Lith had dubbed the two methods as Necro Forge and Bloom Forge respectively.
The former followed the same pattern Lith used to create his lesser undead. Back in Zantia, his plan E involved keeping a perfect blood core at the ready along with Trouble's corpse. An undead Balor was the perfect way to beat numbers with raw power.
Unfortunately, powerful corpses craved for the necromantic energies of a blood core and had no need for mana pathways, whereas inanimate objects rejected magic.
The latter method was derived by Lith's studies on the growth of the pseudo cores of mana crystals and of the mana core of plants. Once again, the main difference was that inanimate objects had no core nor room for growth to begin with.
"Let's start with Necro Forge." Lith said.
With a bleeding wallet, Lith took two cyan mana crystals out of his pocket dimension. He couldn't use blue crystals for a mere test run, nor he could risk using weak green crystals and fail just because he was a cheapskate.
He used Invigoration to fill his body with mana, then he drew several runes in the air to perform the true magic version of Bonding. It was a tier five Forgemaster spell that was used to fuse together mana crystals and items before enchanting the latter.
Once fused with inanimate objects, mana crystals would grant them a mana circulatory system, of which they were the literal beating heart, and an innate mana flow akin to a living being.
Each rune produced a mana filament as thin as a hair that would go through both the hammer and the mana crystals, bringing them closer and closer at each passage until they became one. The three objects started to float in mid air, orbiting around each other like triplet stars.
Lith had performed this process countless times. Each one of the magical home appliances or toys he made was fueled by mana crystals. He would consume low quality materials, make his family happy, and gain a lot of experience.
Three birds with one stone.
Then, it was time to create the pseudo core with Necro Forge. Even though Lith was a master at energy manipulation, shaping a complete core was something that only an Awakened could do.
Cores looked like spheres of energy, but they were so much more. Thanks to Necromancy, Lith had learned that a blood core defined how strong the undead would be, if it would retain any memory or conscience, and even the abilities they would be born with.
Creating a core, no matter if a pseudo or blood one, was akin to create a whole living being.
'The purpose of the hammer is to act as a temporary vessel for my mana. The problem of Forgemastering is that the stronger the spell you want to infuse an item with is, the greater the amount of mana that you need to succeed.
'If the maximum amount of mana a Forgemaster can handle is 100, their limit is a spell with a mana cost of 99. With this hammer, my limit might expand up to 150 while Forgemastering enchanted items.
'It needs a simple but powerful pseudo core with the sole purpose of storing mana.' Lith thought.
He shaped the pseudo core to resemble his own, but without all the complex patterns that linked it to his body. Thanks to Invigoration, Lith could look at his own mana core anytime.
Whenever he spotted a mistake or an imperfection, he needed but a thought to correct it. Next came the hard part.
Even though Orichalcum seemed to accept the pseudo core as a thirsty man yearns for spring water, even with the mana vessels creating a complex system capable of evenly distributing the incoming energy mass, Lith felt the core distorting the moment it made contact with the hammer.
The Orichalcum allowed magic to circulate almost freely, but the energy signature of the crystals rejected the foreign mana the pseudo core was made of. It was like transplanting an organ from a random donor and then beat the patient's body into submission to prevent graft rejection.
Lith took things slow and easy. He made the pseudo core slowly enter the hammer to have the time to spot and correct any deformation as soon as they formed. At the same time, he flooded the hammer's mana vessels with his own mana.
It reduced the resistance the core encountered by both weakening the opposing flow and improving the affinity the Orichalcum had for Lith's mana. The process required an enormous amount of energy that only an Awakened using Invigoration could afford.
Once the core was at the center of the mana circulatory system, Lith created the mana pathways. With each pathway he completed, the two different kinds of mana started to freely flow into each other until they merged into a single entity.
When the process was over, Lith was covered in sweat.
"I just want to take a bath and sleep. I used Invigoration so much that my entire body aches. The silver lining is that the procedure succeeded." Lith said.
"Well, imagine how hard it would have been without me fueling the magic circle in your stead. This is just a prototype, so I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch." Solus said.
"Why so negative? Everything went smoothly and now all we have to do is to use the Orichalcum hammer to Forgemaster something to check its performances."
"I suppose we could do that. You always have a lot more time when you are single." Solus said while making the pocket watch float in front of Lith.
"Six-thirty already? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Lith blurted out.
"We were in the middle of a six hours and a half experiment. I don't think you would have gracefully thanked me if I made you lose your focus."
Lith had barely the time to imprint the hammer to check if it worked, take a quick bath to wash away the stench of sweat, sulfur, and all the smelly stuff he had used at the smithy before Warping for his life to get at Kamila's home.
"Thank my paranoia for cleaning her apartment before leaving and for storing all the dishes from our favorite restaurant in my pocket dimension before starting my experiments." Lith said to himself while he set the table and made all he could to not make it evident that he had just arrived.
Even though he had used Invigoration after the bath, he needed to use it again to stop panting. He was at his second breath worth of energy when he heard the key turning and the door opened.
'Seven sharp. Kamila really is a military woman. I never thought the day would come where I would wish for my girlfriend not to be on time.' Lith thought.
Kamila looked at the dim lights and the steaming food on the table with a radiant smile. She put her military cap on the coat hanger in the hallway before asking to Lith:
"You are here, so you kept at least half of your promise. Did you risk your life today?"
He thought about it for a couple of seconds before answering.
"No. Worst case scenario I would have wasted a lot of money and materials."
"Then you kept your promise and made my day." Kamila put her arms around his neck before giving him a passionate kiss.
