Supreme Magus

Chapter 3617: Beating of a Lifetime (Part 2)

"I just confirmed his hypothesis and let Salman fill in the blanks with his imagination. He thinks you punched him not to hide the existence of the tower from him, but because you blamed him for Friya's wound.

"Believe me, he has no clue about what you can do, and unless you give him reason to, he won't dwell on it. When Salman wakes up and apologizes for the trouble he has caused you, I suggest you nod and apologize for your outburst. The best lies are those we tell ourselves."

"A sound advice." Lith pondered. "The only question left is what to do with him."

***

Salman regained consciousness a few minutes later. He found himself cleaned and lying in a warm but foreign bed instead of in a pool of his own vomit.

He jumped to his feet, looking left and right for enemies until his mind cleared up and he remembered where he was.

"Do you feel better?" Nalrond asked and Salman nodded in reply, needing to sit down again.

As he recalled the truth about the day of Dawn's escape, the shock from the revelation made his knees buckle.

"Do you want to go back to Gabash? Jinx is waiting for you."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Salman replied. "I don't want to put the people of the village in danger with my presence. I need a place where nobody knows me. Most of all, I need time to think. I have thought myself a coward for so long that it was my whole identity."

"You are no coward." Protector said. "Ever since you moved to the Kingdom, you fought to defend your new home time and time again. You put the safety of perfect strangers above your secrets. That takes courage."

"No, it doesn't." Salman sighed. "I fought against weaklings who posed no threat to me. Even then, the first time the bandits came, I didn't intervene until the fire spread and my trauma took over.

"After my secret was exposed, I kept fighting out of guilt. I'd rather die than stand there while my village burned again. The people of Gabash accepted me for who I was, something even I couldn't do. Everything I did, I did it for myself."

He stood up, his legs still weak, but he wanted to look Nalrond in the eyes.

"I'm sorry for what I tried to do with Ishil. I'm sorry for putting your new wife in danger." He said, making Friya smile. "I know that I don't deserve your help. In your shoes, I would have turned around and walked away the moment I heard my name."

"No, you wouldn't." Nalrond shook his head. "We both grew up listening to the stories of what the human mages did to our ancestors. I couldn't let them take you, and I know you would do the same for me."

"Thanks, but I'm not so confident about myself." Salman sighed. "Can I ask you what happened to you? How did you become so big?"

Nalrond shared with him his discoveries about the double nature of the Rezars and how their life forces could be merged after being harmonized.

"That's amazing!" Salman said with the first honest smile in years. "You're a genius, Nalrond. You have succeeded where dozens of generations of Rezars have failed."

"Thanks, but I was lucky to meet the right people." Nalrond glossed over the secret of Awakening, the tower, and all the training he had done under Faluel, waiting for the inevitable question that never came.

"Why aren't you asking me how I did it? Don't you want to evolve?"

"Not really." Salman shrugged. "Also, it's the fruit of your hard work and I don't deserve it. If you could help me find a new place to stay, though, I would forever be grateful to you."

"I…" Nalrond was flabbergasted. There was little of the cocky and entitled youth he remembered in the man in front of him. "Lith?"

"Lutia it is." Lith sighed. "Nobody will notice Salman there, and he'll be close enough to keep an eye on him. Do you prefer to work as a farmhand or a healer?"

"Both are fine." Salman replied. "And I'm sorry for putting you all into danger. One punch was a little price to pay for my recklessness."

"Apologies accepted." Lith put on his best regretful expression. "And I'm sorry for attacking you. I was so worried about Friya that I lost my temper."

"No need to apologize." Salman raised his hands with his palms open. "If there's someone who can understand you, that's me. Are you really a Magus?"

"Not any Magus. A Supreme Magus." Lith replied.

"What's that?" Salman asked in confusion, and Lith explained to him the differences between the two titles.

'Lith, we need someone who knows how to keep their mouth shut and can ensure Salman doesn't make any mess while adjusting to his new life.' Solus said via the mind link.

'I know.' He replied. 'I don't want him in our home, so I will entrust him to Zekell as soon as Salman recovers from the shock. The temple can always use another healer and with you, Ripha, and Nalrond "coming" from the Desert, no one will mind one more foreigner.'

'Zekell?' Solus blinked several times in surprise. 'What about Rena? Aren't you worried Salman might fall into his old habits?'

'He stayed in Gabash for years and didn't exploit his looks, so no. As for my sister, she has sound morals and a mean right hook. If Salman tries anything funny, it's him I'm worried about.

'Between Leria, Abominus, and Senton, Salman would be in for the second beating of his lifetime.'

***

Salman returned to Gabash later that night, just for the time for a quick and private goodbye with Jinx. Lith brought him to the village on the back of his Tiamat form to casually showcase his powers and avoid leaving a paper trail.

Once the Eyes confirmed that no Awakened were left, the two healers met. Salman had been Jinx's teacher, but she had been his host and closest friend. He couldn't bear the thought of disappearing without saying a word and making her worry.

"I'm sorry I can't stay, Pylina." He said.

"Me too, kid. I will miss you, but you need a fresh start in a place bigger and safer than a backwater village like Gabash. Those guys might return to look for you from time to time, and you can't live constantly looking over your shoulder.

"Don't worry about us old farts. We've lived just fine long before you arrived here, we can do it again. You've done your part in protecting our lives, now worry about protecting yourself, kid." She replied.

"I'll come visit you whenever I can." Salman took a deep breath to find his courage. "Before leaving, there's something I must confess to you. I-"

"Made holes in a lot of my favourite socks." Jinx completed the phrase for him, chuckling. "I know. There are no moths that big."

***

Lith returned to the Verhen Mansion after entrusting Salman to Selia and Protector. They and their children were used to living with a Rezar, and Salman needed to calm down before being introduced to strangers.

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