Harumlir kept Alix waiting several days before he finally left the library and presented him with his masterpiece. Alix checked up on him once, only to find him deep in conversation with Astrid and the pair of them shooed him away. Harumlir had some final research to do, the final piece of the puzzle that he managed to find a previous Darknight had stumbled upon and written about. Astrid helped him in his research, understanding what he was trying to achieve. She told Alix that it was for his own good to leave them alone until they were ready.

Until that time came, Alix spent his time finally testing out the Inventor skill. There were probably countless better things he should have tried to build first, but an amp was what he wanted the most. He wondered if he could use the skill to invent something to cure whatever was wrong with Babyl, and thus put an end to the Terminus Ritual, but that would require him to know what had gone wrong in the first place. Although, if it’s own mana could cure it, he felt like the method would have been discovered a long time ago. Surely hundreds of others before him, both Darknight and Solknight, had tried to find out that very thing, and obviously failed.

“So how does this work?” Alix asked the ring. He had chosen an empty room to practise in without any distractions. If he didn’t cause any damage to the room, the last dark elf would be moving into it once he was done.

“Select the skill, and then think of the object you wish to create, and everything you know about it. Picture it down to the finest detail,” the ring replied.

“Well I don’t know the finest details. I know basically how it works, but the only experience I have with electronics are a few pedal boards. I could probably do a repair if it broke down, but I don’t know how to blindly build one from scratch.”

“Just try it and see what happens.”

Alix selected the skill in his menu and then new text he had never seen before appeared.

* You are about to use a Grand Skill. Are you sure you want to continue?

Alix wasn’t sure what a Grand Skill was, but he tapped Yes anyway and then a faint while spell circle appeared on the floor in front of him. He thought of an amplifier, the one he had played on for years; a Laney AOR 50 head and cabinet. He knew every sound it could produce, every dial on its face.

From within the spell circle, a shape began to coalesce, and his mana instantly dropped to near zero. He suddenly wished he had thought to try out the spell near the roots of Babyl, where his mana was constantly replenished. As his mana showed no sign of stopping, he pulled out a mana potion and downed it. His mana continued to fall again as soon as it was full but slower than before. The shape in front of him finally took solid shape.

The amplifier looked perfect. He checked his inventory and saw that a lot of random ingredients and materials had been consumed, along with the enormous amount of mana. Even still, his mana was slowly depleting, as if Evory was lurking over his shoulder, but she wasn’t in the vicinity of the castle. She spent most of her time at her mysterious new job. He still wanted to know what it was, but no one knew, only that she flew far beyond the forest.

“That seemed to work alright?” Alix said, examining the amplifier for any fault. It looked ready for him to summon his guitar and plug it in. Then he realised he had forgotten to craft a lead, and that the plug running out of the head had nowhere to go.

“Since you don’t know how it works, it is empty inside, and it requires mana to create the effect you imagine it to have. As you can see, your mana is still depleting. With Inventor, you can create anything you can imagine, but if you don’t have the materials needed to craft it, a greater amount of mana is needed to make up the shortfall. It always uses the same amount of mana to initially cast, which is high, but depending on how complex the item is and how much mana is being used to replace the missing components, it will drain your mana faster. This creation needs a constant supply of mana, and once the flow stops, the item will disintegrate.”

“I’ll have to ask Astrid if there is a book on electronics or something in the library then. I think some of the previous Darknight’s came from a future version of my own world. I’m sure this sort of technology was simple to them.”

“Perhaps. Until then, this skill has limitations. You have to decide if it is worth spending so many resources on for such a short term reward.”

“I’m sure it will come in handy,” Alix replied, beginning to think on how he could build a source of electricity to power the amp. Solar panels were beyond him, but wind power might be an option. If he couldn’t figure out how to build a turbine, then he would just have to find a way to increase his mana capacity. If he got desperate enough, he could just craft a mountain of Mana Potions. “It looks like it worked anyway.”

Alix began to think of other things that he might know exactly how they worked, anything else that might help him in Babyl. Suddenly he had a thought. If he couldn’t create electricity, would it be possible for him to create a mana fuelled battery to power his creations? Surely if it was something he designed himself, something that could work without having to learn any electronics or engineering, it wouldn’t need to draw on his mana. He couldn’t afford to have all his creations draining his mana all the time, but there was plenty of it out there for the taking.

