puppet of wood and bronze with arms curled around its knees. Guardian Puppet. Requires a constant infusion of madra, but can be controlled directly in combat.
Aspect requirement: earth preferred.
Lindon didn’t remember seeing this one here before. Would he have taken it, if it had been? How would that have changed his first battles?
On his shoulder, Little Blue peeped curiously. He wondered if she remembered starting her life here.
Down the row, he spotted a shining Starlotus bud. The spirit-fruit that had started him to Copper. There were scripted boundary flags, various weapons, one construct he suspected was a drudge, even two Thousand-Mile Clouds.
Looking out over it all, Lindon found it hard to remember what he’d seen before.
“Some of these are the products of our craftsmen,” Grand Elder Emara explained. “Others we have commissioned or captured. They might not meet your standards, but these can become valuable to the development of our young Coppers and Irons. Elder Rahm can explain further.”
“I gave them a tour once,” Rahm said stiffly. “I won’t be repeating that mistake.”
With a smile plastered on her face, Emara sidled up to Rahm to whisper into his ear.
Eithan held up a hand. “I’m sorry to order you about in your own home, but why don’t you speak so we can all hear? We wouldn’t want any collusion against us, would we?”
They all could have heard the two elders whispering from next door, especially Eithan, so Lindon wondered why he would prevent the Jades from talking. If they thought they were speaking privately, they might reveal something valuable.
But the elders were only getting part of his attention. Most of Lindon’s focus went to the Lesser Treasure Hall.
Ziel strolled back down an aisle. When he reached Lindon, he spoke under his breath. “This is junk.”
That summarized Lindon’s thoughts rather succinctly.
The flying sword had been made from cheap iron. Its edges were brittle, its script clumsily carved. Just by etching the runes more precisely, they could have improved the efficiency by half. And the script was so long and poorly designed that it would interfere with any other scripts added to the weapon; if they had chosen their runes better, they could have added two, maybe three more modifications to the sword.
The Guardian Puppet would shatter like dry twigs in front of the first real attack. And it couldn’t function autonomously at all, so what good was it? If you were pouring your madra into something, you might as well just swing a hammer.
Even the Starlotus bud, toward which Lindon still felt some affection, now struck him as pathetic. Compared to a real spirit-fruit, it was like a drop of dew next to a glass of wine.
“At least there’s some halfsilver,” Lindon whispered back to Ziel, who dipped his head in concession.
Of everything in the hall, the only things worth Lindon’s attention were the weapons of halfsilver and goldsteel. And even then, only for their raw materials.
In an afternoon of work, Lindon could fill this hall with more powerful treasures. Using only local Remnants and scrap metal.
He shouldn’t have been disappointed, but he was.
If he got the chance, he still wanted to check out the Elder Treasure Hall, but he was much less eager to do so. He now suspected there was nothing of value in this entire school.
“…would like to hear more about this threat,” Emara was saying to Eithan. “If you have come here in the hopes of conquering territory, I can assure you, the Heaven’s Glory School is more than willing to negotiate.”
“Ah, but we are not the threat. How could we be? Look at our charming faces! No, the threat comes from the west.” Eithan tapped the ground with the point of his shoe. “Surely you’ve noticed.”
Emara and Rahm exchanged glances, and this time even Rahm looked worried. The earth trembled beneath them at that moment. It was almost gentle, but some of the objects rattled against their cases.
“We have spoken with the other schools about these signs,” the Grand Elder allowed. “Our final decision has been delayed due to a cowardly attack by our enemies.”
Rahm shifted to whisper into Emara’s ear, but he was stopped by a sharp smile from Eithan. The Jade woman continued without seeming to notice. “Please, allow us the time to consult with the other elders when they return.”
“And where are they?” Eithan asked.
“They have gone to punish our attackers. We needed every Jade we could spare to deal with their—”
“Wait!” Rahm shouted, but he was too late to stop her.