The talons on Lith's feet pierced through the rock, anchoring him to the ground. Then, Lith focused the gravity sheath on himself as he yanked the tail down with all of the strength that he could muster.

Iskha suddenly felt much lighter and soared in the sky, yet he screamed in horror the moment he understood that the reason why he couldn't find his balance was that he had been mutilated.

Darkness fusion allowed him to not feel pain, but the blood gushing from the severed limb and the damage on his spine were still there. The former made him weaker by the second while the latter had turned his hind legs into dead weight.

All the while War stung at him non-stop, keeping him from using Invigoration.

'F.u.c.k my pride, I must escape before-' War suddenly ceasing its attack turned Iskha's fear into joy, but seeing it dart back into Lith's hands made his joy turn into horror.

The Wyrmling moved as fast as a bullet as he plunged the blade into the Vagrash's ribcage. The hit didn't kill him on the spot only because War was too small to reach Iskha's heart. Yet it was long enough to break his ribs and pierce his lung.

An agony that no magic could keep at bay coursed through his body as the enchantments of the angry blade ate at the Vagrash from the inside.

"I yield. We're both beasts, there's no reason to fight to the death." Iskha coughed out blood with each word he spoke. The suffering that twisted his snout made his plea even more convincing.

Lith stopped for a split second and a smile formed on his face. Iskha sighed in relief, without noticing the smile growing wider until it was too late. A sudden burst of Origin Flames went straight down the Vagrash's throat, but they didn't kill him.

They just made it impossible for him to use Invigoration or even to breathe. The fall to the ground didn't kill him either. Iskha slowly drowned in his own blood, weeping tears of pain until the moment his heart stopped.

Only then did Lith recall War and stored the corpse in his dimensional pocket. It would make an excellent vessel for one or more of his Demons if the necessity ever arose.

"That was so cool, Lith!" Aran said.

From such a distance, he had only caught glimpse of the fight and his childish imagination had done the rest. The injured soldiers had already healed their wounds with potions and Solus had gotten rid of the blood spatters with a pulse of darkness magic.

Damaged estates weren't scary unless you were the one who had to pay for the repairs. Lith shapeshifted back into his human form under the cover of the Scalewalker armor before turning it back into the deep blue robe of an Archmage.

The death of his enemy and the sight of his little brother jumping with joy put the leash back on Lith's trauma, allowing him to wear a sincere smile on his face.

"I hope all that noise didn't scare you too much." He said while holding Aran tight and checking him with Invigoration, just to stay on the safe side.

"I'm not scared, just disappointed. I wanted to see you kick that bad guy's ass! Why did you send me away?" Aran pouted.

"Because bad guys love hostages. I didn't want you to end up like that poor old man." Lith pointed at the store owner whose neck was covered in a thin bloody bandage.

The old man was pale as a ghost and unconscious. Regular people had either fainted or ran away in fear during the battle. Only some of the city guards had enough of their wits left to speak.

Aran gulped at the memory of the fearsome Vagrash.

"You are right. I'm sorry for doubting you." His pout disappeared when he realized that staying away from deadly fangs and claws was worth losing a good show.

"Wha- What-?" The Captain attempted to ask.

"That was an Emperor Beast." Lith replied.

"Ho- How?"

"Top grade body enhancing potions before joining the fight, gravity, and fire magic, in this order." Lith said.

Aran didn't remember his brother drinking anything since breakfast, but he had been instructed multiple times to not disturb while the grown-ups talked.

"Thank the gods you are both fine." Kamila ran to them as fast as she could.

She held Leria between her arms and in one hand she held the army amulet to keep the link with the nearest army base open while in the other she held the violet crystal that would summon reinforcements.

"How long have you been there?" Lith asked, forming a mind link as well to speak freely with her.

"I ran here as soon as I heard the commotion and we arrived less than a minute ago." Kamila said.

'I kept myself at a safe distance so you don't have to worry about Leria. She hasn't seen much. I didn't call for the Royal Guards either because you were going all-out and you seemed to have everything under control.' She telepathically added.

'You did the right thing. If a competent mage arrived, my lies would have been exposed and I couldn't hold back against such a powerful opponent.' Lith said.

"I can't believe you put yourself into danger even while on vacation." Kamila sighed. "We need to talk and redefine together your concept of fun."

"Don't scold uncle Lith, Auntie. It's my fault. I told him that a mage's duty is to help those in danger." Leria pointed her little hand at the wounded people still waiting for a healer.

"I'm not scolding him for that, sweetie. I just don't like how often he ends up in trouble." Kamila used trouble instead of "risks his life" to not scare the kids.

"You don't have to worry. My big brother is invincible." Aran said.

'I wish.' Kamila inwardly sighed while smiling and nodding. 'The only silver lining is that you looked really hot and the Scalewalker armor emphasized your sweet a.s.s.'

'Pervert.' Lith replied while treating those in critical condition. 'Let's get out of here as soon as the army arrives. I don't want to waste my time with reports and explanations.'

Even though they left in a hurry, the news of an Archmage who had mastered gravity magic to the point of going toe to toe with an Emperor Beast spread like wildfire throughout the Kingdom before sundown.

***

The last part of the vacation passed uneventfully. After the fight with the Vagrash, Lith noticed that the vortexes had returned to their original state and that the extra mass was gone as well.

'It seems that the method we and Kamila devised is only a part of the solution. If the vortexes do not fully stabilize, the progress I achieve by practicing first magic is only temporary.

'On top of that, I can now somehow use tier one spells without my mana core as well, but it causes great pain and instead of curling into spheres, the vortexes become distorted when I cast tier one spells.' Lith thought.

'I think the method is correct, instead. You haven't practiced it for long and between tier zero and tier one magic there's a huge gap.' Solus said.