Chương 1365: 1395 - One Power or Another

The hammer fell upon the metal, and Leon felt the impact travel up his arm, past his elbow, and up into his shoulder. He raised the hammer again, the Adamant shining red as lightning flashed around the Stormborn tree growing in the valley. He brought it back down, and when it hit the anvil, sparks exploded out of the piece he was working on. The metal shattered, the internal structure unable to cope with the magic he was imbuing it with. Leon sighed and stepped away from the anvil.

His sandals clapped softly on the blackened stone around him, and with a wave of his hand, he collected all of the debris from the other failed pieces he'd destroyed in the past few hours. Filling his lungs with cool mountain air, he sat on the edge of the platform and stared out at Westmount, silently contemplating just how he'd failed. Five weeks separated him from the effort to free Valeria's mother. Four weeks until he departed Artorion.

Justin had called back several times as his people solidified more aspects of their plan. They were going to enter to 'provide tribute' to Kamran, but they'd need disguises. Leon, Valeria, and any other post-Apotheosis mages couldn't just walk in acting like someone's servant without being challenged, so he had to ensure that their powers—both tier and Inherited Bloodlines—weren't recognized.

For his own peace of mind, he also wanted to make something that would use illusions to alter their facial features, ensuring that they couldn't be connected with the scheme. These efforts, while not particularly difficult, had also amounted to nothing. He spun the Adamant hammer in his hand, gazing around at his setup. His forge had been built on a terrace of one of Westmount's nine peaks.

He needed the open sky to sky forge Adamant, but he also didn't want to be watched, so not only was the forge heavily warded, but it was also located on the inner side of the peak. Below him lay the valley with the Stormborn sapling and the mountain spring around it. The furnace itself was large enough that he could forge anything he wanted, from weapons to armor to bits of machinery. The anvil was large and heavy, black iron that glimmered beneath more than a hundred years of soot.

Buckets of oil, tables, racks of other tools, grinding belts, and more shared the space, and all of it was in perfect working condition.

'They're not the problem,' he knew. He wasn't focusing properly.

'Should just create it all from origin power. Won't break that way…' He took another breath of mountain air and exhaled through his nose. Looking up had him realizing how much he missed the stars. The lights of cities in the Nexus glimmered in the distance, but they weren't the same.

'My Kingdom for a good, straightforward campaign…' [Leon,] the Thunderbird whispered from his soul realm, and so startled was he that he nearly jumped right off the cliff. [Ancestor,] he replied. [Come and speak with me,] she commanded, and he complied. He lay down on the platform, letting his legs below the knee hang off the side of the platform, and he sent his mind into his soul realm A moment later, he was waking up on his throne to the sight of the Thunderbird in her human form, pacing around the chair.

"You seemed… absent," she said as he forced himself up.

"Where would I have gone?" he asked.

"Absent-minded," she clarified.

"I know how you work. You wouldn't waste the metal you did today if you were clearer-headed." Leon groaned as he crossed the platform to sprawl over a nearby sofa. The Thunderbird followed him, sitting properly in a high-backed chair, her hands folded patiently in her lap. It didn't take long for Leon to speak again.

"I support everything that we're about to do. Valeria deserves to know her mother. Her mother deserves to be free."

"… But…?" the Thunderbird pressed. A scowl etched itself into Leon's face.

"We provoke Kamran, and I'm not ready." The Thunderbird crossed one leg over the other, her long white chiton fluttering softly against her bronze skin. She said nothing, merely waiting for him to speak his mind.

"I'd sooner cut off and then eat my own legs than trust Justin," Leon continued.

"His men helping us with this means nothing to me. Why shouldn't I just forcefully knock and take Ariana back? And maybe pay a little visit to Aeschylus and force the location of the Clan vault out of him…"

"You shouldn't because Kamran is stronger than you." The Thunderbird spoke matter-of-factly, as if she were reading words someone else had written.

"He is," Leon replied.

"And he's off fighting in the planes. Burning them all down, apparently. He won't be there to defend his palace. His vassal Anakes are likewise busy with their own battles and their own lands. So who holds the palace in Torn Sky for their Lord? Someone strong enough to stop me?"

"If you believe yourself strong enough, then take," the Thunderbird offered, the words sweet as honey even though her tone was hard as iron. These were her thoughts, not something she mentioned to prod him to continue speaking.

"Am I…?" Leon asked, not expecting an answer.

"Such a brazen attack against a fifteenth-tier mage would make it clear to everyone that I was throwing myself at the throne of the Storm Lands. I… I am not ready for that."

"Is it the responsibility you fear? Or the potential backlash from Storm Lords?" Leon's scowl cracked slightly, his lips twitching into a shallow smirk.

"Both," he said without hesitation.

"I don't want to deal with them. Or handle the Storm Lands." The Thunderbird regarded him stoically, waiting for what she already knew was going to come. Leon hissed softly, then righted himself on the sofa.

