Supreme Magus

Chapter 4549: Ernas Legacy (Part 1)

"Please, don’t force me to choose between compromising the future of my family or tarnishing my soul as a Forgemaster by destroying the small miracles that Grimlock and Skywarp are." Orion was about to bow down when Salaark raised her hand to stop him.

"There’s no need for that." She said. "Just answer a few questions, and I’ll give you my answer."

"Ask away."

"Do you realize putting your creations in my hands means giving me the opportunity to examine your workings? That the only reason I can dismantle anything is that I’m knowledgeable enough to understand most crafting techniques just by taking a close look?"

"Yes." Orion nodded.

"Did Lith explain to you that I must be present to the Forgemastering process to keep my Creation Magic spell active and preserve the semi-sentient spell matrix of an artifact like Ragnar?k?" Salaark asked.

"I know that as well." Orion replied. "I’ve discussed such details with Lith when I asked for his help. I came to you only because he admitted the task is beyond his abilities and after he roughly explained to me what to expect.

"He never went into details about your Creation Magic. He only shared enough to let me understand the process."

"Then you are aware that if I agree to help you, I’ll learn everything there is to know about Grimlock and Skywarp, and I’ll witness whatever Forgemastering technique you intend to use. Unless they are incredibly complicated, it will be enough for me to learn their underlying principles." The Overlord said.

"I understand, and I still consider this too cheap a price for the service you’d offer me." Orion said. "Sharing with you a few of the Ernas crafting methods is nothing compared to preserving two masterpieces and my wife’s life."

"One more thing." Salaark said. "I want to make it clear that anything I learn will be mine to use and share with whomever I want. Part of your bloodline legacy might become standard knowledge for my Nest, Feathers, if not even my Forgemasters. Are you still certain this is a price you’re willing to pay?"

"Absolutely." He nodded. "No matter how precious or complex they are, I’m just going to show you a handful of techniques in their current form. How the Ernas reached that point and how we plan to improve on them will remain unknown to you.

"I trust my daughters and my descendants enough to know they’ll grow my legacy into something much greater than it is today. If you think anyone in your Nest can do better, the Ernas never back down from a challenge.

"Every single mage in the Desert, Kingdom, and Empire built their bloodline legacy upon the foundations of Master Menadion’s teachings, yet the Ernas family is unrivalled. This will be no different."

"I like your attitude, Lord Ernas. It only makes me want to recruit you more." Salaark chuckled. "If you understand the terms of our deal and the full scope of its consequences, then I’m willing to help you. When do you want to start?"

"As soon as your shift ends." Orion replied. "Sixteen hours are more than enough to complete the final preparations and reset Invigoration’s effects. This is my first craft as an Awakened Forgemaster, and I’m going to cheat at it like a Lith."

***

When Tyris relieved Salaark of her duty to protect Lith’s children, she found Orion, Quylla, Friya, Nalrond, and Morok waiting for her outside the nursery.

"I’m sorry to ask you another favor, but I can’t use the Gate Network to move to the Blood Desert." Orion said. "It would leave a paper trail that the Royals would use to follow my movements and question the motives of my trip.

"I can lie to them, but when the new Grimlock and Skywarp make their public appearance, the Royals would understand the truth and my credibility would be in shambles. If you carry us, I can claim I Forgemastered the new weapons from scratch, and no one will ever know the truth.

"No one outside the head of the Ernas family can access the vault or know its inventory, and I’m the family head. The Royals can wonder how many Grimlocks I have, but can’t ask me to reveal my secrets more than they can demand to study my family legacy."

"You’re cheeky. That’s another thing I like about you." A snap of Salaark’s fingers Warped everyone to the Desert.

Orion recognized the familiar drapes of the Palace Tent of the Heavenly Plume tribe, while Life Vision confirmed they were standing above a powerful mana geyser.

Aside from the unknown, high-efficiency mana insulating arrays, the room was empty.

"Set up your Forge however you like." Salaark leaned against one of the curtains-walls. "This should be more than enough space for anything you might have in mind."

"It is. Thank you." Orion gave the Overlord a deep bow, and the others quickly followed suit. "Okay, people. You know what to do."

He placed a Davross anvil at the very center of the mana geyser, right above the main stream of world energy rising from Mogar’s depths. Then he chanted one array after another, conjuring several concentric mana circles like Salaark had rarely seen before.

’The pattern is unique, but I know this technique.’ She thought. ’He’s arranging the magical formations so that specific focus points of one array fill the blank spaces of another, allowing them to combine their effects without their runes interfering with each other. Yet something is off.’

Only when Orion laid the fifth array did Salaark realize what she had missed until that moment.

’Son of a Dragon! Even though those magical formations have clearly been developed by a fake mage, they have no fixed form. They can be rearranged to fit any number of Forgemasters taking part in the crafting process without compromising their spell matrix or efficiency.

’As long as you have enough mages, there is theoretically no limit to the power of an artifact Forgemastered with this method.’

Once Orion was done, the others placed four more Adamant anvils at the edges of the magic circles in a square formation and four white mana crystals the size of an adult man between the anvils, forming an eight-pointed star centered on the Davross anvil.

Both the four anvils’ and crystals’ design was new to the Overlord. Bright blue runes covered the anvils, and bright white mana crystals decorated their corners. One more white crystal lay at the center of the side facing the Davross anvil.

The man-sized white crystals, instead, were encased in a thin Davross metal frame covered in runes similar to the anvils’, but with a different design and purpose.

Salaark studied the preparations with curiosity, biting her tongue to stifle the many questions she craved to ask.

As Orion’s assistants set up their posts, he took several thick sheets of Davross out of his dimensional amulet. White crystals studded the sheets’ corners, and powerful runes covered every inch of the metal’s surface.

This time, the Overlord recognized the Forgemastery tool’s purpose. She straightened up and took one step forward to confirm her suspicions.

’Order and Chaos!’ Her eyes narrowed in annoyance. ’It’s no wonder the Griffon Kingdom has the six Griffon Academies and the Desert has no such thing as the six Phoenix Academies.’