Alix was snapped out of his thoughts at the sight of the amp vanishing with a puff of sparks, his mana having been fully depleted already by the hungry spell. Before he could mourn the loss, Astrid called to him.

Harumlir wishes to speak with you. He has finished his writing, she said through the ring.

Before heading off to the library to see what Harumlir had devised for him, he pulled a Mana Potion from his inventory and wolfed it down. The loss of mana always made him feel sluggish until he was able to replenish it.

Harumlir passed him the notebook when he arrived, as if he was eager for Alix to read it.

“This is what I spent my years working on,” Harumlir said as he handed over the book. “I thought it might help me destroy the ring, but I see now that I was a fool. I thought I was doing my best to harness its powers, and I like to think that I learned more than most, but I became too obsessed with my niche. I don’t doubt that my design is an incredible tool, but it cannot defeat the Solknight or the ring alone. Still, it should be able to help you.”

Alix spent a few moment reading the pages Harumlir had written. Half a dozen pages were carefully filled with concepts, diagrams and spells. Half a dozen others were filled with more of his autobiography, a repeat of what he had already read. It sounded more like Harumlir remembering who he was than anything new. Alix felt more than ever that he had to avoid such a fate. He had to learn everything the ring had to offer and find a way to survive the Terminus Ritual. He would have to find if there was any record of what happened to the Solknights that survived. There had to be such a record somewhere if they didn’t return to their own worlds. So far, everything he had learned told him that leaving Babyl was impossible.

“This sounds pretty clever,” Alix said once he had finished reading the pages. A notification appeared telling him that he had unlocked how to craft Harumlir’s hammer, but he kept quiet for now.

Harumlir’s grand design was another hammer, as Alix had expected, but it was specifically crafted to hold a finely honed spell, one which carried multiple purposes. The hammer was able to instantly repair anything it struck, or craft anything with a simple swing. It was a combination of his metalworking, woodworking, and inventor skills working together to create something that could quick time the crafting of something in place.

“I am just glad that I managed to finally write about it. I wish I could have held it, but I would be unable to use its powers without the ring, unless further spells were added, ” Harumlir replied, then he headed out. Alix watched on his map as the skeleton headed down to the forge.

Alix crafted the hammer then, having to fortify himself with more mana than the forgehammers had taken to do so. He had absorbed more iron and materials over the past few days, in anticipation of Harumlir’s creation, as well as another project he had lined up.

* Crafted Quickhammer.

Alix had expected it to have a cooler name, but it had the one

Harumlir had given it, which was good enough for him. “I better give this a try,” he said, heading outside to test it.

The gap in the wall where the gate had once been stood empty. The rusted bars had been taken away to be smelted down in the forge, but the stone had been repaired by the gargoyles.

Alix imagined the blueprint, a fortified gate the castle had once had in times long past. Then he lifted the Quickhammer and struck it down against the stone. Mid-swing a spell circle appeared around the hammers head. When it hit the stone, the spell circle spread to fill the empty gap, becoming brighter until Alix couldn’t look at it straight on.

Once his sight returned to him, a brand new gate filled the space. At the front was a pair of strong iron bound oak doors, behind which was a portcullis, and then another pair of gates, but this last inner pair were constructed from thick strips of iron and heavy rivets.

At the sight of the new defences, Alix felt a weight lift from his shoulders. The wall at least was now fully restored. There would be no more unwanted intruders. With the gate complete, as well as the forgehammers, he could get back to clearing the trees around the perimeter. The skeletons would be in need of more wood soon, as they had to use what they had unexpectedly to fix up the rooms for the dark elves.

Alix decided to start clearing more trees as he thought of how he could create a mana battery. The inner gate was bolted shut with bars that fed deep into the wall, but he found they were too heavy for him to lift by himself. Even if he could manage them alone, he suddenly realised that he couldn’t open the portcullis by himself either. It was attached to a chain and pulley system that sat on top of the wall.

Ajugor, could you come to the front gate for a moment, Alix called to the gargoyle, thinking he had to be the strongest person in the castle.

Ajugor didn’t reply but he arrived out of the sky a few moments later. “What do you need master?”

“I’ve managed to craft this gate, but I am unable to open it myself. Could you give me a hand with the bolts and the portcullis?” Alix asked. He would have to work on building up his strength so that he could handle it himself.

