Chapter 1981: New Floors (Part 3)
“The real Davross and crystals are still respectively in the Crucible and the Mines. The Workshop uses them as blueprints and can’t exceed their quantity.” Lith said.
“How is this amazing?” Protector scratched his chin in confusion. “I mean, sure, it’s good for practice, but it has little practical use.”
“You wolfhead!” Salaark said in outrage. “This is a miracle of magic that borders on Creation Magic. Thanks to the Workshop, even without my help Lith and Solus can now experiment with their techniques as many times as they want without losing a single ingredient.
“Thanks to this place, no matter how crazy or risky an experiment is, there will be no consequence because nothing inside here is real.”
“It’s actually even better, Grandma.” Lith offered her biscuits and hot chocolate to sweeten the blow. “Until this moment, I couldn’t use powerful ingredients like Dragon’s organs or the plants I received from the Dryads without a recipe.
“Your Creation Magic allows me to reuse those that end up in a failed but complete piece, but cannot recover an ingredient that has been destroyed due to the Forgemastering energies going awry or to a faulty crafting method.
“With the Workshop, instead, I can experiment every kind of enchantment with my ingredients and discover what element or combination of elements they are more attuned with.”
“I can do that with Creation Magic as well.” Salaark said in-between mouthfuls.
“That’s because you can revert the consequences of a failed experiment the moment something goes wrong whereas I can only bring you the final results. I can’t ask you to spend hours looking after me in case I make a mistake.
“I believe that the Workshop is the reason Menadion managed to Forgemaster so many masterpieces and research so many branches of magic. She could experiment until she found the perfect combination of materials and technique and now we can do the same.” Lith said.
“Wait a second.” The Guardian furrowed her brows. “If you had your own version of Creation Magic, why do you keep coming to me to remove imprints and enchantments?”
“Because I needed to use both the replicas and the real ingredients to make sure of how accurate the Workshop’s ability to reproduce magical properties is and because I’m shamelessly trying to learn Creation Magic from you.” He replied.
“Cheeky brat!” Salaark pinched his cheek, laughing. “Extra points for your sincerity. I knew that you have the Eyes and I was counting on you using them to give Creation Magic a go. This was a low blow, though.
“I expect to be compensated for my time and my stolen lessons.”
“If there’s something you need, Grandma, all you have to do is ask.” Lith gave her a deep bow, knowing how much deep is respect for Salaark was.
She had taken care of him and his family for all that time without asking anything in return. She had lessened the burden on his father’s sanity, sparing Raaz the trauma of having to live a single minute without his limbs.
She had taken care of the Verhens like her own, giving Lith a safe haven to recover from the pain Meln had inflicted upon him and a place where to enjoy his honeymoon.
“Don’t worry, dear. We’ll talk about this later.” Salaark placed her hand over his head, caressing it gently. “Now show us the rest of the goods.”
“Sure thing. Our next stop is the Factory.” The new floor was right below the Workshop.
The room looked like a mix of the Forge and Zekell’s smithy. There was a furnace fueled by both violet flames of magical origin and the magma that came from the lower levels of the tower.
Like the Forge, there was a huge block of Adamant that worked as an amplifier for the magical energies and like the smithy, there was everything necessary to smelt metals and molds to shape them in different forms.
“Here is where my labor in the Workshop truly comes to fruition.” Lith said. “This floor is entirely automated. It can do the same things I do and with the same precision, as long as I provide a manufacturing method and the final product doesn’t require a strength above the blue core.”
“It would be incredible if you planned to sell low-quality weapons.” Salaark looked at the various artifacts, doing her best to conceal her disappointment. “Yet I doubt that anyone would be interested in such a low output.
“A true masterpiece cannot be mass-produced. It’s the care and expertise of the artisan that make the difference between good and exceptional. Just think about War. Without Orion’s feelings, it would have just been an average piece of metal.”
“You are right, Grandma, but also wrong.” Lith replied. “You see, I have a small army of Demons and I’ve decided that it’s time to give them some equipment. I can’t always rely on stealing it from my fallen enemies, especially against Thrud’s soldiers.
“Their bodies and gear disappear a second before their death and my Demons lack the skill to capture it in time. On top of that, the souls who answer my call change every time.
“There is no point in crafting something tailored for them. Even if I knew what weapon suits each one of them the best, it would be used only once, wasting my time and effort.
“Here, instead, I can craft everything I need without consuming a second of my time and focus. Also, never forget that quantity has a quality all its own.” Lith pointed at several blades identical in their shape and enchantments but with different kinds of power cores and mana pathways.
“I lack the experience and skill to understand how the mana flow in the body of others. Because of that, I can’t make weapons suitable for the training of Blade Magic. Yet thanks to the Factory, I can rely on a trial-and-error process.”
A snap of his fingers conjured Locrias, Valia, and Trion who each experimented with the new batches of weapons, reporting to Lith which one offered less resistance to them.
After spending enough time with them and having learned together how to use the chains to exchange knowledge, Lith had imparted unto them everything he knew about Blade Magic.
The Demons could use such knowledge to understand their own mana flow and how it behaved when interacting with different kinds of power cores. Then, they shared their discoveries with Lith and he would focus on perfecting the power cores of their choosing.
“A true Ruler of the Flames has to be capable of forging tools that allow their clients to casting Blade Magic. I’m brute-forcing my way to the title, but what truly matters is the result.” He shrugged.
“Thank you very much.” Locrias said. “First you allowed us to get in touch with our families. Then, you included them in your bargain with the Royals so that we can spend time with them during times of war and peace.
“Now you are even teaching us one of the highest tiers of magic and providing us with what we need to practice it. You have given us so much and yet we have given you so little in return.”
“Nonsense'” Lith dismissed the issue with a wave of his hand.
