NOVEL NEXT Chapter 66
I confidently claimed I’d try to recruit Lampades, but to change his mind, Carisia’s cooperation was essential.
The original gift got contaminated and turned into a hazardous material. To clean this up, the skills of a Grand Mage were needed.
Specifically, a Grand Mage like the boss.
I placed the Thunder Orb, created by mixing Keranos with Silver Thread Worm and a few spoonfuls of my efforts, on the desk and rolled it toward Carisia.
Carisia gently caught it.
“It’s a spirit compressed into the form of a tool. I’ve seen spirits processed into forms like intelligence or poison, but this is unique.”
As Carisia slowly rotated the Thunder Orb in her hand, she tilted her head slightly.
“But didn’t you say it’s a talisman? This looks more like an orb.”
“Impurities crept in during the manufacturing process. Originally, it was supposed to be completed as a pendant-shaped talisman… but it combined with the Silver Thread Worm, resulting in an unexpected form.”
Hearing about the Silver Thread, Carisia slowly injected her magic power into the Thunder Orb. It greedily absorbed the magic power while simultaneously converting the surrounding mana into lightning attributes.
“Indeed, the properties of the Silver Thread remain. Great! Let’s process it to utilize the Silver Thread’s properties. I’ll leave the schedule coordination and negotiations with the Lampades Tower entirely to you.”
I bowed my head and headed toward the President’s Office. The rest would be handled just fine by Carisia.
*
The Lampades Tower was unexpectedly hosting visitors. Many people welcomed the stranger.
“Do you know my mom?”
“Huh?”
To be precise, the youngest member of the tower, Astraphe, greeted them, pretending to welcome.
“Our mom. She used to live in Etna City. She’s blonde like me.”
Orthes broke into a cold sweat. What on earth was this supposed to mean? Kids usually say odd things, but do they often ask about their parents?
‘Lampades! Lampades!’
He chanted the name of this tower and his friend inwardly. However, Lampades, who was said to be in the middle of an experiment, had yet to come down.
Reluctantly, Orthes decided to come up with the most generic excuse possible.
“Ha ha. I just recently arrived in Etna City. I’m still a newcomer, not even a year here, and hardly know the locals.”
Having just moved, he was unfamiliar with the area. It was an effective phrase to turn away suspicious passersby asking for directions.
Astraphe tilted her head for a moment, nodded a couple of times, and then left for magic training. Orthes sighed in relief.
‘Talking to kids really drains your soul, huh.’
The mages of Lampades Tower could guess a few facts from that conversation. Despite Hydra Corporation’s founding being recent, they had come to propose gifts and sponsorships to other towers, reflecting Orthes’ extraordinary talents.
The unique, innocent questions from a child. Practical hints returned as answers.
Of course, what Astraphe said wasn’t meant for her to understand the hints, but rather directed at the other mages of Lampades Tower.
The mages present were protectors of Carisia from Elysion. Showcasing both financial and martial power made interpreting their ultimate intentions not too difficult.
‘Surrender.’
At least, they had the manners to phrase it in a way fit to be said to a child. The mages prayed that their tower master would return soon to chase that strange man away.
*
Meanwhile, Lampades pressed his forehead, pondering Orthes, who was here to rush him for answers.
‘What on earth do they find so desirable about my techniques…?’
Let’s think from a doomsday cultist’s perspective. What could be done with a method to find safe extra-dimensional spaces?
Deep in thought, it didn’t take long for Lampades to realize Orthes’ wicked plan.
The ability to explore safe extra-dimensions inherently means one could also detect dangerous ones. Opening the door to such terrifying dimensions was truly a dream come true for a doomsday cultist!
Lampades remembered the words left by Orthes’ boss. ‘They are not to be trusted.’
And ‘I chose this person.’
At first, it was confusing, but now he could roughly guess the meaning.
It implied knowing Orthes was a risk but choosing to recruit him, suggesting he had the confidence to control him. In that case, might it not be dangerous to pass on this technique?
Lampades had witnessed Carisia’s personal abilities in Elysion but did not underestimate Orthes’ deviousness either.
It wasn’t easy to draw conclusions comparing Carisia and Orthes. If you considered the closeness he had implied towards Carisia, perhaps her motives were one step ahead of Orthes’s…
‘In the end, am I going to have to meet him?’
Lampades steeled his resolve.
He mentioned he brought a gift.
