The only sour note was that Rena and the children liked to spend a lot of time back at the Verhen household due to the various magical appliances that made a mother's life much easier, like tap water or a bathroom instead of an outhouse.

"Come in, Nalrond. Brina will get down in a minute." Rena sighed with relief while checking out his new outfit. "Thank the gods you're not like my brother. I was afraid you would show up with your usual clothes after just cleaning them with a spell."

"Lith can afford it because of the Skinwalker armor. Faluel doesn't mind patches and claw marks from the kids, but if Brina sees them, she would ask questions I don't want to answer." Nalrond envied Lith for many reasons and his self-repairing clothes were among them.

"How is Selia doing?"

"I have never seen her so happy. She has gone back hunting and is catching up with all her old friends. My guess is that she was sick and tired of being a housewife in the middle of nowhere." Nalrond said.

"What about the kids? With Prot- Ryman being often away and you all caught up by your apprenticeship, who takes care of the kids while she's out?" Rena asked.

"She does the same thing you do. Selia leaves Lilia and Leran with Zinya and the little Fenrir to Elina. Your mother is great with kids and she says that she's glad to have the opportunity to learn how to take care of hybrid children."

"Lith is getting himself into trouble." Rena shook her head. "Zinya is becoming a part of our family. If it keeps up like this, he will have to face Selia's wrath as well if he messes his relationship with Kamila."

"Indeed. While we're at it, how the heck did Lith manage to date while hiding everything about himself? Maybe this is a mistake. If Brina starts to ask the wrong questions, I might ruin a lot of lives." Nalrond was getting cold feet.

"Relax. Brina has already accepted to go out with you so the hard part is over." Rena straightened his shirt and dusted his shoulders like a mother sending her son to the prom.

"Lith didn't hide much, just the Awakening and the hybrid stuff. Just be yourself and talk freely, but remember to make no mention about those two things…"

"I'm sorry for being late. Have you been waiting long?" Brina came down the stairs.

She was 1.54 meters (5'1") tall with waist-long gold hair and clear blue eyes. Brina wore a white linen blouse and a beige skirt that emphasized her tanned skin. She was quite cute, especially since her diminutive stature emphasized her curves.

"No, I have just arrived." Nalrond took a deep breath and offered her his arm that she promptly took.

"Oh my. Have you been exercising?" Brina asked while feeling his muscles.

"It's a long story." Just the thought of his training made him shudder.

"Then it's a good thing we have all night in front of us. I'm really curious to hear everything about the Blood Desert and why you came to Lutia just to become a nanny. Are you really as good with children as everyone says?"

Brina's questions, her pressing his arm against her chest, and Rena's wink in response to his silent plea for help let Nalrond understand how screwed up he was.

***

Ernas Arch Duchy, a few hours later.

Lith and Kamila had left the Phoenix's Nest for a while and were taking a stroll through the city of Assar before going back home.

Aside from the talk about Kamila's past, they had spent a pleasant evening and she was happy to do a little window shopping.

"Big cities in the south are like another world." Kamila said. "I can't believe there are still so many people around and so many shops open. In the north, only restaurants don't close at sundown and only because people need to eat."

"It's because people here feel safe. The magical lamps light the streets and the Gates allow the guards to intervene promptly. Small villages like Lutia are no different from the north, even in the fear for strangers."

Lith wanted to offer to buy her something, but after hearing how money had been the root of all her trouble, he decided otherwise.

"Always a killjoy." Kamila sighed. "Would have killed you to be less pragmatic and more romantic? We're walking along one of the main streets of a beautiful city, under a beautiful moonlight, and all you can think about-"

An arrow covered in runes and coated in a pungent-smelling substance aimed at her back cut Kamila short.

Lith had pushed her away and intercepted the arrow in mid-air with his bare hand. He had actually used Spirit Magic to stop it and water magic to freeze the venom, keeping it from leaving the arrowhead, just to be safe.

His enhanced hearing had sensed the bowstring snapping and allowed him to react in time. Physical projectiles were usually slower and noisier than mystical ones. It was one of the many reasons why firearms had never been developed on Mogar.

Yet a few professionals would still prefer arrows to wands because arrows could be enchanted with armor-piercing spells and coated with deadly poison. This way, even if the sniper missed a vital organ, by the time the target realized they had been poisoned it would have been too late.

"Undead!" Lith said, making all the bystanders run away in panic.

Not only was the strength of the arm pulling the bowstring inhuman, but Life Vision recognized several blood cores in some of the people disguised as passers-by. Lith attempted to Blink, only to discover that dimensional magic had been sealed.

'Solus, where…' Only then did he remember that he was alone.

Cursing the assailants' perfect timing, Lith took War out of his pocket dimension in a burst of emerald flames and struck at everyone who had yet to run away with Spirit Magic.

Most of them were just regular people paralyzed by fear and the hit knocked them out. Some of them, however, got back on their feet like nothing had happened, revealing their nature of thralls.

"I can't call for reinforcements!" Kamila had learned to always keep her communication amulet at hand, but the array surrounding them sealed it as well.

Lith looked around, searching for the quickest way out of the magical formation and discovering they were at its center.

'This isn't just bad luck, someone is targeting us. The problem is that I don't know which one of us is the assassins' mark. If it's me, then this will be easy. Yet if it's related to Kamila's job, then the attack might just be a diversion to lure me away.' He thought.

Lith heard a second snap and he knew that another arrow had been shot. He conjured a shield of wind and activated his barrier ring, creating an emerald dome that surrounded both him and Kamila.

The enchanted projectile passed through the first defensive layer as if it didn't exist, but it crashed against the Spirit Magic barrier and shattered into countless splinters as its spells died out.

Another of the reasons why firearms had never been developed was that the smaller the item was, the harder engraving it with runes. On top of that, powerful spells put a lot of strain on the materials they were applied to.