Chapter 4129: Competition to Avoid (Part 2)

"He learned multiple branches of magic faster than anyone I’ve ever known, and reached heights that make no sense for a masterless Awakened who has yet to reach 21 years of age.

"My question is, what if no one saw it because it needed a specific condition to be of any use. What if that condition is a mana geyser and Verhen possesses a mage tower? It would explain many things that currently make no sense about him."

"Yeah, right." Jorl shrugged. "Too bad that it would also pose much many more questions than it answers."

"In what sense?" The Black Throne asked.

"First of all, where would Verhen have found a mage tower?" Jorl asked. "He came from a backwater village that didn’t give birth to a single famous mage before him. Verhen put Lutia on the maps, not the other way around."

The cursed tower pondered those words for a bit and then nodded for the Storm Griffon to continue.

"If you want more proof, read his biography at the part where he joined the academy." Jorl said.

"There is a biography? How could I miss that?" The cursed tower wasn’t aware of the existence of Lith’s Web of Knowledge and needed help to find the free books section.

"Here." Jorl said. "Verhen knew nothing of the tier of magic above three. The list of books he borrowed from the academy’s library is indeed impressive, but that doesn’t change the fact that he needed those books.

"The first artifacts he crafted match the contents of the lessons of the fourth year of the academy, and he lacked any equipment until the Kingdom or one of his patrons gifted it to him.

"To put it simply, yes, if Verhen had a tower, we’d know why he’s so strong whenever a mana geyser is available and how he can Forgemaster such amazing pieces like the DoLorean, the Voidwalker armor, and the Sage Staff.

"Yet then we would have to explain how a tower can contain no treasure, no library, nothing that would make the life of a young, grassroots mage easier. Before you start with his weapon or Light Mastery, the former comes from Salaark and the latter from his mentor, Faluel.

"They became Light Masters at the same time, and the technique they use is almost identical."

"Indeed. I was missing several pieces of the puzzle." The Black Throne flipped through the pages of Lith’s life, written by Count Lark, Mirim Distar, and Headmaster Linjos as quickly as if they were a grocery list. "A tower is not just mere strength.

"It’s also knowledge and treasures. An empty tower would be of no use for a mage that young. Quite the contrary, it would be a curse. Any youth would be tempted to brag about it with his friends and turn his life into a nightmare."

"I know." Jorl nodded. "Not to mention Verhen rarely left the academy during his student years and after becoming an Assistant Professor. What fool would leave a mage tower alone for so long?"

"What if he found it later?" The Black Throne asked.

"Where? At his boot camp at sixteen?" Jorl scoffed. "Or maybe during his tour as a Ranger? Please, there are countless reports of his missions, and most of them have dozens of witnesses who hate his guts.

"If he had anything like a tower, the Undead Courts in Othre or the nobles of the cities he protected wouldn’t have covered for him. Also, answer me this. If he has a mage tower, why didn’t Thrud just say that and let the rest of Mogar kill him for her?

"Why did Hystar mention a cursed object, and only when he was on the brink of death? The Mad Queen had kidnapped Verhen’s ex-girlfriend and confidant, so she was bound to know every secret he had, yet none was ever released."

The answer was that Thrud had never dismissed the idea of her own defeat. After Jormun’s death, she had decided to follow her husband’s dying wish and entrust Valeron the Second to Lith in case anything happened to her.

She had protected Lith’s secrets to protect her beloved baby, and the slave mark on Hystar had prevented him from saying anything until it had crumbled along with his power core.

"By the way, do you know about any cursed mage tower besides yourself?" Jorl asked.

"No, the community is small." The Black Throne replied. "If there were someone else, I’d know just like Uragar knows about me. Unless our enemy hid for its entire life and decided to come out right now, I’m the only cursed tower ever created."

"Even if I’m right, your hypothesis still has merit." The Storm Griffon mulled over their previous conversation. "Maybe Verhen has found a tower recently or crafted one. What do you think of this?"

Jorl showed all the videos regarding Lith employing the Prime Engine against the Upyr forces to protect the Stonewall Fortress and Ruugat of the Earth.

"Crafted?" The cursed tower laughed so hard that the Upyrs had to shield their ears with magic. "A twenty-something-year-old baby has no way to collect the necessary materials, let alone Forgemaster a mage tower from them.

"This Omega Prime thing is indeed strong, but there’s a reason I didn’t put it among the evidence of Verhen owning a tower. Do you know how a battle form works?"

"Not a clue." Jorl shook his head.

"Well, then. Let me educate you." The Black Throne conjured the hologram of a colossal golem standing beside an adult Dragon. "A tower’s battle form allows a mage to best Divine Beasts, cursed objects, and survive battles against Guardians or lost cities.

"The mage is supposed to stay at the core of the battle form, safe from harm while he casts his best spells and controls the tower’s enchantments without having to worry about the threat of his limbs being cut off.

"The Omega Prime, instead, is an armor. It covers Verhen and is powerful, but it’s not very thick. It cracked against both your Upyrs and Ruugat, exposing Verhen’s scales. Why have a battle form with such a thin frame that it endangers its master?"

"You’re right, it makes no sense." Jorl replied.

"Also, only a Divine Beast would even consider crafting something like that because they are the only ones who could wear something that big. Otherwise, an armor form would be the dumbest, biggest waste of an enchantment anyone can think of.

"Do you know of any Divine Beast with a mage tower Verhen might have found?" The cursed tower asked.

"I know of no Divine Beast ever crafting a tower." Jorl snorted. "If anyone so much as suspected Verhen had gotten his hands on a bloodline treasure, Griffons, Phoenixes, and Dragons would have let him go scot-free like that."

"There you have it." The Black Throne replied. "The Omega Prime is no tower. Yet that makes Verhen even more dangerous. A mage tower would have explained the secret of his strength and provided us with ways to cripple his strength.

"If Verhen has achieved so much without a tower, he’s an enemy we can’t afford to underestimate. Or rather, he’s a competitor we’d better avoid. He also wants to weaken Orpal, but while we want to capture the Dead King, Verhen wants to kill him."

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