āVisiting this room is already a sneak peek. Who knows when weāll actually get it? If this is all it can do, then itās pretty terrible.ā She thought.
"Agreed." Lith replied.
"Mind fusion, remember?" He added in response to her surprise.
Solus felt stupid for a second, then she had a crazy idea that made Lithās skin crawl. He focused on a small pebble in the middle of the street, using spirit magic to move it. Lith could perceive the tendrils of his mana moving through the air, wrapping around the stone.
Moving it was as hard as it was an elephant. Lith tried a series of chore magic spells too before giving up. Fire blackened only a spot the size of a pinhead, water couldnāt freeze it even with the weather being already cold and earth magic didnāt manage to crack it.
"Itās useless. Yes, we can use magic even from this distance, but the effects are negligible. Unless..."
Lith focused on the area surrounding the tower and the image in the mirror changed accordingly. He could see and hear everything in 25 meters (82 feet) radius, like every single stone that composed Solusās body was his eyes and ears.
He could even use Life Vision and Solusās mana sense at will, allowing him to spot all the animals and magical beasts in the vicinity. When he used chore water magic on a dried up tree, it had the same effect of a tier one spell.
"I stand corrected. It doesnāt suck at all. I can use it not only to scout everything within its area of effect, but I can also cast spells while being empowered by the tower and the mana geyser. This is a tremendous improvement to our defensive capabilities." Lith was overjoyed by the discovery.
"I wonder which one of these mirrors controls the arrays." Solus pondered.
"What arrays?"
"I am bound to have several arrays at my disposal, both for protection and attack. Remember what Jirni said? If every noble household has wards to protect against Warp Steps, I donāt think my maker was so dumb to overlook the dangers of dimensional magic."
Lith was about to move towards a mirror with a square frame, when his vision cracked, as if he was watching through a kaleidoscope. The room seemed to be spinning around, disorienting him and making Lith lose his balance.
"What the heck is happening?" Suddenly the world wasnāt so pink anymore. He didnāt feel happy or relaxed, just angry.
"I guess our time has ran out." Solus calmly bit one last pastry while the tower rumbled ominously. The tremors increased while the room was shrinking in size. Countless cracks appeared on the walls.
Like living snakes they spread up to the ceiling, making dust and debris fall on their head.
Lithās mind was too messed up to use dimensional magic for escaping. He couldnāt see or focus properly with Solusās mind getting in and out of his own like it was a revolving door.
He could only stumble towards the stairs, but everything happened too fast even for his enhanced body. Huge sections of the ceiling came crashing down, forcing Lith to roll forward to avoid being squashed to death.
A giant piece of stone fell on the stairs, blocking his way.
"F*ck me sideways!" He yelled while the whole room came down.
The rubble weighted more than a ton, but instead of turning him into toothpaste, it simply pushed him down through the floor. The rock beneath his feet became immaterial for a second, letting him fall down to the ground level unharmed.
He hadnāt the time to use any spell, yet he was slowly descending through the air as he weighed nothing more than a leaf.
"Why so scared, dummy?" Solus chuckled.
"The tower is my body and so is every single piece of stone and furniture. I would never allow any harm to befall my beloved host." She smiled.
"Holy sh*t! You are smiling!" Lith pointed his finger to the figure that was floating in mid air a few centimetres from him.
It was a humanoid female, entirely made of golden light. It had no facial features, aside from her shining eyes, a smiling mouth and a cascade of golden hair enveloping her whole body that floated in the air like she was moving underwater.
"What do you mean?" Her mouth disappeared. Solus had barely the time to look down on her own hands when her body imploded on itself returning to be a wisp made of light.
"F*ck!" Solus angrily swore.
"Can I see how did I look like through your memories?"
"I donāt think itās a good idea." Lith shook his head.
"Pretty please with a cherry on top?" She begged while circling around him.
"Solus, itās for your own good. You wouldnāt like what you see."
"Please, I need to know!" She rammed into Lithās head to emphasize her point.
"We just reconciled, I donāt want you to get angry or sad."
"I wonāt, I promise."
"Remember your words, because I will." Lith let his memories flow into their mind link.
He had been true to his word, Solus didnāt like it.
"Whatās this? C cup, maybe more. F*ck the light? Solus is a shorty, barely 1.54 (5ā1") high? Nice legs, sadly ass N/A? Her belly looks kind of flabby?" The images had more footnotes than a directorās cut.
"Did you check me out in less than five seconds?" Lith couldnāt share a memory without everything that came attached to it.
"Yes. I told you it would make you angry. Or sad. Or both."
"Thatās why you made me promise!"
"Guilty as charged." Lith nodded with a smirk.
"Iām the one stuck in a pubescent body for at least another few years and as I told you before, you have no idea how it feels. I already have to keep everything I do and say in check. I have no control over my thoughts."
Solus accepted his explanation, but was quite pissed off anyway.
āAll this time wondering how Iād look like in a human body and when I finally get to see it, my precious memory is ruined by those sh*tty remarks. Couldnāt he just be stunned by my beauty?ā
"So, how do you plan on curing Elina?"
"Itās going to be tricky." Lith sighed, remembering the second reason he had decided to solve his conflict with Solus. He needed her help.
"This isnāt just anybody, itās my mother we are talking about. Iām not going to take any risks, I canāt afford using Invigoration during the procedure. I need my full focus and for you to constantly monitor her vitals. Just like we did to remove the undeadās poisoning, if I slip up, you must prevent things from escalating."
"Donāt worry, we can do it. Weāll get Elina pregnant in a jiffy!" She declared proudly, making Lith emit a retching sound.
"Gross!"
"Oh, come on! You know what I mean. We just need to get inside her and do our job."
"Please, stop!" Lith begged her. "This is even worse."
"Fine, Iāll shut up." She mind pouted.
āI donāt know if the prolonged isolation made me socially awkward or itās just that fusing myself with Lith infected me with his dirty mind.ā
While pondering about her poor choice of words, Solus found herself resting on his lap. Lith was planning ahead the procedure while caressing the wisp as it was a puppy.
Before she could realize it, Solus fell asleep for the first time in over eight years.