Chapter 641 - Perfect Array (Part 1) (2/2)
'It wouldn't make sense. Only Awakened can sense mana and I doubt that those Odi creeps were Awakened. Otherwise each body they occupied would have lasted centuries and they would have kept their magical talent.' Lith replied.
'Maybe they weren't Awakened, but they might have been aware of their existence.' Solus suggested.
'Solus, do you realize that you've become a bigger pessimist than I am?' Those words put an end to their argument and made Solus wish they were both wrong. Solus about the Odi and Lith about her.
Unlike Invigoration, Acc.u.mulation had no rejuvenating effects, it would simply absorb the surrounding world energy and feed it to Lith's mana core, making it stronger.
Since whatever Kulah was it was built on a mana geyser, Lith could draw much more nourishment than usual from the environment.
'Even though hours of Acc.u.mulation don't amount to much of a power up, if I'm right about someone operating Kulah's defenses, every bit can help.' He thought as his enhanced body naturally recovered his mana and stamina.
While Morok slept to recover from the fatigue of the fight, Lith ate some food and searched for the door activation mechanism. The entire stone wall had been enchanted and several arrays overlapped on its surface.
'Whoever did this was indeed a Master Warden.' Solus thought. 'The runes comprising the various arrays never touch each other and have an even spacing between them, allowing the runes to work in perfect harmony.
'On top of that, it makes it really hard to understand which rune belongs to which array. I'm afraid that I was right about the Odi being aware of Awakened.'
'Maybe and maybe not.' Lith replied. 'There are things like Scarlett's pince-nez or General Vorgh's staff that can make them visible to the n.a.k.e.d eye. So far the only thing we know for certain is that they were crafty bastards.'
Lith placed his hands on the stone wall, as if he was searching for crevices or a hidden switch, and activated Invigoration. It was the only means he had to bypass any kind of cloaking device that could hide the truth from his eyes.
Invigoration required Lith to override someone's or something's mana flow with his own. It was a skill he had developed as a kid and it was second nature to him. Unfortunately, he had never used it on something so big.
There was only so much space he could cover without spreading his resources too thin, dulling his senses. To make matters worse, the complexity of the arrays and the enchantment of the wall made it hard for him to properly examine their countless details.
On the bright side, Solus could now deactivate her mana sense and focus solely on deciphering the incantation by sharing Lith's senses. Lith's antics drew more than one surprised look and several scoffs.
”Ranger Verhen, this is a waste of your abilities. If groping a wall was enough to bypass a protective array, then Wardens and Forgemasters wouldn't have spent so much time and effort developing their spells for tasks like the one at hand.” Professor Syndra said.
There was no mockery in his voice, only sincere worry.
'If that idiot of my Assistant was half as capable as Lith, instead of cackling at him like a child…' He thought.
”Thanks for your concern, Professor. Yet we must consider that the Odi might have taken spells into account and resorted to some kind of mechanical trigger.” Lith replied with the first believable explanation that came to his mind.
”Excellent point! Did you hear that, Calil? Take a lesson from Ranger Verhen and use your brain. If by the end of the expedition your contributions amount to nothing, I'll have you fired.”
Just like the other Assistants, Calil had been noting down his master's findings so that he could later revise and make sense of the bigger picture. The rest of the time, the youths had been laughing behind the wall-groping Ranger's back.
Suddenly, there wasn't much to laugh about. Instead of mindlessly writing, he started to rack his brain for a solution to the conundrum at hand.