Chapter 3834: Deceiving Appearances (Part 1)

“Go, Ripha.” Salaark said. “We’ll take care of the Featherlings.”

Menadion nodded and returned to the Infirmary.

“Sorry for the wait.” The First Ruler of the Flames saw guilt and shame on the faces of her guests, but felt no need to console them. “You wanted the truth, Quylla Ernas, here it is.”

A wave of her hand conjured a life-sized hologram of the First King in his apex form.

Valeron was over two meters (7′) tall, and he wore the Saefel Set, leaving only his face and hands exposed. What looked like six feathered wings, each comprised of pure elemental energy, burst out of his back like jets of fire.

He had five extra eyes, arranged in the same pattern as his wings, and all seven of them burned with the power of a different element. The skin of the First King was a light emerald green that extended to his hair, gradually deepening to a slightly darker hue.

Every centimeter of his body was infused with so much Spirit Magic that he shone with inner light, and what reached the surface was just what he failed to contain.

“Good gods! How could I be so stupid? How could I forget about Valeron the First?” Morok said, taking the words out of Quylla’s mind.

“His wings are identical to the Engine’s and similar to yours, babe.” She pointed out.

“Similar?” The Tyrant snorted. “I’m not even worthy of being called Valeron’s prototype. He is majestic! His wings are a symphony of power and beauty! I’m bestial and my wings are wild and crooked.”

Morok shapeshifted into his real body and stood beside the hologram to highlight the differences.

“We are nothing alike.”

“I meant that your wings are made of pure energy as well, Morok. Valeron emits the power of the elements just like you.” Quylla pointed at the hologram. “Don’t be cruel to yourself. A white core always reaches the apex of their race, no matter their starting point, whereas you got where you are by yourself.”

“More like due to Glemos’ crazy experiments.” Morok stared at Lith, his face distorted in a grimace of envy.

It was an emotion alien to the Tyrant, and it took him by surprise as much as it did his friends.

“I don’t look much like him either.” Lith shrugged. “Eyes aside, we couldn’t be more different.”

“I disagree.” Morok replied, his voice now calm. “You have all your eyes on your face and multiple wings on your back. On top of that, you have yet to tap into your human side. Things might change as you learn what you can do.”

Lith nodded, both in acknowledgement and praise for the Tyrant’s self-control.

“What does Silverwing apex form look like?” Quylla walked around Morok, Lith, Tista, Solus, and Friya, touching their shoulders in turns to compare their life forces with her breathing technique.

“I beg your pardon?” Menadion tilted her head in confusion.

“Silverwing is a white core too.” Quylla said. “I’m curious if all apex forms look the same and if not, what the differences are.”

“Aunt Loka has no apex form.” Solus replied. “Or rather, she has yet to find a way to access hers.”

“It’s a shame.” Quylla pondered. “We could learn a lot by studying and comparing the different human ranks. Tower, display the available data on all evolved humans.”

Images of humans, Balors, Fomors, Tyrants, and Tiamats appeared on the displays, but not Valeron’s.

“Permission granted.” Menadion said, and the data of the First King appeared right beside Lith’s. “I’m sorry, your clearance isn’t high enough to access my secrets. I’ve just declassified everything I know about Valeron the First.”

“Thanks.” Quylla nodded and read through the files. “Interesting. The First King is classified as rank 4. Only one level above Lith and Tista.”

“That’s because my former apprentices, Sinmara and Surtr, are also white cores. Yet aside from their size, their apex form is only slightly different from their original Divine Beast form.” Menadion replied.

“This and the fact that Guardians pass down to their descendants a similar life force and part of their bloodline abilities, leads me to believe that a white core is above a Divine Beast but below a Guardian.

“To give you an idea, I consider a lizard a rank 0, a Salamander a rank 1, a Drake a rank 2, a Dragon a rank 3, a white cored Dragon a rank 4, and a Guardian a rank 5.”

“It’s a solid theory.” Quylla kept studying the data of the fight for a few minutes before looking away from the holographic displays. “First of all, let me say that I consider you an unparalleled genius not only of your generation, but of our times as well, Ripha.

“Without the Eyes, Ears, and the Infirmary, it would have taken me years to understand what happened while Lith fought against Ruugat, just like Lith would have never tapped into his human bloodline abilities if not for the Elemental Storage.”

“You made sense of all that data already?” Lith’s eyes widened in amazement.

The various pieces of the Menadion Set collected information, but it was up to their owner to interpret the readings.

“More like I have a working theory.” Quylla shook her head. “I can’t be sure of anything until you guys put it to the test, but at least it fits all the phenomena that took place in Jiera and the readings of the Infirmary.”

“Well?” Menadion asked, crossing her arms in anticipation.

“I believe that the reason Lith never tapped into his powers as an evolved human except for during the brief moments when his life was in danger, is that his Phoenix bloodline fooled him all along.” Quylla said.

“Are you saying that my blood affected Lith negatively and crippled his potential?” Salaark took such words as a personal offense and appeared out of nowhere.

“No, you misunderstand me.” Quylla raised her hands to calm down the angry Guardian. “Human and Phoenix blood do mix, or you wouldn’t have a Tiamat and a Hekate. The problem is that they mix too well.”

“Okay, now you’ve lost me.” The Overlord wasn’t angry anymore, just confused.

“Think about it.” Quylla said. “Lith has a vertical pupil and sees far away like a Phoenix, so you think he has the eyes of a Phoenix. His wings are feathered, so he used them only to emit Origin Flames.”

“And that’s wrong?” Lith was even more confused than Salaark.

“No, but just because it’s the right way to use your wings and eyes, it doesn’t mean it’s the only way to use them.” Quylla shook her head. “What I’m trying to say is that your Phoenix blood messed up the perception you have of yourself.

“That you have the eyesight and Origin Flames of a Phoenix and the seven eyes and feathered wings of an evolved human.”

Everyone stared at Quylla, but she could tell from their expressions that her words sounded like gibberish to their ears.

“Let’s put it this way. Balors and Phoenixes both have feathered wings. Are they the same?”

“No.” Lith replied.

“Exactly!” Quylla pointed at the Infirmary’s screens. “A Phoenix’s wings emit fire, whereas a Balor’s absorb energy. In Lith’s case, one thing doesn’t exclude the other. You knew of your Phoenix side, saw the flames, and thought that was it.”

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