I mean, sure, Ripha's tower is the best on Mogar, but in the World Tree's roots, I'd kidnap Yaga. No offense, Yaga.

" The First Magus said.

"None taken.

" The Red Mother replied.

"She knows everything about tower crafting, the Yggdrasill could use their own wood as material, and she can also use Creation Magic in case something goes wrong during the Forgemastering phase.

"Ep-I mean, Solus's abilities, instead, are nothing much and she has no idea how her tower side works, let alone how to make another.

"

Lith scowled at her and was about to give Silverwing a piece of his mind when Baba Yaga stepped between them and gave him a small bow.

"We're sorry for intruding in a private moment, but curiosity got the better of us. We couldn't help but overhear since we were in the proximities to both work on the finishing touches for Lochra's tower and oversee your recovery.

"

It was then that Lith noticed there was something weird with his condition. He felt tired and even the hair on his body ached, but that was it.

'What the **? After the blue flames charred me to the bones for hours and the Dread Flames cauterized my life force, I should be a wreck. Even with Grandma's healing, it usually takes me a few days to be capable of using my full power without shortening my life span further.

'Now, however, my life force is strong and stable. The cracks have already returned to their original state and there's no sign of lingering wounds. I'm just tired.' His stomach growled. 'And hungry.'

"Is this your work?

" Lith flexed his fingers to test his grip.

"Even eight hours of sleep inside a tower aren't enough to fully recover from that kind of damage.

"

"It is.

" Baba Yaga nodded.

"I'm not Salaark. I'm not okay with you just surviving your injuries. I need you to save Solus. I couldn't afford the time for your life force to stabilize on its own. I hope you can understand and forgive me.

"

During his stay inside Baba Yaga's tower, she hadn't just focused the world energy inside his room. She had constantly checked on Lith's mana flow, giving the different areas of his body exactly as much world energy as they could process without strain.

It was a custom treatment where even the fingers of the same hand had each received a different dosage of world energy. This way, each part of Lith's body had recovered at its own pace, with the flow of energy increasing solely when they could handle it.

Baba Yaga had devoted part of her focus to nurturing and feeding Lith down to the cellular level. Thanks to her, after a single night of sleep his Awakened body had undergone the equivalent of weeks of rejuvenation cycles.

"Understand, yes, but forgive?

" Lith shook his head.

"There's nothing to forgive. You did me a big favor. You saved me a lot of time and spared me from betting my life in exchange for Solus. I am greatly indebted to you, Lady Yaga.

"

He gave her a deep bow that she exploited to caress his head gently.

"Just Yaga, child. If we rescue Epphy, I'll allow you to call me Malyshka.

"

"Since the family reunion is already ruined and we are talking business, what happened to your original design?

" Lith stood tall again and turned to Silverwing as he pointed at her tower.

"The last time we met, you were working on gold-veined white marble as base material and you were still far from cracking the secrets of Menadion's tower crafting technique. How did you complete your research in such a short time?

"

"I didn't.

" The First Magus shook her head.

"Rescuing Solus takes priority and if we ever face the World Tree inside their domain, we need all the strength we can gather. Yaga offered to help me to complete my project but sadly she failed to guess the missing steps.

"Her tower crafting technique and Ripha's are too different so we have gone for something more up your alley.

" Silverwing smirked.

"A hybrid. We combined my research with Yaga's expertise to craft what you can currently see.

"

A wave of her hand highlighted the veins in the metal structure of Silverspire, allowing Lith to understand its composition. Less than half the tower was comprised of silver which in turn was encircled by as much Orichalcum.

Large patches of Adamant were placed in key points of the Orichalcum while small ingots of Davross formed a widespread network of thin veins that ran throughout the Adamant.

"We didn't have time to collect and grow mystical wood to make a replica of Yaga's tower or the ability to properly enchant a sturdy but fickle material like the gold-veined white marble so we met halfway.

"I've consumed all my metal reserves to craft the current Silverspire, but it was worth it. With every second my tower spends over the geyser, each mystical metal seeps into its inferior version and catalyzes its refinement.

"Thanks to this process, not only is Silverspire becoming sturdier as we speak, but the fluid nature of its materials also allows the runes of the tower core to adjust their position and optimize the mana flow.

"It's all data I can collect once we've rescued Elphyn and use it to resume my work on the original Silverspire. Had I used the gold-veined white marble, instead, any mistake we made during the crafting process would have emerged during the battle and we would have had no time to fix it.

"This way the tower is fine-tuning itself and if a major blockage manifests, Yaga and I can still work on solving the issue until the moment of our departure for the Fringe. For what is worth, so far so good.

"

"Is Silverspire fully functional or is it just a prototype?

" Lith asked.

"It contains all the enchantments I intended for my original design of Silverspire, including the battle form, if that's what you're asking.

" Silverwing replied.

"Without it, a tower is a sitting duck and completely useless on the battlefield.

"

"That's not what I was worried about.

" Lith studied Silverspire with Life Vision, appreciating the perfect blend of the different parts. The stronger metals enhanced the weaker, increasing their durability and enhancing their refinement speed by skipping the germination process.

"You said it's a hybrid and I know all too well that hybrids come with lots of issues. I'm asking you if Silverspire is a full-fledged mage tower or just the best thing you two could put together in the little time you had.

"

"It's both.

" Baba Yaga said with a wan smile.

"It could be better, but it could be much worse. Still, it enhances Lochra's power way beyond that of a bright white mana-cored Awakened and packs quite a punch. It will do its job. You have my word.

"

"About that, how did you figure out how to replicate the Crucible?

" The Red Mother matching Menadion's feat impressed and irked Lith in equal measure.

"We didn't.

" Silverwing shrugged.

"Yaga's knowledge of life and refinement allowed us to speed up the evolution of the mystical metals, but this is nothing like the Crucible.

"