Without stopping, Raylo walked straight through the noisy crowd toward the edge of the marketplace.
Raylo let out a call, and a clear, piercing shriek tore through the air.
A vast shadow fell over the area. The Storm Griffin King, Baofeng, dove down like a bolt of tawny lightning, the gust from his wings kicking up a swirl of dust.
"Let’s go, Baofeng."
Holding Moonlight, Raylo deftly vaulted onto Baofeng’s broad, warm back.
The Griffin King let out a low roar and gave a mighty flap of his wings. A powerful force propelled them off the ground and straight toward the heavens.
Below them, the colorful free market rapidly shrank into a chaotic artist’s palette, then vanished from sight.
Baofeng carried them like a teor streaking across the sky, soaring over rolling hills, through dense forests, and across boundless verdant plains.
The wind howled in their ears, bringing with it a hint of chill.
Moonlight squinted in contentnt, its silver fur fluttering gently in the wind.
This ti, they didn’t stop to rest.
By the next morning, a chain of rolling black mountains began to reveal its majestic silhouette on the horizon. Like a slumbering giant beast, it was the Black Stone Mountain Range.
And there, nestled in the right flank of the range and built into the mountainside, Black Stone Castle was also visible in the distance.
Baofeng let out a cheerful cry, adjusted his posture, and glided down on outstretched wings, finally landing smoothly on the open ground before the castle.
Several Knights on patrol spotted Raylo and imdiately straightened up, giving him a standard knightly salute.
"My lord, you’ve returned."
Cradling Moonlight, Raylo leaped from the Griffin’s back and nodded to the guards.
"Take good care of Baofeng and prepare his food."
"Have Marlin select the best Magical Beast at and roast two hundred pounds of it! Have it sent to my room."
They hadn’t stopped the entire way, so neither Moonlight nor Baofeng had eaten. Their stomachs had been growling for a while.
He then headed straight for the side of the castle where the Alchemy Workshop was located.
Even before he got close, he could sll the unique aroma of various ores, herbs, and strange Potions mingling in the air.
"Carl!"
Raylo called out.
"Co out a mont! I’ve got sothing good for you to take a look at."
"Coming, my lord!"
A mont later, Carl ca jogging out of the workshop.
"My lord, what Treasure has you in such a hurry to see ?"
Carl rubbed his hands together.
With a faint smile, Raylo placed the "Giant’s Grip" he had picked up at the market on a heavy stone workbench in the center of the workshop.
"Take a look at this."
Moonlight leaped gracefully from Raylo’s arms and, with an elegant, cat-like gait, padded curiously to the edge of the stone table.
Carl’s attention was imdiately drawn to the simple, ancient-looking glove.
After a long mont, Carl straightened up, his expression a mixture of excitent and gravity.
"My lord, this glove... is absolutely a fine piece of work! Judging by the complex Magic Circuit and materials, it must be an ancient alchemical creation. The craftsmanship is superb!"
He pointed to the center of the back of the glove, at a Crystal Stone that was as dull and lifeless as a dead thing.
"The Energy Core here... based on the residual energy fluctuations and structural analysis, I deduce it’s a ’Giant’s Heart.’ This kind of Treasure contains the innate, imnse Power of the Giant Race. It’s an exceedingly precious Alchemy Material."
Carl’s tone shifted, now tinged with regret.
"Unfortunately, this Giant’s Heart is completely shattered. The energy inside has almost entirely dissipated, leaving only the faintest trace. It’s beyond repair."
’If the Giant’s Heart were intact,’ Raylo thought, ’that One-Eyed rcenary would never have sold it as scrap.’
"That’s to be expected."
"Moreover," Carl added, pointing to five small, evenly spaced sockets surrounding the Energy Core.
"Look here, my lord. The design of these five sockets is standard for High Tier Magic Stone settings. They function as an auxiliary power supply. Now, the Magic Stones are gone, leaving only empty sockets."
Raylo pondered for a mont.
