Chapter 248: The Forge (1)

Lennok watched Gionis’s retreating back, lost in thought.

Why had Gionis sought him out first, bypassing Evelyn Marcia, the leader and person in charge of their group, and despite Lennok disguising and concealing his identity?

Considering Gionis had mentioned ice magic and proposed a spar first, one might think it was purely out of competitive spirit. However, Gionis’s reaction after the spar didn’t make sense.

Unlike the Elder Council, who didn’t show their faces, there must have been a clear reason why Gionis was the first to appear here…

While he was lost in thought, the crowd gathered in the practice area began to disperse one by one. A few wizards who had followed Gionis to assist him hurriedly disappeared after him, but the murmuring did not subside.

No choice then. There was too little information to grasp Gionis’s true intentions right now. Although he had unexpectedly crossed paths with him, he needed to gather more information first.

And he also needed to figure out how his left Mystic Eye, which had transformed during the spar with Gionis, actually worked. In that fleeting moment, he had felt the landscape of observed branching points, which he had established in his mind, become visualized. This made the issue of his changed Mystic Eye quite significant.

Lennok let out a small sigh and turned his head to the wizard who had been guiding him moments before.

“It seems I’ve unintentionally caused a commotion.”

“Th-that…”

The guide, unlike his previous friendly demeanor, hesitated with an awkward expression. How should he react to a wizard visiting from outside, an ice mage at that, who had difficulty using his full power in this environment, challenging the Tower Master’s direct disciple? It was only natural to be careful with one’s words and actions in front of someone of such extraordinary skill.

“I’d like to see just one more place. Could you guide me?”

“…Where should I take you?”

“The largest library in the Magic Tower.”

Lennok turned his head and smiled.

“I want to look around the place with the most books.”

“Oh-ho, oh-ho!!”

“…”

“Good, very good!! Yes, this is it!!”

Mauser, his face flushed with excitement, ran wildly, his beard trembling.

“This is exactly what I came to see!!”

Evelyn quietly watched the stocky middle-aged man running wildly, flailing his arms and legs. Although she had come along out of concern for his safety, it was a place she had planned to visit herself within three days anyway.

The Blaiver Tower, located in the Claronis Volcanic Zone. The sole advantage that these staid wizards tolerated such an inconvenient terrain for, and a facility rarely found anywhere else.

At the very bottom floor of the screw-shaped tower. There lay a colossal forge that directly tapped into the superheated core of the boiling volcano, harnessing its immense firepower for metal manufacturing.

Between three colossal pillars, a magnificent column of fire swirled. It was undeniably the largest and hottest flame in the Claronis Volcanic Zone. The abnormally hot, overflowing lava, which seemed unnatural for something from nature, was simply processed and poured into metals brought from various regions.

The powerful natural energy mixed in the lava flowed directly into the metal, instantly melting any metal into a form suitable for casting with immense heat, and then shaping the molten metals into desired forms.

Metals processed once through this forge became much easier to handle than before, and they also had the unique property of slowly increasing their hardness and durability when subjected to external stimuli. Simply molding the metal once through the forge made it easier for external distribution and also facilitated secondary processing.

The lava of the Claronis Volcanic Zone and the massive forge tower meticulously built by the Blaiver Tower’s efforts. Nothing official had been revealed about what made this possible. But this continent harbored more than a few such deeply guarded secrets.

For Mauser, the only important fact was that a forge, perfect for those who handle metals, appeared before his eyes.

As Evelyn quietly watched him, excitedly grabbing and questioning the wizards managing the forge, a familiar voice came from behind.

“Is it alright to just stand here and watch?”

Evelyn inadvertently turned her head and chuckled. Lennok, who had walked out with a nonchalant expression, had dark circles almost black beneath his eyes.

“You have deep shadows under your eyes. How hard have you been researching?”

“…I just got carried away with the research material.”

Lennok replied, rubbing his eyes with an embarrassed expression. He had spent the night flipping through all sorts of books in the Grand Library located in the central building of the Magic Tower, completely losing track of time. While there weren’t many spellbooks directly useful for Lennok’s current level, records of the Magic Tower’s history and their achievements were among the most intriguing things for Lennok, who had little interaction with other wizards.

