“We take the bastard down together and everybody wins.” Jiza said.
“If you are willing to go to such lengths to protect her, why didn’t you just Awaken Jirni and bring her into your fold? Based on what Lith told me about her, she’s an outstanding woman.” Faluel asked.
“She is, but I can’t Awaken her for the same reason my ancestor Oghrom took his own life. Jirni is as much of a monster as he was and your mother knows what his final words were.” Jiza looked at Fyrwal who started to quote her late friend.
“Never Awaken someone like me, no matter how talented or brilliant they are. Once I gained the power of magic, my friendship with Valeron was the only tie with my humanity that I had left and the only leash still restraining my actions.
“If they are like me, the stronger they’ll get the more detached they’ll become until they’ll see even their own blood as numbers in an equation. I’m afraid of what they might do exactly as much I’m afraid of what I might do now that my moral compass is gone.
“If I keep living, I am bound to become a threat to everything that I built. To become the Kingdom’s worst enemy until someone puts me down. I’ve always been a monster, but before meeting Valeron I never had a conscience so I didn’t care.
“Now, however, I’ve gained enough to understand how dangerous I am. With the long life and the power of an Awakened, I feel the void inside me grow with each passing day.
“My heart withers and with it all of my feelings but boredom. I choose to die now, while I still grieve my friend, otherwise not even death will stop me.
“The only thing that Mogar needs less than Awakened Oghrom Gernoff is Abomination Oghrom Gernoff.” The Hydra said.
Faluel pondered those words for a while, browsing the several pieces of information that she had been lacking until that moment. By giving up on her noble status, Faluel had lost access to the army’s database whereas the Myrok had full clearance and through them so did the Gernoff.
Small details that made no sense to a fake mage explained a lot to an Awakened.
“We have a deal.” Faluel extended her hand and Jiza promptly shook it.
***
Blood Desert, Heavenly Plume tribe, Solus’s tower.
“What’s the first piece you are going to craft?” Friya asked while putting her personal notes on one of the Library’s bookshelves to share them with the others.
“The Sage Staff for Solus.” Lith replied. “Tapping into the full potential of the Balor’s eyes might take a few tries and I want it to be ready when Solus gets her human body back.
“If I’m right, then the combined effect of the eyes and of the white crystals will allow her to keep that form indefinitely while the Yggdrasill wood will make it possible for her to use the Eyes of Menadion without my brain.”
“Yep.” Solus nodded, her cheeks slightly flushed with excitement. “I can’t wait to finally see Lutia with my own eyes. I was reborn there, yet I never visited the village.”
“Why the staff and not the hammers?” Friya patted at the Forgemastering tool hung to her belt.
“Way ahead of you.” Solus showed her a pair of purified Adamant hammers.
They had different shapes and sizes but they both had a violet mana crystal the size of a nut embedded on either side of the head and another on its top. Lith’s hammer was symmetrical, with both ends flat.
Solus’s tool had a shorter and slenderer handle. One of the ends of its head was flat while the other resembled an ice pick.
Lith had used his human blood, the Tiamat’s scales and feathers as amplifiers. Their power was small, but still better than nothing. Solus had tried to contribute with a few hairs, but the moment she cut them off they faded away.
“We followed Grandma’s advice and forged our tools from the Adamant that I got by recycling the Odi equipment.” Lith looked at the hammers and sighed.
“Was that sigh because taking some Adamant out of the Crucible slows the refining process of the Orichalcum or because in hindsight you would have rather put them in the Armory?” Solus asked.
“Both. With a mana geyser fueling them, they would have made a great addition to the tower’s defensive system.” He replied.
“Disagree. Their energy consumption was highly inefficient.” Solus shook her head. “A single Tower Spirit Spell can do much more damage than the Odi sword ever could and the Tower’s Heart can nullify almost all attacks.
“After I regained my deep blue core, the number of arrays that the Heart can store rose up to six. If we use them to keep all elemental sealing arrays at the ready, there’s nothing that we can’t stop at will but Spirit Magic.
“On top of that, since the Heart allows us to turn on and off the array at will and even to change their position, it’s much better than Silverwing’s Hexagram. Keeping sealing arrays is much cheaper in terms of mana and focus required.
“Last, but not least, remember Grandma’s words and consider the hammers as an investment for the future.” Solus floated high enough to flick his frowning forehead.
“Point taken.” Lith replied.
While they had their umpteenth friendly quarrel of the day, Friya kept reading Lith’s notes about the Yggdrasill wood and his plans about how to enchant it. Or better, she browsed the dozens of pages that comprised his blueprints at the same time thanks to the Library.
“Gods, I wish I could live in here forever. Studying has never been so easy.” Friya said, amazed by how easy assimilating knowledge was for her due to the branch of the World Tree stored in the Armory.
“Just a few questions before you begin. Why did you show me your notes? As a Forgemaster, I thought that you would keep your secrets of the trade close to the vest. Unless you need my help with the power core, like with the DoLorean.” She asked.
“Because I expect to fail a lot before succeeding.” Lith replied. “Once I take out the Yggdrasill branch, no one will have access to its abilities unless I complete the Sage Staff or Grandma restores it.
“I only have so much time before we have to go back to the Kingdom and I can use your brilliant mind to spot any flaw in my project that I failed to notice. After all, it’s not like you have Yggdrasill wood or Balor Eyes.
“My blueprint is worthless to you. As for your offer to help, thanks but no thanks. I want to try and work only with Solus this time. The power core allows for multiple mages but the extra energy signature is a variable that I want to avoid.
“So, what do you think?”
“It’s brilliant, at least in theory.” Friya said while reviewing the various parts. “I’m not sure that Necromancy and Forgemastery can get along, though. I’m afraid that using two different disciplines together might mess up your technique.
“Also, I think that the power core you devised requires too many pseudo cores. If this is a prototype, I would start with fewer of them and gauge my skills.”
