Legacy of the Dark Sage

Kyran smiled and nodded, "That's right."

He looked at the Lumleys, who were gathered as well, to have a meeting.

"That is a violation of the rules, right?" Hamish said with a slight frown.

As far as they knew, the minimum mage level that could participate in the events was a Master mage, with the exception of combat specialists.

"That doesn't apply with The Three Noble Families," Kyran said with a slight shake of his head. He looked back at them and continued, "The rules on participants only applied to us and the Royal Army."

Owen and Hamish felt cheated by this.

The night before yesterday, when they received a call from President Sigma, telling them they would represent the Blacksmith Order together with Kyran in a joint exercise, they were both nervous and honored.

But, the moment Sigma explained the whole situation, they felt somewhat indignant.

A joint military exercise between the Conclave and the Royal Army never included the Blacksmith Order or even the rest of its four constituents. In the first place, the military exercise never required the participation of an Array Specialist.

True a mage knowledgeable in Array Creation might be included among the ranks of the representative during the parade or the Field Operation exercise, but never a known Array Specialist.

In any case, the Concalve and the Royal Army already conducted a joint military exercise recently. Why did they have to do another one in such a short time?

Owen and Hamish had been with the Blacksmith Order for years and they had a rough idea of the relationship the Conclave had with the other factions.

The Conclave remained neutral in power struggle between the other factions in the empire but that did not mean those factions did not provoke them.

They knew that somewhere in the background the other factions placed great pressure in the Conclave and the Conclave High Council were doing everything to hush things up so their members would not be affected.

With the Royal Army's request for another joint military exercise that included talents from the Conclave's constituents, it was obvious they were up to something.

To make matters worse, the Three Noble Families were also included in the mix.

Just what was really happening here?

Anyway, Owen and Hamish was not in the position to voice their discontent. And to be honest, their indignation fueled their will to protect the Blacksmith Order's honor. Besides, it was not them in such a situation but all four constituents of the Conclave.

They did not know what the Royal Army was trying to accomplish in this joint military exercise, or if it was a conspiracy between them and the Three Noble Families to put an even greater pressure for the Conclave.

Those did not matter to Owen and Hamish. What did matter was preserving the honor of the Blacksmith Order.

The Mercenary Hall— though it was entirely because of 'Tyr's' performance—, and the Chamber of Commerce showed positive results yesterday, so Owen and Hamish would definitely continue the momentum.

At least that was the plan.

But then, the sudden change in the rules, which clearly favored the Lumley Family was clearly unfair.

Seeing the indignant expressions on Owen and Hamish's faces, Kyran could not help but chuckle.

The two look at him questioningly. They were oblivious to the reason for Kyran's apparent amusement.

"You both look as if we are at a disadvantage when clearly we're not," Kyran told them and pointed at them one at a time. "Both of you are Master mages and Array Specialist."

Though Kyran appeared to have said something grand, Owen and Hamish looked at him still at a loss.

With an exasperated sigh, Kyran explained, "Those three pisspants are not Array Specialists. At most, they only know the fundamentals of Array Creation. No, their knowledge is likely not even on a Blacksmith's Amateur level, because if they are, they will not have suggested enchanting ready-made items."

Kyran's words felt like a an arrow that struck Owen and Hamish.

That was right, why did they forget that important part?

There were only a small number of Array Specialists in the empire, and most were part of the Blacksmith Order. Other factions might have one Array Specialist, with two at most. So most of their Array experts were only mages with Array Knowledge.

For the record, for one to become an Array Specialist, they not only have to be well-versed in Array Knowledge but also crafting. It was for this reason that they were well sought for.

But crafting was not something one could learn overnight— even Kyran who was adept in grasping theories needed practical experience to truly know how to craft items.

However, unlike Array, crafting could be learned by ordinary humans. And they were known as blacksmiths.

Of course, not all blacksmiths were ordinary humans with no magic affinity. There were also those who possessed magic. These blacksmiths were the ones, given time, would become an Array Specialist.

However, before they achieve that they first have to attain the blacskmith level's Master Artisan. And to become a Master Artisan, one had to go through three levels: Apprentice to Amateurs, then Amateurs to Journeyman, finally, Journeyman to a Master Artisan.