Alix had half hoped the gargoyle would congratulate him on the work, as it had been a bit anticlimactic without an audience, but he just turned to the bolts and got to work. Then he jumped up to the wheel above and raised the portcullis. Once it was out of the way, Alix was met with the final gate, which was secured with several oak planks along its length. He managed to lift those out of their holds himself, but Ajugor had to drag them out of the way for him.

“I’ll have to get some of the skeletons or the dark elves to man the walls and the gate from now on,” Alix said once the way was clear.

“I will set a pair of gargoyles to the job. It is our duty to be sentries after all,” Ajugor replied.

“Thanks, that would be great. I never actually thought of how I would open the gate while I was crafting it. It would be easier to pull out a ladder and climb over. I’ll probably do that when I’m done, so you can just close the gate behind me.” Alix set off into the woods as Ajugor pulled shut the wooden gates and resecured the locks, followed by the portcullis and the iron gate.

Alix had already cleared a good bit of the woods, but it amounted to less than half of what he needed to fell. He hoped to make it to at least half way today. It wasn’t crucial, with the gargoyles and hounds watching over the place now, but they needed the materials he would harvest.

“Is there any way to create a mana battery?” Alix asked the ring as he got to work, sharing his idea.

“It might be possible, but I would advise against creating too many, or any too powerful,” the ring replied.

“Why is that?”

“The mana in Babyl is already in decline, hence the need for the Terminus Ritual. A self-sustaining spell will constantly drain it.”

“I’m not going to do anything that crazy. I just want something to power my amp.”

“That already cost a lot of mana. Your mana potions are running low. The mana is not as plentiful as you might think.”

Alix still believed that there was enough mana out there for his one amp. It was used throughout Babyl on a daily basis. Evory herself had to absorb a constant supply. He had already seen what happened to her when she ran out.

The ring was right about one thing. His mana potions were getting low. Compared to health potions, he had only managed to craft a fraction, the ingredients harder to come by.

“I’d still like to give it a try. If I can design it myself, like Harumlir did with the Forgehammers, I won’t have to waste time learning electronics and engineering. I imagine such specific subjects aren’t written about in the library anyway. It’s not the kind of thing I would waste my time writing about if I knew I only had a few years.”

“There is a book in the library that should be able to help you. The self-sustaining spell has been thought of before, but none thought you use it like you have. Look for the book Spellgenesis.”

Alix spent the next few hours thinking on the blueprint for a battery that could convert mana into electricity. He lost track of time as he worked and thought on the amp, only realising how much time had passed when the sun began to set. From a quick look at his map, he saw that he was over half way around the wall now. Instead of walking all the way back, he pulled the ladder from his inventory and used that to climb over into the grounds, and then made his way to the library to look for the book the ring had mentioned.

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

“I take it the hammer was a success?” Astrid asked him when he entered the vast chamber. She never seemed to rest, content watching over the books and reading the additions since she had been gone.

“Yes, it worked perfectly. It has already come in very handy. I’m looking for another book now. Do you know where Spellgenesis is?” Alix asked, hoping to save some time.

“I remember reading about it, but other than saying it should be in the Mana section, I’m not sure exactly where it is.”

Alix headed to the card cabinets, looked for Mana and searched the cards alphabetically by title. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found the card for Spellgenesis, and another when he found the book on the corresponding shelf. It was a fairly thick volume, one that wouldn’t be a quick read.

Alix took a seat with the book in one of the comfortable chairs that were scattered around the library, and flicked through the dense book from the light of the now restored lighting system. At a glance, it didn’t look like it was going to be an easy read. Some pages looked like advanced physics textbook instead of a spellbook.

The book opened with one word, which Alix assumed to be the name of the author.

Zalim.

As he began to read, he realised it wasn’t a spellbook at all, but more of a discourse on mana in Babyl. Zalim had spent his time trying to understand magic at its deepest, basest level.

How am I supposed to begin writing what no one will believe? These words will be perceived as heresy but why should I care? If they are ever read, it will be long after I am gone. Still, the injustice I feel knows no bounds and the only audience I have that will listen are these empty pages.

Let me begin by saying that everything told about magic in these lands is only the most basic of basics. The peasant tricks that encompass Practical Magic and its ilk are instruction fit for a child, and yet the so called Magician’s Guild sell these meagre pamphlets at bloated prices, and have the audacity to claim that they are the fundamental teachings of their order.

