>>6317421>Underneath the Royal Palace of MorfisNadia watched the cadaver closely as it lay still upon a large slab of stone. Only a few moments ago, it had been brimming with life. Quintessence harvested from her lord had filled its bones, and it was able to walk and move as though it were more than just a skeletal husk. With the snap of a finger though, Nadia was able to return the creature to an inert state. This was important for two reasons. Without Nadia’s connection allowing her to rein the construct in, the likelihood of it running rampant was all too real. Additionally, the Quintessence that powered its form was not infinite. The longer the creature remained active, the more life energy it burned. And without a readily available source in Tristain, the sorceress could not afford that to happen. After all, there were still more tests to run.
This was a new realm of magic that Nadia walked in. And while she was constantly learning from the construct, the dangers that she uncovered continuously worried her. Back in Ithaca, when Magic Seal #99 had been let loose, her connection to the construct had been severed, rendering her unable to control it. Like any good researcher, Nadia had her theories as to what would happen if such an event were left unchecked. With its dwindling Quintessence, the construct would likely target the living indiscriminately. It would attempt to feed upon them in an effort to fuel its own life source. And a construct with this much power going mad with hunger would undoubtedly be a worst case scenario.
The Sorceress sighs, even as she drops a tea bag into a cup of water, hastily boiled by her own magic. The Sages themselves had assigned her the responsibility of researching quintessence, and she’d been at it for ages with barely any sign of progress. And then suddenly, as soon as she’d run into Tristain, it was as if everything had been flipped upside down. She’d never seen Quintessence that burned as brightly as his. She’d have needed the 12 men at their absolute peak just to match him. At first she’d chalked it up to the power of his Crest. And it turned out, she’d been half right.
Nadia walks over to another slab, this one next to the first. Another inert skeleton lay here, identical to the one that carried Tristain’s own Quintessence. Only the base source for this construct was different. It was fortunate that Tristain had a confrontation with Klement von Bergliez. It would have been a waste to have left without taking some of his blood for the road.
Nadia brings the cup to her mouth, pleased by the warmth of her drink. It was cold down here. Unfit for life, ironically enough. But this was the only space the Prime Minister was willing to part with. The last thing either of them wanted was someone seeing what she was up to.
