Chapter 2907: The Outsider (part 1)

"How do I hold things now?" Lith whined as both of his hands were held hostage.

"That's what Spirit Magic is for, baby." Kamila chuckled.

The Gate brought them to the entrance of the Heavenly Plume Tribe since the Royals lacked a pass for direct access to the Overlord's Palace.

Salaark was already there, taking care of retrieving Shargein before leaving the Kingdom.

She had arranged a welcome ceremony and informed the rest of the family of the group's arrival. A long red carpet covered in flower petals went from the Gate to the palace and there was a small crowd waiting for them.

"Welcome back, son." Raaz gave Lith a quick hug and patted his back before passing him to Elina for the inspection.

"Thanks, Dad. It's nice to see you too." Lith conjured Trion from his Void Sigil to let him take part in the family reunion.

"Why is everyone so glum?" Elina patted Lith's arms and chest for injuries and then took his face in her hands to look for signs of malnutrition. "Based on what Salaark told us, the expedition was a success."

"It was, but a few things have happened that have ruined the trip for us." Lith nodded at Aran and Leria.

Elina understood that the matter had to wait until after bedtime and moved on to the Trion.

"Welcome back, son. How was Jiera?"

"It was… interesting. We have been welcomed by a tribe of merfolk." It was the only nice thing he could say about the trip without delving into the politics, the fights, and the diseases.

"Really?" Aran and Leria asked in unison, conjuring the holograms of the various depictions of the merfolk they had seen in different children's books until they found the right one. "Cool!"

"Yeah. They want to build a city here in the Desert so you might meet them soon." As the children burst into cheers, Elina performed her wellness check. "Mom, do you have to do this?"

"Do what?" She asked.

The mention of the Fomor reminded Lith of the weird interaction between Life Maelstrom and his eyes.

'Fomor can produce a golden lightning. Maybe I can ask Ryla to help me in a few experiments.' He then noticed Solus glaring at him. 'Not now, of course. I mean many days from now.'

"That's not cheating since they use chore magic just like us." Aran countered. "That's talent."

"Yeah, right, because a bell rings every time they exceed the mana we can use." Leria replied with a sneer. "The difference between chore and tier one magic is just power. They cheat. Maybe they don't do it on purpose but they cheat."

"You are just envious of their talent." Aran scoffed pointedly.

"Cheating!" "Talent!" The bickering went on for a while until they demanded a tiebreaker. "Uncle/Big bro!"

"Leria is right. Given a task regarding chore magic, is easy for an Awakened to cheat without even noticing." Lith replied making Leria gloat. "Yet Aran is also right. The affinity for the elements of Emperor Beasts and Fomor also gives them a great talent for magic."

Leria gasped and it was now Aran's turn to gloat.

"So you are both right." Lith concluded, disappointing them both.

"How can I beat them, Uncle Lith?" Leria asked, tugging at his arms and pointing at Valeron.

She felt guilty for discriminating against him. Garrik too was the son of a bad man but he had no fault for it and was a good friend to her and Aran.

"The same way I beat Aunt Quylla and Friya at the academy even though they were more talented than me. By working hard." Lith handed the baby boy to Leria and he smiled at her with so much joy that her guilt worsened by leaps and bounds.

'By my Mom, can you believe the nerve of this man, Kami?' Solus chuckled at the children moaning and groaning. 'He beat them because he could do all-nighters thanks to Invigoration and because he had me.'

'I know.' Kamila chuckled as well. 'He's one of the dirtier cheaters on the face of Mogar if not the dirtiest.'

'Please, you are just envious of me.' Lith inwardly clicked his tongue in mock indignance, making them laugh harder.