I have read the books myself and found countless errors among their pages. For all intents and purposes, they are a scam, designed to keep the attention of the masses away from what the guilds are really doing.

For all intents and purposes, the guilds claim that basic magic, involving flailing movements and spoken invocations, is the only form of magic. Let me be clear that this is as far from the truth as it is possible to be. Such spells can be cast by anyone with the talent for magic, which I have figured out in Babyl amounts to one in fifty. Across the entire population, that isn’t an insignificant figure. If they were to all assemble and learn the extent of their powers, they would be an unstoppable force, but of course, there isn’t enough mana to go around. That is the only one good decision that the guild have made. By restricting the knowledge, they are making sure that the mana isn’t used up. Unfortunately that is only an unintentional side effect of their true reason for doing so. There are higher forms of magic, rarer magic, that uses more mana, and that is what they are hiding, although they are hiding it in plain sight.

As I said, one in fifty have the affinity for magic, but only one in fifty again of those have the talent for higher magic, and that is the true knowledge that the upper ranks of the Magician’s Guild deal in, while the lesser ranks eat up the scraps.

How do I know all this? By some curious coincidence, some twist of universal fate, I came from another world that also has a World Tree of its own. There, I was regarded as the greatest sorcerer that ever lived, but here, in Babyl, with such weak mana, I was locked out of all but a fraction of my powers.

When I first arrived here, I asked to join their ranks, but I was refused. Even as constrained as my powers are here, I should have been accepted into their ranks immediately. I could have taught them much, but due to the title given me by the Church, who I also suspect are in on the concealing of magical knowledge from the general population, I was shunned and rejected in the most forceful terms.

Even if I was not, I am certain they still would not have shared the knowledge with me easily. Unless you are already part of their inner circle, the cost to gain the knowledge is extremely high, and with the meagre coin I was provided with, entirely out of my reach.

It is of no matter though. I could have spent my years trying to buy my way into their ranks to learn what they know, but instead I spent them wisely, uncovering the knowledge that I will record in these pages.

Before that, I must say a word about spell circles, which I found to be an instantly fascinating area of study. When I first saw one, during the ceremony that named my one time companion and myself, I knew then that they were the secret behind magic in this world. I know that the Magician’s Guild and the Church know this as well, but when I came to notice the extent of the substandard level of magic in this world, I realised that they weren’t hiding grimoire upon grimoire of advanced magic. The truth was that they didn’t have anything to hide in the first place. What they were hiding were their attempts at creating new spells, the secret of which lay in understanding spell circles; how they are constructed and how each part interacts to form a whole, a task which they were wholly incapable of undertaking.

If the guild had shared their mission with a mathematician, or a linguist, if such professions exist in this world, they would have made much greater progress by now, but as it stands, they have made little. Most of them have been told their whole lives that they are special, and therefore feel like there is nothing further for them to learn, when in reality none of them could pass an Academy entrance exam back home. Most of them are incapable of analysing the spell circles and instead hoard the few advanced spells that were created by greater men, passed down to lesser men, over many centuries.

If they had shared their mission with me, they would already have all their answers. Instead, I will leave those answers here, out of their reach. If I accomplish nothing else in this world, I still leave it content in the knowledge that I did what they could not.

Alix continued to read, fascinated by what Zalim had discovered, well into the early hours of the next morning. Zalim had become fascinated by the question of where spells originated from. He studied magic circles and found connections between them, common patterns and links. He began his studies by drawing copies of the spell circles of all the spells he knew and identified the similarities that grouped spells together. If a spell involve fire for example, it had to contain a certain spell glyph, as Zalim termed the individual building blocks of the spell circles. They were a language he was determined to decipher, and he seemed to make quick progress, or at least that’s how Zalim described it. In reality it took him a year to catalogue all the known spell circles, but he claimed that the work would have taken anyone else at least a decade.

Alix still didn’t understand how the book could help him, although it was very interesting stuff. He got the impression that Zalim hadn’t been a pleasant man, but he had been an undeniable genius. Spellgenesis was the culmination of all his research and experiments. It wasn’t something that he could read and understand in a day, so after finishing his notes on deciphering spell circles, he put the book down and retired for the night.

Alix returned to the library early the next morning with a large pot of coffee, eager to continue reading the book. He picked up where he had left off, where Zalim had been about to explain the different types of magic users in Babyl.

