Garnet had put Adam to work creating more Humanoid Vessels with the materials that Riley and Meliae were able to retrieve from the waters to the East. "Good work," said Garnet as she observed Adam.

"Thank you Master," said Adam as he gathered clay together. The red headed mage was a decent addition as he had the ability to manufacture one vessel a day with his current level of magic and reduce the workload of Garnet.

Level Up: Magicraft (Level 10) -> Advanced Magicraft (Level 1)

Level Up: Item Enhancement (Level 10) -> Advanced Enhancement (Level 1)

If the Revenants could get their hands on the other Dark Mages, Garnet's forces would receive a huge boost in power. With this, Garnet was able to direct her attention to other tasks.

The first was to upgrade the automata in the city so that they could improve the city and also act as defenders to the city. The second was to provide sufficient upgrades to her existing summons, but this proved to be the most difficult due to mana requirements. For now, she too had to focus on creating more Revenants. The last was to upgrade the Mana Core, which might be the secret to unlocking more hidden locations in the city.

Right now, Garnet was standing in front of the Mana Core. Her limited knowledge of magic as a whole made it difficult for her. Because of this, she had to rely on Zedd, the person with the most knowledge about magic in the world. Serena had tried to look through the library for any clues, but she had no luck. "Are you sure you're okay though?' Garnet asked.

"Yes," said Zedd as he kneeled down on the ground to take a better look at the Mana Core. "I fully recover my mana in about three days."

"You didn't look okay," said Garnet.

"He never looks okay," Riley added. "There are times if I wonder that he even sleeps."

"I sleep enough," Zedd replied as he continued to feel around on the ground. He marked some of them with colored chalk.

"What are you looking for?' Garnet asked.

"With a Mana Crystal this large directing mana to multiple locations, there has to be a path leading to the hidden rooms as well," Zedd explained. "The problem is finding the right one."

"How do you know which one is the right one?" Garnet asked. "They all look the same."

"You just have to follow each one to their destination," Zedd explained. "The red ones here are the ones that we know where they connect to. The white ones are the ones we don't know yet. What I'm looking for are the ones that are not activated or that we don't know where they connect to."

"Then those should lead us to the hidden rooms right?" said Riley.

"Yes," said Zedd. "The problem is finding where they start."

"Do you think they're not activated yet?" Garnet asked. "Is that a reason why you might not be able to find them?"

"What do you mean?" Zedd asked.

"When I first upgraded the Mana Core, it unlocked the sub-crystals to activate the automatons," said Garnet. "Is it possible the hidden rooms will remain hidden until the Core is upgraded?"

"It is possible," said Zedd. "If there's more mana flowing through it, it might make it easier to detect the hidden rooms as well."

"Then there's not much we can do about right now then," said Garnet.

"You're probably right," Zedd admitted. "But I'm going to keep trying."

"Alright," said Garnet. "Contact me if something happens."

"I will," said Zedd.

"I'm going to see if Serena's library has anything to improve my situation," said Riley. "Call me if you need me."

Garnet had to delegate work to more people now. That was the only way to efficiently rebuild the city. Nian was working with Garnet's spirits who now all had vessels in order to keep the city safe with the Revenants while the automata tried to rebuild what they could. Only sections of the outer wall had been completed, but it at least limited the entrance points into the city.

With work being delegated, Garnet could focus on improving the automata. She checked the upgrade requirements. All they had for now were passive abilities, nothing special like the Revenants.

Name: Mana Coating

Requirements: 5 Vials of Liquid Mana Crystal

Effect: All Resistance +50%

Name: Mana Amplifier

Requirement: Mana Crystal, Mana Core Level 5

Effect: All Stats +10%

Name: Mana Conduits

Requirements: Liquid Bio-Metal Zi

Effect: Damaged Automata Recover Twice as Fast, unlocks Evolutionary Tree

Garnet knew how to make the Mana Crystals, but the rest were things she had never encountered. Mana Core Level 5 was something that required way more mana than she reasonably had. That meant her only options were to pursue the Liquid Mana Crystal or the Liquid Bio-Metal Zi.

