As the archmage tells it the empire was founded by refugees. They fled from another empire that had been taken over by demons. At the mention of demons I glance at Drog.

"Drog, do you know of any other demons on this planet?"

Drog says "There are others here, they are far away but I can feel them."

"Can you tell anything about them?"

Drog says "I can sense a lot of them, probably hundreds, and seven I can feel clearly. They are demon lords."

"Demon lords huh, I take it they are immensely powerful?"

Drog says "Yes, they are the strongest aside from a demon king. But there hasn't been a demon king for a very long time."

"Why not?"

Drog says "Because becoming a demon king requires a lot of power and the other lords fight hard to make sure no one else becomes king."

"So, they are all too busy fighting each other to gain enough power to become a king."

Drog says "Exactly. I had hoped being over here all alone would give me the chance but that was before the archmage trapped me."

"What about now?"

Drog says "Now, after what you did to me, it is all about surviving until you die and I am freed from this contract."

"What if I were to become the demon king?"

Drog says "Hah, you are rank zero, it would be practically impossible. I will be surprised if you survive a year based on what I have seen so far."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

I ignore Drog and go back to reading the diary. The diary tells of the refugees traveling across the land bridge, and how they were pursued by a demon led army. The best mages of the refugees gave their lives to create a barrier across the entire land bridge to block pursuit.

Apparently after reading this he immediately left and spent the next week searching for this barrier. When he found it it had almost failed, so he spent the next month reinforcing it. Apparently Phillip had no interest in dealing with a demonic invasion of the empire.

He said he would ensure that future archmages continued to maintain the barrier. Since he was the last archmage and a thousand years have passed I wonder if the barrier is down now. From what Mericel told me of the politics I doubt the four kingdoms could even work together to repel an invasion.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Although I wonder how the beastmen would fare against demons, my battle with Drog would seem to indicate beastmen are on par at least physically. And the beastmen should outnumber the demons if Drog only senses hundreds, maybe an outside enemy is just what is needed to bring the nations together.

After King Raden is dead of course, I will make sure he dies no matter what it takes. To do that I need to get out of here first, my only regret is going to be leaving the forge behind. It is a masterpiece and already enchanted, if only there was a way to shrink it and take it with me.

Wait, I remember reading that the archmage made a shrink spell when he was young so he could play a prank on someone. I quickly scan the earlier pages until I find it, as I thought he explains how the shrink spell works. Maybe I can enchant the forge to shrink and take it with me.

'Magic Skills!'

Magic Skills: (3)

Channeling Level: 5

Enchanting Level: 4

Disenchanting Level: 5

I thought so, I may not have mana anymore but my skills for manipulating it are still here. If I disenchant the time spell and channel it straight into an enchantment for the forge I should be able to do it.

"Ruby, can I talk to you?"

Ruby comes out of the amulet in spirit form and circles me once. Then she takes human form and sits on the bench next to me.

Ruby says "What's up, master?"

I quickly explain my idea to her and how it should work. I explain how the shrink spell works according to the archmage's diary.

"I wanted to ask if you think it will work. I don't want to get hit and called stupid again."

Ruby says "You mean you are actually learning? Hitting you was the right thing to do! As to the enchantment it sounds like it would work but I don't have the skills to do it."

"You don't need to, I am going to do the enchanting."

Ruby says "But how? You can't use mana."

"True, I can't use or store mana anymore. But I still have the skills to manipulate mana."

Ruby says "Well, in that case, I think it is worth a try. The archmage put a lot of effort into the forge and tools, and from what you have told me about the world I doubt there is another forge to match it anywhere."

"That is what I am thinking as well. Okay, I am going to give it a try."

Ruby says "I will watch over you. If you need to use my mana or channel some into me go ahead."

"Thank you!"

With Ruby to act as a safety net I enter my meditation trance and go into the inner world. With my inner sight I take a look at the forge and the room. The first thing I notice is the floor the forge sits on is not a part of the cave, in fact it looks like it was set up to be moved.

It makes me wonder if maybe the archmage had the same idea of making it portable. If he set it up that way it will make what I am going to try a lot easier and more likely to work. Well, only one way to find out I guess.

I turn my attention to the cave walls, the time spell is massive and complex. There will be way more mana than I need for the shrink enchant. So I get started, I find the end of the spell and start to unravel it. Once I free a segment I move it to the forge and imagine the spell I want to make as I lay it in place.

As I am creating the new spell I make sure it includes the forge, anvil, and all the tools. It is slow going since I am moving the mana from one spell to another but it goes smoothly. I finish the forge enchant and then realize I have a problem, there is a lot of mana left in the time spell.