CHAPTER 1097: VARIOUS KIND

After he got the confirmation, Saeldir left the throne room without delay. His robes swept behind him as he strode through the palace corridors. His pace was quick and unwavering.

The air felt as though it vibrated faintly with tension. Every guard he passed could feel it, even though none dared to speak. They only turned their heads, watching the Archmage move. They, of course, had heard the messages sent by their generals and captains.

He reached the lower levels of the palace, where the air grew colder and thick with latent Magic. The lights lining the walls pulsed in rhythm with his footsteps.

At the final gate, two sentries stepped aside immediately as the door split open, revealing a vast chamber filled with Magic energy.

Inside, an array of towering constructs stood in neat formation.

Armored figures forged of enchanted steel and embedded with glowing cores. Some of them resembled Elves only in shape.

Their faces were featureless plates of metal and glass. The faint blue lines carved into their armor pulsed like veins, running from chest to limbs, feeding on the Magic stored within their cores.

Saeldir extended his hand and a glowing crystal at the center of the chamber responded. The runic circle on the floor came alive, spinning slowly as thousands of symbols flared one after another.

The whole room thrummed like a great heart beginning to beat.

"Stabilize sequence," he commanded. His voice echoed across the vast space, followed by a chorus of mechanical whirs.

The constructs’ eyes ignited with white fire one by one, lighting up the darkness.

A young apprentice who already knew his job when Saeldir arrived approached him, carrying a crystal tablet etched with shimmering lines.

"Archmage, the energy output is rising fast. The cores are synchronized at eighty percent capacity."

"Good. Maintain that flow," Saeldir replied. He walked between the constructs, studying their movements as the machines began to flex their limbs, adjusting to life once more. "These sentinels will hold the front lines without us needing to sacrifice our warriors."

The apprentice hesitated. "Do you believe it’s truly the power the Dragonborn spoke of?"

Saeldir’s eyes flicked toward the glowing circle beneath his feet.

"Yes. Erend never exaggerated about such things. Whatever stirs beneath the leylines has waited centuries and now they want to rise again. I have been looking at them all this time but they just woke up just now."

The apprentice swallowed at his word and returned to his post.

Saeldir lifted his hand and runes cascaded outward from it, latching onto the constructs. Their eyes flared brighter and the entire chamber rumbled as power surged through the floor.

"Awaken!"

The command thundered through the hall. Each construct let out a low metallic hum that grew into a unified resonance.

The blades on their hands extended, their armor plates shifting into battle ready.

Saeldir stood before them, his cloak rippling in the growing wind of Magic.

"You were forged to defend this world when the shadows return. The time has come," he spoke to them as if really speaking to warriors. But he was not just speaking, his words carried order that triggered something planted in their core.

Outside, the moon hung pale and silent over the palace.

Saeldir then turned back to the other creations other than normal warrior type constructs.

He crossed the chamber toward the inner forges where the air now suddenly shimmered with heat and Magic. The floor vibrated beneath his boots as hammers struck enchanted metal and runes blazed across anvil platforms.

Sparks of white and violet light scattered in bursts then dissolving before they touched the ground.

The deeper he went, the louder the hum of machinery and spellwork became. It was a symphony of Elven craftsmanship and Magical precision working in perfect rhythm.

Rows of apprentices and smiths moved around large constructs that differed from the sentinels he had just awakened.

These were sleeker and lighter in design. Some of them floated slightly above the ground, sustained by levitation arrays inscribed along their frames.

Their bodies gleamed with polished mithril metal fused with black steel etched with runes, and instead of heavy plating, they had slender fins that shifted and reshaped themselves as Magic flowed through their joints.

One of the apprentices saw Saeldir and immediately straightened, bowing in respect before returning to his task.

A shimmering half-formed construct hovered before him. Its head was still open, revealing a core that was waiting to synchronize with the power core. Saeldir stopped beside him.

"How far have you progressed on the Scout models?" he asked, his voice calm but focused.

"Seventy percent integration, Archmage," the apprentice answered quickly. "Their cloaking matrix functions properly within short ranges, but it still flickers during high-speed movement. We are reinforcing it to make it better now."

Saeldir nodded. "Add more rune in the chest piece that diverts excess energy toward the flow sigils. It should keep the field steady when they cross a corrupted zone. Be careful with it."

The apprentice immediately took note, his hands trembling slightly as he channeled light into his tools.

Further inside, another group of smiths worked on a different project entirely, a set of heavy quadrupedal constructs designed to carry Magic cannons and supplies across rough terrain.

Their bodies resembled metal beasts, massive and low to the ground, their legs supported by dense sigil joints that allowed fluid motion.

A few of them already stood active.

Saeldir watched as one of the mechanical beasts moved with its heavy steps.

"Good," he said. "Make sure their cores are shielded from the attack. If the corrupted energies spread through the north, I don’t want them collapsing halfway through a mission."

A senior smiths saluted. "Understood, Archmage. We will triple the plating density before activation."

Saeldir moved on, passing a smaller section where slender constructs lay suspended inside transparent containment spheres.

Their armor was etched with intricate invisibility runes, designed for recon.

The apprentices maintaining them whispered activation chants when they saw Saeldir pass and each time, the constructs’ forms faded into nothing before flickering back into view.

"Excellent," Saeldir murmured, folding his hands behind his back.

None of the Elves spoke, but their faces showed determination.

Sweat and light mixed on their skin as they continued their craft.

The chamber pulsed with forging of ancient knowledge and new materials.

"Work faster," Saeldir said.

"Yes, Archmage!" The chorus of answers came at him from every direction.

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