1999 Harmony of Dissonance (Part 1)

The difference between a simple artifact and a masterpiece lay in the Forgemaster's ability to infuse their creation with a power core, a mana circulatory system, and multiple sets of external runes.

Together, they granted to an inanimate object the ability of living beings to produce and control multiple kinds of spells at the same time.

The main issue in achieving such a result arose from the mana circulatory system which was created by grafting mana crystals onto the vessel of the enchantment. Aside from making sure to use only purified materials and choosing carefully where to place the crystals, the Forgemaster had no control over the shape the system would assume.

It would take a mage countless attempts to find a way to create the space that the power core required at the center of the artifact while also not hindering the strict positioning that the runes required to achieve their maximum effect.

The Earth Root solved all of these problems.

What made it a priceless ingredient was its ability to create a mana circulatory system inside any kind of material before mana crystals were applied. This way, a Forgemaster could shape the mana circulatory system as they saw fit, no matter how many mana crystals or sets of runes they would employ.

'Faluel is right. No matter how many times I do this, I've never understood why I can't create a mana circulatory system with just my mana.' Lith thought. 'In theory, a metal is just earth that has been purified and rearranged, yet just like earth magic has no effect on metals, mana can't affect them either by itself.'

'Maybe it's because, unlike earth, the position of the molecules of metals are fixed. Their bonds cannot be altered without destroying the whole structure.' Solus pondered.

'Maybe the Earth Root is a metal-like plant that provides us with what we need to rearrange the position of the atoms while keeping them stable.'

The process was long and tedious. Lith and Solus had to make sure that like a blood circulatory system, the mana would reach every nook and cranny of their golems. A construct had no nerves or muscles, requiring mana to move.

An area isolated from the mana circulatory system would have no flexibility, greatly reducing the mobility of a golem and its effectiveness in combat.

At the same time, however, Lith and Solus had also to be careful of leaving enough empty spaces where they would place the sets of runes. If the energy from the system and that from the runes overlapped, they would clash until either of them was deformed and their respective efficiency crippled.

After Lith and Solus were done, Faluel studied the Golems with her breathing technique, Lifestream. She noticed how they had used the remnants of the creatures' blood circulating system as a scaffold, making the mana follow the natural paths of veins and arteries.

"Nice job. Why no capillaries, though?" She asked.

"That's the runes' duty." Solus explained. "Once applied to the surface, they'll spread their energy until they reach the mana circulatory system. This way, we can use a mind link to send complex sets of instructions and even recharge the Golems if needed."

"Brilliant." The Hydra nodded and left the room.

"I would die of envy if you were able to do this at will." Quylla sighed. "Too bad that you only have one Earth Root. No matter how many tries it takes, we must make sure that these two puppies are flawless."

"Thanks, girls." Lith gave them thumbs up and Warped them to the Workshop where they started practicing their respective section of the power core.

Only once they were alone did Lith and Solus apply the elemental crystal first and the runes later. A black, a blue, and a red crystal replaced the missing Balor's Evil Eyes while simple white crystals were embedded on the Vagrash' back.

Lith had no idea what elemental affinities the creature had had in life nor if its corpse still retained them. To not waste precious materials, he used solely one black and one red crystal.

'Since the Golems are supposed to use my bloodline abilities and these are my own elemental affinities, even Raptor should be capable of using at least the fire and darkness element.' Lith thought.

The crystals connected to the mana circulatory system that they had created with the Root, using the vast amount of world energy that was constantly stored within them to further strengthen the system.

'This is amazing.' Solus's mouth opened in surprise. Between the natural flow of energy of the purified Adamant, the circulatory system, and the crystals, the Golems have already developed an aura similar to that of a violet-cored living being.

'This is a pain in the ass.' Lith grumbled. 'We have yet to apply the runes and the mana flow is already this strong. Any more and the power core will meet more resistance than we can take.'

'I would agree with you if it was just the two of us.' Solus replied. 'But this time we have plenty of help and even a secret weapon.'

'I can only hope you are right.' Lith weaved several strings of runes while Solus could only watch and wait.

'If only I were stronger, I would be able to help him.' She inwardly sighed.

She remembered the rune sequences and their respective pattern down to the smallest detail, but that didn't matter in the face of her blue runes. The power she could imbue was limited by her weakened core.

Lith received the same boost from the tower and his core was violet, setting them worlds apart. Angry with herself, Solus checked for the umpteenth time that they hadn't forgotten anything.

The Golems would be the most complex piece they had ever crafted and required a tremendous number of runes in order to be capable of supporting the power core they had devised.

The first set of mystical runes was also the most important because it carried Lith's energy signature. It would reduce the rejection that their mana would experience while infusing the power core and converting the world energy into Lith's mana.

This way, the Golems would be immune to Lith's spells and vice versa. He poured so much energy into the runes that Lith needed to use Invigoration before moving on to the second set, yet the result was worth the effort.

In the space of a few seconds, the mana from the runes and the world energy released by the Adamant and the crystals slowly merged together until they couldn't be distinguished anymore.

The following ten sets of runes required much less focus and energy, yet Lith had to use Invigoration ten more times to engrave them.

The second set amplified the strength of the power core while the third would disperse the excess energy during an all-out fight. Together, they would allow the Adamant to better channel the energy that the enchantments would release and reduce the stress that the boosted power core would experience.

Even with the mana circulatory system, holding too many powerful spells would otherwise weaken the metal over time and cause the constructs to suffer from mana overload.

The fourth set of runes would allow the Golems to draw in more world energy than normal to fuel their abilities.