Chapter 633 - A Fair Trade (Part 1) (2/2)
”You're correct. Helion has an uncanny constitution and Jerth is the only one in the team who got into one of the great academies. Wait, what do you mean 'those like me'?” She knew about the Hush zone, but she still lowered her voice until it was barely audible.
”There are others?”
”Yes. Nalear was one of them. Why do you think she only kidnapped me? She was afraid that I could mess with her plan, and she was right.”
Suddenly many things started to make sense to Phloria. Why both Lith and Nalear could emit an aura without the use of spells, how he had been able to notice the slave items despite they all had a different shape.
The revelation was quite a big shock, so she needed to sit down for a minute.
”Could she shapeshift too?”
”No. As far as I know, only Emperor Beasts and I can shapeshift. Undead too.” He said after a while.
”Are you a human or an Emperor Beast?” The shock in her eyes was growing stronger, but Phloria was just surprised, not scared.
”I wish I knew. My parents are humans, and so are my siblings. As for me, I'm me. I can't give you a better answer, sorry.”
Phloria stood up, never averting his gaze. She couldn't stop asking herself how she looked through those blazing eyes.
”Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” Lith said, grateful that she wasn't prying further.
”Not at all.”
”What in the gods' names did you do with your hair? It was so…” His hand moved towards where the soft mass once was, before stopping midway.
”And now is so…” There was no way to express his disappointment without being rude. Phloria's hair had always been a delight for his touch and his nose. After losing the Gatekeeper, seeing her with the pixie cut was like one blow too many.
”Men are idiots. You've lost your blade, I almost died, you opened to me four years late, and your biggest worry while we are stranded hundreds of meters below the ground, guided by the rudest man I've ever met, it's the length of my hair?”
She was laughing heartily, bringing back for both of them many happy memories.
”I didn't do anything to it. My hair is alive and kicking.” Phloria grabbed a small silver hairpin in the back of her head and took it off. A cascade of waist long hair fell down from her head, giving Phloria back the appearance she had at Jirni's birthday party.
”I cut them once I joined the army, but I got permission to grow them back once I became an officer. My mother too nagged at me for my looks, so I asked Dad for help. Long hair might be nice to look at, but for a fighter is nothing but a nuisance.
”So, he did this for me.” The moment she put the hairpin back, her hair rolled up like a shutter while it was compressed as if it was vacuum-packed.
”Can I see it?” Lith's Forgemaster curiosity was piqued. The hairpin turned out to be a mix of dimensional, air, and light magic. It was the most complex useless pseudo core Lith had ever seen.
'Son of a gun!' Lith thought as Invigoration revealed several little runes covering the hairpin.
'Not only was Solus right about the Kingdom knowing about the runes, but also that big oaf used so many resources for his daughter's hair and made my Gatekeeper so frail!' He was quite pissed off by Orion's double standards.
'First, unless we're talking about people, I'm always right. Second, hello kettle! My name is pot and you are black!' Solus replied.
As if mentioning his name was akin to a summoning ritual, Orion's rune lighted on Lith's communication amulet, drawing his attention.
”Is Jirni okay? Did something happen to Friya?” Lith asked before Orion could even utter a word. There was no other reason he could think of to explain the call. On the rare occasions they had talked to each other, it had always happened in person.