As much as Garnet wanted to upgrade her other summons, the automata were far greater in number, meaning that improvements on them would have a greater effect than improvements on her other summons. If the automata could become combat ready, Constantinople would have a powerful army at its disposal.

"Hey Zed?" Garnet asked.

"What is it?" said Zedd.

"How do you make Liquid Mana Crystal?" Garnet wondered.

"Just melt a Mana Crystal using heat," said Zedd. "It's easy if you make sure it doesn't burn."

"Really?" said Garnet surprised. "It's that easy?"

"It requires a very high temperature to melt it and eliminate any impurities, so it isn't that easy, but your spirit should be able do it," said Zedd.

New Recipe: Liquid Mana Crystal

Requirements: Mana Crystal, Fire Spirit, Earth Spirit (Optional)

Effect: Can be used to add defense to any item

"It still sounds too easy to be true," said Garnet.

"Well, most items are simply refined versions of lower tier items or lower tier items that have been enhanced with enough mana," Zedd explained. "As long as you have enough mana, even the worst items can be made into effective tools."

"What about Liquid Bio-Metal Zi?" Garnet asked.

Zedd thought about it for a moment. "I haven't heard of such a material," he said. "Have you tried to ask Serena?"

"Not yet," said Garnet. "You tend to know more about magicraft, so I came to ask you first."

"I know a lot, but I don't know everything," said Zedd.

"Thanks," said Garnet as she began to leave.

Garnet headed over to the library where Riley and Serena were spending most of their time. The library itself was huge and consisted of thousands of thick books, many of which even Serena did not know the contents of. Because of this, they began to search through the books, looking for a true resurrection spell and any type of summoning magic that could help them.

"Serena, do you know about Liquid Bio-Metal Zi?" Garnet asked.

"One minute," Serena responded. Serena went over to one of the other shelves and pulled out a book. She flipped it open to the page on Metal Zi. "Here."

Garnet took a look at it. Metal Zi was a synthethic metal of some kind mixed with several others.

New Recipe: Metal Zi

Requirements: Mercury, Hihi'irokane, Fire Spirit, Earth Spirit, Water Spirit, Wind Spirit

Effects: Durability +10000%

It was the recipe for Metal Zi, but not Bio-Metal Zi nor the liquid version of it. For now it was useless. "Is this it?" Garnet asked.

"Yes," said Serena.

"Any information about what that Hihi'irokane is?" Garnet asked.

"It's a rare red ore that can only be found where the sun shines directly on it for an extended period of time," Serena replied. "It's rarely been found in small amounts in the tallest mountains."

Even the database of Constantinople did not have everything. However, the fact that the Hero System had knowledge of the material means that it most likely exists out there. Garnet just needed to find it. For now, she could work on what she already had, Mana Crystals.

Garnet needed to try to make the Liquid Mana Crystals immediately. She headed to one of the empty rooms. There were lots of them and even Zedd had made use of two of them already. She set up the cauldron needed for Magicraft and began her work. "Recall!"

Garnet recalled Meliae and Nuria. Fire and earth was needed to make the base Mana Crystal. Nuria would then be needed to melt it. "Hey, we were working out there you know?" said Nuria.

"I have something more important I need the two of you for," said Garnet. "More important than defending the city."

"What can be that important?" Meliae asked.

"Ensuring the city can protect itself," said Garnet. "Now stop complaining and to work."

Creating the Mana Crystal was fairly easy since it only required basic materials. Item Enhancement could then be used to improve the purity or effectiveness of an item as needed. Then, refinement through a second magicraft process made the item even better. This was the principle behind it. "So, five Mana Crystals, then melt them," said Garnet.

Garnet watched as Nuria and Meliae went to work. The crystals were made with ease. Afterwards, Meliae covered the entire pot with clay as Nuria heated it. Garnet could feel the intense heat needed to melt crystals, especially ones that were meant to absorb and contain magical power. It was not something that could be done by an ordinary person unless they had incredible fire magic.