"A Giant’s Heart is too rare; it’ll be difficult to acquire one anyti soon. For now, let’s see how many of the glove’s functions can be restored using only Magic Stones as a power source."
"I understand."
A glint of eagerness flashed in Carl’s eyes.
"Relying solely on Magic Stones for power won’t unleash the glove’s full might, but it should be enough to activate so of its functions. Please wait a mont, my lord. I’ll go to the storeroom and fetch so suitable Magic Stones."
Before long, Carl returned at a quick pace, carrying a small, exquisite velvet box. Neatly arranged inside were five grape-sized Tier Two Magic Stones, each emitting waves of pure Magic Power.
With his nimble hands, Carl carefully embedded the five Tier Two Magic Stones one by one into the corresponding sockets on the glove.
As the final Magic Stone slotted perfectly into place, the once-dim and obscure magic circuits on the glove’s surface, as if injected with life, suddenly flared with a faint blue light. Fine arcs of electricity leaped and flickered between the circuits, emitting a soft SIZZLING sound.
"My lord, the basic Magic Circuit has been reactivated!"
Carl took a step back, his face filled with anticipation.
Raylo nodded and slowly fitted the glove known as the "Giant’s Grip" onto his left hand.
The cool, hard touch of tal spread up his arm.
He took a deep breath and tried to channel the Fighting Spirit from his body, slowly infusing it into the glove.
VMM!
A low hum emanated from the glove as the faint blue light on its surface suddenly blazed several tis brighter!
Raylo felt an imnse power surge from the glove into his arm. The muscles in his left arm seed to swell instantly, filling with an explosive sense of strength.
His gaze swept across the workshop and landed on a pile of stone locks and tal ingots in the corner, used for testing the strength of Weapons.
He walked over to a bluestone lock that weighed at least five hundred pounds, which the Knights used for strength training.
In the past, lifting it with one hand hadn’t been difficult, but it had required considerable effort.
Now, with his left hand clad in the "Giant’s Grip," he simply took hold and lifted. The five-hundred-pound stone lock rose as if it were weightless, and he could feel that the power in his arm was still far from its limit.
"Whoa!"
Watching from the side, Carl’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but let out a gasp of amazent.
Raylo hefted the stone lock a few tis before slowly setting it down.
He gradually increased the amount of Fighting Spirit he channeled into it, and the sense of power in his arm surged in tandem, seemingly without limit.
He could clearly feel the Magic Stones inside the glove consuming Magic Power at an astonishing rate, converting it into a pure amplification of his strength.
"How does it feel, my lord?"
Carl took a step closer and asked, his voice a mix of nervousness and excitent.
Raylo flexed his left arm, getting a feel for the new power.
"Driven by my Fighting Spirit and relying solely on these five Tier Two Magic Stones as an auxiliary power source, this ’Giant’s Grip’ can augnt my strength by nearly a ton."
A ton. For a Knight, that was a considerable boost. In a critical mont, it would be enough to change the course of a battle.
He threw a few punches through the air. The wind from his fists howled with a dull, tearing sound, their power far greater than before.
"But..."
Raylo’s brow furrowed as he felt the rapid drain of the Magic Stones’ energy from within the glove.
"The Magic Stones are consud far too quickly."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the blazing light on the glove’s surface dimd rapidly, returning to its initial faint glimr.
The five Tier Two Magic Stones, which had been shining brilliantly just monts before, had now lost all their luster. They had beco five dull, grayish-white stones, their Magic Power drained completely dry.
"That... that wasn’t even five minutes!"
Carl looked at the five spent Magic Stones and clicked his tongue, a pained expression on his face.
"My lord, without a ’Giant’s Heart’ to serve as the Energy Core, endurance is definitely the biggest problem when relying solely on the energy from Magic Stones."
Tier Two Magic Stones weren’t top-tier, but they didn’t exactly grow on trees. At this rate of consumption, even Black Stone Castle’s reserves couldn’t sustain such extravagance for long.
Raylo took off the glove and stared at the spent Magic Stones, lost in thought.
User Comments
0 comments from readers