“Or maybe it was just the result of a failed experiment. The really important question is: do you really want to spend your birthday working or do you have anything in mind?” Lith asked.
“I actually do.” Solus took a small package from a secret compartment in the walls.
“Happy anniversary, Lith.”
He destroyed the wrapping paper, revealing a cylindrical ring made of an alloy of gold and Orichalcum, with a blue mana gem set in the middle of it.
“The cloaking ring! That’s why you didn’t rush me making one. Does it have any special abilities?” Lith’s Orichalcum armors had proven to be better than he had planned. The adamant was able to enhance a pseudo core in unexpected ways.
“Not that I’m aware of.” Solus said.
Lith imprinted the ring before slipping it on his right forefinger.
“How does my mana core look like now?”
“Red, and your life force appears to be at human levels.”
“Interesting. Normal cloaking items do not affect the life force. Maybe it depends on the fact that I’m wearing two at once. Let’s see if it works the same for you too.” Lith put the ring on Solus’s right hand, but she felt her heart pounding anyway.
Her light body disappeared with a pop and her dress fell to the ground.
“Fuuuuu…” Solus’s voice made the tower’s wall tremble for several seconds until she managed to make her body reappear.
“…ck! That cost me a lot of stamina. We can’t check the effects on me until I return to my gauntlet form. To add insult to injury, I don’t have much time left before I need to rest. Taking human form drains a lot of energy.” She said, her mood was getting worse by the second.
“Then revert to your wisp form. I don’t want you to disappear in the middle of dinner. We’ve waited for too long for the moment when we could share a meal together.” Lith said with a sigh.
They spent the time before supper studying the unknown blade. The metal it was made of was nothing special, the mana crystals it was fused with were just cyan, and its pseudo core was rather simple.
If not for the runes, Lith wouldn’t have given it a second look.
“I don’t get what purpose engraving runes can have. There’s nothing special in this blade. Its mana pathways, its mana circulatory system, and even its pseudo core is insignificant.”
“Maybe they have a special effect. We should try it out.” Solus was out of options. She couldn’t find any reason to waste time engraving runes as well.
Lith reluctantly imprinted the blade with his mana. He would have preferred not doing it, because the weapon would have no market value until the moment he died. Solus created a test room, using earth magic to shape several dummies of different durability.
The sword made short work of those as hard as wood, but was unable to put a dent on rocks. Lith channeled his mana through the pseudo core and activated its effect. The pseudo core suddenly grew in size and power, yet the mana pathways remained stable.
The excess energy was drawn to the runes and spread across the entire weapon. A split second later, several air blades cut down all the remaining dummies, even the ones made of stone, before hitting the tower walls.
“Damn, that was unexpected. Are you alright, Solus?”
“Yeah, don’t worry. That thing is too weak to hurt me. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yes. The runes somehow compress and stabilize the pseudo core, allowing even common iron to withstand such a powerful magical energy. Also, despite the cyan mana crystals, the spell had the same firepower that would normally require blue gemstones.” Lith had determined the strength of the spell with Life Vision.
“The problem is that we have no idea how to carve them, nor if their number, kind, or position holds a special significance.” Solus said.
“Nor do we know when they have to be applied. Before or after the Bonding spell? Before or after the Forgemastering process?” He asked.
Lith opened the booklet, but he couldn’t decipher a single word.
“We need a library, an archaeologist, or both.”
“I doubt there are many dead language experts. Most of them are likely to work for the Crown.” Solus said.
“Sharing our discovery will be the last resort. If this kind of knowledge spreads, Awakened ones will be able to convert it into true magic, just like us. I don’t want to lose our edge on the competition.” Lith put away both the sword and the booklet, searching his memory for someone trustworthy they could ask for help.
“Maybe and maybe not. Remember that Awakened ones have a long life. This knowledge might be lost to fake mages, but it could be common among the Council or whatever it’s called.
“The Crown might actually be aware of it as well. Do you remember the insanely powerful weapons Thrud had? Or Vorgh’s staff? They are impossible to make, even at our current level, at least without the runes.” Solus pointed out.
“Are you saying that I’m the only idiot who doesn’t know about it?”
“No, more like you are part of the 99% of the population who doesn’t have access to it. Also, the book is damn old. Magic makes progress over time, so the method described might be good for you who are starting from scratch but it’s likely to be old news.
“Unless we evolve it into something unique by combining it with your talent for Forgemastering and my abilities as a tower, of course.” Solus was intrigued by the idea.
Mana geysers gave them an edge that no other mage, even Awakened ones, had.
Lith took it less gracefully. Having spent hours exploring Huryole, risking his life, and almost facing a dragon for almost nothing made him want to scream.
Almost.
“Fine! It’s dinner time. Let’s eat something and then I’d like for us to do something I always dreamed about ever since I’ve seen your light body form.” Lith said.
Solus needed sheer willpower to keep from blushing. Lith’s dirty mind plus seeing him with his girlfriends too many times had rubbed off on her over the years.
When they moved to the dining room, Solus discovered that Lith had stored a small banquet inside his pocket dimension.
He had no idea what Solus liked or disliked, so he had bought a lot of stuff from his favorite restaurants. Most of them were meat dishes, but there were also vegetable soups and grilled fish.
Solus ate to her heart’s content, brimming with joy. Usually she could only consume food already stored in the tower, but aside from pastries and meat, Lith didn’t carry much food on himself, at least not already cooked.
Solus had no idea how to prepare a meal and neither did Tista, so her eating habits until that point had been pretty repetitive. Solus felt that this was more like a date rather than a birthday, having all of Lith’s attention on herself.
He asked her all about her new body. How it worked, how much she could feel, and experience.
“It doesn’t feel like skin, but it’s soft, warm, and pleasant to the touch.” He said while touching her naked arm and using Invigoration on her. Lith wanted to check if there was any way to speed up her recovery process.
“No. I mean, yes. I mean, thank you.” The situation was getting more awkward by the second. Solus was swallowing non stop out of stress.
