Supreme Magus

Chapter 2971 Rescue Mission (Part 1)

The baby girl was happy to see her mother. All those big words and the repeated shapeshifting had worked her up an appetite. Elysia turned into a Tiamat for better mobility and went for Kamilaʼs chest.

”Bad Elysia!” Kamila said as the baby pulled her shirt open, exposing her bosom.

”Thatʼs my girl!” Lith said with pride.

***

Ernas Household, a few hours later.

A regional holiday had been declared for the whole week to celebrate the news of Quyllaʼs twins. Jirni and Orion had arranged for festivals to be held in every city and village, providing as much food as the recent end of the famine allowed for.

So Lith wasnʼt surprised when he walked through the private Gate of their mansion and found every wall, curtain, and piece of furniture decorated with blue and pink ribbons.

Even the portraits of Orionʼs ancestors wore one on the lapels of their painted jackets and their expressions looked more smug than usual.

ʼItʼs all in your head.ʼ Solus said. ʼI remember what they looked like and no one altered the paintings.ʼ

ʼIf you say so.ʼ Seeing the usually polite and reserved house staff smile from ear to ear was so creepy that Lith pondered if Mogar had its own clown prince of crime who had filled the mansion with lethal laughing gas.

When they reached Orionʼs Forgemastery lab, they almost couldnʼt recognize it. It was filled with cribs, blankets, and everything one would expect from a childrenʼs shop, not the research quarters of a powerful mage.

”Welcome, Lith! Hi, Solus!” Orion shoved a cigar in Lithʼs mouth, gifted a small bottle of perfume to Solus, and handed a glass of Dragon Water to both. ”Come on in, we were just getting started.”

”Hi, guys. Please, tell me youʼve come here on a rescue mission.” Nalrond was in his Agni form.

He had three cigars in his maw and one bucket-sized glass filled with liquor in each clawed hand.

Orion was supposed to take Nalrondʼs new measurements for a new armor, but he had been otherwise occupied.

”What a guy! He has a killer sense of humor.” Orion laughed, creeping everyone out. ”Donʼt worry, weʼll be done soon and youʼll be free to go back to Friya.”

The nudges and winks left no doubt that Orion was fishing for more grandchildren.

”Sort of.” Lith had walked many miles in Nalrondʼs current shoes.

His parents had been pushy even before he met Kamila and only Elysiaʼs birth had made them relent from their demands for grandchildren. For a while.

”I bring good news and lots of stuff.” Lith opened his pocket dimension, dropping the materials from Nalrondʼs old Featherwalker armor that he had recycled with Creation Magic.

”Did you ask Salaark or…” Orion asked with greed.

Even the happiness of the moment couldnʼt make him forget his own personal war.

His lab was full of failed prototypes and the vaults of the Ernas Household were cluttered with old artifacts that Creation Magic could turn into materials for weapons of destruction.

”Both.” Lith raised his hands in surrender. ”As in, I tried, failed, and Grandma stepped in before everything blew to bits. Sorry, Orion, but your creations are still too complex for me. Maybe if you gave me the schematics of your cloaking runes-”

”Over my dead body!” Not even his personal war could make Orion forget his pride as Forgemaster. ”Then you would steal every secret of my bloodlineʼs legacy and the Ernas would de facto be reduced to a branch of the Verhen family.”

”I was just saying.” Lith didnʼt even try to deny Orionʼs on-point allegations. ”How is it going?”

”Before, good. Now itʼs much better.” Orion said.

The violet crystals were expensive, but the real issue was getting his hands on enough Adamant to make a proper armor for Nalrondʼs new and even bigger body. Getting back the Adamant of the Featherwalker made things much easier.

”This guy is a Forgemasterʼs dream.” Orion pressed a few nerves, triggering the retractable blade spikes on the forearms and knees.

”I have a name and Iʼm not a toy. Stop doing that!” Nalrond said.

Then, he saw the hurt in Orionʼs eyes and remembered how much the Ernas were doing for him. How even after seeing him in his new form they hadnʼt batted an eye at his diminished humanity.

”Please.”

”Iʼm sorry, Nalrond. Iʼm just too happy.” Orion said.

In his Agni form, his son-in-law would be a formidable ally. Nalrond had already learned and practiced Spirit Magic during Faluelʼs lessons with the help of her silvery wand.

The first three tiers of magic were just a matter of power so he only needed to practice tiers four and five to become a Spirit Master. Also, Nalrond had already started to teach Friya Light Mastery.

Even though there wasnʼt much time, Orion believed that every bit he could snatch from those lessons would help. Last, but not least, between his already deep violet core and his armored body, the Agni was a force to be reckoned with.

”Why is Nalrondʼs new body relevant to Forgemastery?” Solus asked in curiosity.

”Itʼs actually a niche branch, but a very useful one.” Orion explained. ”You see, normally an armorʼs focus is just defense. You can add things like bladed wings or claws, but those are last-ditch resorts.

”Adding more metal for including weapons is not the problem since the weight-reducing spells take care of it. The issue is that you canʼt give an artifact more than one power core.

”Adding the specifics for a weapon also means wasting runes to set its shape, edge, and measurements, or the self-repair spells wonʼt work. You also have to specify where the blade comes out of how.

”For Nalrond, thereʼs no such problem. I just have to enchant the armor with the simple ʼcover your ownerʼ spell to give him what he needs.” Orion pointed at the bone spikes on his body and the retractable blades.

”With Nalrondʼs external shell giving shape to the armor, I simply have to choose for the power core spells that can work both as offense and defense. I can focus on the enchantments and their efficiency instead of wasting runes on diagrams.”

ʼThis is interesting.ʼ Lith pondered. ʼThe horns in my Tiamat form are too short to be useful except as a last resort but my tail is another story entirely. Maybe itʼs time to put the bone spear at its end to good use.ʼ

ʼSure.ʼ Solus replied, blushing in embarrassment as memories about the tail that werenʼt her own flashed in her mind.

”Iʼm going on a mission for a while. If you guys need me for anything, please let Kamila know. I might not be able to answer my amulet until Iʼm done.”

”Thanks, Lith. You have no idea how much this means to me.” With the Ernas paying for the mansion, the marriage, and even Nalrondʼs equipment, he felt greatly indebted to them.

Recycling the old armor helped lessen the expenses for the new one but that wasnʼt enough.

ʼLight Mastery is my bloodline legacy and the Ernas are my new tribe. I guess that Iʼll follow Morokʼs lead and share with my in-law everything I know.ʼ He thought, unaware that he was being manipulated into doing this for months now.