“You seem to be working harder than me. Have you finally decided to join the Agents?”

Lennok subtly averted his gaze at Evelyn’s teasing words, delivered with a bright smile.

“It’s true my condition easily worsens. I’ll be more careful from now on.”

Although his condition had improved considerably, it was also true that the aftereffects of successfully imprinting the image into his Domain had not yet fully subsided. There were no problems with simply using mana for combat, but if he overexerted himself even slightly, these abnormal symptoms would appear.

Evelyn silently shook her head, looking at Lennok.

“Take care of yourself. The Blaiver Tower’s reaction is more favorable than we expected, but you never know what might happen.”

“I know. That’s why I’m looking at this now.”

Lennok said, gazing up at the massive forge tower. Dark crimson heat emanated from within. The heat flowing from the subtly glowing interior of the tower shimmered like heat haze, blurring his vision.

“This must undoubtedly be a core facility treated with great importance even within this enormous Magic Tower… The very fact that they opened this up to us has great significance for this matter.”

“…”

“I’m curious how they control the heat flow to manipulate such an immense amount of heat freely… but I don’t think they’ll tell us that much.”

This was the core resource of a facility that accounted for by far the largest portion of the Blaiver Tower’s Western Continent branch’s external income. It probably contained the essence of all the Magic Tower’s research, efforts, and investments. If he could analyze this, or obtain the internal blueprints, it would be possible to use it in various ways.

As Evelyn shrugged, looking at Lennok, who was lost in thought with his hand on his left eye, a voice suddenly came from behind.

“Is the investigation proceeding smoothly?”

It was the exact voice Lennok had heard vividly just yesterday. As if he had recovered from the aftermath of the spar in a single day, Gionis walked unhesitatingly into the forge control room, greeting Lennok with a relaxed nod.

Evelyn immediately recognized him and extended her hand.

“It’s my first time seeing you in person, Lord Gionis.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

He said, removing the glove from his hand and shaking hers, a nonchalant expression on his face.

“I apologize for showing my face so late. We have a mountain of issues to deal with inside the Magic Tower.”

“No, I understand.”

“In fact, that’s why we opened our internal facilities to guests in this manner. Everyone except the wizards managing the tower’s functions is currently working on the aftermath.”

“It seems the conflict with Pandemonium was quite fierce then.”

Gionis looked up at the forge, which Mauser was still excitedly observing, before answering.

“Would you believe it if I told you this very forge was on the verge of being captured?”

“…”

“Just two individuals breached the tower’s thorough defenses and instantly seized control of the room managing the forge. If our response had been even slightly delayed, the entire forge would have exploded, and the Magic Tower would have vanished.”

Gionis’s expression remained perfectly unruffled even as he spoke of the ancient Magic Tower nearly suffering defeat.

“I see. So…”

Evelyn nodded quietly. This was why the Blaiver Tower couldn’t explicitly mention the conflict with Pandemonium. How could they rashly announce to the outside world that the control of the forge, the absolute core facility of the tower, had been taken, and that it might have exploded due to failed control?

The fact that the forge’s control and security had been breached was a huge problem. If this became public, the Magic Tower’s stock price and business prospects would inevitably shrink significantly.

“We managed to stop it by forcefully shutting down the system by blowing up the engine room… but all of the Elder Council’s mana was drained, so most of them are currently bedridden.”

So that was why the Elder Council hadn’t shown themselves. At least on the surface, it was a perfectly plausible reason.

Once the two showed signs of understanding, Gionis paused slightly before continuing.

“So, I would like to propose a deal to you all.”

“A deal, you say?”

“Yes.”

He said with a cold voice.

“Recently, unknown caves have been continuously discovered outside the Magic Tower.”

“That’s…”

Isn’t that the very cave Mauser had mentioned? As Evelyn looked as if she had guessed something, Gionis immediately spoke.

