Ch#184
Aleric extended his hand as if asking to take a quick look.
Tie gladly handed over the three bear dolls to Aleric.
Aleric, who checked the dolls by emitting a faint amount of mana from his palm, opened his mouth in astonishment.
"These... aren't ordinary Orbs."
Tie's eyes widened round.
Tie had just learned that Orbs could be ordinary or not.
Aleric continued.
"So these are those? The items Berugon gifted to the Leader after sealing Crajar."
Tie looked up at Aleric in shock.
"H-how did you know?"
Aleric shrugged.
"Who doesn't know Berugon dedicated his masterpiece to the Leader? After the Crajar incident, he boasted about it everywhere himself."
Tie stared at the Orbs in Aleric's hand in shock.
'Grandpa Berugon spread rumors about the gift to Tie!'
If she'd known, she would've looked into the bear doll Orbs sooner.
But these Orbs were special?
Unable to contain her curiosity, Tie asked.
"But, why are Tie's Orbs special?"
Aleric stared at Tie in surprise.
"You didn't know? Haven't you checked the internal circuits all this time?"
Tie's eyes darted around.
Truthfully, it wasn't that she hadn't checked.
She just didn't know how to use them.
But as the greatest mage, the Necromancer King, she couldn't say that.
Tie coughed 'Ahem' and avoided Aleric's eyes as she answered.
"W-well, Tie was too busy and didn't have time......"
Aleric muttered in disbelief.
"Ignoring special Orbs out of laziness... So this is the wall they've only heard of."
In truth, special Orbs were items any mage in the world would covet.
But to the Necromancer King, even they were probably trivial.
'She has the power to overwhelm everyone without needing Orbs.'
Aleric withdrew the mana from the bear doll Orbs.
And explained to Tie with eyes full of awe.
"These are all attribute Orbs."
"Attribute Orbs...?"
"Yes. Beyond simple magical tools for storing mana and spells, they're a type of magic enhancer imbued with specific attributes."
Tie's eyes spun at the difficult explanation.
But Aleric, not noticing, continued.
"They're recent magical tools, so they're unfamiliar. I've heard only a few exist on other continents."
He picked up the brown bear among the three dolls.
"Among them, this one already has an attribute inputted. Judging by the mana flow in the circuits, it's a fire Orb."
"Fire!"
"If you're curious, try it."
Aleric handed the brown bear doll back to Tie.
Tie froze in place in shock.
'I don't know how to use it!'
Telling her it was a burning bear doll and to try it?!
But Tie soon steeled herself.
'I can do it! Tie can control mana well now too!'
Tie channeled her mana as she'd practiced.
And carefully infused it into the burning bear doll.
Then the doll's eyes turned red, and
"...Wow!"
Dozens of fireballs suddenly floated up around Tie.
"Kid! Wh-what is this?!"
People looked at Tie in surprise at the sudden fireballs.
But a bright smile spread across Tie's face.
"Tie's minions! They evolved into fireball minions!"
It was exactly as she said.
The summoned spirits wrapped in flames soared into the sky around her.
As the spirits circled Tie, hot winds began to blow fiercely.
"L-Leader! Dismiss them! Supplies are coming!"
At the member's shout, Tie hurriedly withdrew her mana.
The dozens of spirits floating in the air vanished quickly.
"Indeed."
Aleric muttered in a trembling voice.
"Amazing."
He now looked at Tie not with awe, but with reverence.
'How hard it is to tame an Orb.'
He'd heard even skilled mages needed at least two sleepless nights to resonate with an attribute Orb.
Yet she did it in seconds...
Aleric swallowed dryly and looked down suddenly.
Two Orbs remained in his hand.
"And... these two don't have attributes yet."
Tie looked at the Orbs with curious eyes.
"I don't know how the factory manager imbued the brown Orb with fire attribute. Normally, you need a mage with that attribute. Whether it's technological advancement... anyway."
He stared at Tie again.
"What do you plan to do with the remaining two Orbs? Leave them empty?"
Tie shut her mouth.
The child pondered deeply.
'Attribute Orbs...'
She hadn't known at first, but now she realized they were cheat items that could evolve her bone friends and minions.
'Yeah, can't just keep them in the bag forever.'
After thinking, Tie said.
"Then, can you imbue attributes into the Orbs right now?"
Embarrassment spread across Aleric's face.
"Right now?"
Tie nodded with sparkling eyes.
Aleric swallowed hard.
'Is this a test?'
She'd treated him casually so far, but Astie was still his superior.
And a mage like him.
'I expected she'd test my skills someday.'
But not so suddenly.
Aleric said tensely.
"If you're asking me to imbue my attribute... I can finish quickly."
Attribute Orbs were considered hard to handle for two main reasons.
First, the 'tuning' process to imbue an empty Orb with an attribute was extremely tricky.
Second, resonating with a tuned attribute Orb was difficult, as mentioned earlier.
But the Necromancer King had just shown she could resonate with an attribute Orb in seconds.
"I'm originally a water-attribute mage, but."
Aleric's eyes gleamed as he spoke calmly.
"I'll try tuning it with enhanced ice attribute."
He'd wandered continents sieging Mana Stones.
But he'd never met a mage stronger than him to the point of feeling a wall.
He was one of the continent's top mages to begin with.
So showing his skills to the Necromancer King, who far surpassed him, was the best opportunity.
'Moreover, the Leader, seen as the current strongest mage, will use the attribute Orb I tuned?'
It was the greatest honor for a mage.
"Yes!"
Tie answered brightly.
Skipping formalities like 'Are you sure?' or 'Don't overdo it.'
As if it was natural for Agavert's mage.
Aleric prepared to channel mana tensely.
Tie, watching, quickly took the pink panda bear doll from his hand and gave him the white bear.
"But you have to do the polar bear, right?"
Since putting ice power into a bear doll, the polar bear suited it best.
Aleric nodded with a stiff expression.
One second later.
The temperature around Aleric plummeted sharply, white frost forming on the ground.
The air distorted from the mana bursting out.
Tie, feeling cold, hurriedly pulled her robe tight and looked at Aleric.
Cold sweat dripped from Aleric's temple.
Tie's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Fighting!"
Tie clapped in encouragement.
Everyone around watched Aleric tuning the attribute Orb.
How much time passed.
"I-it's done."
Only after quite a while did Aleric withdraw his mana, panting.
Tie happily took the polar bear doll.
"Wow! Thank you!"
Then casually grinned and,
"Then for the pink one, Tie will do it!"
Imbued the last panda doll with dark attribute.
It happened the instant Aleric inhaled to say 'You're welcome.'