As the heat dissipated, the clay came off. Even the inside of the clay was glazed like glass. As Garnet looked in the pot, there was a clear blue liquid. She quickly opened her Minion Development Menu and activated the Mana Coating upgrade. The Liquid Mana Crystal in the pot disappeared into dust. "Did it work?" Garnet thought.

The Minion Development Menu showed that the upgrade was completed, but it would be too hard to tell without getting a closer look at one of the automata. "Alright, you're done here for now," said Garnet. "Get back out there."

Nuria and Meliae left. With their new bodies, they were capable of unlimited flight and could train their abilities too. Right now, nearly every single one of Garnet's summons were being utilized to help patrol the large ruins to try to keep people out. Even Romulus and Sylvia had to be utilized. Even then, they were unsuccessful as people found different ways to infiltrate the ruins.

This presented an opportunity though. If Garnet could get her hands on those people, her Revenants could acquire their individual abilities and put them to use to help protect the city. These people were also very elusive, using complex means to communicate with each other and avoiding the summoned creatures was very easy. It was almost as if they already knew what they were going have problems with at Constantinople before they even arrived. At a rate of one Revenants being produced a day, it would probably take months before they had a group sufficient to defend the city.

What happened next was something that Garnet could not have possibly predicted. Nian came running into the Ark. "Where's Garnet?" it shouted.

"She's in the library with Serena and Riley," said Zedd who was still studying the Mana Core.

Nian quickly rushed over to the library. "Hero, there's trouble!"

Garnet turned to Nian. "What happened?" she asked.

"A strange carriage of red and gold with a black dodecagon seal arrived just outside the Western Walls," said Nian.

Quest Update: Dark Mages (I)

Four Dark Mage Council members and an unknown number of their group are using the area around Constantinople in order to search for two Dark Mages they believe are going against their objective. See to it that these Dark Mages are stopped before they draw too much attention to the Constantinople.

Reward: Experience

Garnet immediately headed over to the Western Walls. A fraction of the Western Walls had been rebuilt by the automata, but their progress was slow as people always found a way to destroy them again. Until the walls were more durable, this would continue to be a problem. Garnet slowly approached the carriage. "Be careful," Riley warned.

The door of the carriage opened and a familiar face stepped out. "They're here Master," said Leilah. She was the Succubus like creature under Crossen's control.

"That means your Master is here too," said Garnet.

"Of course," Leilah responded.

Leilah held the door open as a robed man emerged from the carriage. "It's been a while," said Crossen.

Garnet took a quick look at Crossen. He was about as strong as before. A small scar was visible on his forehead, most likely as a result of his last battle with Garnet. There was not much improvement in terms of his stats, but Crossen gave off a completely different atmosphere. "A few weeks by my estimate," said Garnet. "What are you doing here?"

Name: Crossen

Level: 35

Class: Dark Mage / Wizard

Sub-Class: Summoner

Stats: High Intelligence

"Quite a place you've tried to claim for yourself," said Crossen as he looked over Garnet's shoulder. "You ruined my plans, and I will now ruin yours."

"You haven't answered my question," said Garnet as she drew her sword. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been asked to invite you to join our guild of Dark Mages," said Crossen. "The Council wishes to speak with you."

"Council?" Garnet thought. There was someone who directed Crossen. "Sorry, but I have my own plans."

"How about you?" Crossen asked as he turned to Riley.

"I'm with her," said Riley.

"That's a shame," said Crossen. "If you refuse to join us, then that means we'll have to kill you."

"You could only run away the last time we met," Garnet countered. "You're not strong enough to defeat me."

"I don't have to be," said Crossen. "I already prepared for this! Recall!"

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

It was a trap. Crossen had prepared summons ahead of time and was going to call his own. Garnet was not going to wait. "Recall!" She countered by recalling her own summons.

Behind Garnet, her Spirits, Revenants, Romulus, and Sylvia were all gathered along with a few of the Cerberus. Nian and Serena were not because they gathered just on top of the walls where they could see the battle and provide support while being enhanced by the protective features of the city. Outside of the city, their power greatly diminished and Garnet did not want to lose that advantage.

