Supreme Magus

Chapter 3510: Pride and Duty (Part 1)

"Ah, children. I remember when I was your age." Aran sounded like he was thirty instead of seven, which made the real adults stifle a chuckle. "You are as naïve as I was back when I considered magic some kind of fun, shiny toy."

"Is it not?" Nessa tilted her head in confusion. "You do lots of funny things with magic, Big Sis. Don’t you like it?"

"We do like it, Lil Sis, but magic is no toy." Leria replied.

"Why is she ’lil sis’ and I’m ’dummy’ most of the times?" Aran grunted.

"Because she’s a child!"

"I’m not a child!" Nessa pouted, her tone so serious that the room exploded in a laugh.

"Of course you are, baby girl." Senton lifted her in his arms. "If you were a grown-up, you would have to work with daddy in the smithy and have no time to play with your brothers. Is that what you want."

"No." The little girl replied while hugging him. "Can I watch you work, Daddy?"

"Only if you promise not to touch anything." Senton warned her with a serious tone.

"As I was saying…" Leria cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention. "Magic is not a toy. It’s about discipline, responsibility, and-"

"Mom, make her stop!" Falco pulled Rena’s skirt. "Leria is nagging at us again and I’m already bored."

"I’m not nagging!" Leria turned beet red in embarrassment. "I’m lecturing you."

"Still boring." Terion said.

"And mean." Nessa added.

"I know you are proud of your achievements, sweetie, but try to be more carefree." Rena caressed Leria’s head. "Not everything has to be a lesson. Sometimes, magic can just be fun, can’t it?"

"Yes, Mom." Leria sighed and produced soft-light weapons and armor for the triplets to play.

"Big Sis is the best!" Falco said, donning his equipment.

"Then you do her. I’m Uncle Lith." Nessa said.

"You can’t be Uncle Lith! You’re a girl. I’m Uncle Lith!" Terion said.

"Please, go play in another room." Elina said. "I have something to say to your uncle."

"Yes, Grandma." The triplets hugged her legs and obediently moved the battleground to the living room.

"What’s the matter, Mom?" Lith asked. "Are you alright?"

"I feel amazing, thank you." Elina sat down, clenching the hems of her dress. "That’s why I’d like to speak with Salaark and Leegaain. I could have done it earlier but I wanted to have you present."

"Sure thing, Mom." Lith moved to her side, holding her shoulder. "Can you please call them, Tyris?"

"No problem." With the other two Guardians out of the picture, she was the one looking after Elysia and Kamila every day. "Do you want me to leave?"

"Please, stay." Elina replied.

Leegaain appeared first, dressed in clothes common among Lutia’s farmers.

Enjoy exclusive content from

"I’m glad to see you again, Elina." He said. "Are you sure you want Salaark to join us? Maybe facing us one at a time would be easier for you."

"It’s nice to see you too, Grandpa." Elina replied, her smile forced as fear still lingered in her eyes. "Don’t worry about me. Tell her to come here, please."

Salaark arrived second, bringing a third person to the meeting.

"Auntie! Auntie!" Shargein trotted to Elina and put his scaled head in her lap.

"Shargein!" Elina’s face lit up as she rubbed the Wyrmling’s head and scratched his chin. "I’ve missed you, little one."

"I missed you too, Auntie." Shargein cooed in joy, offering his long neck for more scratches.

’Good move.’ Leegaain telepathically nodded.

’I know.’ Salaark sighed. ’Our baby should help her relax.’

"What can we do for you, Elina?" She actually asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see you." Elina replied. "First, I want to thank you for saving my life. That day you gave me a huge scare but I must admit that it made me realize how lucky I am and how much I love my life."

She gave the Guardians a deep bow that they returned.

"Please, you have nothing for which to thank us." Leegaain replied. "We have wronged and hurt you."

"In a way, yes, but that doesn’t erase everything good you have done for me and my family." Elina said. "I also wanted to tell you that I miss you guys. I forgive you and I would love to have you back in the house."

"Are you sure?" Salaark kept her distance, remembering all too well how terrified Elina had been of the Overlord’s touch.

"Yes, I am." Elina nodded. "Just please, don’t you ever do those things in front of me again. I don’t think I could take it a second time."

"You have my word." Salaark nodded.

"And mine as well." Leegaain added.

"Then since you are already here, would you like to stay for dinner?" Elina asked.

"With pleasure." Leegaain replied, hoping he would be able to uphold his promise.

***

The following day, inside the tower’s classroom, Menadion handed Lith a copy of Ragnarök and to Solus a copy of the Fury. Both artifacts were made of Orichalcum, covered in runes, and studded with blue crystals.

They were pale imitations of the originals with enchantments just as weak.

"After you master this, you should have reached a level of understanding deep enough to develop tier five Creation Magic." Ripha said. "Since you have already learned all the necessary steps on your own, I can give you a piece of advice before proceeding.

"As I see it, unless you are a Guardian, the key to using Creation Magic in battle is to have a powerful artifact at hand to which you’re not attached. This way, you can alter its runes, shape, and enchantments without the need for a Forgemastering circle.

"If the artifact you need has more enchantments of the base one, they will be weaker, stronger if it has fewer. Since the energy is already part of the artifact, making alterations costs less mana than a new Forgemastering process and doesn’t risk deformations of the power core.

"During this exercise, you need to partially strip all the components of the artifact I just gave you and remake it as you wish. If the artifact still works after you have modified both runes and power core, you pass. Otherwise, you fail."

"Professor Menadion, I’ve seen Grandma shape artifacts from scratch." Lith said. "I don’t know how, but it looked like she broke the different components down and then reassembled them into a complete artifact.

"As if she first created the mana circulatory system and then shaped the metal around it. If Creation Magic is as you say, how is that possible?"

"Excellent question." Menadion nodded. "I’ve noticed it too and the answer is: I don’t know. I’ve worked on my version of Creation Magic, but either because my runes are outdated or I lack practice, I can’t do that."

"You can’t?" Solus’ jaw fell onto the floor in surprise.

"Yeah. Hence I couldn’t teach you how to do that even if I wanted." Menadion sighed. "So stop talking and get to work. With a bit of luck, by the time you complete your version of Creation Magic, I’ll have learned modern magic and we can work on the problem together."

"This is going to be a long day." Lith sighed.

***