been no victory. I would have kept the Ears for myself and lost Solus forever.

"On top of that, the Organization already has the Absolution and the Maw. I'm pretty sure that, by studying Nandi's powers, Bytra is very close to making her version of the Hands. It makes three pieces of the Set out of five.

"Don't get me wrong. I trust Zoreth and Bytra but I can't say the same about the others, Tezka included. I'm afraid of what the Eldritches might do if they got their hands on a fourth piece as well.

"To make matters worse, the Ears is the most combat-oriented piece of the Set and the Eldritch-monster hybrids are already very dangerous. Their only flaw is their inability to feel the world energy except that as food.

"The Ears would more than make up for that. If the Eldritch-monster hybrids were to get their hands on the Ears, nothing but the strongest Guardians could stand a chance against the Organization."

"I agree." Ripha nodded. "As for your question, Lith, the answer is a bit long. You see, after I finished building the tower, I didn't destroy the Set. I continued working on it, improving on it as I did with the tower.

"I never considered giving the Apprentice Set to Solus, and not because she would one day inherit the tower or because I could lend her the Master Set at any time. My plan was to split the Apprentice Set and give its pieces away from the start.

"As you have learned during your studies, magic progresses in a non-linear way. It stagnated for millennia, even inside the Awakened community. Cursed objects like Windfell or the Golden Griffon were created out of the presumption that magic had peaked.

"That a few improvements would have been possible in the future, but no more significant branches or new applications of magic would be discovered. Even Awakened bloodlines with access to true magic and most specializations suffered the same fate.
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"The constant power struggles between families belonging to the same race kept them from sharing any revolutionary development and groundbreaking theory. A powerful bloodline had to wait for a genius to have a good idea and then for another capable of putting it into practice.

"Problems that could have been solved in mere years dragged on for centuries, limiting the development of magic and restricting its diffusion for even longer."