"And you didn't say anything?" Llyr asked, his expression serious.
"You didn't exactly look like someone who wanted anyone to know." Mittar sighed, then gently took Llyr's hand. "Besides, even you didn't know what my predator side was back then." He shrugged, starting to walk slowly toward his family.
"You still could have told me." The former foreign minister grumbled.
"Oh, and risk the wrath of the great Llyr?" The predator asked, a faint smile playing on his lips as he glanced back at the man.
"Keep this up, and you might just find yourself facing it after all." The man huffed.
"Sorry." Mittar said, giving his hand a squeeze, before they walked back to the group in silence.
"How on earth…" Matthias began as the pair drew near, but Marianne immediately held him back.
"Darling, try to be a little more understanding. He is our son's partner." She whispered the last part, causing the world's greatest blacksmith to look up at her in surprise.
"The predator blood." Matthias sighed, before turning back to the pair.
"Mom, Dad…" Mittar began, coming to a halt in front of them.
"Is he your father?" Llyr asked, looking down at the blacksmith, who appeared no older than a child. Matthias merely offered a wicked smile, then closing his eyes, he assumed his adult form and, without a second thought, wrapped one arm around his wife's waist.
"Well, do I look like his father now?" He asked.
"Forgive me, sir. I was unaware you possessed such an ability." Llyr said, bowing his head.
"I don't, actually." Matthias remarked. "I'm a blacksmith, that's my ability." He added, his tone indifferent. "This is just soul magic. In this form, I can't perceive anything of the world around me, in my child form, however, I can." He shrugged.
"But you look good in every form." The tailor said, resting her head on her husband's shoulder.
"Annie my dear, I know you love me, but you're talking about my child form." Matthias said, tightening his grip on her waist.
"I didn't mean you look 'good' in the conventional sense when you're a child." Marianne said, sticking out her tongue. "As a child, you just look like someone I want to hug to death! But like this..." She paused, cupping his face in one hand before kissing him. "This is what I want to do." She giggled.
"You're incorrigible, my dear," Matthias said, shaking his head. Then, turning to Llyr with a serious expression, he asked. "So, Mister ambassador how did someone from the Cold Sea survive the Warm Sea?" The question caused the other man to swallow hard. "Is that your ability?" Matthias asked another question.
"I suppose so." Llyr remarked, barely audibly.
"What do you mean, 'you suppose'? Either you have this ability or you don't. It's not a matter of belief." Matthias said, knitting his brows.
"Well, the thing is, I don't know." Llyr replied, shrinking into himself. "I don't die in the Warm Sea, but I also don't die if I'm poisoned." Seeing several people looking at him with questioning expressions, he shrugged. "They've tried." He added, leaving it at that. "For that matter, I've even been so sick that, according to the doctors, I should have been dead, yet here I am." He paused, lost in thought. "So, I'm not sure if my body just has a strong defense against such things, or if this is actually my ability." He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I don't mean to butt in, but that sounds like a standard táltos four-star to me." Benkó remarked.
"Well, we can easily test that." Tele Tete said with a shrug, beginning to rummage through his pack.
"And what are you looking for, idiot hegin?" Alkekengi asked, tilting her head to the side.
"You'll find out once I find it, danovus bitch." The hegin shot back with a scowl, which only made the danovus woman grin.
"I know you love me." The woman chuckled.
"I adore you." The man shot back, causing a faint blush to spread across the snow-white face of the danovus. "Found it! I knew it had to be here." Tele Tete pulled out a stone attached to a string, tossed it up, and caught it.
"What is that, and why is it glowing red... Did it change color?" Alkekengi grimaced. In response, Tele Tete let go of the stone, holding it only by the string, and the stone immediately turned pitch black.
"It's a level-measuring stone." Teveli said, his eyes lighting up.
"That it is." the elder Tele grinned. "Catch it, undersea-walker!" He tossed it toward Llyr, who managed to catch the object, albeit clumsily. The small pendant began to glow instantly. First, it pulsed red seven times, then shifted to orange and pulsed five times, remaining orange.
"What does that mean?" Llyr asked cautiously.
"Shaman five-star." The hegins said in unison.
"Does this thing even work properly?" Suk asked. Before an answer could be given, Kamu snatched the pendant from the man's hand. It turned red again, pulsed seven times, shifted to orange and pulsed another seven times, then turned yellow, pulsing seven more times, before finally shifting to white and pulsing seven times once more.
"I told you! With a guy like this, you're already a táltos seven-star!" Ajtony exclaimed happily, clapping his friend on the back.
"Not hard when he's a half-demon." The leader of the Immortal Mist chuckled.
"That doesn't necessarily mean it's accurate, though." Teveli remarked cautiously.
"Let's test it on me. I should be a solomonar six-star. According to the sacred Turul, I couldn't possibly be anything more than that." Tele Tete said, shrugging as he took the pendant and let the stone, which had turned red again, begin to pulse. As expected, after seven pulses it shifted to orange, it pulsed seven more times and turned yellow, then pulsed six times before settling on a steady yellow.
"Seems pretty accurate to me." Suk remarked, shrugging.
"Well, this means it's not his level of soul magic that allows him to survive the Warm Sea. So, this must be his ability." Rahul explained, drawing nods from several others.
"Don't question it, the hegins are the best at gauging soul magic levels. Their system is more precise than that of the Eastern clans." Marianne noted.
"So, that answers my question. Your ability is survival." Matthias said, shrugging.
"Wait, let me get this straight. Is his ability such that the only way to kill him is to murder him, just like you'd have to kill a táltos four-star?" Achilleus asked, pulling a face.
"Looks like it." Tele Tete confirmed, tucking the pendant away into his bag.
"By the way, Uncle Tete, where did you get a pendant like that?" Teveli asked, eyeing the older man's pack with longing.
"I got it from my chief. It was a gift, for saving his hide." The man chuckled.
"Ah, I see." Teveli said, giving a nod.
"We'll get you one." Suk said, nudging his friend in the ribs, a gesture that drew a smile from him.
"Now that we've settled that, I have another question." Matthias spoke up again, appearing once more in his youthful form, and turned toward his son. "Since when?" He asked, keeping it simple.
"Since the first time he saw me as a predator." Mittar confessed.
"Is this a predator thing, Annie dear?" The blacksmith inquired, turning to his wife.
"Our instincts are sharper at times like that." Marianne replied with a shrug, resting one hand on her belly.
"Tell me, son, is there somewhere around here to get a bite to eat? Your mother is about to starve." Matthias remarked.
"Oh, honestly, darling!" Marianne exclaimed.
"I'm just looking out for you, Annie." The blacksmith said, smiling up at her.
"Let's head back to the Sea Pearl Palace, I think everyone could use some lunch." Mittar said with a smile, then set off at the head of the group toward the center of the Deadworld Trench.