I have been able to place the magic users of Babyl into four distinct categories, although with difficulty as the strongest sorcerer in this land would barely be able to best an Apprentice of my own. The lowest I am calling Wanded, as they require a conduit as well as an incantation to cast their spells. Without some sort of wand, the incantations are ineffective. The second I am calling Artisans, as they are able to draw the spell circle on a surface and then speak an incantation to get it to activate without a conduit. The third I am calling the Silent, as they require neither a conduit in the form of a wand, or a vocal incantation. Their skills are enough that they can visualise the spell circle and incantation in their minds.

The fourth category is the rarest, as there are only ever two occupying it at a time; the Knights. The ring bestowed upon me in this world is the most powerful magical artifact I have ever heard of or come across in all my years. With it, someone that has never shown any magical talent before can instantly become more powerful than a Silent, with access to potentially countless unknown spells. With this book, any that come after can equal what took me a lifetime to achieve.

Now that I have mapped as much of the spell glyphs as I have been able to find, the question now becomes what can be done with them? With this knowledge, it is theoretically possible to combine the glyphs into infinite combinations, creating infinite new spells. The problem then becomes that the current spell circles correspond to current incantations, and there is no knowledge on creating new ones. If the Magician’s Guild had such knowledge, I am sure they would have made it known by now. Which leads me to believe that the glyphs have to correspond to a spoken language and the reason no new spells have been created is because it is a lost language, or the translation to the common tongue is being gatekept.

I think the reality is a combination of both. The Church of Babyl have their own archaic language that they use in their ceremonies, which they call the Word of Babyl. It is not a language that has been written down anywhere that I can find, and from what little I have heard spoken sounds like only a small handful of phrases are remembered, and even those may not be correct after all this time. I think this is the original language that the incantations were written in, or maybe the incantations came first and the language evolved out of it. Whatever the truth, for us Knights, it doesn’t matter.

On the next page there was a neatly drawn spell circle, which Alix recognised as containing the glyph for fire among six rings.

This spell circle is one of my own design. I didn’t have anything in mind while drawing it, I just found the Fire glyph a pleasing design. It grew almost organically, and after the last glyph was in place, a new spell appeared in my menu, along with the name.

The amount of rings and other shapes within the circle denote the number of different categories of glyphs within the spell, so for this spell, which is named Firestorm, there are six glyphs. The first is Fire, the second is Heat, the second is Wind, the fourth is Air, the fifth denotes duration, while the sixth was a foolish idea on my part. It is Amplification, which doubles effect of the spell so I have never tested this particular inferno. I don’t see it having any use other than devastation.

The rest of the book was filled with the many new spells Zalim had created through experimenting with the glyphs. Each one was accompanied by a passage explaining its effects and how the experiments went with each one he tried. Some he cautioned never to try, but he left knowledge of them there so they could be avoided. He also cautioned any reader of the dangerous of what could be achieved with the glyphs in the hands of the Knights. Alix thought a few times that some of the pages contained spells so dangerous the thought of them being used terrified him, but when he thought about tearing those out and disposing of them, he came across a note where Zalim had the same idea. He warned that the book was spelled with one spell he wouldn’t reveal, so that it could never be destroyed, or read by a hand that didn’t wield the ring of the Knights. He just apologised that there was nothing he could do to stop the Solknight from reading its pages.

Alix took notes of what he thought might be useful glyphs as he read and he finally began to form an idea when Kingstone was mentioned in the book. Zalim had come across the stone and recognised it as a material similar to one in his own world. He said that it would be good to use for conduits, although the people of Babyl had yet to discover that use yet as it needed to be properly faceted, becoming more powerful the more sides that were cut into it, but Alix didn’t have the time to learn that skill. It sounded like becoming a lapidary was something that required a lot of specialist equipment, things he couldn’t find on the mountain. In its raw form it was still capable of storing large amounts of mana.

That still created another problem for Alix. His mana was only enough to get the amp to appear for a few moments before he was drained. It would take hundreds of mana potions, constantly restoring and imbuing the Kingstone, to get it to last for a meaningful amount of time.

Alix’s original plan had been to try and create something that could somehow create electricity to power the amp, but with the mention of Kingstone a new idea began to form.

Ajugor, he called to the gargoyle as he continued to read and take notes in the library, scrunched up balls of discarded spell circle designs littering the floor around him.