"It'll happen in the future. I've committed to that path. To restore the Clan. But… now?"

"Do you believe yourself to be too weak?" the Thunderbird asked.

"Truly? And that's why you're trying—and failing—to make trinkets to hide yourself in Kamran's city?"

"There are pragmatic reasons not to do this openly," Leon protested weakly. He didn't meet her gaze.

"But also… yes, I am too weak to challenge Kamran. Even after these hundred years…" The vault that the black Heartwood seed had taken root within drew his eyes—or rather, what now stood in its place. He'd replaced the building entirely, moving it further out into the field of purple grass and building another palisade around it. The moved building thankfully didn't alter how his Mind Palace worked, thankfully. Where it had once stood, Leon built a cylindrical structure of dull gray stone.

He'd been tempted to make it of something more exotic, but in the end, he decided that he didn't care enough about the aesthetics to do so. Dull stone would work just fine. The top of the structure was open, allowing his origin spark to shine almost directly down into the cylinder. Within, the black Heartwood seed rested; a single black root burst from the seed's shell and sank into the soil of his Mind Palace, holding the seed in the air.

It hadn't grown in the past century, but several smaller roots, none thicker than a single strand of spun silkgrass, had started peeking out of the shell. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Leon could feel the seed drinking his origin power. It wasn't taking much, but if he concentrated, he could feel the flow of power subtly winding around the seed. So far, it hadn't done anything to harm him, not even when he studied the seed as intensively as he could.

"With such exotic powers at your command," the Thunderbird said, "I find it hard to believe that you would concede anyone else as superior. Your personal strength is immense, and against your power, what defense can be had? Is Kamran stronger than you?"

"Given what Triton was able to do against me with just a handful of Kamran's runes… yes, I'm inclined to say that he is."

"You've made much progress in devising ways to defend against attacks on your inherited power." Leon scoffed.

"Progress. I wouldn't say that. More like 'ruled out most easy solutions and a few hard solutions.' As it is, it's clear to me that Kamran would destroy me in a direct fight. He's a fifteenth-tier mage, and I…" He trailed off, his eyes once again finding the stone cylinder.

"You've made much progress in that area, too," the Thunderbird said.

"Enough that I find myself wondering if this isn't a better way?" Leon returned his gaze to her.

"Better?"

"Better," she repeated through a thoughtful smile.

"That 'Veles' seems to have told the truth given how little you've advanced toward the fourteenth-tier after a century of dedicated training. But the things I've seen you do now… If I had access to that power in my time—""You would've been slain without hesitation," the cavernously deep voice of the Great Black Dragon rumbled. He appeared almost without warning, only a few disturbed eddies in the Mists of Chaos clueing Leon in to his method of arrival.

"Your continued meddling in forces beyond your comprehension will only bring disaster. I once again insist that you rid yourself of this power." Leon didn't dignify that with a response. There were only so many times he could refuse before his tongue refused to form the words again. That hardly stopped the Great Black Dragon from insisting that he forsake death every time they spoke.

"Leon," the Thunderbird said with a crafty grin, "show him what you can do, now. Show him why he's wrong." A moment passed as Leon considered refusing. He was no circus animal, dancing in place or jumping through hoops on command. But on the other hand, the Great Black Dragon had been absent more than usual—training Serana, he claimed—and he wasn't privy to the progress Leon had made in mastering death.

'Could be fun. Show the dragon that he doesn't know everything…' His mind made up, Leon rose from the sofa and returned to his throne. The demonstration would be easier in the physical world. Less than a second later, he was back in his physical body, though he stayed lying down on the floor of his forge. Instead of rising, he reached out to the not-power that flowed through his body, almost invisible unless he knew where to look. And after a hundred years of training, he knew exactly how to find and call upon it.

As he willed it, his surroundings became duller, losing much of their color. As it reached black and white, he slipped through the platform like he was passing through a curtain, but instead of falling into Westmount, he found himself standing on another mountain, Artorion long gone from view. Veles had brought him to this realm to stop him from calling on death's power, and in the century since, Leon had figured out how to cross that threshold himself.

Though he knew that both of his Ancestors could see this, the Great Black Dragon remained stubbornly silent. So, Leon decided to show a little more. With a thought, he wrapped himself in death's power and descended the mountain and crossed the plain at its foot, passing over lifeless terrain faster than he could outside of death's realm. After he traveled a dozen miles, he halted and used the power again.

Once more, he slipped through the world like brushing past a curtain, rustling it slightly but otherwise leaving it undisturbed. He emerged in the physical world again, but instead of being in Artorion, he found himself thousands of miles from the city. The Bolt Mountains surrounded him, the boundary that separated his direct territory from Archelaus'. [How can anyone catch our descendant now?] the Thunderbird asked.

