Chapter 4290: Malignant Parasite (Part 2)

"Ask, and I will provide according to my possibilities." The Black Throne replied. "Within reason, of course."

"I have put together several squads of good mages." Jorl said. "They are the best fighters I could find among the Upyr ranks, and they have great tactical minds. Yet they are not the first I trained, and many of their predecessors died too easily for my taste.

"I’ve reviewed the footage of all the fights the Upyr army had, and I’ve come to the conclusion that we have a problem even bigger than Orpal’s influence on us. Most of the Upyrs are plant folk who were the size of a human or slightly larger."

Many Fae and plant folk easily reached three meters (6’7") or height, and a few of them could even surpass the 10 meters (33’), but the smallest Divine Beast would always be about 20 meters (66’) tall upon reaching the blue.

Compared to that, the biggest Fae looked like a scrawny child.

"Even if my soldiers come from powerful Awakened families, their equipment becomes completely useless the moment they assume their Upyr form. They grow in size and power, but that comes at the cost of their weapons and best means of protection.

"Lesser Divine Beasts suffer from this problem as well. Learning the secret of the violet makes them stronger and bigger, but what’s the point of that if you can’t make use of your new reach because you have to maintain your old size?

"Those who have yet to take part in the war, like Erion, could go back to their families and ask for new equipment, but no one would ever give away so many resources without an excellent reason.

"Revealing their allegiance to the Dead King would only earn a Lesser Divine Beast a free set of Adamant chains and to be brought before the Council to be judged."

"Get to the point." The Black Throne snarled.

"As I said, I need your help." Jorl replied. "Recruiting Upyrs loyal to me is a waste of time if they end up dying like flies on the battlefield. I need magical metals and crystals, and lots of them at that.

"It’s the only way to give those loyal to my cause the means to survive and make them indebted to me. Consider it an investment.

"We’ll strengthen our side bit by bit with a proper cover story, and when the moment to face Orpal comes, our soldiers will be armed to the teeth, whereas the Dead King’s goons will still be wearing rags. Many birds with one stone."

"More like many birds with a mountain of Adamant. My Adamant!" The cursed tower scoffed. "Save your silver tongue for someone who can fall for it, my apprentice.

"I haven’t missed how you tried to entice me by calling the Upyrs loyal to you ’our soldiers’. I have no soldiers and never will. I am the only army I’ll ever need, and no amount of flattery will convince me otherwise."

The awkward pause that followed gave Jorl the time to curse his own hubris and wonder whether it was Orpal’s blood that had led him to try such a foolish approach or if he was getting too used to hanging out with idiots.

"Still, your idea has merit, and I appreciate that you have such a high consideration of my means. I don’t possess that much Adamant, my apprentice. I’m bound to my tower, and there is no such thing as an enchantment that allows you to sow magical resources or grow them like potatoes.

"The only way I had to replenish my Adamant reserves throughout the millennia was through willing pseudo-hosts like you. I helped them, and they gave me what I wanted once they became rebel leaders, Council Representatives, or kings."

"And what did you do with all that stuff?" Jorl asked.

"I used it as magical knowledge advanced to alter the enchantments of my tower and try to undo my wretched state." The Black Throne sighed. "Even omni pockets have limits, and I possess too many priceless pieces that I can’t leave lying around."

"Can you help me or not?" The Storm Griffon crossed his arms.

"I can help *you*." The grating voice of the cursed tower put emphasis on the last word. "I have all the Adamant you’ll need to craft your equipment once you reach the bright violet, apprentice, but I won’t waste a single chunk of ore for your pawns.

"You are my apprentice and deserve my assistance. I’ll support your plans, but you are the one who has to put them into practice. If I have to do everything myself, I’d rather kill you on the spot and get rid of the middleman. Are we clear?"

"Yes." Jorl felt the aura of the Black Throne pressing on him and found himself covered in a cold sweat.

"Good boy!" The way the cursed object spoke and laughed made the Storm Griffon tense up like a bowstring. "As a reward, I’ll point you in the right direction. I know of several deposits of Adamant that should hold more than enough to enact your plan."

"Should?" Jorl echoed. "Also, I know of several mines as well, but I can’t just get in there and take my sweet time mining the ore. I would die before my pickaxe hits the ground ten times."

"Pay more attention, apprentice. I said deposits, not mines." The Black Throne replied. "The places where the mined metal was stored and accumulated for rainy days and to keep it away from those who might use it against my old apprentices.

"The only problem is that my information is outdated by a few millennia. I know where the Adamant was back then, but I have no idea if it’s still there. That’s for you to find out."

"Can’t you accompany me?" Jorl asked. "With your arrays and omni pocket, finding and collecting the ore would be a piece of cake. Besides, I need a place to store that much Adamant, assuming I find it.

"If I suddenly have a collection of dimensional amulets, Orpal will get suspicious and expose my betrayal before I can Forgemaster anything."

"I can only keep the Adamant safe for you once you collect it." The bitterness in the tone made it clear that the Black Throne wasn’t just setting his disciple up for another test. "Those deposits are away from mana geysers. Very far away.

"Not all my disciples trusted me, and many of them considered me competition. They knew of my limitations and used them against me. The deposits ensured that I couldn’t take from my disciples more than they were willing to give me and that, if overthrown, their enemies would have nothing with which to equip their own armies.

"That way, my late disciples bought themselves the time to reorganize their forces and strike back, and also kept a bargaining chip to obtain my help during a crisis. It’s a good strategy. You should learn from them."

Jorl appreciated the cunning of his predecessors, but it was the Black Throne sharing it with him so cavalierly that shocked him.

’He wasn’t lying when he told me he’s helping me mostly for fun.’ The Storm Griffon thought.

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