Behind Crossen was his own group. A single Three Headed Cerberus, a Two Headed Ogre, a Giant Troll, about three dozen skeleton, and an armored undead knight of some kind. "I've gone for quality instead of quantity this time," said Crossen.

Name: Cerberus

Level: 80

Class: Demonic Beast

Sub-Class: Wild Beast

Stats: High Agility

Name: Ogre

Level: 72

Class: Demi-Human

Sub-Class: Warrior

Stats: High Strength

Name: Troll

Level: 73

Class: Demi-Human

Sub-Class: Slayer

Stats: High Strength

Name: Dullahan

Level: 78

Class: Undead

Sub-Class: Guardian

Stats: High Vitality

Name: Skeletal Guardian

Level: 70

Class: Undead

Sub-Class: Warrior

Stats: High Vitality

They were all creatures that were on par with the weakest of the Invasion, but much fewer in number. "You've brought better creatures this time," said Garnet.

"You already took out our normal undead," said Crossen. "This was the back up plan."

Crossen was most likely referring to the undead that he had used to try to take over a city. It was fairly easy for Garnet to take care of them. "Transformation: Temptress of the Night!"

Garnet and Riley both transformed. Crossen and Leilah were strong and they were both being supported by powerful summons now. Romulus immediately jumped to the front in order to serve as a front line. "I'll take care of the skeletons with Sylvia, the rest of you figure out how to take care of the rest," he said as he charged forward.

"Go quickly!" shouted Sylvia as she knocked several skeletons aside with her scythe.

Nuria and Mazu charged in. "Flame Strike!" Nuria drove her first the ground. CRASH. The ground immediately distorted as huge chunks of rock were sent flying upward, further dividing the enemy ranks.

Normal skeletons were usually slow and only a little tough to break down in most cases, so they were probably not going to be of much threat. The biggest danger was probably going to be the Cerberus thanks to its abilities. The other three creatures looked physically strong and most likely had special skills. "I'll take care of Crossen, Riley can take Leilah," Garnet ordered. "The rest of you clear out the other monsters then rejoin me."

An in instant, shards of ice rained down upon the enemies. KA-THUNK. A huge shard of ice embedded itself inside the body of the enormous ogre. It died instantly. "Fall back out of the range of the city!" Crossen ordered.

The skeletons did their best to reform their ranks and form a line between Garnet and Crossen. "Should we chase?" Riley asked.

"Yes," said Garnet. "They might lead us to where the others they were talking about are."

Crossen and Leilah quickly made their way back along the main road. "Be careful, there may be traps," said Riley.

"Can you check Meliae?" Garnet asked.

Meliae disappeared into the ground and into the distance. BANG. Another skeleton flew onto the path of the main road as it broke into pieces. "There are probably more summoned creatures in the road up ahead," said Nuria.

Garnet and her group slowly made their way forward. At this range, Serena would be unable to provide support. Garnet also did not want to draw everyone away from the city, which could also be part of their plan. A large portion of Garnet's summoned creatures remained in the city.

SHING. It was the sound of someone drawing their sword. Garnet turned in the direction and saw a young girl with shoulder length black hair in yellow and black clothes quickly approaching them with a sword in her right hand. Romulus turned to intercept.

CLANG. Their swords met and the sound of the clash rang throughout the forest. Romulus struggled to push back against the girl. "Viper Bite!" The girl's left arm turned into a snake as she aimed at Romulus's head.

"Watch out!" shouted Sylvia as grabbed the snake with her hand.

Garnet swung her sword at the girl. "Desquamation!" The girl instantly moved back, leaving a hollow stone statue in her place.

"Who are you?" Garnet asked.

Name: Xiaomei

Level: 63

Class: Azerathian Monk

Sub-Class: Guillotine Assassin

"I'm Xiaomei, the one tasked with taking care of your situation," said the girl. "Since you refused our invitation, you are our enemy."

Crossen was not working alone. He had the help of others. Xiaomei immediately began to run foward. "Lightning Bolt!" Garnet fired a bolt of lightning at her.

To Garnet's surprise, Xiaomei flipped into a side step and avoided the bolt of lightning. This person was incredibly fast and was able to dodge a bolt of lightning, something that had hit its target precisely every time before. Again, Romulus moved to intercept her.

