Breath after breath, the exposed humerus slid back under the skin and in its place, soon Lith’s body was back to normal.

Rodimas barely reacted to his voice. Seeing her comrades die, being helpless while Melia was tortured, all of it had been a terrible experience. But seeing Raghul’s metamorphosis, smelling his stench of death and decay had been too much.

She hadn’t bit her tongue only because of the gag, but had screamed the whole time nonetheless. She knew that after Lith’s death it would be her turn to be eaten alive. Her eyes only showed the white, the pupil rolled almost backwards.

She had dislocated both her shoulders trying to break free from the restraints. Sweat, tears and mucus dirtied her face, making her hair stick to it like a filthy mask.

The terror had completely broken her.

Lith had to splash Rodimas with cold water to force her to regain her focus.

Her voice was hoarse from the strain, but still clear. She explained how the request hadn’t come through the official channels of the mercenary guild, but via one of their contacts in the black market of the city of Kandria.

According to the books in Soluspedia, it was simply a market town, the nearest trading hub to the academy.

The contractor was a merchant, but the odd request coupled with the high reward had made the mercenaries suspicious. After taking a considerable down payment, they had investigated the matter, discovering that the merchant was just a middle man.

According to their sources, he served the powerful and noble Androse family, famous for its centuries old magical legacy. At that point, they only had two choices, return the money and back off from the job, or get involved in the political struggle.

Sobbing, Rodimas told how she had voted for the former option, but had been outnumbered, because the pay was too good and the risks seemed minimal at the time.

Lith didn’t know what to do. Her story would have been much more significant, if he could do anything about it. The odd thing was that since he had created his own version of the Frankenstein’s monster, the feeling of impending failure had disappeared.

"That’s not all." Rodimas managed to say after some stuttering.

"Since we managed to get in and out of the forest many times, after complimenting with us, our contractor gave us another task. We were supposed to deliver a package tomorrow."

- "The time frame is way off. I had more than a day to catch up with them, so why the need to rush? Still, the vision showed me that the academy is someway related to this. Whatever this thing is, it could be useful to change the course of the events. –

"It’s in my dimensional amulet."

Lith took out all the amulets looted, allowing Rodimas to recognize his own and take out the package. Since magical items just needed a thought to work, he didn’t free her hands, just placed it on her forehead while setting up several protections with spirit magic, just to be on the safe side.

Rodimas kept her word, materializing a wooden box the size of a briefcase. It had no particular markings or insignia, the only remarkable thing about it was the lock.

It was placed along the narrow and long side of the box, and it consisted of an octahedron shaped stone, with several runes engraved all around it, forming a spiral. Using Invigoration, Lith was capable of examining its pseudo core.

- "It’s nothing I have ever seen before. I bet everything I do not have that without the proper code it will self-destruct, explode or something. And if I really want to discover what’s inside, I have only one shot." –

"I suppose you don’t know how to open it."

"No, I don’t. Please, don’t hurt me." Realising to have outlived her usefulness, Rodimas cried in desperation, knowing it was useless to beg for mercy.

"A deal is a deal." Lith double tapped her head and heart with bullet-sized icicles, making sure she wouldn’t suffer.

He was about to leave, when a thumping sound made him turn around, ready for combat despite his mental exhaustion.

To his surprise, it was just the young Byk, again.

"You do really have a talent for escape. How those hunters managed to corner you is a mystery to me." Lith said with an angry tone. Both times he had needed help, the Byk had disappeared leaving him in hot waters.

In Lith’s eyes, that made it persona non grata.

"Dude, that’s harsh! After you rescued me, I was scared sh*tless. Besides, you didn’t seem to need any help. This time I didn’t run away, I went for help. You have no idea how long it took to reach my mom."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah, according to your definition, she is my best friend."

"And I wouldn’t have delayed my departure for a mere human, if not for the fact that you saved my cub and was so stupid to lose control of your own necromancy spell. Hence, as part of your reward I’ll teach you how not to endanger yourself and others with darkness magic."

The Byk mother was an enormous beast, at least 1,8 meters (5’11") tall at the shoulder, with a weight close to a ton. Its fur was deep brown with shades of black all over.

Lith was about to defend himself, explaining that it wasn’t a spell, as much as an experiment, when he realized what had happened.

- "Delay the departure? So that’s why I needed to make haste? All that’s happened was just a step to speak with this Byk?" –

The Byk mother moved closer, sniffing at him with curiosity.

"You look like a human, but there something different from the others I have met so far. What’s your name, cub?"

"Scourge." Lith deemed wiser using the name bestowed upon him by the Trawn woods’ kings. If the Byk mother knew humans, he had to protect his identity.

"Strong name for someone so young." It snorted. "A Byk name, even. That’s a good omen. I’m Kalla, and that’s my youngest one, Nok."

Lith gave both a polite nod with the head.

"Listen well, cub. There is a reason if light and darkness magic are so scarce in nature, and that is because they are the strongest elements. Light nurtures life, according to legends, can even resurrect the dead or create new beings.

Darkness, instead, is the element of death. It’s not evil by itself, it’s just that all living beings are scared of death, so they fear it. And fear can easily turn in spite and prejudice."

Lith inwardly scoffed at those words.

- "I have yet to meet someone, human or not, that doesn’t consider the element they are best at as the strongest. As for light magic, is a great tool, but powerful is not the word I’d use to describe it. Convenient at best."

"Whatever." Solus mind rolled her eyes. "Why you don’t stay quiet and listen? When are we going to find again someone teaching us real magic?" –

Kalla stared at him for a second, sensing his disbelief.

"Tell me, Scourge, how many magical beasts have you met that use light magic?"

"None." He was forced to admit.

"And how many capable of darkness magic?"

"Just one. It was a Byk, a few years ago."

"Zero and one, while there are countless beasts that use the other elements. Have you ever wondered why? Let me show you an old Byk trick."

Kalla tapped the ground twice with her left pawn claws, dark energy swirling around her massive body.

"Arise."