Despite her initial panic, Solus quickly regained her cool and started to look around Kulah, searching for clues about the nature of what could possibly require an entire mana geyser as a power source.
Yet the buildings' repetitive nature gave her nothing to work on. On top of that, between the internal and external arrays, she was unable to pry inside the military compound with her mystical senses.
'Solus, are you alright? I'm getting tired here. What's taking you so long?' Lith's message made her realize she had lost track of time.
'I'm peachy! Sorry to make you worry, I'll be there in while.' She replied while rushing to Lith's position. When her detailed report received a lukewarm reaction, she felt forced to ask:
'You're taking this way better than I expected. Not even a swear word. What makes you so confident about our predicament?'
'Whenever we found a city built above a mana geyser, we have always been forced to make camp on another geyser. I hoped that the Odi might had not been able to fully exploit the world energy, but the more we are discovering about them, the more I realize mine was naïve thinking.' Lith replied.
'We must consider Kulah as if it was a lost city. If there are any more flesh factories around, then the number of our enemies is nigh-infinite. It was a long-shot and we failed, nothing to mope about.' Lith mind-shrugged.
The following day, after lunch, the Professors shared with the rest of the expedition team their discoveries about the Golems' remains. Constructs were the apex of a mage's work, so they had pooled their resources to grasp how dangerous the Odi were at the time they had founded Kulah.
"I'm sorry, but we have only bad news." Professor Gaakhu said. "After a thorough analysis, we concluded that even though the Golems had an outdated design, they had all the necessary firepower to wipe us out if not for our protective arrays.
"The constructs weren't as powerful as modern ones but their ability to process information and coordinate their attacks was something unprecedented. At first, we couldn't understand how it was possible, but after receiving Archmage Ernas's report, everything changed."
'Orion is an Archmage?' Lith was flabbergasted. 'Everyone always referred to him as Lord Ernas and I've never seen him wearing a robe.'
'It's not that surprising after he created the Gatekeeper so easily, crafted the anti Balkor weapons, and him being a Royal Forgemaster. It's just that the title of Archduke is probably more important. Now shut up and listen.' Solus said.
"We examined the internal structure of the Golems again and discovered cerebral fluids and brain matter mixed with their power core fragments. Our hypothesis is that they contained a Forgemastered brain." She took a pause, to let her audience understand the implications of their discovery.
"Do you mean they were alive?" Morok asked. His tone was more curious than disgusted.
"An organ can't survive for centuries without a body." Gaakhu shook her heard. "Yet it's likely that the regenerative properties of the Golem kept them intact and in turn used them to compensate for the lack of improvisation that arrays have.
"The reason I'm telling you this, is because if we face more defensive mechanisms with and odd behavior, then they are likely to be bio-weapons, just like the Golems. The only silver lining is that if we destroy their biological component, they should become inactive or at least have their abilities crippled."
'Forgemastering organs? Solus, is that even possible?' Lith asked.
'In theory, no. The mana of the person receiving the enchantment and that of the one casting it would just cause a mana poisoning, unless…'
Phloria made Solus's same objection, but out loud, receiving a shocking answer.
"You're right Captain Ernas. It's indeed impossible unless the Forgemaster sacrifices their life to become part of their own creation." Neshal replied.
"That's sick! What mage could possibly do such a thing?" Phloria was hating her mission more with each discovery they made.
She had the impression of looking at the twisted reflection of what the Griffon Kingdom might have become if the Mad King hadn't been stopped.
"A dying mage, for example." Yondra replied. "Once you're old, you've got nothing to lose. Or simply a mage without any other choice. If you think about it from a ruler's perspective, you're turning a mage in an eternally loyal and unfaltering guardian."
'Forgemastering my own flesh is something I have never thought about.' Lith was shocked. 'Maybe that's my solution.'
'Or not.' Solus said emitting a retching sound. 'We have no idea what the aftereffects of the procedure would be and you have only one shot at it. I believe that altering your life force might also alter your mind to the point you'd became another person.'
Lith's mind stopped in its tracks. After arriving on Mogar, undeath seemed the perfect solution to his problems, based on Dungeons \u0026 Looting rulebook at least. Reality had begged to differ enough that Lith had been forced to discard the possibility of turning himself even into a Lich.
'Okay, sorry. We'll think about it when we have more data.' He replied, making her sigh in relief.
"After contacting the Headquarters, our first priority is to find anything we can about Forgemastering life force and its opposite process: sacrificing lives to give inanimate matter a mana flow. Everything else is of secondary importance." Gaakhu continued.
"Aside from guard duty, all other activities are suspended." Phloria said once the Professors finished their debriefing. "Rest and recover because tomorrow we'll split into groups again and resume our search. Professor Neshal, what's our arrays' status?"
"Better than ever. I brought them to such a level that they are almost as good as permanent arrays."
"Perfect! Can I come with you then?" Quylla asked.
"Absolutely not! Three days of training are just like three days of a diet, barely a start." Phloria replied. "As you are now, you would just be a liability."
"That's not true! I can Warp you all to safety, without the need for Lith to remain behind. Are you really willing to use him as a scapegoat every time something goes wrong?" Quylla's words stung at Phloria.
'Dammit, from her point of view what I did was heartless. Quylla has no idea of what Lith can do and to be honest, neither do I.' Phloria thought.
"No, I'm not, but that doesn't change the fact that you can't come with us. Retreat is our last resort, which means that during the fight someone should protect you. Or do you think you are capable of defending yourself?" She actually said.
"Fine!" Quylla stomped her feet and walked away before saying something that she was sure she would have regretted the moment after such cruel words escaped from her mouth.
Rainer followed her, trying to calm her down. The youth was charmed by both her ingenuity and strong character. At the same time, however, he was scared by her reckless attitude.
"What's wrong with you? Your sister is only trying to protect you, to protect us Assistants. We are not trained for actual combat, so the least we can do is not drag them down." He said.