"Heaven's Fall!" Xiaomei swung her sword with an underhand swing. CLANG. The sword slammed against Romulus's tough vessel body. It could not cut through his leg. "Double Sting!" She followed up immediately with a double kick to the back of the sword, but the sword barely moved, only pushing Romulus a step back. "It appears I'm not strong enough," she said.

Sylvia swung her scythe at Xiaomei. "Desquamation!" Again, Xiaomei's body turned to stone and the real her disappeared.

Xiaomei reappeared several steps away. She was a speed focused assassin. Against a normal person, her technique would have been an instant kill, but against the tough vessel bodies, she was at a disadvantage.

"Blood Bind!" Red ribbons appeared from the ground attempting to tie Xiaomei down.

Xiaomei manuevered her entire body, lowering it to the point where it was nearly touching the ground as zig zagged side to side, avoiding all of the red ribbons. Those maneuvers seemed liked they required a huge amount of arm and leg strength. She was insanely fast. She sacrificed physical power in exchange for extreme speed. "It seems like we're at a tie," she said.

"No," said Garnet. "I have the advantage in numbers! Go Cerberus!" she ordered.

Two of the Cerberus that were with the group immediately charged forward. "Venom Sting!" Xiaomei thrust her sword against the neck of one of the Cerberus.

SHING. Much to Xiaomei's surprise, her sword slid right off of the throat of the Cerberus, unable to pierce it's body. "Toxigenesis!" She followed up with a second attack. Her entire sword became coated with some type of green liquid.

HISS. The spot that Xiaomei had struckon the throat of the Cerberus began to glow green. There was some kind of acid that was trying to burn away at the Cerberus, but the tough skin of the Cerberus made it impossible. THUNK. The Cerberus tipped over, still breathing, but immobilized. "I understand now why Crossen had so much trouble with you," she said.

Xiaomei backed away and pulled out a book. "That's Crossen's book!" Riley shouted.

"Call: Wraith!" The book lit up with a magic circle and a large humanoid green creature with white hair appeared from it. A black cloak then draped on top of the creature, hiding its appearance and presence. The only part of it that was still visible was its sharp fingers and glowing white eyes through the hood. A white mist of some kind spewed from its body, obstructing their view.

SCREECH. The wraith released a distorted scream as it swung its arms, knocking the Cerberus aside. The rest of them waisted no time as they threw everything they had at the wraith. "Lightning Ray!" Fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning all crashed against the body of the wraith.

SCREECH. The wraith screamed in its distorted voice as it tried to push forward. However, the immense power of Garnet's spirits were able to push it back.

THUMP. The wraith fell onto the ground and collapsed. Garnet immediately look her sword and stabbed it in the chest. Xiaomei was nowhere to be seen. She had disappeared during the commotion, but Garnet learned one thing. Xiaomei and Crossen were both part of a larger grop of Dark Mages and these people were in the area looking for Garnet and Riley.

"Take that Cerberus back and have Zedd take a look at it," Garnet ordered. "I want to know what kind of poison that was."

Crossen had help this time. Garnet had no idea how many people she would be facing, but they were more organized and fairly strong.

Spoiler :

Name: Garnet

Level: 40

Class: Chaos Mage / Queen / Hero

Sub-class: Temptress of the Night

Stats:

HP: 3050/3050

MP: 10660/10660

Fame: 220

Strength: 97 (+5)

Dexterity: 62 (+7)

Intelligence: 306 (+22)

Vitality: 90 (+5)

Agility: 104 (+7)

Charisma: 42 (+20)

PROFICIENCY:Weapon:

- One Handed Sword – 7

- Hand to Hand – 4

- Staff - 1

Magic:

- Fire – 9

- Lightning – 14

- Wind – 6

- Water - 1

- Summoning – 12

- Blood – 6

- Shadow - 0

SKILLS:Weapon (One Handed Sword):

- Horizontal Slash (Level 3)

- Double Slash (Level 3)

- Crescent Slash (Level 1)

- Triple Slash (Level 1)

- Delta Attack (Level 1)

