2922 Family Lab (Part 2)

Yet unlike the Hydras, the Divine Beasts always kept a human appearance to not intimidate the members of smaller races.

'Now that I think about it, I've never seen Surtr or Rethia in their true form.' Solus thought and Lith telepathically nodded.

"Welcome to the family lab. Or did you really think that I could work on the Harmonizers and the secret behind Ufyl's evolution by myself?"Faluel replied. "This kind of work requires a group effort or it would take me centuries to see any progress in my research."

Despite their stumpy four-legged bodies, the Hydras moved with enough grace to never get close enough to the newcomers and risk stepping on them. Yet between the rush of their movements and the tails whipping around, Solus felt like an ant in the middle of a road.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Lith asked.

"Yes and no. Assume your Tiamat form and follow me or it's going to take us all day to reach our destination. Necks!" Upon her warning, the nearby Hydras made space for her to avoid bumping and shoving each other as she grew in size.

"Necks!" Lith followed her lead, but his transformation drew many eyes and caused many gasps.magic

Not only did he reach 30 meters (100') in height, the mark of a true Divine Beast, but he also had arms, wings, and the heat of the mystical flames burning within him reddened the tip of his scales.

It was everything that the species belonging to the Lesser Dragons dreamed of.

Wyverns had Origin Flames and wings, making them the closest to their progenitor among the Lesser Dragons. Yet the lack of arms limited their combat prowess while not having the Dragon Eyes impaired their magical development.

The seven heads that every Hydra could reach by mastering the elements and Domination made up for the lack of Dragon Eyes whereas missing prehensile limbs and Origin Flames limited their Forgemastery skills

In the same way, the lack of wings reduced the Hydras' aerial maneuverability. Body Sculpting could fix some of those issues but the necessary alterations to their life forces stunted the growth of a Hydra if kept for too long."Man, they shrink so fast." Lith patted the nearest of Faluel's heads, ruffling her scales. "It seems yesterday that you towered over me and now you are as short as Solus."

"Not funny!" Both women snorted in unison, even though the comparison was quite accurate.

The Hydra now barely reached the Tiamat's chest, just like Solus did to Lith's human form.

"Follow me, smartass." Faluel led the way while Lith lifted Solus on his shoulder.

From that height, they could both take a better look at the lab and see their destination.

A white array formed a white pillar that reached the ceiling and contained the winged form of Ufyl the Seven-Headed Dragon, formerly known as Ufyl the Hydra.

One of his long necks was outside the magic circle, breathing Origin Flames inside crystal containers for the others to use.

The remaining six heads used their Dragon Eyes to study the readings of the arrays, help the other Hydras in their respective lines of research, and try to crack the secrets of the Harmonizer.

It was because of his bloodline abilities rather than his sincere remorse that Fyrwal had accepted Ufyl's surrender at the end of the War of the Griffons.

The Mad Queen had succeeded in awakening the Dragon blood in the former Hydra by injecting him with Ambrosia and subjecting him to the Madness. They were both fruits of Forbidden Magic but the results were undeniable.

Ufyl had evolved into a Seven-Headed Dragon, reaching what Hydras considered the pinnacle of their species.

They hoped that by studying Ufyl's body and life force they would find a way to replicate Thrud's results without the use of Forbidden Magic or at least gain insight about how to further their natural evolution.

Faluel led Lith in front of the white array where her mother, Fyrwal, was having a heated discussion with Ufyl and a few other Hydras at the same time. Her seven heads were splayed around, each talking to a different person about a different subject.

"Everybody, give a warm welcome to our guests." The Elder Hydra said when she noticed Lith and Solus approaching. "They are Lith and Solus Verhen."

At those words, Ufyl raised one of his heads and soon all of them stared at Lith in shock, their mouths agape. The Seven-Headed Dragon was still at the violet whereas the Tiamat had changed much since their last encounter.

As he stood there in silence, the Lesser Dragons briefly stomped their forelegs in greeting, lacking the means for any hand-related gesture.

"I'm Xubari, head of light magic studies." The Hydra was 23 meters (75') tall and, based on the deep tone of the hissing voice, he was a male. "It's an honor to meet you."

Xubari's body was covered in forest-green scales that on the necks and heads progressively turned into the color of the element they were respectively attuned with.

"And I'm Anata, lead Forgemaster." The closer head gave them a polite nod.

Anata was a little less than 22 meters (76') tall and had a silvery voice that identified her as a female. The base color of her scales was deep brown on her body and became lighter as more and more elemental streaks manifested.

"You look different from your pictures, Lady Verhen. A smart trick to hide the blessing of the elements and your Awakened nature, I presume." She nodded at the colored streaks in Solus' hair.

"Your guess is correct, Anata." Solus nodded. "The humans who don't know about Awakening consider the seven streaks as the mark of great talent and I want to avoid drawing unnecessary attention."

"I hope that you won't mind me saying that they look as good on you as they do on our species." The Hydra's mouth curled up in a warm smile. "Also, motherhood agrees with you. You are glowing."

"Thank you." Solus turned to a shade of red in embarrassment while Lith and Faluel cleared their voices in a desperate attempt to hold back laughs.

'I'm on a diet. I swear!' Solus inwardly whined at the involuntary backhand compliment.

'I know you are.' Lith replied. 'Don't take it personally. She mistook you for Kami and she was just complimenting you. Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with your weight.'

'Let's hope you are right.' She grumbled.

"What?" Fyrwal turned around in confusion. "This is Lady Verhen but not Lady Verhen."

"What?" Anata looked at the Elder Hydra like she was insane. "You are not making any sense. Maybe you need a break."

"I mean that this isn't the Tiamat's wife. They are… blood related." Fyrwal failed to find a proper explanation for their relationship that wouldn't confuse people further so she went for the official lie.

"Really?" Anata squinted her eyes to take a better look at Solus. "I'm sorry, but I don't hang around humans much. You are so small that it's hard recognizing your features. You look all the same to me until I memorize your energy signature."