The border between the two continents was guarded night and day by the Guardians of Zima, to make sure that none of Jiera’s problems became their own.
Zagran’s turf was in the south, and it was off-limits. According to Tezka, the Garuda was a force to be reckoned with and she had several disciples that patrolled the area, keeping track of the monster tides and lost cities.
She was the only Guardian at her full strength, and the Master preferred to not mess with her unless it was necessary. Last, but not least, according to the Kingdom’s report, Salaark was still in a good relationship with Zagran, since they were on a moniker basis.
Vastor painted the south part of Jiera with a blood-red color that marked it as a recon-only area reserved for Abomination that specialized in stealth. After sharing the map and the good news with the members of the Organizations, he summoned his seconds in command into his office.
“What’s the status of our current operations?”
“Pretty good.” Nelia the Griffon said. “We have gained control over the vast majority of Garlen’s black markets. The influence of the Undead Courts is at its weakest and we are uprooting what’s left of their local branches with little effort.
“I’ve also taken care of opening several stores on Verendi.
“With the elders of the local Council dead and one Guardian critically wounded, the entire continent is in chaos. There are more ongoing wars than countries and every one of them is willing to pay any price for the weapons they need to win.
“This alone provides us with a flow of cash and magical resources that can keep our research departments operating at full capacity without breaks or tapping into your personal resources.”
“Excellent.” Vastor nodded and then turned to Zoreth. “Speaking of Ileza, what did you learn from her examination?”
“Not much.” The Shadow Dragon shrugged. “She wasn’t very cooperative or open to communication. Her weakened state, however, has allowed us to study both her physiology and the way a Guardian interacts with the world energy.
“Physically, she isn’t much different from Theseus. Just bigger and stronger, but that was expected. Her vitality, however, was off the charts. Even in her crippled state, she could heal wounds without becoming weaker and regrowing entire limbs out of thin air.
“It doesn’t make sense. Not even Guardians can create something out of nothing. I think the explanation is related to the second issue.” She turned to Nandi the Minotaur.
Vastor was the only Awakened in the Organization but he didn’t dare appear in front of a Guardian. Ileza would have recognized him no matter what disguise he wore and then revealed his identity to the rest of Mogar.
Killing her wasn’t an option. No one had ever murdered a Guardian or witnessed it so the consequences of such an act against Mogar were unknown. On top of that, Vastor couldn’t risk turning his Organization into the public enemy number one.
Until that moment, the local Guardians chased his Abominations on their own, and only if the Eldritches made a mess big enough to draw the Guardians’ attention. The death of a Guardian, however, would turn the Organization from an afterthought into a priority.
Something that Vastor couldn’t allow, yet.
It was the reason he had entrusted the task of studying Ileza’s mana core to Nandi. Not only was his ability to control the world energy had no equals but also he had spent months in Baba Yaga’s company.
His knowledge allowed him to compare the effects of a Guardian core with those of a white core and was the Organization’s best shot at understanding you both of them worked.
Legends said that whoever conquered the black and the white core together would gain the power to challenge the Guardians. Alas, not even Tezka knew if the rumor had a basis of truth or if it was just a hoax.
“Witnessing Ileza fight inside her very turf was a unique opportunity.” The Minotaur said. “From what I could observe from Baba Yaga, white cores constantly draw in massive amounts of world energy even without the use of a breathing technique.
“Ileza could do the same thing, but with a deep difference. She didn’t draw in the world energy. The world energy came naturally to her and answered her every command without mixing with her mana.
“To make this simple let’s say that Baba Yaga can shape the world energy as she likes whereas during our fight with the Guardian the world energy shaped itself however Ileza wanted.
“None of her spells required mana, only her willpower.”
“This is amazing!” Vastor jumped up on his chair in excitement. “Is there any chance you can find a way to replicate this ability?”
“None.” The finality of Nandi’s voice made the Master flop down. “But I’ve already shared everything I’ve learned with Bytra. Maybe she can do it or at least one of her creations will.”
The Minotaur pointed at the Fourth Ruler of the Flames that was standing between him and Zoreth.
“Before talking about that, how did Theseus react to our experiments? Ileza it’s still his mother. For a lack of a better term.” Theseus the Bastet was actually a clone who had devoured his original, giving him a blank slate at life.
Those like him retained the same personality their originals had before becoming Abominations and were free from the burden of millennia of madness and slaughter.Â
Those memories, however, were still part of them, making the clones remorseful for actions they had never committed and vulnerable to a condition called the Blood Madness.
“Not very well.” Nandi sighed. “He refused to take part in the fight, insisted that we released Ileza as soon as we were done with our research, and threatened to turn on us if we attempted to kill her.”
“That was to be expected.” The Master nodded. “How is he now?”
“Still moping.” Nandi shrugged. “Theseus understood what we were doing and why, he just didn’t agree with our methods.”
“Bytra?” Vastor turned to the Raiju, noticing how uncomfortable the topic made her feel.
She was a clone as well and one of Theseus’ closest confidants after he had reluctantly joined the Organization.
“He won’t betray us if that’s what you are asking me.” Then, before the Master could answer, she resumed talking. “As for the tower project, I made several breakthroughs but I’m still lacking a few key elements.
“I’ve learned from Nandi how to bend mana crystals to my will and from you, Dad, how to turn them into memory crystals. This is more than enough to Forgemaster something that can withstand the multiple layers of enchantments that a tower core requires, the problem is that regular crafting techniques aren’t enough .”
At a wave of Bytra’s hand, two different prototypes appeared on the Master’s desk. There was no one in the Organization capable of using Creation Magic and building a mage tower was beyond expensive.
The Raiju worked on scaled down models the size of a toy to avoid wasting resources but even this way each failed attempt was a paperweight worthy of the treasure of a king.
