Supreme Magus novel Chapter 926

Chapter 926 Secret Meeting Part 2

"Happy birthday again, Lith. Sorry for involving your father in this shenanigan, but these days I don’t know who I can trust anymore." He said. _{frёeweɓηovel.coɱ}

Orion Ernas was a man in his mid-forties over 1.96 meters (6’5") tall, with black hair and brown eyes like Phloria. His physique was lean but muscular and his perfectly shaven face showed great sadness.

Orion had some wrinkles around the eyes and temples, but every movement of his was still full of the vigor one would expect from a much younger man.

He and Raaz knew each other ever since their respective children had attended the White Griffon academy. Even though the difference in their social standing was like heaven and earth, the two men carried a deep bond of trust and respect.

"Thanks. What’s going on that requires this kind of secrecy?" Lith asked.

"I will answer to all your questions in due time. First things first. Is it true that you have found a teacher unrelated to the Kingdom to teach you advanced magic after your honorable discharge?" Orion asked.

"Yes." Lith said. With both his leave and the military service closing to their end, it was pointless to play it close to the chest. Especially after what had happened with Rena.

"Do they know Runesmithing?"

"My mentor shares my same specializations and none of the chains the Kingdom tries to burden me with. What’s your point?" Lith didn’t like being interrogated.

"My point is that if this guy is as good as you say, then I can uphold my part of our bargain." Orion took one of the plainest bastard swords Lith had ever seen from under his seat and placed it upon the table.

It had a silvery blade, cross-shaped guard, and pommel while the grip was black. If not for the line of purple crystals along its fuller and Solus’s mana sense spotting the runes hidden under the surface, Lith would have taken it for a joke.

"If anyone asks, I never gave it to you. Say that it’s a gift from your new master, that you found it at a flea market, on the corpse of one of your enemies, I don’t care. Just keep my name out of it." Orion said.

Lith caressed the blade, yet he couldn’t feel a single spark of magic from it. Even Invigoration found it to be weird, as if it was some kind of magical corpse.

"What’s going on, Orion?" Lith asked.

"I’ll tell you what’s going on. Phloria’s trial is still ongoing and things don’t look good for neither of you." With a wave of Orion’s hand, three glasses and a bottle of Raging Phoenix appeared on the table.

It was a liquor so strong that it was mostly meant to be diluted with non-alcoholic beverages, to be used for medical reasons, and to burn corpses to a crisp.

"What does it have to do with my son?" Lith and Raaz accepted Orion’s offer to sit down along with the liquor.

"No, what I meant is why are you giving it to me, and aren’t you afraid of committing treason?" Lith was now more curious than ever, but he liked the Ernas family more than he liked the idea of a new sword.

He had yet to learn even the basics of modern Runesmithing or witness Faluel’s Forgemastering skills. He had plenty of ways to procuring him good weapons, maybe even better than Ruin, whereas a trustworthy friend was irreplaceable.

"I’m giving it to you because that was our deal. Thanks to your armor, the Royal Forgemasters discovered how to apply energy-based spells to Orichalcum. It provided us with the answers we’ve been looking for decades." Orion said.

’What the actual hell?’ Solus thought. She didn’t know whether to be more shocked at the idea that Orion had invented his own Forgemastering technique or that Royal Forgemastering was so advanced that they could replicate true magic to such degree.

"As for committing treason, I’m simply returning the favor in kind. The army betrayed my family by starting a ridiculous trial against my little Flower and then by trying to pin the blame for Manohar’s escapades on my wife!

"To add insult to injury, they had the guts to order me to betray my word, to lie to a friend. And in exchange for what? A fucking dog treat?" Orion’s rage turned his voice into a snarl and his glass into shards.

"Don’t worry about me. Both my family and Jirni’s have played this game long enough to know what we can and cannot do. Believe me when I say that a lot of people are about to discover what happens when we’re not happy.

"Misery likes company and I’m going to make sure that it will host a party no one will ever forget." Orion snapped his fingers, making the shards reform the glass before pouring himself another drink.