Yes master? the reply came instantly.

Do any of the gargoyles have time to work on repairing the stairs down to the vault? I think I might have need to get down there again.

I am sure we can make time. I will set some of them to work on it immediately.

Thank you Ajugor. Let me know when the work is done.

His only chance at giving the Kingstone a meaningful charge, he hoped, was by placing it by the roots of Babyl. It was worth a shot before he wasted time and material on other ideas.

Instead of creating a battery to power the amp, his idea was to create a mana battery that would instead feed the spell used to create the amp, keeping it constantly fed with enough of a trickle that it will remain without draining his own mana, and without him having to learn any sort of electronics or engineering. The only thing he would have to worry about then would be replacing the charged Kingstone once their mana was fully drained by the spell on the amp.

It took him another few days to finish reading the book, and once he reached the last page he was met with a complex spell circle, one he hadn’t come across in the book yet. He had unlocked dozens of new spells, but this one was special. Zalim claimed that it was unfinished, but that what was there was most definitely correct, as he had an impeccable memory. He had only seen it for a moment though so he had been unable to memorise all of it.

It was the spell circle that had appeared beneath him when the Cardinal had finished chanting his invocation, the spell that had placed the ring upon his finger. He had spent his time trying to decipher and decode the glyphs, but they were incredibly complex and he had been unable to finish the task before his time in Babyl was up.

The book never said what became of Zalim, but Alix assumed that he had failed to triumph in the battle of the Terminus Ritual. A supreme sorcerer from another world losing didn’t exactly fill him with confidence in his own abilities. Alix knew that he wasn’t among the now named skeletons at least.

It took the gargoyles a few days to fix up the steps down to the vault. They could have finished the job sooner, but they spent the extra time clearing up the vault chamber as well. When Ajugor finally told him that the work was complete, Alix made his way down the spotless, strong steps, across the repaired chamber to the path that led to the roots of Babyl. Once there, he deposited all of the Kingstone that he held. He hadn’t found any other use for it so he saw no need to hold any back. This way, he wouldn’t have to wait to charge up any replacements when the battery was running low.

Finally the time came to execute his plan, a few days later once he felt like he had given the Kingstone ample time to absorb the potent mana released by the roots. He had a blueprint for a shell to hold the Kingstone and a spell circle drawn up that had unlocked a spell to imbue the whole thing with called Sustain.

He gathered all the materials, and found a secluded part of the grounds to experiment in. If the spell went wrong, he didn’t want anyone around getting hurt. Only Ajugor kept watch, ready to jump in and help if anything went wrong.

Alix was filled with nerves as he stood ready to cast the spell. He didn’t know what he would do if it didn’t work. He needed it to work, needed to be able to play his guitar again. An acoustic just wouldn’t feel right. It wasn’t suitable for the kind of music that he wanted to play.

After reading Spellgenesis he felt a lot more confident in his abilities, but he still took a deep steadying breath before he selected the Inventor Skill and thought on the blueprint he had designed.

The materials fled from his Inventory, and his mana quickly began to drain. A shape just as quickly began to appear out of the spell circles light.

In moments the Mana Battery was sitting before him, just as he had envisioned it, a cylinder with a row of plugs on the top beside an On switch, but this time the creation didn’t continue to drain his mana. He let out the breath he had been holding, quickly downed a mana potion, and then selected the Skill again and recreated his amp.

Alix felt a flush of excitement as he saw the amp reappear, this time making sure to craft all the leads he needed as well. Once all the gear was sitting before him, solid and stable, he plugged it all together and held his breath.

His mana stopped draining, but the amp remained solid. He almost screamed with excitement as he realised his plan had worked. He went to lift it to bring inside, he found it the mana battery heavier than he had expected. He took a few heavy steps, before realising he could absorb it into his inventory until he was inside.

Ajugor flew off once he realised there was no danger, and Alix eagerly headed inside to try out his new creation.

In an empty room, he took out his guitar, amp and battery and connected it all together. He didn’t have his pedalboard with him, but the head he had crafted would be good enough. He flicked the on switch, and the amp came to life with a comforting hum.

Just as he was about to strum the first note, Ajugor’s voice burst into his head.

Master, the hounds have sensed a presence on the mountain! Ajugor boomed.

Who is it? Alix asked.

It is an army!