- Spiral (Level 1)

Weapon (Hand to Hand):

- Palm Strike (Level 1)

- Wind Palm (Level 2)

- Explosive Palm (Level 3)

- Lightning Palm (Level 1)

- Sweeping Kick (Level 1)

- Horizontal Kick (Level 1)

- Uppercut (Level 1)

- Ki Burst (Level 1)

- Demsey Roll (Level 1)

Weapon (Staff):

- Thrust (Level 2)

- Swinging Smash (Level 1)

- Double Strike (Level 1)

- Triple Strike (Level 1)

- Quadruple Strike (Level 1)

- Vertical Smash (Level 1)

Class (Dark Mage):

- Fire Bolt (Level 5)

- Fire Ball (Level 2)

- Lightning Bolt (Level 8)

- Chain Lightning (Level 4)

- Lightning Ray (Level 3)

- Light (Level 1)

- Air Bullet (Level 4)

- Wind Blade (Level 1)

- Aqua Strike (Level 1)

- Jet Stream (Level 2)

- Shadow Bind (Level 1)

- Shadow Grip (Level 1)

- Shadow Crush (Level 1)

- Shadow Wall (Level 1)

- Heat Wave (Level 1)

- Lightning Fire Bolt (Level 2)

- Crimson Lotus: Blade of Lightning (Level 2)

- Mana Armor (Level 2)

- Call: Cerberus (Level 1)

- Call: Revenant (Level 1)

- Call: Death Knight (Level 1)

- Call: Romulus, Knight of Blood (Level 1)

- Call: Sylvia, Priestess of Blood (Level 1)

- Call: Lilith (Level 1)

- Call: Nuria (Level 1)

- Call: Mazu (Level 1)

- Call: Sino (Level 1)

- Call: Meliae (Level 1)

- Call: Serena (Level 1)

- Call: Nian (Level 1)

- Recall

- Dismiss

- Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 4)

- Lightning Fire (Passive)

- Blood Absorption (Level 7)

- Blood Bind (Level 1)

- Blood Scythe (Level 2)

- Blood Sacrifice (Level 1)

- Blood Bullet (Level 1)

- Transformation: Blood Reaper (Level 1)

- Transformation: Elementalist (Level 1)

- Dance of Blood (Level 1)

- Teleportation (Level 1)

- Teleportation Summoning Circle (Level 1)

Sub-class (Temptress of the Night):

- Enhanced Body (Level 3)

- Captivation: (Level 3)

- Mind Read: (Level 1)

- Pleasure Inducement (Level 3)

- Sexy Walk (Level 1)

- Shadow Warp (Level 1)

- Sonic Scream (Level 1)

- Doppelganger (Level 1)

- Alluring Song (Level 1)

- Flight (Level 1)

- Aura of Fear (Level 2)

- Scale Armor (Level 2, Passive)

- Transformation (Level 1)

- Partial Transformation (Level 1)

- Transformation: Temptress of the Night (Level 1)

Tradeskills:

- Hunting (Level 5) - Hunter

- Cooking (Level 9) - Cook

- Inspection (Level 5)

- Sewing (Level 4) – Tailor

- Advanced Magicraft (Level 1) – Alchemist

- Advanced Enhancement (Level 1) - Alchemist

- Disassemble (Level 1)

- Inventory Expansion (Level 4)

Passives:

- Hand to Hand (Level 1)

- One Handed Sword (Level 1)

- Staff (Level 1)

- Reflex (Level 5)

- Haste (Level 2)

- Scale Armor (Level 1)

- Aura of Leadership (Level 1)

- Aura of the Hero (Level 1)

- Summoning Commander (Level 1)

- Queen's Presence (Level 1)

- Fire Mastery (Level 1)

Unique:

- Hero System (Level 3, Passive)

- Minion Development (Level 2, Passive)

- Otherworldly Knowledge (Passive)

- Golden Tongue (Passive)

- Mana Compatibility (Passive)

- Quick Learner (Passive)

- Channeling (Passive)

- Charging (Passive)

- Night Vision (Passive)

- Guardian Contract (Level 1)