Once a blacksmith became a Master Artisan, they could learn how Array Creation.

Anyway, only when a Master Artisan successfully create an Array on his own, could he become an Array Specialist— at least, the first level of an Array Specialist which was an Amateur.

For the record, to become an Array Master, there were three levels to overcome. Amateur, Veteran, Expert, and finally, Master.

But an Array Master was not the end of the road for an Array Specialist. There were still three more levels; Legend, Saint, and finally, Deity.

"They probably think, it is enough to enchant a magic weapon that can unleash a powerful attack utilizing Matias's fire magic," Kyran continued. "So, a ready-made weapon is fine with them."

"But we know it is not enough," Owen chimed in.

"A mage cannot utilize his real strength using a half-assed magic weapon," Hamish also agreed.

"Correct," Kyran replied and looked at the ready-made item on Owen's work table. "Hamish, you are good with defensive items, you can work on this plate."

Then he looked at Owen and said, "The item on that table—," he gestured behind his back, "—was a headgear. You are adept with accessories and headgears are considered as such."

Owen nodded, "Yes. Unless the headgear is 'attached' to the dress, it is considered an accessory."

Kyran nodded, "Alright. You can work on that one."

He looked toward the workstation where Hamish had been and saw the sword on the table. He said, "I'll work on the weapon."

"Okay," both Owen and Hamish answered.

Kyran looked at both of them with a smile, "It goes without saying but, you two know that there is a way to enchant a ready-made item while giving it a quality similar to a forged magic item from scratch, right?"

Owen and Hamish looked at Kyran and nodded, not one bit offended at his question. Their eyes burned with years of accumulated experience in Array and Crafting.

"The rules only stated that we can work on the ready-made items in front of us. It did not say anything about prohibiting, the repetition of the heating phase of the item, or adding another layer to it."

Hamish was the one who said this.

Kyran nodded in agreement, "That's right."

Then he smiled at them and added, "You both seemed to have overcome your initial nervousness."

His comment made the two exchange bewildered glances.

True, after being reminded that they were Array Specialists, their confidence returned.

"Alright. I'll leave the two of you on that, as for who will do the mock battle..." Kyran paused and gave them a wry smile, "I don't mind going but..."

Owen and Hamish let out a dry laugh. They could almost guess Kyran's real reason for not wanting to do the mock battle. Apart from he weapon given to them was a sword, which they remembered was 'Tyr's most undesirable choice of weapon, he appeared fed up with the Lumley's constant harassment.

"I'll go," Hamish stepped up at once. He witnessed Matias's flames and to be honest, he was scared to be the object of those flame's attack.

Nevertheless, he wanted to test how much his defensive enchantment could last against Matias's flames. In so doing, he could come up with a new calculation to upgrade their order's uniform to withstand such flames.

Owen looked at Hamish. He could see the latter's determination and felt he should not trample on it. However, he also wanted to see what he could do to counter Matias's flames in case he targeted the Blacksmith Order again.

He looked at Kyran and also said, "I can also go."

Seeing the resolve these two had, Kyran's smile widen. If they did not volunteer, Kyran would stop at that and let them do their work. But since they did, he did not mind imparting a little of what he knew.

"Alright, let's decide on that later," Kyran told them and looked at the timer overhead. Almost three minutes had passed from the start of the competition.

"I know the durability of the item will suffer if a second heating process is applied, so, I'll show both of you the Array calculation that can prevent that. If you have questions on the formulas I used, I can explain them later."

Owen and Hamish's faces lit up at once. For Chairman Noir's disicple to teach them was an honor!

"Yes!" They both replied with unmasked zeal.

Kyran would not have proposed this if the rules prohibited them from 'talking.'

Without wasting any more time, he told them the materials they would need and the calculation. As to how they would integrate it to their work, that would be entirely up to them.

Array Specialists had their own way of enchanting items. Kyran could not possibly tell them how to do it. Besides, his enchantment skills were too advanced for a Veteran Array Specialists. To be honest, Kyran had a feeling that Master Noir would have some time to learn it as well.

At 1:55:00 on the timer, the three separated to start working on their items.