"I haven’t given you a proper check-up since you’ve become Quylla’s patient, so there’s a lot I could be missing. Nothing is certain until she examines you, okay?"

"Okay." Ryla lowered her eyes, knowing that Lith was only trying to console her.

"He’s right." Morok nodded. "I was so excited about my new powers that I forgot to check on my life force. I missed my opportunity, but at least now I know for certain there is more I can achieve.

"I may be nowhere near the finishing line, but my bloodline is not a dead end. Your bloodline is not a dead end either, Ryla. You’ve seen it yourself."

"You’re right, Morok." A faint smile appeared on her face. "Thank you."

"Enough with this!" A great rage surged in Raagu’s heart as she felt the elemental light in her eyes fade. "Are you the future of the human race or not, Verhen?"

It was an unknown power she hadn’t used once, yet a part of her grieved its loss like the amputation of one of her limbs.

Lith narrowed his eyes in annoyance at Raagu’s outburst, but told her about the emerald thread.

’The more the humans of both Councils are interested in the changes in my life force, the more they’ll consider this discovery a part of their reward.’ Lith thought. ’It will lessen their demands on Vladion and defuse many potential conflicts.

’The undead Council is on Vladion’s side, and so are the Guardians. If the humans support him as well, there’s nothing the plants and beasts can do.’

"Can I take a look at this emerald thread? Please?" Raagu asked, her voice filled with childish glee.

Gyrwin joined her request, soon followed by many of the human Councils.

"I’m sorry, but no." Lith replied with his most compassionate tone. "I can’t risk one of you spotting a weakness in my life force I’m not aware of and using it against me for whatever reason."

The disappointment of the various human factions turned into understanding and then outrage as they glared at each other with suspicion.

"Also, the phenomenon is already over. There’s nothing you can learn by studying my life force. It’s too different from your own, and there are only three people on Mogar like me." Lith continued.

"Yet there is something I can show you." He conjured the hologram of a generic human life force. "The emerald thread worked more or less like this."

He turned the red colossus green and demonstrated how the combination of wings and eyes allowed a human to harness and amplify all kinds of elemental energy.

"If I’m right, humans are the evolutionary equivalent of regular animals. Just like animals evolve into magical beasts and then into Emperor Beasts, humans should evolve into Balors and the Balors into Fomors."

"What about Tyrants and Jotunns?" Gyrwin asked, shocking most of those present. "You heard that right. Jotunns are also evolved Humans."

Scoffs and other rude expressions of disbelief followed her statement.

"Say what you want. That’s what I’ve come to believe." She continued. "After Eari exposed the Tyrants as evolved humans and the people of Zelex came to Jiera, I cross-referenced their life forces with those of all the suspiciously humanoid Emperor Beasts in my books.

"I discovered that even though a Jotunn’s life force has nothing in common with a human’s, it presents too many similarities with both Tyrants and Balors for it to be a coincidence."

"I think you are right." Feela the Behemoth, the Beast Representative, said and Raagu nodded. "It would explain why the Jotunn clan of Verendi was so insistent in their request to participate in the Harmonizer project."

"They made the Garlen Council an offer almost too good to turn it down, but we did it anyway because we couldn’t trust them after the repeated attempts of Jiera’s Council against Verhen." The Human Representative said.

"If Gyrwin’s assumption is correct, Tyrants and Jotunns are evolutionary branches focused respectively on magical and physical power." Lith replied. "Tyrants are less gifted than Balors, but are born with mana cores that the Balors lack and can always achieve six eyes.

"Jotunns are bigger and stronger, but have no elemental affinity except for whatever allows them to conjure the Black Thunder."

"What about Eari? What about his half-brother, Garrik?" Raagu pondered.

"They are not quite another step forward in human evolution, more like a side step." Lith pointed out. "Morok is still a Tyrant, but his life force seems able to reproduce the elemental powers of a Balor.

"Garrik, instead, is a Fallen Fomor whose life force is stabilized by his Tyrant blood. In the end, Garrik’s and Morok’s life forces seem to converge toward the Unfallen Fomor state."

"Which in turn seems to be an evolutionary step behind you, Verhen." Gyrwin said. "You are the only one with seven eyes. You are the one who underwent the greatest changes during the fight against Ruugat, and it was your changes that affected the rest of us.

"The closer to your condition a human was, the greater the effect they experienced." She glared in envy at Morok and Ryla.

’Thank the gods everyone thinks I’m a Verhen and believes my temporary evolution is a family thing.’ Solus inwardly sighed in relief. ’If someone asked me how and why I got my proto-wings, I wouldn’t know what to say.’

"It’s possible." Lith upheld his promise to Menadion and hid his knowledge about the apex form of the human race. "But even if you are right, studying my life force is of no use to you. If you are just an ’animal’, you can’t aim to become a ’Guardian’ in one step.

"You must follow the proper order." He pointed at the Balors, then the Fomors, and lastly to himself, and Gyrwin nodded for him to continue. "If you want to help the humans of Jiera to evolve, help the people of Zelex first.

"Whatever happened today might have partly restored their life forces, and its effect might still be lingering. Please, establish a stable corridor of Warping Arrays leading the Fomors from one mana geyser to another, all the way to their homes.

"Don’t let them revert to their Fallen state for any reason for at least three days. After that, the improvements in their life forces should have stabilized, and further changes should become highly unlikely."

"Unlikely but possible." Gyrwin nodded. "So, we’ll make it a week."

In her eyes and those of the members of the Jieran Awakened Council, the people of Zelex had just turned from filthy monsters who had invaded their land to potential assets that the human Awakened could use to further their evolution.

With the attention of the human Councils focused on the Balors, soon all claims over the resources of Detemer ceased. After all, enchanted metals and crystals could be found anywhere, while finding a path to further human evolution was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Vladion intended to create a safe haven for the people of Zelex, and now the human Councils had every reason to ensure that nothing and no one interfered with the First Vampire’s plan.

"Gods, I’m so envious of you, Ryla." Syrah tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of her voice.