Once that was completed Lucius built a makeshift ladder and had Pagan go up and tie the ropes to stabilize the roof. He would've done it himself, but his tail seemed extra fidgety today, and he didn't want to fall off the ladder and destroy his progress.
*
"All done," Pagan sighed in exhaustion after tightening the ropes for what felt like the 50th time due to Lucius's orders.
~Yhup, this is pretty solid,~ Lucius thought to himself, pushing its walls to see if it would fall over. ~Good enough at least.~
"Can we stay here as well?" a leafling asked, entering the massive building.
"It's not safe enough for you guys yet. Maybe when you guys-"
"Evolve, we know," the leaflings said in unison before he could finish.
It was close to sunset, so Lucius called quits for today. Though he had not yet built the materials storage, there weren't any actual materials to store so it wasn't that big of a deal. And besides, he needed a new place to sleep as the shed would not cut it anymore.
After dropping the leaflings up on the tree base, he joined Pagan in the cottage.
"You best stop using your crux, once night falls it'll make you go blind," Lucius warned, once he found Pagan playing with his crux once again.
"Exort."
"Ahh, there you are," said Lucius, turning to look at the insectoid who was scurrying about at the entrance of the cottage.
"Yea, it's the new shed, come in," he continued, gesturing for the insectoid to enter. The insectoid reluctantly obliged, looking around the new environment with a wary gaze.
"So where have you been?" Lucius asked, though he knew he would not get a proper answer in return.
"Exim," the insectoid replied as it checked the place out.
"Ahh, the old Exim, huh? Wonderful place that," Lucius replied, before getting up to inspect the insectoid.
~Ahh, let me try what Pagan taught me earlier,~ he remembered, before calling out his crux. He thought about spacial solar cleanse, and in turn, two pulses emanated from his crux.
He got a reading off the insectoid, and though it seemed somewhat exhausted it was fine all in all, however, the odd thing was that he couldn't get a reading off of Pagan.
"Pagan?" Lucius asked in confusion.
"You just tried examining me, didn't you Lighted One?" Pagan asked smugly.
"Yeah, but what did you do?" Lucius asked, trying once again. Still nothing.
"I wondered what would happen if both of us tried inspecting at the same time, it seems that they cancel each other out, and you can't get a reading," Pagan replied in a proud manner.
~Interesting concept…~ Lucius thought to himself, remembering his physics lessons on the destructive interference of waves.
~Odd though, light clearly doesn't follow the laws of my old universe, but I guess some concepts still apply somewhat,~ he thought, before sending out a pulse with even more power.
Pagan tried canceling this one out, but found it was too powerful, allowing Lucius to get a glimpse of his internal status.
"How?" Pagan asked in confusion.
"Your concept only works if the pulses are of equal strength, mine was stronger, hence I beat you," Lucius replied smugly.
"Wait, wait, again," Pagan begged, not willing to let it end at that.
"Hmm, but let's make it quick, the sun is about to set," Lucius said, before sending out a pulse. Pagan tried increasing the power of his pulse, but it was still slightly weaker than Lucius's, much to his angst.
"But what did I expect?" he sighed after a few rounds. "You are the Lighted One after all."
"Though is that your full strength?" Pagan asked after a moment, genuine interest on his face.
"Full strength? I haven't tried exerted my full strength in a while," Lucius replied, looking at the insectoid who seemed to be staring at the two of them with a mesmerized gaze.
"Try it, I want to see what I might be capable of in the near future," Pagan begged.
~I guess I am interested in seeing what a full power pulse looks like now,~ he thought, before closing his eyes, trying to collect as much concentration as he could.
For a moment his crux stopped pulsing, and its light dimmed. He held his breath, drawing in every wisp of solar energy he could, before compacting it. And In turn his crux was halved in size.
He remained that way for 10 seconds before releasing it all, the image of a supernova playing in his mind.
[Processing...]
[New spell acquired... 『Solar Burst』.]
[Adding 『Solar Burst』 to 『Solar Sorcery Index』...]
[Complete. 『Solar Burst』 has been added.]
~Huh?~
**
"What happened?" A few leaflings shouted out, looking down at the rubble that was once the main cottage.
"Step back," Ghost called out, making sure the leaflings were as far away from the edge of the tree camp as possible.
~Were we attacked?~ she thought to herself, looking for Lucius on the ground.
She found Lucius looking around himself in confusion, as if he was unable to comprehend whatever had just happened.
"Luci! What happened?" Ghost called out, but it seemed that he couldn't hear her... or perhaps wouldn't.
The ground had black marks all around it, and the planks that Lucius had used to build the cottage looked as if they had been scorched.
Ghost looked around more carefully, and saw the insectoid lying a distance away from the carnage, its wings completely charred, and its body somewhat burnt.
Pagan was lying closer to the rubble but had suffered considerably less damage. However, it was still apparent that whatever had attacked them, had hit him as well.
Lucius on the other hand was completely unscathed, physically that is.
~What the hell is going on down there?~ Ghost wondered in worrying anxiety as Lucius picked up the insectoid and placed it next to Pagan. By now the sun had completely set, and she was relying solely on the moonlight to see what was going on.
A moment later the crux came into view, and Lucius's eyes shone with a magnificent luminosity, lighting up a small area around him. An instant later, two pulses were sent out in quick succession.
Pagan and the insectoid began moving, most of their injuries completely gone, but something seemed to have happened to Lucius, as he fell unconscious.
"Pagan! What's going on!" Ghost shouted, just about ready to jump off the tree, to see what had happened.