“The Elder Council suspects that these are tunnels dug by Pandemonium to infiltrate the Magic Tower. If that speculation is true, we must secure those routes no matter what.”

“…”

“If it’s acceptable, Ms. Marcia, could you investigate those tunnels? We’re concerned that traces left by Pandemonium, or remaining dangers, might hinder future visits from outsiders.”

Gionis continued calmly.

“Normally, this is a problem that I and the entire force of the Elder Council should deal with directly… but due to external scrutiny, it’s difficult for me to go out alone.”

“So, you want to borrow our hands now?”

“Of course, this isn’t an empty request. We wouldn’t just assign unpleasant tasks to our guests.”

But Evelyn only pretended to think for a moment before immediately shaking her head.

“I apologize.”

“…”

“Since the leadership has granted us access to the Magic Tower’s facilities, I’d like to focus on internal investigations during this period.”

That was natural. As Gionis said, if Pandemonium had truly invaded even the forge control room, wouldn’t they be able to find traces of Pandemonium inside the tower, even without investigating the caves near the Volcanic Zone? Unless the compensation was unusually generous, there was no need for Evelyn to divide her forces.

“Is that so… In that case.”

Gionis sighed lightly and was about to continue when, at that very moment…

KWOOOOOOOOMM!!

A monstrous roar that seemed to shatter eardrums echoed, and a colossal shockwave swept through the surroundings.

“AAAAAHHHH!!”

“TONEEEEE!!”

Desperate screams and shouts of someone agonizingly calling out a name. All three gazes simultaneously turned to the forge below the control room.

The firmly closed iron door of the forge swung wide open, and an immense amount of flame was spraying outwards like a rocket.

A wizard who had been concentrating on management in front of the iron door was swept up by the spraying flame, his flesh and muscles instantly evaporating and disappearing.

At the moment other wizards panicked, witnessing the horrific sight of their fellow tower member completely evaporating.

Evelyn moved first. She leapt down towards the control room like lightning, deftly throwing up the fallen wizards to escape the indiscriminately raging flames from the forge.

Immediately after, Lennok, understanding her intention, instantly created an icy path in mid-air, sliding the injured wizards into the control room. The ice slide melted instantly under the immense heat, but a brief moment was enough.

“Hwaaaahhh!! Aaahhhh!!”

“Ahaaahhh!!”

“Kughhhh!!”

They say the greatest pain a human can feel is death by burning. Even the wizards who had spent their lives dealing with flames and living beside them could not escape that torment.

“Call the medical team immediately, and contact the power room!!”

Gionis, his face hardened, shouted at the surrounding wizards.

“We need to cut off the mana source to the forge to stop it. Move!”

“Too late. You need to move right now.”

Lennok muttered, tearing off his gloves. He didn’t know why the forge had suddenly malfunctioned, but if it wasn’t stopped immediately, it wouldn’t be strange if the entire central building of the Magic Tower collapsed.

“We need to block the flames erupting from the forge, even if just for a moment, and close the door. Otherwise, the damage will only increase.”

“…I will try to manipulate the direction of the forge’s flames. We have to do everything we can.”

Gionis gathered his mana and immediately rushed out of the control room. Lennok also dashed down the stairs, immediately beginning to form hand seals.

In that brief interval, Evelyn, who had cleanly evacuated the other injured, descended behind Lennok and whispered.

“Van, can you do it?”

“I can only block it for a moment.”

Lennok replied.

“Considering the heat and mana concentration, after the iron door closes, we have 30 seconds… Within that time, Gionis needs to cut off the forge’s power source and control its flames to break even.”

“Understood.”

Evelyn slowly crouched down in place and replied.

“I’ll close the door, please handle what comes after.”

“The heat will be immense. Are you sure you’ll be okay without any special equipment?”

Evelyn answered without hesitation.

“Well… if that firepower keeps erupting, the central building might turn to ashes. If I don’t want to die, I have to stop it.”

“…Alright.”

Lennok replied, then closed and covered his left eye with his hand.

When Lennok opened his eyes again, his pupils were dyed a vivid purple.