City of Ocra, Griffon Kingdom
The news of the fall of Kulah had shed an even more disturbing light around the rogue Awakened Lith Verhen, Raagu Drerian, the human representative in the Council of the Awakened decided that their meeting was long overdue.
"First this Verhen has killed Treius, causing the downfall of master Glamus as well. Then he got caught in the scheme laid by those six runts in Zantia, causing the death of six disciples and two more elders.
"Usually it takes an all-out war to kill so many Awakened in such a short time. To make things even worse, rumors are spreading that he has managed to apply the Skinwalker spell to Orichalcum on his own.
"It would be a simple feat if he had a master, but according to our background check, he has none. We can't afford to let such a powerful individual remain a rogue anymore, he must be brought into our ranks."
Raagu failed to mention that Lady Tyris had already met Lith in person twice, something that most Awakened failed to accomplish during their whole life, Raagu included.
"What are your orders, master Raagu?" Athung Soranot asked. She had once been one of Raagu's apprentices, now a free Awakened and one of the candidates to inherit her legacy.
"Go to Lutia, wait for Lith, and bring him here on friendly terms. I've no desire to discover how far his power goes nor to alert the Queen's corps. We have nothing to gain from kidnapping him. Best case scenario, we make an enemy out of him."
"What about the worst-case scenario?" Athung tilted her head, she had rarely seen her former master so nervous.
'Lady Tyris comes here and slaughters us all.' Raagu thought.
"Believe me, you don't want to know." Was what she actually said.
***
Ernas Mansion, after dinner
Lith was sitting on his bed, working together with Solus to translate the words of power engraved on Huryole's sword into modern runes. Enough pieces of paper to fill a book were floating in mid-air along with several blots of ink that he used to either take notes or make corrections.
From the following day, Lith would finally be able to use his own magic instead of relying on Solus's, which meant he would be free to go back to Lutia and make experiments in their tower.
Also, he had to plan his visit to Protector and Selia, something that now was of the utmost importance. With the body-swapping book in his possession, Lith could finally plan ahead.
The future wasn't so scary anymore, especially since if he managed to conquer the Odi's technology, he would solve his reincarnation problem. If he hadn't joined the army, he would have never got access to the Royal Library, nor to all the confidential information about the undead.
His original plan was to turn himself into an undead, which he had discarded due to their many limitations in movement or use of magic, or to bind his soul to an item, yet cursed objects had proved it to be an even more desperate plan than becoming an undead, or to achieve immortality.
Body-swapping wasn't really immortality, but it was still the next best thing. Even if he had to rebuild his body and mana core from scratch, what could a few dozen years mean to someone who would live centuries?
"Lith, don't you think there's something wrong with me?" Kamila asked, forcing him to arrange the papers in a folder with a flick of his wrist before storing them inside Soluspedia.
"What do you… Great Mother almighty!" Very few things made Lith religious and that was one of them.
Kamila was standing in front of him, wearing only black lace lingerie and a worried expression.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting so much enthusiasm. It's not the first time you've seen me without clothes after all." She giggled while noticing the sudden rush of blood to his heads.
"May I remind you I spent a whole month fighting against unspeakable horrors, risking my life every single day while surrounded only by old coots and stinky soldiers? I'm not used to such beauty anymore. You should have given me some warning."
Kamila would have loved to keep flirting, but her worries couldn't wait.
"I've been pale for weeks, yet in the last two days, not only am I back to my regular complexion, but I'm also gaining weight. Haven't you noticed?"
Lith had a hard time, and not only at not noticing her smooth skin and soft curves.
"That's because since I've returned your mood has improved and you eat more." He replied.
"Yes, but this fast? I'm already amazed by how quickly you recovered, but I've never had a shred of your inhuman constitution. How do you think it's possible that the only places I gained weight are here and here?"
She said while touching her bosom first and her buttocks later, giving Lith a monstrous headache. The answer was a bit of Invigoration and light magic from Solus's side that had enhanced Kamila's metabolism.
Solus's intention had been to simply help Kamila to assimilate the nutrients and quickly relieve her body from all the stress it had sustained. Since Kamila was still young and very fit thanks to Jirni's training, the results had far exceeded even Lith's expectations.
"That might be my fault." He admitted. "Do you remember those disgusting tonics we both had to drink?"
Kamila nodded.
"I think they might have turned our famished bodies into this." He took off the upper part of the Skinwalker armor, showing his upgraded body to her for the first time.
"Well, I'm not going to complain, as long as you swear to me that this isn't any form of body modification. I'm your girlfriend, not your toy, correct?" Kamila's voice was soft, but her question held a lot of implications.
She knew about Body Sculpting and seeing her physique change so fast had made her fear that Lith might have gone overboard. Seeing his honest surprise had greatly reassured her, but she still wanted to hear it from his mouth.
"I did nothing to your body, nor would I administer you any potion without your consent. I'm shocked as you are. This actually adds insult to injury, making what I'm about to say even more painful." Lith sighed.
"What's wrong baby? After all this talk about my body, I thought you would be happier to check out how much stamina I've recovered." She sat on Lith's lap, rubbing her body against him while kissing him with growing passion.
"Quylla thinks that I should rest today as well, to let my life force stabilize." He moaned with a mix of pleasure from Kamila's movements and pain from the words coming from his own mouth.
"Seriously? After worrying about you for an entire month, after two whole days of holding myself back for this moment, do we really have to postpone again?" She nibbled at his earlobe before kissing her way down Lith's neckline
"Yes. Unless you want to risk taking a few years off my lifespan." He pushed her away before his mind went completely blank.
"Is it really so dangerous?" Kamila stopped abruptly, becoming as stiff as he was, afraid to hurt him.
"Sadly, yes. The silver lining is that once the sun rises, I should be good to go."