[Meddlesome child,] the Great Black Dragon growled, at least not denying the existence of other worlds at this point. [Through you, powers alien to the universe may gain footholds that will never be dislodged. Through you, death itself might find purchase in life, and do irreparable damage to all living beings.] [Veles has been around since the Primal Age,] Leon pointed out. [He hasn't caused any great death catastrophes.] [None that you know of,] the dragon replied.

[Your warnings are empty, and stand in direct contrast with what Leon can do now,] the Thunderbird argued. [Instead of trusting Leon, you demand he set aside one of his greatest advantages, without explaining any more than you can get away with.] [Ignorant brats, both of you. You have powers aplenty; you do not need to endanger the universe with this one.] [My other powers failed me against Triton,] Leon responded quietly. [This one saved me. Over the past century, I haven't found anything that might indicate it is nearly as bad as you imagine it to be.] The dragon growled again. [Let us hope, then, that you are right.] Leon nodded his head despite not being in his soul realm. He knew the dragon could see him anyway. He stepped through death's realm again, and in seconds, he was back at his forge, bitterly lamenting the fact that he couldn't bring anyone with him through death.

He'd tried with a few flowers and then a few fish, but all died the moment he used that power. It was unfortunate, but he couldn't simply step into Kamran's palace and take Ariana with him. Given it took quite a bit of trial and error to find his way around in death's realm, he doubted he'd even be able to get into Kamran's palace using that method of travel.

'Couldn't be so convenient…' He sat back down and returned to his soul realm, rejoining his Ancestors in his Mind Palace. The Great Black Dragon was clearly upset, but he was holding himself back from saying anything. The Thunderbird, in contrast, looked characteristically smug.

"I find it fascinating, I must admit," she said.

"Powers beyond magic. What else is death capable of? What other powers might there be?" Leon could almost feel the dragon's fingers crunching from how hard he was clenching them. Forcefully changing the topic, the Great Black Dragon said, "I'm close to a new transformation enchantment." Golden eyes widened, and Leon's heart almost seized.

"How close?" he asked. The dragon met his gaze.

"Close enough to propose a trade. Dispose of that seed, and I will share it with you the moment I finish. Ignore my warnings, and it will be that new enchantment that is disposed of." Leon's face fell.

"That's quite a dilemma," he said through teeth so tightly clenched that his voice barely got through.

"It is my only offer," the dragon replied.

"It will not be made again." Leon glared first at him, then his eyes flickered to the enchantment that his mother used, recorded above one of his tables for study. It didn't work for him, as much as he'd tried to get it to. He wasn't even sure of what the problem was—many things he was, but he was no great blood mage. Even those he employed, such as Valentina, who had worked on his transformation enchantments before, were stumped.

"I will… consider it," Leon said. Antipatra's anti-bloodline rune had affected him much more severely when he was in Thunderbird form, so against his most dangerous enemies, being able to transform into a four-winged dragon might be a detriment more than anything. In every other scenario, however, such a transformation was beyond enticing.

"I will be watching," the Great Black Dragon said as he took to the skies and left without a look back. Any warmth that there might have been within him for Leon unlocking the Eye of Calamity was long gone.

"Jealous bastard," the Thunderbird said as he flew away. He didn't even look back.

"It might be foolish to disregard his opinion on this," Leon said.

"Though he refuses to explain, that doesn't mean that his reasons are without merit." The Thunderbird hummed in reluctant agreement. To get away from so frightful a prospect as agreeing with the Great Black Dragon, she glanced at him and said, "Tell me what, exactly, you're trying to make." Leon snorted, seeing right through her request, but he answered anyway.

"Kamran, given his position, surely has ways to detect those with bloodlines entering his city, if not his territory. Mine has to be hidden. My tier has to be hidden. My face, too, ideally."

"That last one is easy, and the second is only marginally more difficult, even at your tier." Leon nodded.

"Getting them all to work together was the hard part. Or one of the hard parts—I'm also having to guess at how the many of Kamran's defensive enchantments work, and finding some way around them or keeping them from noticing me without more details is… very hard…"

"There are few enchanters I would rate more highly than you, my boy."

"Your confidence in me is much appreciated." Leon frowned slightly then, suddenly realizing that his earlier doubts were gone. This was a tremendous risk for both him and his Kingdom, but that was no different from almost any other endeavor he'd embarked upon. And to get Valeria's mother back before Kamran allowed anything to happen to her was a worthy aim in and of itself.

All that remained was to protect himself and his Kingdom from the potential fallout, and as his mind raced through the possibilities, he summoned his origin power and began to create. Though he liked working through iterations with hammer and anvil, this time, he knew what he wanted; he could see it in his mind's eye in perfect detail. Even if it didn't work as well as he wanted it to, he could iterate on the design over the next few weeks.

Even if he wasn't ready now, he would be when the time came to enact their plan and infiltrate Torn Sky.