Chapter 4145: The Rulers’ Curse (Part 2)

"The first circle is ready." A wave of Menadion’s hand conjured the basic Forgemastering formation from the Heart.

If filled the space surrounding the Adamant Forge in the middle of the room with world energy and primed the Sage Staff to be enchanted.

"We’re going to take things nice and easy." Lith explained to Salaark. "This is just a test run for the real power core. We’ll conjure something weak because our goal is to study the process and learn what kind of issues are going to arise when we go all out.

"This way, we can take our time and find the optimal solutions instead of scrambling our brains on the fly and hoping for the best."

"Yeah, and that’s why I’m going to lead." Solus slouched. "My mana core is too weak. If I were to craft the final power core, I would lack the strength to take part in the actual Forgemastering."

"There is no rush, Featherling." Salaark said. "Your strength is returning every day."

"Yet I’m still at the deep violet." Solus sighed and conjured the Thunderstone Flower from the Workshop.

It looked like a dandelion carved out of ferromagnetic stones after being hit by a thunderbolt. Small arches of electricity formed between the petals nonstop, giving it a gentle glow.

Solus injected her mana into the flower, collecting all the mystical energy the Thunderstone contained before freeing it from its shell. She then arranged the pure air element in the form of an incomplete sphere that was the first pseudo core of seven.

It was another teaching left by the fifth Ruler of the Flames. The hardest part of assembling a power core was overcoming the repulsion between the pseudo cores that increased with each added core.

Sinak had discovered that while conjuring a perfect pseudo core made them stable and easier to maintain during the early stages of the Forgemastering process, conjuring an imperfect pseudo core made it unstable but easier to merge with the others into the power core.

The secret lay in choosing pseudo cores that shared a few runes and conjuring only part of them for each pseudo core. This way, once they fused to assemble the power core, the missing runes would click into place like pieces of a puzzle.

Keeping an incomplete pseudo core stable was harder, but Sinak’s method allowed to align the pseudo cores into the proper configuration more easily. It also greatly reduced the repulsion between them since adding a new pseudo core would stabilize those already part of the power core.

Solus then refined the rest of the ingredients one by one, keeping her hair for last.

The power core formed by assembling the seven pseudo cores was small, barely holding 10% of Lith’s full power, but it was more than enough for its purpose. As the power core neared the Sage Staff, Lith and Solus hit their respective Adamant Forges with their Furies, initiating the Mana Well technique.

The enchanted metal held and amplified their mana with world energy, and they recalled it with a second stroke of the hammer before their energy signature diluted too much.

Once it was restored, they hit the Forges again, and the process started anew.

At the same time, the power core and the Yggdrasill wood interacted with growing intensity. The staff would have already swallowed the power core if not for the first set of runes, while the power core grew in size and strength by resonating with the staff.

Lith and Solus used the Eyes to study the phenomenon and exerted their will to keep the staff and the power core apart until the latter stabilized.

"The amplification effect is over. Epphy’s mana can’t take in more world energy without collapsing." Menadion said. "The power core’s energy has risen to 30% of Lith’s full power."

"That’s a three-time increase for all seven cores." Lith pondered. "All considered, it requires 210% of my strength to imbue it inside the Sage Staff safely."

"Between you, me, and the tower, it’s not that hard." Solus shrugged. "Besides, we already know that all the best Forgemasters need the help of their assistants to craft something really powerful."

"Sure, but that’s feasible because we have a tower." Lith pointed out. "Makes you wonder how the Royals Forgemasters did it."

"It’s not like they are going to tell us. Are you ready?" Solus asked.

"On your mark."

"Mark!" Solus said, and the Forgemastering process started.

As soon as the power core and the Sage Staff touched, the Yggdrasill wood tried to swallow the power core whole, while the first rune pattern pushed it away.

The interaction between the conflicting forces formed bumps and indentations on the power core’s surface. Instead of rushing to fix them, Lith pushed the runes to their limit to delay the advance of the power core for as long as possible.

"Ready." Solus said once the Eyes finished collecting the data.

"Ready." Menadion confirmed as the Ears recorded the cyclic pattern of the mana flow inside the deformed power core.

Only then did Lith and Solus proceed to fix the imperfections and let the power core move forward. Each blow of the Furies was as powerful as precise, delivering only enough energy to restore the power core to a perfect sphere with a blinding flash of violet light.

Every time new imperfections appeared, Lith and Solus used the first rune pattern and sheer force of will to halt the process and record the changes. Then, they fixed the imperfections, and the procedure resumed.

It took them five more stops before the power core disappeared below the wooden surface of the staff as a perfect sphere.

"This is it." Lith said. "Fingers crossed."

As he had predicted, the fifth set of runes activated, forming a quasi-eight pseudo core that enveloped the power core. Yet it wasn’t really a pseudo core and didn’t attempt to integrate itself into the spell matrix.

It simply guided the power core along a precise path while also shielding it from external influences. The fifth set of runes ensured that the power core reached its intended destination quickly and retained its shape now that the Forgemasters couldn’t fix it anymore.

The fifth rune pattern carried the power core in the exact point where once the auxiliary core of the World Tree had been, at the heart of the mana circulatory system that Lith and Solus had revitalized.

Then, the carrier runes became inactive, letting the pulsing energy mass of the power core connect with the enchanted Yggdrasill wood of the Sage Staff and become one with it.

The Balor’s eyes and the elemental crystals blinked in random order while the mystical runes became visible to the naked eye again. The exchange of energy lit the Sage Staff from within, the grains in the wood burning with mana as if the staff were about to burst.

The eyes and crystals shone in unison only once before the merging succeeded and the Sage Staff became cold to the touch.

"It looks like a success, but looks are deceiving." Lith said.

"Yeah. Only one way to find out." Solus grabbed and imprinted the staff, receiving in return much more mana than she had sent. "This is a good start. It feeds me with mana, not just with purified elemental energy like the old staff.

"I don’t need to consume sparks of my life force anymore. Let’s see how the rest goes."

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