2243 Valeron's Legacy (Part 1)

"Because as Baba Yaga kindly pointed out to Kalla, now everyone knows that my mother has the Eyes and unlike you, she has no Guardian covering her bony ass. Can you imagine how dejected she was?" The Vampire burst into a belly laugh.

"That's mean of you, Nyka." Solus said.

"Egotistical? Yes. Mean? No. I don't want Mom to become a Lich and what she calls progress is the stuff of my nightmares. Long story short, she gave me the Eyes because she knew that if she came here, she wouldn't resist the temptation."  Nyka said.

"Fair enough." Lith nodded and asked her to activate the synchronization between the two sets of Eyes.

Nyka tapped the left, up, and down side of the left lens of her artifact, making the golden pince-nez emit a light glow.

"Excellent. My hope is that with a mana geyser supporting the tower, we can copy the database of the original." Lith said. "In the meantime, I'd like to perform a few experiments."

"Like what?" Faluel asked. "We already tried and failed to activate the synch between the Hands and Mouths of Menadion."

"Indeed, but that was before we had a complete version of the Eyes with a working database." Solus pointed the Eyes and the Hydra to Nyka who nodded in reply.

"I see. You want to check if the Eyes contains clues about the rest of the set, but why me? You could have done it yourself." Faluel wore the artifact that changed its size to fit her to perfection.

"Because you are the only one who can make a decent comparison between Kalla's and Solus' Eyes. I need your seven heads, please." Lith handed her another pair of glasses and activated the Armory, sharing with everyone present the effects of the Sage Staff.

Thanks to the Yggdrasill wood, their minds reached a degree of clarity and focus that bordered on genius. The Staff wiped away any stray thoughts and pushed their brains to their limits.

"Gods if I hate you." The Hydra grumbled and the others nodded. "Data not found."

"What do you mean?" Lith asked.

"Look for yourself." Faluel looked at the Hands and the Mouths, obtaining "Data not found" for both and the scan started from 0%.

"How is this possible?" Lith blurted out in surprise. "How could Menadion know squat about her own stuff?"

"If I may." Tyris politely raised her hand and Solus nodded for her to continue. "The tower had its memory wiped clean while the artifacts, despite their name, never belonged to Ripha.

"She gifted them to her apprentices and took care they never used them to uncover her secrets."

"Fuck me sideways. You are right!" No matter how long Lith stared at the artifacts, the scan was stuck at 0%. "Menadion must have implanted safeguards. Faluel?"

"You bet she did. My mother was a damn genius, not a moron." Solus puffed her chest out with pride.

"Confirmed." The Hydra had shapeshifted into her seven-headed hybrid form to share the burden of the tower's Eyes with her seven brains. "The new scan started at 0% as well but it's progressing."

"Excellent." Lith split the Eyes in Monocles so that between his brain and the tower core, the artifact could split the work into two more shares.

It lessened the strain on Faluel's mind and sped up the scan further.

"There's more.

"I can already tell you that despite their crippled state, your Eyes are better than the original. Neither the Staff nor my seven heads had any effects on Kalla's Eyes of Menadion whereas yours can stack its effects with those of other artifacts.

"On top of that, thanks to the mind link, the Staff, and the Library, these Eyes are as good as Dragon Eyes." The Hydra said, making everyone cheer and then groan in envy.

Only Lith and Solus kept cheering.

"Let's wait for the scans to finish and then we can start working on my equipment. My core and Solus' have made little progress but with two sets of Menadion the result will be better than the previous version anyway." Lith counted those present.

There were Tista, Protector, Faluel, Friya, Quylla, and Phloria which meant six helpers plus Lith for a total of seven. The Fury could split into nine copies so once taken Solus in account there was one copy left.

"I know that you have no obligation to help me, Lady Tyris. Yet since you are already here, would you mind joining us in our endeavor?" Lith offered her the last Fury.

"Please, call me Tyris. There's no need for formalities" She replied with a chuckle. "I have already spent more time with you than with most of Valeron's descendants and we'll spend a lot more until the baby is born.

"As for your request, why should I agree? You call Grandma the God of Forgemastery and Grandpa the God of Wisdom. You should ask them. I have no reason to help you."

"Grandma already does a lot for me on a daily basis. She recycled my stuff with Creation Magic and has even left body doubles of my family in her Palace. This way, no one will wonder where everybody has disappeared.

"If I ask her more, I might as well join the nest. As for Grampa, he's more like Grumpy." Lith replied.

"I resent that!" Leegaain's voice echoed in the tower even though he was in the Empire.

"I'm stealing that!" Salaark's laughter resounded from the Desert just as clearly.

"As for you, I'm thankful for your help with the baby, but that's something you decided on your own the day you took the oath to protect my children. I didn't ask you for it so I owe you nothing whereas you are indebted to me." Lith ignored the other two Guardians.

"How so?" Tyris tilted her head in curiosity, her smile never faltering.

"You created the Saefel set that Arthan copied. It's only because of you that Thrud has access to Guardian-level equipment. On top of that, even though she's incapable of crafting more, she used the Arthan set as the foundation for her work." Lith replied.

"From her Generals to the last of her foot soldiers, her whole army is equipped with enchanted items that she has derived from your work.

"Sure, they are nothing compared to the original but Thrud updated the old runes and combined her expertise, Linnea's Royal Forgemastery, and dozens of Awakened Legacies to make up for it.

"It's because of you if a poor almost 20 years old Tiamat has to face enemies wearing such powerful equipment. I say that giving me a hand is the least you can do. I'm fighting for your Kingdom after all."

"Before I give you my answer, I need to know if you are going to share your Forgemastery techniques with the Kingdom. After all, you are a Magus and I'm the First Queen. Once you show me your magic, why should I keep it a secret?" Tyris accepted the Fury, testing its grip and appreciating its balance.

"No, I'm not." Lith shrugged. "I got my title by sharing other knowledge and per the law you and your husband wrote, not even the First Queen can force a mage to reveal the fruits of his hard work.