Scarlett instinctively knelt to her, explaining to Tyris all that had happened that night.
"I see. Another Abomination hybrid, it seems. But this one isn't a man-made fake Abomination, more like a jigsaw made of different pieces. He's already at the second tribulation, I wouldn't worry if I were you."
Tyris shrugged, preparing to leave.
"Wait, my Lady. What do you mean?" Scarlett was shocked by her indifference. Unlike Kalla and Protector, she had no affection toward Lith, but he still was a child trying to save a precious friend.
After witnessing so much death in a single night, she couldn't understand how the Guardian could leave without moving a finger. It would be easy for Tyris to save them both.
"You really don't know?" Tyris turned back, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Tribulations happen constantly to beasts, humans, plants, and undead alike. Every single day. They happen whenever Mogar, the world we live in, thinks that someone can be useful for its purposes.
"During every tribulation, Mogar evaluates the candidate's worth through their actions. Success or failure depends entirely on the candidate, though. The first tribulation is usually about the skill the world is interested in.
The second and usually last one, is about self-control."
"What self-control?" Scarlett was flabbergasted.
"The kid is killing himself, burning his own life as we speak! Shouldn't the tribulation be failed already?"
"You completely misunderstood the nature of tribulations." Tyris chuckled in amusement.
"A talent is worthless if someone lets it control their life, as most living beings do. My talent is to inspire the change, but it could be easily subverted into bringing chaos if I was never content with the status quo and I did not give the changes the time to prove their worth.
"Leegaain's talent is knowledge and preservation. Yet imagine how easy it would be for him to turn it into greed, hoarding everything and every life form for himself, turning from the keeper of the world into its warden.
"Salaark embodies the desire to rule and lead by example, but she could just as easily become a tyrant obsessed with world domination. The self-control I'm talking about is the will to resist the urges your talent pushes you towards and do the opposite.
"Take the kid, for example. Judging from his first two tribulations, the world seems to have chosen him to kill a lot of people, yet it's checking if he's just a soulless monster or if he has the will to choose the hard path and grant life instead.
"We all serve the balance. There would be no need for a Guardian of destruction, the races do an excellent job by themselves already. That's why you don't need to worry. If he ever succeeds in passing all the tribulations, we'll just have another Guardian."
"What if he fails? The prolonged exposure to the world's will has already altered him that much." Scarlett rebuked, pointing at Lith's scales covered body.
"Aren't you afraid of what he could do if he manages to control that kind of power?"
"No." Tyris shook her head. "That's just a promise of payment, barely cosmetic. As far as I know, you have passed all of your tribulations. Have you gotten any stronger?"
"No. I've learned how to shapeshift, but my strength is always the same, no matter the form I take."
"Exactly. Until he becomes a Guardian…" Tyris giggled at the idea.
"he will just remain whatever he is. While if he fails, he will die. As simple as that. There is no do-over with tribulations. The number of tribulations varies from person to person, but most fail at the second one. Even if he succeeds, he could fail at the next one, or at the one after that." Tyris disappeared, leaving Scarlett more nervous than ever.
"This is great. Now I not only have to worry about Scourge and Protector, but also about myself! I never imagined tribulations were so dangerous. Gods, I wish Kalla were here. She would know what to do."
"She would say to move your stinger-equipped a*s and help the child. You always whine about the world's will being indifferent, yet you stand there doing nothing. What's the difference between the two of you?" A limping Kalla pointed out.
Scarlett flinched at her appearance, but recovered quickly and did as instructed. Lith had already consumed several years of his lifespan to keep Protector alive and his core was about to crack too.
However, he had managed to fix Protector's core enough to allow Scarlett to finish the job. She saved both their lives at once, before questioning the Wraith.
"How did you survive that blast?"
"First, as you should know, no one can be harmed by their own mana. So the only damage I took was from overloading my mana core. It was a calculated risk. My odds of survival were pretty good since my undead nature makes it really hard to kill me with both conventional and unconventional means.
"Unlike you, I never trusted the men's words or underestimated a fellow Necromancer's madness. I had a contingency plan in case I was cornered and another one in the eventuality of my death." Kalla was referring to Lith's promise.
"Don't you mean your partial undead nature?" Scarlett corrected her friend.
"Have I already mentioned all Necromancers are a bit insane?"
Kalla used Invigoration to further her healing process, revealing to the shocked Scorpicore that her body held both a mana and a blood core.