1980 New Floors (Part 2)

Kamila hugged him tightly, feeling tears stream from her eyes. Until that moment, she had avoided thinking about the things she had lost and the dreams that she had shattered by becoming a deserter.

She had never talked about them with Lith because, after everything that had happened in the wake of Meln exposing his identity, she didn't want to further increase his burden.

She had wanted their marriage to be the source of his happiness and the haven where he could relax in the storm of the exile. Yet it wasn't just the Verhens mourning the loss of their old life, but she as well.

"How did you know it was so important to me if even I didn't?" Kamila didn't want to ruin that moment, but she couldn't stop crying in joy.

"Because I love you, Kamila Verhen, with all my heart." Lith quoted the same words that she had told him in Yrma on the third day of their honeymoon.

"When something troubles you, you don't hide it from me. You don't lie about it to me. You tell me and let me share it with you. Whatever happens to you happens to me. Your happiness is my happiness."

They held onto each other for a while, hoping that their future would be even better than their present.

***

The next day, Lith checked with the Ernas sisters and made sure that the Royals had kept their word. Now people from the Kingdom were free to cross the borders and visit him without being labeled as traitors.

"I'm going to kill you so bad, mister Verhen!" Friya said in mock anger. "After all we went through, after years spent bearing with your brooding and killing glare, how could you leave us out of your marriage?"

"Yeah, who was your best man? What did you do for your bachelor party?" Quylla asked. "What about Kamila?"

Phloria remained a few steps behind, still conflicted about her feelings. She still liked Lith and loved him as a friend, yet she could feel that there was now a distance between them that couldn't be crossed anymore.

The bridge of their past relationship had been burned for good and even though she had no intention of building it again, it still pained her.

"I had no best man nor bachelor party." Lith shrugged.

"What?" The Ernas sisters said in unison.

"Dude, I had prepared something great for you ever since you dated Phloria!" Friya said, making her sister flush in embarrassment. "How could you do this to me?"

"It happened on the spur of the moment. Kamila had no party or bridesmaid either." He replied. "Zinya was too shocked even to stand and so were my parents. That's why we are doing it again."

"Yeah, the bastard didn't even invite me!" Protector pouted.

"Or me!" Faluel playfully punched his shoulder and Lith felt it.

"Enough with the chit-chat." Lith cut them all short. "There's lots of work to do and little time to do it. I didn't call you here to be scolded until my ears fall off, but to show you the new floors of my tower and ask for your help."

"Thanks, dear." Salaark said. "You know how Grandma is fascinated by Menadion's work. I'm seriously considering getting a tower of my own."

"Can you make one?" Lith asked in surprise and everyone held their breath for the answer.

"I have no clue." She shrugged. "But if I ask your grandfather's help and you let me examine the tower, I'm certain that I can pull out another masterpiece."

Lith knew how much he owed Salaark and that someday he would have to return the favor. Yet giving her free access to the tower still felt too much and the Guardian shared his opinion.

Salaark could have demanded it from Lith if the tab was big enough but she had chosen to ask for it instead. Most of the things the Overlord had done for him and his family, she considered them as acts of love and wanted nothing in return for them.

"Please, follow me. There are four new floors that you should see. We'll start from the underground levels." Lith brought them to the tower that now stood 21 meters (69 feet) high.

It had turned into a seven-story building that had forced Salaark to raise the ceiling of her palace to host it. The new floors had appeared in-between the old ones, altering the structure of the tower.

"Welcome to the Workshop." Lith had brought his guests to the level right under the Forge.

When he opened the thin wooden door, their disappointment couldn't have been any greater. The room was a circle with a radius of 10 meters (33 feet) and was completely empty.

"Are you sure this isn't just the Closet or something?" Quylla said with a scoff. "Aside from a lot of space, there's nothing here."

"There's nothing because there's nothing I need at the moment, but let's say I wanted to practice enchanting the Davross." He said with a sly smile.

Suddenly, an unknown rune appeared on each one of the square stones that comprised the floor, walls, and ceiling. The Workshop pulsed with the power coming from the mana geyser below, accumulating and compressing the world energy until it took physical form.

Once the glowing stopped, a huge chunk of Davross and several white crystals had appeared in the middle of the room along with all the necessary Forgemastery circles to enchant them.

"By the gods! The Crucible must be a prototype of the Workshop." Protector said in amazement. "Who needs a mine when you can create everything you need out of thin air?"

Everyone but Salaark nodded in enthusiasm. The Guardian knew that not even her Creation Magic could achieve something like that and Lith had never stopped asking her help resetting his materials.

On top of that, if the Workshop really was that good, he would have already replaced the Adamant coating his golems and armor with Davross. There had to be a catch.

"Yeah, right. Since we are already dreaming, then I also want the crafting method to shape and enchant Darwen." Lith replied with a sneer.

"What do you mean dreaming?" Friya asked.

"Darwen is a dick. Even Davross is easy to handle compared to it. I tried everything I had, but all I managed to do was shatter it." Lith sighed. "I understand now why Vastor uses Darwen just to coat stuff."

"No, I mean what's the problem? Isn't that Davross?" She pointed at the lump of metal sitting in the middle of the room.

"Yes, it is. Pure tower produced Davross ready to be enchanted." He replied.

"And?" Friya tapped her foot in frustration.

"And it's just like Solus' clothes and every piece of furniture in the living room." Lith said, making a collective groan rise from his guests. "It has all the properties of the real deal and can be enchanted, but bring the tower away from the geyser and it will go puff.

"Bring it away enough from the tower-"

"And puff." Faluel completed the phrase for him. "It's still amazing. How much of a single material can the Workshop conjure?"

"As much as I have." Lith sighed.