“I don’t see anything wrong with-” The words died on Kamila’s lips when she turned around and noticed how shocked both Silverwing and Malyshka were.
They looked around the room with their eyes wide, having trouble recognizing the now unfamiliar place.
“What’s with the hammer and why there’s a piece of paper glued right below it?” Lith asked while pointing at the engraving that had been hastily covered.
“Don’t ask and don’t you dare tell him!” Solus blushed wildly as she tried to sound threatening, only making her old mentors laugh.
“I won’t, but only because I’m trying to rebuild our relationship.” Silverwing said laughing.
“I have no such problem, but I’ll keep it as blackmail material.” Baba Yaga gasped for air in hilarity.
“Can I see your books?” Lith asked while pointing at the curtains.
“No, they are full of porn. Can we please go somewhere else?” Solus asked.
“Sure.” Silverwing opened the Gate in Solus’ room, leading straight to the main Forgemastery lab. “Before having lunch, there’s something I would like to share with all of you.”
The room was as big as a warehouse and most of the power from the underground mana geyser was channeled there. Huge blocks of gold-veined marble lay on the ground and were constantly infused with world energy.
Lith tried to activate Life Vision, but he was immediately blinded by the pent-up power and so were the Eyes.
“Is this what I think it is?” He asked.
“Correct. I’m working on my own tower.” Silverwing nodded. “I’m still at the preparatory phase but once I’m done with it, the rest will be relatively quick.”
Kamila rarely remembered being an Awakened but seeing Lith’s eyes flaring jogged her memory. She tried to peek at the tower, but she had no luck either.
“Fuck Life Vision. Why didn’t you warn me?” Her eyes were teary as if she had stared at the sun.
“I’m sorry, Kami. You never use magic so I didn’t think about it.” Lith replied.
“Wait. How come she’s Awakened?” Silverwing asked in confusion.
“Long story short.” Baba Yaga grabbed her hand, using a mind link to share the details that had yet to go public.
“Son of a Dragon!”
“Language. I’m right here.” Leegaain pointed at the wyrmling who had woken up from the yelling.
“Never mind that, Aunt Loka.” Solus drew her attention before Malyshka could rekindle Silverwing’s resentment. “How come you are building yourself a tower and why are you showing us?”
“Too many things have happened recently that have drawn Mogar’s attention and in turn mine.” The First Magus replied with a sigh. “First Scarlett, then Lith, then Thrud, and even the Master.
“I hate feeling powerless despite my centuries of knowledge. Even if I were to decide to fight Thrud, the Master, or even Meln, I don’t know if I could beat them. The Mad Queen has her academy, Meln has his tower, and the Master has those crazy Eldritches.
“As I am now, I can’t stand my ground against any of them. Yet everything will change once I have a tower as well. I’m showing this to you to prove my sincerity and share with you what I know of your mother’s technique.”
“Do you know the entire procedure Menadion used to build her tower?” Baba Yaga asked.
“No, but I helped Ripha collect the materials and she discussed with me several steps while perfecting her crafting method. I was her mentor and friend, there was little that she wouldn’t share with me.” Silverwing shook her head.
“I’m just combining what I learned from Ripha, you, and my own original creations in order to devise my own tower-crafting method.”
“What can you tell me about Mom’s workings?” Solus walked among the marble blocks, barely holding her hands from touching them and use her breathing technique, Sky Blessing, to uncover their secrets.
“As I told you the last time we met, I’m willing to teach you everything Ripha shared with me. It’s what she would have done herself were she still with us.” Silverwing replied with a sad sigh.
“Yet I’m not going to share with you my own methods and how I improved your mother’s teachings. Such things belong to my legacy and I have no need for an heir. On top of that, we are starting over from scratch and you can’t ask me to be so open with someone I don’t trust who also doesn’t trust me.”
She pointed at the many bodyguards Solus had brought along for what was supposed to be a get-together between old friends.
“Sounds fair.” Solus nodded. “How does this work?”
“You see, one of the first challenges that Ripha had to overcome in order to build her tower was finding a way to increase the mana conductivity of raw materials. Stuff like rocks and wood can withstand only a limited amount of mana before crumbling.
“Stuff like Darwen has no mana conductivity at all and it’s extremely fragile whereas gold-veined white marble possesses both great durability and resistance to magic. The problem is that both of them are incredibly hard to enchant.”
“How did Mom solve the issue?” Solus asked.
“Well, first she tried with Darwen, but she lacked a sufficiently large amount to make a tower and even failed to find a way to enchant it. Gold-veined white marble proved to be a little less tough nut to crack.
“The first step of the process consists in exposing the refined materials to a powerful source of world energy.” Silverwing waved at the marble blocks laying on the floor. “This way, the mana geyser acts like a mage, infusing the marble with enormous amounts of magical energy that simulate powerful enchantments.
“At the same time, however, since the world energy is no spell, failure bears no consequence. The marble experiences the same mana flow as if it was enchanted over and over, wearing down its resistance to magic bit by bit.”
“Wait a second. Doesn’t that also mean that it loses part of its durability and defensive value?” Lith asked.
“Not at all.” Silverwing shook her head. “You see, the world energy seeks the path of least resistance and digs solely through the naturally weak spots inside the marble. Once they become big enough for a breathing technique to sense them, you use Infusion.”
It was a Forgemastering spell meant to reopen the mana channels of organic materials and coat them with magical metals in order to keep them open even after the spell was over.
“The Adamant works both as a foundation for your mana flow and as an amplifier that lessens the marble’s resistance to your spells.”
“Gods, that’s brilliant!” Solus said in amazement.
“If you think that’s impressing, wait to hear the rest.” The First Magus said with a sad smile, thinking back about the moment when Ripha had come to her with those very same notions, jumping with joy like a child with a new toy.
“The second step consists in bestowing upon each of the stones a pseudo core and before you scoff at me, know this. Ripha found a way to achieve it not in the Forgemastering step, but in the preparatory phase.”
“What?” Lith and Solus were the only ones surprised.
