Chapter 3079 To Ears or Not to Ears (Part 1)  

The Pyrmir countered by turning around and licking Leria's face with his massive tongue, covering her in saliva.

"Eww! Bad Abominus. Bad!"

"I'm not a horse. If you want something, don't hit me. Just ask." He replied.

"I see. Thank you." Strider nodded, ignoring the childish squabble.

He and Ryka knew about the underground city filled with monsters that reverted to their unfallen state while standing over a mana geyser, but they had never met one in person.

Aside from the Council representatives and Jiera's colonists, no one had.

"You took your sweet time." Lith was tired of waiting so he was about to check if the Gate worked properly. "What took you so long?"

"A lot." The Zouwu waved at his honor guard.

"You have my apologies, then." Lith gave him a small nod. "Sometimes I forget this place can be a little bewildering for a first-time visitor."

"A little?" Strider pointed at the incoming group of unusual riders.

They were all toddlers and they sat on top of a Wyrmling.

Shargein sniffed at the strangers, followed by Elysia and Valeron. Surin, instead kept sleeping like a log. Put together, the babies smelled of Guardians so much that only the dumbest creature on Mogar would have tried something funny on them.

"This is nothing." Lith shook his head. "You should see what happens when Manohar the Second is here."

"Who?" Ryka asked in confusion.

"Never mind." Lith said. "Xenagrosh and Bytra couldn't make it. What happened to the rest of your team?" "Some are already on an official mission, others just don't care about this matter." Strider replied.

"The Lich?"

"Azhom, yes." The Zouwu nodded. "She could barely remember my name already. She hung up on me the moment I told her there was nothing to gain but justice."

"Rita…" Lith started.

"Ryka." The Titania and Solus corrected him.

"That's what I said. More or less." Lith cleared his voice to cover the second part. "Are you aware of my arrangement with Strider about the helm?"

"Yes, and I agree with you. If that's an old-alps helm then I'm still a delicate flower." She nodded.

"Good to know but that's not what I was asking." Lith replied.

"Yes, you can take it." She nodded. "At one condition."

"Which is?"

"If we find it, you make me a weapon to the best of your new and improved abilities. Resources are on me." Her blue eyes sparkled like sapphires while daydreaming about it.

"Deal." They shook hands.

Lith had no problem lying or delivering a weapon of the quality he would produce without using the tower and every piece of Menadion's set but the Ears.

"Are you really going to commission him?" Strider was flabbergasted. "There are countless Forgemasters with hundreds, if not thousands of years of expertise and you ask a runt who's barely past twenty? No offense."

"Quite a bit taken. Also, I'm closer to twenty-one." Lith snorted.

"Yeah, right." Ryka snorted harder. "And how many of those pompous windbags can use Creation or Blade magic? How many of your so-called Master Forgemasters have created something unique?"

She pulled out her amulet, projecting the images of the DoLorean and the Wayfinder.

"Don't tell me that you believe that carp about Verhen becoming a Ruler of the Flames in the near future?" Strider said, remembering where he was at too late and a quarter. "No offense."

"Dude, saying 'no offense' isn't a free pass for insults." Lith scoffed.

"I don't believe those rumors." Ryka said, making the Zouwu sigh in relief. "I know they are true. Verhen, do me a favor and prove this cathead wrong. Forge me a weapon that will allow me to use Blade Spells and make him choke on his liver. No offense, boss."

"None taken," Strider grunted at the double jab. "I like you, Ryka." Lith shook her hand again. "I'll do my best, but only if we find that damn helm. I don't have time for freebies."

"And I only have the money to afford either the materials or the craftsmanship so believe me when I say finding it is in my best interest." She sighed.

After bidding goodbye to the kids, the group left the Verhen Mansion via the Warp Gate.

"This time it will be much quicker." Strider explained. "Even though this is an informal investigation, we are about to visit the Forgemasters' residences known to the Council, not another secret lab.

"There's no need for discretion and since all of the missing Awakened have one or more disciples, the heirs should be able to help us identify common elements in the disappearance of their mentors."

Lith contacted Faluel to use her Warping array, but she was unavailable. The Hydra had yet to return from the trip with Thrud's former Generals and her lair was empty.

'I wonder how Faluel is doing.' Solus thought. 'By my Mom, I always criticize Lith for never calling his friends except when he needs something, and now that I have my own body and communication amulet, I act no different.

'I swear on my Fury that as soon as we get back home, I'll call Faluel.'

The trip took only one Steps longer than predicted. Athung Soranot, the human Lord of Distar, was glad to Warp them straight to their first destination.

The array brought them inside the luxurious house of Barham Neth, a Wyvern Forgemaster who had taken residence in the heart of an active volcano located above a mana geyser.

His bloodline as a lesser Divine Beast brought him great status among his peers, but not as much envy as his Origin Flames.

Barham had reached such a degree of finesse in manipulating the mystical fire that he was not only capable of purifying enchanted metals perfectly but also of cleansing them of their enchantments.

Since the Forgemastering materials were on the client, this eased their financial burden in case the enchanting process failed due to their excessive requests.

Also, many old and powerful Awakened went to Barham to recycle artifacts that had lost their practical use and had no sentimental value. Origin Flames couldn't save magic crystals or the natural treasures consumed in the making of a relic, but they were still the next best thing to Creation Magic.

This was especially true for non-human creatures. For them, the hardest part was always collecting enough enchanted metal to craft equipment suitable for their colossal bodies.

Without people like Barham, even Council Elders would cry blood when upgrading their armor and weapons and would do it only once every few centuries.

"This is preposterous." Tanat Neth, son of Barham and first of his disciples said in reply to the inquiries about his father's disappearance. "Wherever he is, Master Barham is safe and sound.

The Wyvern had taken a human appearance to welcome the investigators. He looked like an overly handsome man in his mid-twenties, with sky-blue eyes and golden hair the color of his scales.

Tanat had also chosen to be taller than his guests to look down on them and maybe intimidate them.

"His trip was planned in advance and he organized the details himself. No one kidnapped him, otherwise why would he leave me access to the array control system of the mansion?" He showed them a signet ring bearing a red mana crystal.

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