“Or they’ve got an Obsidian Enchanter squirreled away somewhere,” Lord Mick grunted knowingly. “I dinnae know if they were supposed t’ be NPC’s, but they had very selective skills, an’ not much business. The woman by Hebian-To had a reputation fer bein’ involved in the black market, me uncle told me, but he dinnae say what she was making. Although…,” he trailed off thoughtfully, looking at the Wand in Ryin’s grasp, then blinking. “Damn me. That’s the original Wand o’ Black Fire, lass!” Eyebrows rose all around. “There was a bit of a dust-up at some point over the original Wands. They dinnae take any magical skill to use, just Arcane Lore. Shot off a Pyreal-tier Flame Bolt, too. Were the single most popular item of all the Enchanters!

  “And then one day, there were a new Wand that required ye t’ know War Magic t’ use, an’ they be no longer making the old ones…”

  “Someone leaned on someone and got a very useful product all for themselves,” Princess Kristie sniffed, crossing her leanly muscled arms. “Think you can replicate that, Ryin?”

  “It is actually very similar to Matrix-style Wands.” Mira was ecstatic as she went through the Formations woven into the different items. “Earthfire Obsidian and Firestone Obsidian, different properties, different methods to use them, despite their similarities. Obsidian is a weird thing to work with at the best of times because of all the impurities inside it. The golums purifying away the impurities are basically the only way you could get something to work with like this.” I picked up the old Wand. “This is perfect. It’s got a hexagonal Formation in it that results in a Pyreal Spell. It’s almost perfect for adaptation into a Blackfire Scarab.”

  “That gets ye t’ Pyreal spells then?”

  “Pretty sure of it, Lord Mick.”

  “The new Wand tossed out a Fire Volley at Gold,” he reminded me.

  “Pentagonal, like this Orb.” I lifted it to him. “And all the other devices here, which use a pentagonal Formation instead, and so are inherently less powerful. The things made from the Obsidian Jewels are more delicate in make, from Firestone Obsidian refined by the Obsidian and Basalt Golums. The Black Rocks are Earthfire Obsidian, and can handle greater energy with more resilience.”

  “Well, it just remains to be seen if ye can carve them, then,” the Mick nodded. “How’s the stores o’ them? The Stoneholders had a good supply of them, I understand, an’ the teams working the Golum Bridge off Avallele Island harvested quite a few, too, but couldn’t find much use for them without a Stone Collector or an Obsidian Enchanter. I think I got a trunk full o’ em somewhere in the Scout Compound, just from training.”

  I smiled at him. “You know this Potion here is a VERY powerful Healing Potion, and it’s made from those things?”

  “Aye, but none of the Alchemists could figure it out…”

  “Under the Matrix system, this isn’t a true Potion, it’s an Elixir and has to be enchanted more like a Wondrous Item. True Potions only go to IV, and this is at V, a Gold-equivalent item.” The Mick blinked in shock, staring at the bright blue bottle. “Aye, this is more akin to enchanting an item, as opposed to mixing components and working in some magic. You have to enchant the jewel used to form the basis of it with the Healing effect and then powder and dissolve it into this liquid.

  “I’ll let this method out, and we should be able to get a lot more of these stocking the reserves for the troops. Those Obsidian Golums should be harvested regularly for them, too.”

  “Ye kin bet yer Staff that will be going on now!” he confirmed with feeling. None of the Healing Potions available out there were anywhere close to the Healing power of a Blackfire Potion, which equaled that of the very best Healing Philters from before the Fall. “Fire and Earth Obsidian making a Healing Potion.” He had to roll his eyes at the very idea. “That’s why the damn things were so damn janky when ye drank ‘em. Like getting a hot rush at the same time as all yer blood went ice cold, wounds steamed as they closed.”

  “You got a Scarab design for me?” Kris interjected expectantly, pulling out one of each of the Obsidian Spheres and Jewels used to make the Blackfire items.

  “Those are totally unsuitable for Scarabs. We need the original Stones and Rocks.”

  “Ho. Wasn’t sure they were useful, but didn’t see any reason t’ leave ‘em behind.” The Mick pulled out the rocks and stones he’d cleared off one of the tables, skipped by Kris, who had just given them a glance and now shook her head at not recognizing what they were. He dropped them on Rogar’s Disk at the same time he reclaimed his Armor, then shoved the Disk over to the princess. “Go to it, Highness.”

  “You should be able to carve three Scarabs out of a proper source. Oddly enough, I’ve got three potential patterns to try out,” I smiled.

  Kris held up her hand, and hard Gold claws manifested around her left hand expectantly, gleaming with edges far, far too sharp for something material. “Give me the pattern,” she stated firmly.

  I reached over to touch her arm, establishing a Marklink, and gave her the designs.

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  She sliced into the stone like it was tofu, the volcanic glass of Firestone Obsidian giving way smoothly, not even fracturing like it should have. Clawed fingers sliced and peeled away the glassy substance, exposing a red heart inside the stone that she quickly carved around and through with little difficulty.

  It was fascinating to watch the process, basically gemcutting at the highest order and requiring no more tools than her Soulclaws and Tremblesense to execute perfectly.

  It took only two minutes for the first Scarab, glossy black with a warm red center, cut into the inch-wide hexagon, which she handed over to me, promptly starting on the second design.

  My own Disk came spinning out of its folded state from my Masspack, along with a satchel of original spell components, not the prismatic tapers that folded them all into one component.

