‘That’s what I do.’ Lith lied through his brain cells while he opened a backchannel with Solus. ‘What voices is he talking about? More importantly, are you okay?’
‘My guess is that the Void usually takes care of them for you but it doesn’t give a damn about Vladdy. Don’t worry about me, I’m peachy. The Void likes me so I’m not hearing anything but the thoughts of you two guys.
‘Now please be quiet. I must study our surroundings, relay your thoughts to Vladion, and make sure that my voice sounds like yours.’ She replied.
The mind link allowed the two men to coordinate their movements and so they started their advance toward the Golden Griffon. Vladion had them take a roundabout route, passing through all landmarks that could hide them even for just a few seconds.
Blindside wasn’t invisibility and people on active patrol would soon notice that there was something wrong with their perception. If the group remained in the open for too long and a guard focused on them, the bloodline ability would fail to hide them.
By getting out of sight, Vladion resetted Blidside’s effectiveness, and the guards immediately forgot about the itch on the back of their skull. At the same time, Kalla used the Eyes of Menadion to study the protective arrays of the lost academy and how not to trigger them.
‘We are lucky that Thrud’s soldiers are solely on the lookout for an invading army or we would’ve already failed our mission.’ Vladion said once they reached the unmanned main gate of the external walls. ‘From so close, an Awakened with Life Vision would spot us anyway.’
‘It’s not a matter of luck.’ Lith inwardly shook his head to not break Vladion’s neck. ‘The Kingdom’s attack left a skeleton crew and even if it didn’t, without the cloaking rings we’d be discovered in a matter of seconds and enslaved in hours.
‘There is simply no need for guards because Thrud can’t plan for a weakness she’s not aware of. Speaking of weaknesses and unawareness are we sure that the Golden Griffon lacks the mana draining array of the six great academies?
‘Otherwise we’ll be dead as soon as we cast a spell.’ As an alumnus and an ex-assistant Professor of the White Griffon, Lith knew that the uniform students and staff wore also worked as a security badge.
Anyone without one inside the academy would be perceived as an enemy and their mana sucked dry to death or captured according to the Headmaster’s wishes.
‘Positive.’ Kalla handed Lith and Vladion the Eyes. ‘I’m making the arrays of the White Griffon overlap with those of the Golden Griffon to spot any modification to the original blueprint that Thrud might have made.
‘As you can see, the mana draining array is supposed to replace the Unwavering Loyalty.’
‘It makes sense.’ Vladion replied. ‘The academies wouldn’t employ Forbidden Magic and if not for the betrayal of the Undead Courts of the past, the two arrays would be just as flawless. I wish I could make something like that for Lightkeep.’
He returned the Eyes to Kalla and moved inside the Gardens of Madness, finding them empty. None of their senses, be they regular or mystical, could find any trace of more guards or magical beasts.
‘Fuck me sideways!’ Yet the surprises were far from over.
Mana sense perceived that many flowers, trees, and even fruits surrounding the invading party had already developed a mana flow of their own and were turning into natural treasures at an unnatural speed.
‘How is this possible? Even a mana geyser isn’t enough to achieve so much in such a little time. Back during our last visit, this was a regular garden.’ Lith wanted to add that not even the tower’s Greenhouse was so effective, but Vladion was still part of the link.
‘This forest is Awakened just like the one surrounding the White Griffon, Scourge.’ Kalla replied after sniffing the air. ‘Probably you missed it before because the security arrays cut the academy from most of the power of the geyser.
‘You have no idea how quickly natural resources form there. If not for everyone taking a piece of it, in a year you’d have enough to fill a treasure room.’
‘How?’ Lith refused to believe that any academy could outshine Menadion’s tower.
‘My guess is that the prolonged exposure to the world energy made every tree, flower, and blade of grass partially enchanted.’ Solus replied. ‘Just like a mage can pass down their talent for magic so do the plants.
‘Our Greenhouse has formed only recently and its flora is comprised of regular plants, instead. The only magical plants are those we entrusted Raaz and they are creating more, but he started with one of each whereas this is a damn forest.’
‘It never rains, it pours, huh?’ Lith clicked his tongue in disappointment.
‘You’ll have the right to make comparisons once the tower accumulates a millennium’s worth of world energy as well or at least goes back to its full power, jackass.’ The tower was a part of her so Solus took the offense personally.
‘No academy has a crystal mine or a source of enchanted metal, yet I don’t hear you belittling the Golden Griffon for that.’
‘I’m sorry, Solus.’ Lith avoided shifting the blame on his draconic side, knowing that she wouldn’t buy it and get even angrier.
‘You better be.’ She telepathically pouted, looking more adorable than menacing. ‘Now let’s go and don’t even think about taking souvenirs. This forest is still part of the academy and even if the rings keep Hystar from feeling our presence, he may still be able to perceive a change in his inventory like I can.’
‘Thanks, Solus. You are the best.’ Lith had already been eyeing the most promising natural treasures, but her warning snapped him out of it.
He was greedy, not stupid.
The Gardens of Madness were now well-tended and extended far beyond what Lith could remember. Being incapable of flight to not get spotted and due to the thickness of the forest, it would take an intruder days just to get out of it.
If they didn’t have a map, of course.
‘Let’s see.’ Kalla took out the parchment from one of her pockets and unrolled it.
Now that they were inside, the blank surface of the scroll had become covered in black lines that outlined the area of the Gardens around them and pointed at its exits. A red dot marked with “You are here” made it easy for them to find their way around.
‘This is amazing!’ She and Vladion thought in unison.
‘This is awful!’ Lith begged to differ. ‘The position of the guards is not marked and the only named rooms are those immediately adjacent to the forest. Even worse, there’s no way to browse through the different floors on the map and find the power core.’
‘What did you expect?’ Kalla sneered at him. ‘It would take a sentient artifact or at least something with a power core to do that. The Undead Courts did an incredible job considering the magical knowledge of their time.
‘This is an old ass relic, not a modern artifact.’
