Chapter 3457 Elemental Storage (Part 2) "This is the third of the four new floors." Solus did her best to shrug off her irritation and smile like nothing had happened. "I present you the Elemental Storage." It was a circular room that painfully reminded her of the Bleed. The room was divided into seven sections, each one filled with giant class cylinders topped with what looked like large mana crystals. One tank per section was partially filled with a dense, colored liquid, and more dripped from the crystal lid with a rhythmic drip. The tanks of the seventh section, however, were all empty and there was what looked like a stone throne amid them. "From the name and the colored liquids inside the tanks, it's safe to assume this place is used to store pure elemental energies." Tista pointed at the various sections of the room. One cylinder contained a bright yellow liquid, another a bright orange liquid, and so on. "Correct." Solus nodded. "There is no Spirit Element stored yet because the tower isn't alive. Or rather, yes, it is due to the bond with me, but draining my life force would go against its fundamental protocols." "And draining me is fine, instead?" Lith was flabbergasted. "What kind of madness is this, Ripha?" "This is no madness at all, Lith." Menadion shook her head. "I know how this may look at first glance but please remember I used this floor myself. Do you think I would hurt myself?" She was aware of the resemblance between the Elemental Storage and the Bleed because they were based on the same principles. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Menadion had used the design of an already existing and working project, twisting it to employ Forbidden Magic. "Also, what Solus said is incorrect. The extraction point doesn't drain life force, only Spirit Magic. On top of that, you are empowered by the tower during the entire process. I can assure you that the only risk you take is extreme boredom. "I recommend bringing a book or working on a project to pass the time." "Mom is right, Lith." Solus bowed apologetically. "I mentioned my life force because Spirit Magic is based on it and with my condition, I'm already much weaker than you. I don't recover as fast as you and my breathing technique still relies on you." "Don't worry, I understand." Lith nodded. "Is it safe? Can I take a test ride?" "Of course" She replied. "You have my word." Lith sat on the stone throne, feeling under his fingers countless carvings so minute he had mistaken them as mere imperfections in the workmanship. Then, he felt a tug at his mana core. An emerald energy flowed out of his every pore and was channeled through the canals in the throne without wasting a single iota. The throne turned out to be covered in runes of power that became visible after being filled with Spirit Magic. It took over a second to condense a single drop of Spirit Magic that reached the bottom of the first tank with a plink. "Are you alright, Lith?" Kamila knew of the Bleed and was worried about Lith's broken life force. "I'm fine." He replied. "I just feel like I'm casting a stream of tier one Spirit Magic spells." "That's more or less what you are doing." Solus explained. "I've set the extraction point to absorb the least amount of Spirit. Magic it can condense. This way there is no burden on your life force and the procedure is slow but safe. "It's no different from a blood transfusion, just with mana." "What about the rest?" Leria asked. "Where do the other elements come from?" "From Mogar, Leria" Solus replied. "Watch." A wave of her hand conjured the hologram of the bottom of the tower, where a drill pierced deep into the ground until Mogar's mantle. It absorbed both the fire and earth elements that filled their respective tanks. A lightning rod made of mana crystals on the top of the tower absorbed the air element while the humidity in the air was slowly condensed into water element. "The sun provides plenty of light element during the day while at night we get much more darkness element." Solus pointed at the silver and black tanks. The former had a quick and steady drip, like a faucet with a bad leak. The latter instead produced a black drop every ten seconds or so. "We could get much more air element if we were amid a storm or in the open." Solus sighed while looking and the little yellow liquid accumulated. It was the third slowest to accumulate after water and darkness. "Okay but what's the purpose of this?" Tista had a good understanding of magic but still couldn't figure out the Elemental Storage's function. "A brilliant one." Salaark replied and Leegaain and Tyris nodded. "As you know, during a Forgemastering process, you need to conjure the spells necessary to form the enchantments and then force them into their vessels with your mana." "So?" Tista asked. "So you only have so much energy and can use Invigoration only so many times before it becomes useless." Leegaain continued. "The Elemental Storage accumulates everything you need to cast your spells, even Spirit Magic." He pointed at Lith. "This way, when you need to craft something powerful, you can tap into the Elemental Storage and save your mana for the vessel-infusion phase." "That or fix any last-minute problem you hadn't foreseen." Menadion said. "I wasn't a Guardian and my strength wasn't infinite. Also, I didn't have a bonded companion like Solus to whom I could entrust my most precious secrets. "Together with the Menadion Set, the Elemental Storage allowed me to craft incredibly powerful artifacts without anyone's help. Just by waiting and collecting enough elemental energies, I could perform alone spells that would take ten or more Awakened." "I see." Lith nodded. "But what do you mean, unforeseen complications? What about the Workshop? Didn't you test your prototypes before the actual crafting like I do?" "I did, but you are forgetting something" Menadion replied. "Between prototypes and the final product, there are countless tries. I couldn't waste the Elemental Storage and wait for it to refill after every experiment. "So I tested my spells on scaled-down prototypes I could enchant without tapping into the Storage or with minimal consumption and used the elemental reserves only for the real deal." "Point taken." Lith said. "Unlike you, we have friends we can trust with our secrets and ask for their help, but that makes the Storage even more useful. Once Friya and the others reach the bright violet, by combining the copies of the Fury and this floor, there will be no limit to our creations." "Yeah! Menadion sighed. "I would nag at you for sharing so much with so many people, but since everything worked out fine for you, it would sound like sour grapes. I split my Set between my apprentices and kept many floors secret even to my closest friends but I ended up trusting the wrong people anyway." "Don't beat yourself up, Mom." Solus stopped Menadion before she could blame herself for Elphyn's death, Kolga, and all the horrors born from her legacy.