Though it was a shabby move, if the situation became dire, he could always pick at the gift and send it back.
The future of Astraphe and the tower as a whole was surely more important than his own pride.
“I have prepared an artifact as a gift. It drastically enhances mana to magic efficiency, making the loss zero.”
“What?”
It was too precious a gift to refuse.
*
I could read the clear bewilderment on Lampades’ face. Of course, that was natural.
Wasn’t that an artifact that defies the common sense of magic? Usually, one could reduce the loss during the mana to magic conversion process, but turning it to zero was unheard of.
‘Of course it’s natural; it has the wisdom of the Ten Commandments embedded in it.’
I thought of how the Mage King would have dismissed even this absurd artifact as a mere by-product of wisdom, considering the Ten Towers he was submerged in. How did they manage to obtain it?
If ten tower masters synchronized with the Ten Commandments for ritual assistance, it wouldn’t be unrealistic to think those ten masters ambushed the Mage King to defeat him.
“What on earth does that mean…?”
I heard Lampades’ voice filled with skepticism. That was to be expected. It’s hard to believe in the performance by just words.
“Of course, to unleash its true power, the wearer’s capabilities must support it. Go ahead and infuse your magic power into it once.”
Lampades cautiously grasped the orb in his right hand and infused his magic power. First, the Silver Threads that surrounded the orb slowly unraveled and wrapped around his arm. It was as if only the frame of a glove was formed with wires.
Then the golden orb began to melt away. Gold filled the gaps between the silver framework. Finally, a splendid gauntlet of gold and silver encased the lower part of Lampades’ right arm.
A roar emitted from the grasp of that hand. Lampades was likely feeling the immense mana control he had never experienced before. It was due to the property of mana accumulating inherent in the Silver Threads that Carisia processed.
As Lampades raised his arm, a whirlpool of magical power began to swirl around it. The magic that filled the master’s room was rapidly absorbed by Lampades.
“Truly… it is exactly as described.”
When he withdrew the magic from the gauntlet, it returned to the form of the orb again.
“This is called the Thunder Orb.”
“How on earth was this made… or rather, how did you get it?”
This was quite a tricky matter to discuss. Habitually, I stroked my chin.
“Heh heh. I acquired it through rather secretive channels, but I can tell you, Lampades.”
“If that’s the case, you don’t have to tell me—”
“Haha. What does it mean to be a good friend? Just keep the secret.”
*
Lampades regretted his recklessness and greed. No matter how precious the Thunder Orb was, it was unlikely he could get hold of something of such performance…
‘Not that I can get it.’
His rationality as a mage prevented unreasonable speculation. Lampades tried his best to direct his gaze away from the Thunder Orb.
“This is an artifact unearthed from Crete Island. To be precise, it should be called a processed product.”
“Crete?”
That name sounded familiar. Recently too…
“From Torres Tower?!”
“Shh. Shh. You must keep the secret, remember?”
Lampades trembled in fear. The last relic of the tower that had been issued an extermination order due to the alliance with Argyrion. How could it be in Orthes’ hands?
Recollecting the thought prompted by the Elysion terror, once again, the idea that even Argyrion could be a bait to conceal Hydra Corporation etched deeper in his mind.
“Why would you give us something like this…?”
“Haha. Don’t worry. While it’s a precious relic, is it more valuable than the friendship with a friend or the future of a talented magician?”
“No. No, that won’t do. Our tower doesn’t have anything to offer in return.”
Lampades desperately tried to refuse the relic. While the relic possessed tremendous abilities, the danger it could bring was fatal.
The moment he accepted the Thunder Orb, he could be reported for colluding with Argyrion alongside Torres Tower anytime.
Since Lampades himself hadn’t guessed the origin of the relic, others would likely find it hard to realize that the Thunder Orb had been unearthed from Torres Tower.
The one who was aware of the ‘gift’ was Orthes.
By presenting this as a ‘gift,’ Orthes would grasp the detonator of a bomb that could blow up Lampades Tower at any moment.
“What are you talking about? This is just a gift. It’s perfect for Miss Astraphe, isn’t it?”
“Something feels off…”
I needed to stop this. I had to refuse. Just as Lampades was about to speak, Orthes was a step ahead.
“Hey now. No need for any negotiations or deals. They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but this really is a gift with no strings attached.”
All you need to do is accept it.
Lampades slowly lifted his head.
The faceless Orthes was still smiling.