"A wonderful and yet Forbidden creation." Sylpha said while handing several handkerchiefs to Tyris. "Based on Royal Forgemaster Ernas's assessment, the DoLorean can't be owned by regular people. From now onward it has to be considered tier one Forbidden Magic."
Orion had tried all of his Forgemastering Spells on the car during the flight, but he had failed to unlock its secrets. He didn't like doing that, but Orion was a soldier and when the King ordered, he could only obey.
"Forbidden Magic has tiers?" Lith asked with amazement.
"Just two of them." Marchioness Distar said while taking sketches of the car. "Tier one means that it doesn't harm the people of the Kingdom, only its laws. Tier one can be performed as long as the mage has the Royal Authorization.
"Tier two, instead, can never be employed. Even if the King himself were to be caught in the act, he would be immediately executed, as it happened for Arthan."
"I definitely want the DoLorean." Salaark said to Tyris from thousands of kilometers away. "When Lith comes to visit, I must ask him for the blueprints."
"Ask? Why don't you just take it?" Balkor asked, wishing that his family had a DoLorean as well. It would make him feel much safer.
"Who do you take me for? A petty thief?" Salaark snarled. "I made the laws of the Desert and I follow them. I never stole from my own subjects, let alone from someone that could become a valuable asset."
Back in the Red Flag valley, Lith tried to bargain his way out of that pinch.
"I never meant to mass-produce the DoLorean and it requires the collaboration of my associates." He avoided mentioning Friya to not drag her into that mess and saying that the constructs were actually Solus's work to keep her existence a secret.
"There's no need to flag my workings as Forbidden Magic, it would just cause me more trouble."
"Don't worry, young man." The Marchioness said.
"Tier two gets you killed whereas tier one Forbidden Magic is one of the greatest achievements a craftsman can receive. It means that you outmatched the known restrictions about magic and that the law needs to be changed to keep up with a single person.
"It's something that usually happens only when a Magus shares their knowledge. You must be proud of yourself, Lith, just like everyone here is proud of witnessing history being written."
"Indeed." Milea walked through a Gate, followed by her trusted but not-so-respected-anymore mentor who was under the guise of a black-haired mage wearing a lab coat. "Any country would be glad to have such an innovator among their ranks, especially the Empire.
"We are the most advanced magical community on Garlen, and I would spread your creation instead of keeping it hidden like something you must be ashamed of."
"Nonsense." King Meron said. "Spreading something like that would only bring chaos and create more problems than it would solve. In the wrong hands, it might be weaponized and unleash a war none of us is ready to face."
"Meron is right." Leegaain said, making sure that both he and Milea remained on his side of the land. "I know that you are eager to give a better life to your people, but remember that knowledge is a double-edged sword.
"Think of what Silverwing's legacy did to our country."
"Please, a flying vehicle is nothing like Silverwing's legacy. No offense, Archmage Verhen." Milea said.
"None taken." Lith shrugged.
"No? What about the sudden need for aerial warfare? What about smuggling inside your floating fortresses, human trafficking, and all those crimes that so far you managed to prevent by keeping the mages loyal?
"Giving the ability to fly at high speed to everyone would ruin generations of hard work in all countries in a matter of weeks." Leegaain shook his head.
"You are right, but it's also your fault that such technology belongs to our enemy." Milea snarled. "Archmage Verhen, you'll always have a place here. As for you lot, get out of my land, or I'll consider this an act of war."
The Royals gave the Empress a small bow that she quickly returned before disappearing through another Gate. They owed her that much for overlooking their transgression and allowing them safe return on the way back.
"Do I get to at least keep the DoLorean?" Lith asked, now worried about the possible consequences of his invention.
"Of course you can." Marchioness Distar said. "Destroying it would be a crime against magic. Quite the contrary, we need you to manufacture some more with the same specifics."
"I beg your pardon?"
"In the right hands, it's a magnificent tool. I'm in desperate need of a DoLorean so that my family can finally have a normal life." The Marchioness said.
"The same stand for the Royal Family." Queen Sylpha handed Lith a Royal order to suspend all his current activities until he delivered two cars. One for the Marchioness and the other for the Royals."
"Your Majesty, I was thinking about gifting one to Count Lark as a thank you for all he did for me and another to my girlfriend. Do I have your permission?" Lith asked.
"Lark is a loyal subject of the Kingdom and having received many death threats he is eligible for such a gift, if you truly wish so. Constable Yehval, however, is not unless you've decided to marry her." King Meron said while trying to keep his voice neutral.
Aside from her job and her sister, Kamila had no ties with the Kingdom, just like Lith whereas a high ranked noble, like the Ernas, would have been an unbreakable chain.
"I'm still young. Why should I marry someone for one car?" Lith was flabbergasted.
"Young? At your age, I already wore the Crown and my wife was waiting for our firstborn. Also, such an artifact can't be anything less than a betrothal gift. This is how much the Kingdom values your work." Meron handed him a piece of paper with the word gold followed by more zeroes than Lith had ever seen in his life.
"Being a limited edition doesn't make it cheap, quite the contrary, it makes it priceless. That amount should compensate you for the costs of research, your craftsmanship, and the necessary crystals.
"The rest of your reward will come in the form of the Mansion that my wife is building for you. In the case you haven't noticed, we want you to consider the Griffon Kingdom as your one and only home."
***
Faluel's Lair, just in time for the lesson.
"It's the first time you don't come early and you didn't answer to either amulet. Is everything alright?" The Hydra asked seeing Lith's half-shocked and half-confused expression.
He barely noticed that Morok was there as well and that the others had already started training their bodies while golems with Faluel's appearance taught them how to fight an Awakened who possessed a core of their same color and their skills.
