Supreme Magus novel Chapter 83

- "True magic?" Scarlett sneered. "Another pretentious name for my collection, then. Why don’t you come out? Talking this way is tiresome."

"What about my Professors? Aren’t you afraid of them meddling?"

"No. Right now their surveillance mirrors just show you sleeping. It requires a bit of effort, but I can tamper with them for a while." –

Lith swallowed a lump of saliva. The monster wasn’t lying, it could have killed him ten times already. But that only made the situation even more scary.

- "How do I get out without waking the others?" – A Warp Steps appeared in front of him, leading in front of the Scorpicore. Fighting hard to keep his knees from shaking, Lith started weaving all his strongest spells, preparing for the worst.

Scarlett stared at him with an inquisitive look. Despite being so close, it was hard to perceive any trace of corruption, and that was already a good sign.

"What do you want from me?" Lith asked with one spell ready for each of his fingers.

"I already told you, I just want your cursed object. After that, I will get out of your hair."

"My partner is no cursed object or anything. Is just an artifact, you are clearly mistaken."

"Do you even know what a cursed object is?"

"No." Lith admitted.

"You see, no matter how powerful an artifact is, it has no life. It’s just an object."

Scarlett handed to him its pince-nez.

"This is an artifact, believe me. Now, use your true magic and tell me, does it feel alive to you?"

Lith used Invigoration and Life Vision, perceiving many and powerful magics within it, but no life. It had mana flow, but no mana core or life force.

- "Solus, what about your mana sense?"

"It indeed has more power than many of your Professors, but no mana core." –

"That huge castle is a massive and powerful artifact, but is it alive?" Scarlett pointed to the White Griffon with one of its claws.

Once again, both Life Vision and mana sense reported a huge flow of mana, but no mana core.

"No." Lith reluctantly said.

"Now, what about your ring?"

Lith used Invigoration for the first time ever on Solus. Just like in the past he had used Life Vision to see her mana flow and life force, Invigoration revealed a small yellow mana core.

- "Why didn’t you ever tell me you have such a weak core?" Lith asked, surprised by the fact that she was so weak, despite all the years spent together.

"Well, you never asked. Besides, what did you expect? After almost starving to death, I was left with barely a red one. I still need time to recuperate." –

"It has a yellow mana core." Lith admitted.

Scarlett had to swallow down a huge scoff.

- "That confirms my worries. That thing is playing him like a fiddle. There’s no way a living artifact has just a yellow mana core. It must be using some trick to cloud his senses." – Scarlett nodded, and proceeded with its explanation.

"Life cannot be created on a whim, from nothing. There are only two ways to give life to an inanimated object, and both require a terrible price. The first method, requires a mage or creature very powerful and very insane.

A cursed object is when someone takes out a huge portion of himself, and binds it to a powerful artifact. A Lich’s phylactery is the most common example, but is not the worst kind.

Some creatures have a deep grudge or insane ambition, but no will to live forever.

So, they pass this obsession of theirs to the one object they are most attached, giving it life. But beware, despite having a mind of its own and immense powers, a cursed object is most of the times just a shadow of the worst parts of his creator.

It entices its new master with promises of power and glory, but every time they are used, the boundary between master and servant gets thinner. The mind link they share allow the object to tamper with the owner’s mind, changing it little by little.

Until he becomes a copy of the object’s maker, striving to complete its loose ends. And when the user dies, they just search for a replacement."

"What about the second method?" Lith was stalling for time, hoping someone would come to his rescue.

"Well, that’s even worse. To the point it’s part of the so-called forbidden magic."

"Forbidden?" Lith had never heard about any kind of magic being forbidden, not even necromancy.