1573: Growing Power (Part 1)

Growing Power (Part 1)

Menadion's Fury opened a small crater on the stone floor that the arrays protecting the Master's headquarters started to repair immediately.2

"Calm down." Nandi the Minotaur said. "We have already made a lot of progress during my time here. Between our collective knowledge and powers, we get closer to success with each failure we make."

He pointed at Ultah the Griffon and In'Kou the Garuda who used their Life Maelstrom to boost the abilities of the Fourth Ruler of the Flames and of the Orc-Eldritch hybrid.

Thanks to them, Nandi's bloodline skill to control the world energy allowed him to conjure a power superior to that of a mana geyser while Bytra managed to exceed the limits of both her body and equipment.

Even though Menadion's Fury was a masterpiece, it didn't make its enchantments any less outdated. Life Maelstrom gave it the juice that the Fury needed to be as good as a modern tool, but that was it.

"Are you kidding me?" Bytra snarled as those words only fueled her rage. "If that was true, between the number of times that I've failed back when I was alive and now that I'm a hybrid, then I should have learned not only how to craft towers, but also how to bring them to the next level!

"My Forgemastering technique, Spirit Anvil, makes any material bend to my will as if I used an Earth Root. Your bloodline skills give me the same control over the world energy of a mage tower, I learned all I could from our brethren, and Life Maelstrom grants me power beyond what even Menadion had.

"Then why do I keep failing?" Bytra sat on her purified Adamant Forge as centuries of frustration piled up with her most recent failure, bringing her on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

'Now I understand why the old Bytra became insane to the point of killing Menadion first and then giving up on Forgemastering. What point does it have to devote your entire life to a discipline that you are incapable of mastering?'

She couldn't stop thinking about Korgh, the Original mad Bytra that she had fed upon to become complete. The Eldritch had renounced her title of Ruler of the Flames and her pride as an artisan, preferring to steal the creations of others instead of facing her limits.

"Because even though we might have the perfect tools, there are too many things we don't know." Nandi was always calm and so was his voice. "There's a reason why very few mages have a tower and I think the main issue is twofold.

"First, we still lack Spirit Magic. Second, your understanding of mana crystals is still shallow."

"What do you mean?" Bytra suddenly remembered how much Menadion had struggled to alter the flow of world energy inside white mana crystals and create their elemental enhanced counterpart.

According to the words of the First Ruler of the Flames herself, she had crafted her mage tower soon after that.

"I'm saying that mana crystals are not just a power source." The Minotaur grabbed one of the white gemstones in the lab, making it change color according to the elemental aspect he enhanced.

"They are inanimated objects that yet act similarly to an Awakened's mana core. Their power and purity grow with time by absorbing world energy, and they have the ability to endlessly replenish themselves."

"I know that, yet I don't see how it can help. I mean, enhancing an elemental aspect is not that hard. Even you learned to do it quickly after a few lessons." Bytra took a white crystal and started to change its color.

"Think about it. Horsemen are made of crystals and so are their steeds." Nandi said as the magical gemstone in his hand formed a rainbow.

"Mana crystals are small pieces of Mogar, capable of growth and even memory. They have their own mana flow and pulse. The main ability of a tower is to channel the world energy, to connect with Mogar.

"No matter what materials a mage tower is made of, they act like a mana crystal. I lived in Baba Yaga's hut long enough to know that it was really made of wood. What about Menadion's tower?" He asked.

"It was definitely made of stone." Bytra replied while pondering his words. "I scanned it with my breathing technique countless times and that's the only thing I learned."

"See? Then maybe, the trick is to make anything into a mana crystal. Maybe, Baba Yaga made the Horsemen's steeds like that because it's the easiest way to replicate a tower's powers." Nandi said.

"If you are right, then the reason why I failed until now is that my technique bends the mana flow of my creations to my will, whereas a crystal must be guided, not dominated." Bytra replied.

"You are wrong about one thing, though." She showed him one of Vastor's Royal Forgemastering wands. "Thanks to this, I have gotten my Spirit Magic back. What I truly lack is the ability of my old violet core to cast magic through my body.

"What limits fake Forgemasters is the fact that crafting complex power cores requires too much focus. Even the greatest mind has its limits. When I was an Awakened, instead, I could form runes with the beat of my heart and with every movement I made with my hammer."

"Are you telling me that we should better give up and focus on merging our cores to Awaken again?" Nandi asked.

"No, I'm saying that to make up for that, I'll need help. Your help to be precise." She created three replicas of the Fury, handing one to each of the hybrids. "Until we truly come back to life, you are going to be my hands. I'll make you into true Forgemasters!"

"What? Why?" The Eldritchs asked in unison, unwilling to increase their workload any further.

"Among its many powers, the Fury has the ability to turn the mana flow of its replicas into that of the person who wields the original, allowing multiple Forgemasters to work on the same piece." Bytra said. Her voice and eyes were now filled with confidence.

"Menadion devised it as a crutch for her less talented apprentices, but if used properly, once you reach an adequate level of skill, we can exploit the Fury to surpass her!" 

Xenagrosh looked at the scene from the surveillance devices, glad to see that somehow things were working out.

"What's the status in the Gorgon Empire?" She asked Slathan and Oskhat, respectively the Fenrir and the Leviathan Eldritchs in charge of controlling the underworld.

The war with the Undead Courts had created a power vacuum among criminals that the Organization was desperate to fill. Not only because the Master's research was always lacking funds, but also because controlling the black market meant having access to all kinds of rare resources.

Had the Master bought everything they needed with his personal fortune, the Vastor Household would have long gone bankrupt.

Also, magical metals and ingredients were strictly regulated so the black market was the only reliable source that allowed the Organization to avoid the scrutiny of the three great Countries.

Vastor had spread his Abominations everywhere, gaining capillary control over most of the illegal business on Garlen.

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