Supreme Magus

Chapter 4323: Odd Device (Part 1)

Solus returned to the Mansion immediately, waiting only the time necessary to scan the mana geyser’s surroundings and ensure that no one had approached the tower while she studied the underground complex.

It took her a few calls and a bit of caution to summon everyone in the keep without alerting Jirni.

"Guys, I have great news." Solus said, sharing her discovery via a mind link.

"It seems you have struck the motherlode, Solus." Protector said. "How much is my cut if I help you crack that vault open like an egg?"

"Your share?" Solus echoed, suddenly remembering that she wasn’t the only one in dire need of Adamant.

"How can you be so greedy, Protector?" Tista clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Solus is our friend and needs our help. She can have my share. As long as she deducts it from my debt, of course."

Solus looked daggers at her friend, failing to find any difference between the two claims.

"I’m sorry, but I want a share as well." Morok raised his hands apologetically. "Just give me enough Adamant for an adult-sized armor for Ryla and Garrik, and we’re even. I’ll make weapons for them with the next loot."

"Same for me." Nalrond nodded. "The discovery is yours, and so is the tower, so I’m okay with a small cut. As long as I can refine it in the Crucible, thank you very much."

Friya and Quylla remained silent, knowing that their father or Faluel would take care of everything they might need.

"You guys are unbelievable!" Solus snarled. "I never thought the day would come when I’d be happy to be a midget, but you made it possible. And yes, I admit I’m short. Does anyone have anything more to say?"

"Yes." Lith nodded, almost making her jaw drop to the floor. "Show everything to me again, please. Start from the beginning."

Solus recalled her memories of the underground complex, this time more slowly and in much greater detail.

"Something smells fishy here." Lith pondered. "Old arrays of that size require a much stricter maintenance schedule than modern ones, yet they are still in perfect working condition."

"That’s a good point." Solus fought to keep the adrenaline rush that was clouding her mind since earlier under control. "I’m certain there is no living being down there, only inorganic constructs.

"Yet taking care of so many arrays for millennia isn’t something a normal golem can do. The pseudo cores of these constructs must be incredibly complex."

"That’s not all." Quylla pointed out. "As you showed us, the place isn’t built over a mana geyser, and those are permanent arrays like those of House Ernas. Fueling them requires a lot of power, even more when the facility is under attack.

"What if the crystal vault you spotted is no vault at all, but just an energy source storage?"

"What’s the difference?" Solus asked.

"If that’s a storage like Quylla says, then that place is packed with weapons that at the time were considered powerful." Menadion replied. "That’s way too many crystals to fuel only a bunch of magical formations, no matter how powerful.

"The others must be for artifacts kept at the ready in stasis fields. Once their master is dead, constructs can endure the passing of time thanks to their recharge pods, but from that moment, they can only use non-imprinted tools.

"At the same time, however, without a mage providing them with mana, those very tools would lose their pseudo cores in a few years."

"How could I have been so blind?" Solus’ eyes went wide in disbelief. "Arrays, constructs, artifacts, everything there is fueled by mana crystals. Quylla is right, that’s no vault, it’s an armory!"

"It’s your first brush with Dragon Greed, Solus. You’ll get used to it." Lith replied. "Moreover, the crystal storage’s size says a lot about the kind of firepower the fortress will unleash at us when we breach its walls. We need to prepare carefully."

"Please, don’t count on me for the execution of the plan." Friya cleared her throat, drawing all eyes on her. "I won’t endanger my twins for a bit of Adamant. I’m going to sit this out."

"I’m coming, instead." Quylla said. "Dipping my toes with old junk is the perfect practice before stepping out on a real battlefield."

"I have no objections, but aren’t you taking this a bit too seriously?" Morok asked. "The place is decrepit, and we have Menadion and her Set on our side. What are the chances we can’t just crack the arrays and waltz our way in?"

"Not many, but you were in Kulah with us, Morok." Solus replied. "You know that ancient doesn’t always equal harmless. Moreover, the Eyes of Menadion spotted an entire army of battle Golems."

"Gods, I still have nightmares about those things." The Tyrant shuddered. "Didn’t you say there is nothing organic inside the city?"

"I did, but that doesn’t reassure me much." Solus replied. "The arrays surrounding the underground facility created too much interference to get a proper scan of the active Golems, let alone of those depowered.

"I don’t know if this lost civilization is more or less advanced than the Odi, but I wouldn’t underestimate them. There was no broken construct, malfunctioning array, or ruined building despite the passing of at least five millennia.

"The only plausible explanation is that there are constructs specialized in repairs and maintenance. Imagine mowing down dozens of Golems just to see them get back on their feet as good as new.

"Think what might happen if we deactivate the arrays, walk in, and then a maintenance Golem turns them on again. We’d be trapped and surrounded by enemies."

"That doesn’t sound good. At all." Morok pondered. "And the worst part is that whoever built that armory knew enough about magic to not need a mana geyser for their workings. They must have been much more skilled and less arrogant than the Odi."

"I’m glad we are on the same page." Solus nodded. "Be sure to prepare everything you think we might need before we go. Also, we have to inform our parents of our absence. Thank the gods that for once we don’t have to lie. Too much."

***

"An Adamant deposit?" Jirni asked. "How did you find it?"

"She didn’t. I did, a long time ago." Menadion replied. "I never bothered exploring it because it was too dangerous, and I could earn all the resources I wanted with my Forgemastering skills."

"Dangerous? With a mage tower at your disposal?" Jirni didn’t sound convinced.

"Mage towers are not omnipotent, or I wouldn’t have passed away so soon." Menadion countered soberly. "They have limits that I’m not going to reveal to you, Jirni. One day, I hope to gift Solus a modern version of my tower."

"I won’t ask any more questions about it, then." Jirni raised her hands in apology. "Is the Adamant enough for a full set of equipment for a Divine Beast?"

"I’m not sure." Ripha replied, and this time she was telling the truth. "I didn’t tell Solus about the deposit before because she had no need for it, but now things are different. I won’t let my only heir risk her life when I could have helped her.

"Since we are already at it, don’t you Ernas have a Dragon corpse or something?"