Supreme Magus novel Chapter 2304

The arrays of the Throne Room conjured a hologram of the Kingdom, highlighting the six great academies.

At a weave of Sylpha's hand, the hologram revealed the position of one mana geyser under each building and many others among them. A ray of light joined the academies to the geysers and each other, forming a magic circle of colossal proportions.

"No mage tower is that big nor does it require so many enchantments. Hence to make them work it takes an insane amount of power that can only be achieved by the array transmitting the power of multiple geysers to all academies at the same time.

"We lost territories during the past wars, Feela, because even though our academies can move as well, in order to function they must keep the formation and the circle intact.

"They can't get far away from where they were built and can do it only if they all move together. Useless to say, such a move would leave the Kingdom exposed and leave a trail of destruction in its wake.

"Not to mention that it would also mean stopping all classes and having no new mages until the end of a conflict. Always remember that the Forgemaster Magus intended the academies as a place of knowledge, not weapons of mass destruction.

"Menadion gave them the ability to fight only in order to protect the youths they host and only after Valeron begged her for it. If you also consider the number of resources that it takes to update them with the passing of time and the development of magic, it shouldn't surprise you we didn't make more."

"Wait a second." Feela asked. "If they are so powerful, why didn't you use them against Balkor during his final attack?"

"Because at that point his creatures were immune to the academies' arrays." Sylpha said with a sigh. "Once Balkor's undead got inside, the students would have been trapped with them.

"On top of that, we couldn't afford to reveal such a secret with a cold civil war ongoing. One or more traitorous Headmasters might have activated their academy and turned it against the Crown."

"You still haven't answered Feela's question." Raagu said. "How could you fail to predict Thrud's plan?"

"First, we still have no idea what her plan is." Meron chimed in to defend his wife. "Second, as Sylpha just told you, academies are supposed to be built in sets of six and unable to move like that.

"We just thought that the Golden Griffon was capable of Warping from one geyser to another under the right circumstances as all cursed objects do. What we are seeing from Verhen's amulet, instead, proves that it can move freely even in absence of an energy source.

"On top of that, the Royal Array should have remained dormant unless activated by the six great academies at the same time. The Golden Griffon conjuring and interacting with it is supposed to be an impossible feat."

The Council representatives had to admit that Meron's words made sense. The Black Star, Kogaluga, and all the known cursed objects were capable of expanding or moving their influence from one geyser to another.

"Also, please consider this." Meron continued. "Thrud started the war from the north, attacking our food reserves. She kept the Golden Griffon out of the battlefield and well-hidden so we assumed she was protecting it, just like you did."

"How can the lost academy move like that, then?" Raagu asked.

"The most likely answer is Forbidden Magic and Arthan's genius." Meron said. "The power core of the Golden Griffon is fueled by stabilized Decay and it's different from those of the rest of the academies.

"You have a copy of its blueprints as well yet you couldn't figure out its properties either."

"This leaves me only one question." Lotho pondered, trying to make sense of that madness. "If the academies were Thrud's goal from the beginning, why is she attacking them only now?"