  I needed to establish my third taper for a Gold-level spell, as I’d failed horrendously last time.

  The students there only saw spell component formations when doing the test for a new Scarab themselves. They were especially interested in the unique taper I had in mine, which nobody had ever used.

  Most importantly, if this worked, then perhaps anyone could Cast Pyreal-grade spells once more under the new magic system!

  Well, after one simple test. I simply pumped the full mana needed for Impenetrability V, the baseline spell, through the faceted Scarab on my palm.

  It exploded violently, although I vented it skywards rather than in all directions. The snap and crack of it made everyone flinch, except Kris, who ignored it completely.

  “One design down,” the Mick judged with a small smile.

  “Aye, the least likely one to work,” I agreed, waiting as Kris finished up the second Scarab, which had significantly more minor faceting on the edges.

  She handed it over, and I repeated the process.

  The Firestone Scarab cracked internally as the mana moved through it and fell apart into a dozen brittle pieces in my hand. I closed my hand, crushed them to inert black sand, and let them fall.

  “Naturally,” Kris half-laughed, shaking her head. Her fingers flew again, sure and measured, and fiery obsidian bits fell to the ground, carving out the hexagon and faces rapidly, then swiftly and surely faceting it, then inscribing a simple yet precise set of geometric lines on one face of it.

  The lines gleamed fiery red against the black of the obsidian, absorbing all the fire within the Scarab. I accepted it from her, and repeated the process of channeling mana through the Scarab.

  It took the flow, glowing brighter and slices of ruby light manifesting in the glow, before fading back down as the mana failed to actually go through a Casting to manifest a spell.

  Success!

  Kris grabbed the other three stones and promptly began carving them up for me.

  I set the Firestone Scarab at the beginning of the simple array, next to the Gold Scarab. Blue taper, hyssop for the herb, White second taper, onyx powder, cobalt potion, Twilight taper, Diamond Scarab, Ashwood Talisman.

  Technically I needed the Twilight taper OR the Diamond Scarab, but having both wouldn’t hurt.

  I closed my eyes and began to move the mana through the components, building the spell calmly. The mana acquired both rigidity and energy as it moved through the Earthfire Scarab, giving it more strength against the resistance to the spell as it was constructed. It attuned to my Aura as it moved through the tapers, the Twilight Taper crystallizing that attunement, and moved through the Diamond Scarab and ashwood talisman with no problems.

  Gold-grade Impenetrability V manifested on Rogar’s breastplate with a crinkle of power.

  There was quiet applause. There wasn’t even any component burn as I impressed the spell into my internal memory, just like a Sorcery spell.

  Kris handed me six Scarabs: three of the Firestone, and three of the most complex pattern of the Earthfire Scarabs, which not only had a different pattern of red lines etched onto them, but all the facets gleamed ruby red, clearly holding more power than the simpler Scarabs.

  One flow of sixty mana flowed through the Scarab, which actually reflected the mana all about it, as if constructing a single Scarab about itself to contain and control the manifesting mana. It handled the load without a problem.

  Impenetrability VI required a pale green Pyreal Scarab, and advancing the tapers. The first taper advanced from Blue to Indigo, the second advanced from White to Gray, and my Twilight Taper in the third slot. The Earthfire Scarab went in front, and it was time to test the spell.

  A full mana expenditure was siphoning a lot of my mana, and I was going to need some time to get it all back. But I spent it without hesitation, watching and feeling it build through the spell, hit the Twilight Taper and hardlock to my Aura, filter and purify its way through the Diamond Scarab, hit the talisman and finally pulse out in a completed spell, with a definite crystalline red tinge to it as I Cast it on Selena’s Mail.

  Impenetrability VI crinkled into existence across her Armor.

  “Ye’ve found the key to Pyreal spells for us,” the Mick breathed out, impressed. “Yer sweet goddess Sylune be goin’ t’ find a whole lot more interest in her after this, lass!”

  “The main problem is going to be the supply of Earthfire Scarabs, Lord Mick. I expect that room full of them up in Stonehold is going to empty out VERY quickly.” Not to mention they’d all have to be carved up by someone sufficiently skilled to do so. I held up one of the jet and ruby Scarabs for him. “QL 34!”

  Everyone grimaced at that news. Anything over 30 really required a former adventurer to make, as typical jewelers rarely got their skill to the required height, and using an imperfect Scarab could easily result in the spell exploding in your face!

  “I presume you can make them quickly with Fabricates, but that’s more V Slots out the door.” And it wasn’t like I didn’t have constant demand for those, especially with the pyreal lottery we were exploiting.

  “Speaking of which…”

  “Right.” Kris stepped over to the edge, gazing down at the creatures in the valleys and on the hillside below. “Okay, we’re going to take the time to do a complete circuit of the island from atop this rim. It looks different from the topography the paramounts remember.” She glanced at Lord Mick as he stepped up beside her, and nodded agreement. "Twelve miles across, about forty miles. We shouldn’t have any problems making it in twelve hours. Let’s get some distance from this holding below us so we aren’t detected at range, make a Seal Focus, and then off with you. Meet you back here in twelve hours.”

  A Lived-line around the place would get everyone within six miles of anything happening, meaning a single trip to the middle area would get it down to three miles. It was a good idea. “That’s the smart way to do things.”

  Alas, no 7's as yet, but Ryin getting her 5's and 6's is pretty big... and bad for the enemy.

  Author Note: All Scarabs can be carved from Golum Hearts, so they are all a little bit magical.

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