“Are you serious?” Lith looked at the smelly mystical potato as if he had found his true love, pissing Solus off big time.
“Yeah. I am. You are lucky that plants like these exist from the dawn of time, otherwise they would be part of the knowledge that the World Tree keeps sealed from me. That or they hoped I would find natural treasures and bring them back home.” The elf sighed at the bounty, almost regretting to have offered her help.
‘I never crafted a single golem, but this is indeed a game-changer.’ Lith thought. ‘By creating the mana circulatory system before the Bonding spell, I can achieve perfection without bending to the whims of fate or of magical crystals.’
‘Yeah.’ Solus nodded. ‘One of the biggest issues we had while crafting the DoLorean and the Scalewalker armor was to find the place where to bond the crystals without them or the mana circulatory system they created messing with the rune patterns.
‘Thanks to the Earth Root, instead, we can simply create the system in advance. This way, not only will the mana flow evenly throughout the artifact, but we will also have complete freedom in positioning the rune patterns.
‘The Bonded crystals will adapt their flow to the artificial system, fueling all of our enchantments without creating any deviation in the metal.
‘The perfect combination of structure, crystals, and rune placing will allow the finished product to have superior capabilities and to offer no resistance to the mana flow, no matter what materials the golem is comprised of.
‘The Earth Root basically gives to a construct the same mana conductivity they would have if they were made out of Davross. The question is, do we have any use for something like that or should we trade the Root for something else?’ She asked.
Lith pondered those words in silence for a while. Solus was right saying that, at a first glance, the Earth Root was great, but using them on mystical metals would have been a waste.
Lith racked his brain, searching for a way to put the natural treasure to good use until he remembered about his issues with his most powerful Demons, Kulah’s golems, and what he had learned about colored white crystals from Solus’s dream.
‘Either you are really brilliant or you are just insane.’ Solus said while what looked like a makeshift blueprint took form in Lith’s mind.
‘I’m neither. Unless we find a way to confirm if my idea is feasible or not, my plan is just wishful thinking.’ He replied. ‘I can only hope that once we’re done here and we get to the Blood Desert, Grandma will give us a few tips.’
After the youths went back to their camp to get some sleep and recover from their fatigue, the Council turned off the screen and moved on to the next pressing issue.
“Are you really going insane?” Raagu, the human representative, asked the World Tree whose hologram looked like a bonsai.
Its body was too gigantic to picture it whole otherwise.
“I am. Luckily, I don’t have much time left.” The creature spoke with a flat tone, yet it sent shivers down the spines of the other Awakened and Guardians alike.
The idea of the most knowledgeable creature on Mogar going mad and turning the inhabitants of the cities built inside the Tree into an army of Awakened elves was beyond unsettling.
“Then why have you sent the elf outside despite your condition?” Lotho the Treant looked calm, but he had actually triggered a silent alarm to warn his kind. “Is she really an apprentice or just a scout to gauge our power?”
“She is no scout. Otherwise, I would have sent someone slyer and never allowed her to share my knowledge. I sent Aalejah outside because she earned it and because she was the only one naïve enough to get close to the Tiamat.” The Tree replied.
“He wouldn’t have fallen for smiles and forced friendship. I sent someone honest and insecure because I knew that the moment the Tiamat would have spotted Aalejah’s weakness, he would have not hesitated to exploit it.”
“My ruse worked and now I can die knowing that anyone but me has barely grasped the surface of Lith’s new race.” The Tree’s voice grew tired and their hologram started to fade.
“You son of a weed! You used us as well.” Feela the Behemoth said in outrage.
The Tree left the Council without answering and so did the Guardians. Before breaking their mind link, Leegaain asked Salaark a single question.
“When did you say that Lith would come to visit you?”
“Soon.” The Overlord replied.
***
A few days later, the Council’s test neared its end.
The mission was just a ruse to evaluate their apprentices and see how they behaved in front of different kinds of temptations like knowledge, artifacts, and magical resources.
Their mentors had no need for the city of Urgamakka to be really cleared of all the possible relics that might reveal the secret of Awakening. The Elders of the Council had planted the artifact so they already knew where to find anything that the young Awakened might have missed.
The ancient city was nothing but a giant stage and the apprentices were the unwitting protagonists of a play whose outcome might change their lives for the better or the worse.
After the first disastrous experiment, Lith and Aalejah kept working together to find more about his bloodline abilities, opening up to each other a bit more each day. During the breaks in between experiments, Lith would show her the materials he had yet to find a use for while Aalejah would ask him about life in the Kingdom.
Putting her knowledge into practice had proved to be much more interesting than just hoarding it like the Chroniclers were supposed to do. The young elf used those conversations to learn everything she could about the outside world and about her chances to live a normal life.
“You will undoubtedly fare well on your own either in the Kingdom or the Empire. Going to the Desert would just mean exchanging one immortal ruler for another.” Lith said, pissing Salaark off big time.
“Where do you suggest I go?” Aalejah asked.
“The Empire. There you wouldn’t even have to hide your identity as an elf, whereas in the Kingdom you have to disguise yourself all the time or be treated as a monster.” Lith sighed, thinking at his own condition.
“Then why are you still in the Kingdom?” The elf said in confusion.
“Because my family is there, my friends are there, and even my mentor is there. With all of its flaws, the Kingdom is my homeland, and leaving it would cause me and my family a lot of pain.” Lith’s words made Tyris very happy.
“Only one piece of advice. If you really decide to relinquish your duty, get yourself another Awakened mentor or become the Empress’ apprentice as soon as you can. Without a powerful backer, between your nature as an elf and your knowledge from the Tree, you will spend your life as a lab rat at best.”
“Are people really that bad?” She asked.
“What do your history records say?” Lith replied.
