“Why don’t you too give it a try, Tista?” Lith lent her the Master Hands. “Solus used the whole Set under Ripha’s guidance while escaping from the World Tree and I have her memories. Also, I can always ask Ripha’s guidance later.”
“Damn cheat.” Tista grumbled. “But thanks, lil bro.”
Menadion helped them to conjure their first Nova Spell and then taught the two women how to use the Hands to keep it stable indefinitely without it affecting their focus.
While Tista and Faluel practiced with the artifacts, Lith and Solus used the Eyes to record the data of the failed attempts of their friends in order to not repeat the same mistakes during their own practice.
‘You are an asshole. You know that, right?’ Solus said via the mind link.
‘I’m pragmatic.’ Lith replied. ‘This way we are all training and no one has to sit idly waiting for their turn.’
‘Nice save.’ She grunted. ‘I hoped that recovering the Ears would lessen the strain from using the Eyes but studying a complex artifact still gives us a headache.’
‘Either we are still missing a few floors holding crucial sections of the Eyes’ power core or it might be a safety measure Ripha set to keep the apprentices authorized to use the Eyes from studying her tower and the other pieces of the Set.’
‘Good point.’ Solus telepathically nodded. ‘If it really is a safety measure, we can ask Mom how to disable it.’
“I’d say this covers the basics of the unlocked Hands.” Menadion extended her hand toward Tista who gave her the Mouth. “You can practice the rest on your own. Now let’s move on to the most Forgemastering-oriented piece of the set.
“The Mouth of Menadion.”
“Wait, what?” Tista asked in confusion. “I know it can be used to store spells, change arrays during the enchanting process, and act as a second body casting, but how is it better than the Hands or the Ears?”
“The Ears are the best piece of the Set for the preparatory phase, no doubt about that. During the actual Forgemastering, however, there isn’t much it can do.” Menadion replied. “As for the Hands, they can fuel your Forgemastering circle and wave two Tower Tier enchantments, but that’s it.
“The Mouth, instead…” She wore the pristine white mask and spread her arms out.
Countless runes filled the air as Menadion conjured one spell after another. The tribal tattoos covering the Mouth turned into luminous strings of runes that remained active even after the spell they belonged to was completed.
Then, Menadion used the runes in the air and those on the mask to assemble a power core comprised of over ten pseudo cores in one move. Much to everyone’s surprise, she didn’t conjure the pseudo cores one by one and then fuse them into the power core.
She weaved them straight into the power core. Not a holographic one like those Lith used to check the stability and positioning of rune patterns before performing an experiment but a real power core ready to be imbued into an artifact.
The blue sphere of light crackled from time to time, a sign that something was off. Menadion studied the source of the sparks with Life Vision for a while and then split the sphere back into runes.
She changed those she had identified as problematic with others and repeated the process until the power core was perfectly stable.
“What’s that?” Solus asked in amazement.
“My own version of your Fury’s power core, dear. The one in the blueprints I left to Sally. I haven’t crafted anything in seven hundred years and I reconstructed the enchantments from memory so I expected there would be a few imperfections but not that many.
“I’m rustier than I thought.” Menadion clicked her tongue at herself in disappointment.
“No, I mean, how did you do that?” Solus said. “Usually, to make a power core we split the pseudo cores among us, and then we fuse them in the final step.”
“I know. In fact, that was just the power core of the handle.” Ripha replied. “To make a perfect Fury, I would have also crafted a different power core for the head of the hammer and then merged them.”
“How complex is that thing?” Lith stared at the real Fury in admiration.
“Very. Considering it’s one of my life’s works and the final gift I prepared for my daughter, it would be weird otherwise.”
“You haven’t answered my question, Mom. How is that possible and how is the Mouth involved?” Solus said.
“To craft a tower or one of your academies, one must learn how to infuse the various pieces of the final power core during the preparatory phase.” Menadion said. “If you wait for the enchanting step, no mage on Mogar can conjure that much mana, let alone handle it.
“I won’t share such a technique with any of you, at least for now, so let’s move on to the second part of your question. What you said about the Mouth is correct, Tista, but only in its sealed state.
“Once unlocked, the number of spells the Mouth can store is the same but the length of those spells does. To be precise, there is no limit to that.” Menadion filled the room with runes again to underline the concept.
“Are you telling me…”
“Correct.” Since Lith couldn’t pick up his jaw from the floor in time to finish the sentence, Menadion did it for him. “I’ve stored the entire power core inside the Mouth and then I had it conjure the runes and arrange them in space.”
“What about the mana?” Tista asked. “Each pseudo core is supposed to be as powerful as the mage can make it. Doesn’t conjuring so many of them at once limit their potential?”
“No, child.” Menadion shook her head. “As I said, the pieces of my Set are different from usual artifacts. The white crystals embossed in the Mouth support the Forgemaster and provide enough mana even for a power core this complex.
“In case it wasn’t enough, it’s not a problem either. Since it’s the Mouth keeping the spell matrix together, you can always take your time and use Invigoration when needed.” Menadion took the mask off and turned toward her students, yet the sphere of light remained stable.
Solus and the others remained in a stunned silence for a few seconds before snapping out of it and examining the phenomenon with Life Vision. The power core was indeed linked to the Mouth, not to Menadion, and the white crystals forming its teeth constantly drew the surrounding world energy to fuel the sphere.
“What about the rune patterns now visible on the Mouth?” Faluel asked once she was done studying the link between the power core and the artifact.
“It’s the manifestation of another of the powers of the unlocked Mouth.” Menadion replied. “Once one of the stored spells is cast, the Mouth keeps its runes active. It means that you can use them to weave a new spell without the need to conjure them again.
“It’s very useful in battle. Not so much while Forgemastering since you have all the time to prepare your spell, but sometimes when an experiment goes bad, it’s useful to have a few tricks up your sleeve.”
