Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

"I really don't know what you are talking about, everything is perfectly fine and okay here" the headmaster stroked his beard, shrugged at the same time.

"Don't pretend old man, the enchantments and runes inscribed on the weapons here are completely different from the ones we received, that's not just a change of design, it's fundamentally different, even the treatment of the wood is not the same" the two brothers had been about to go talk to the headmaster about what they had experienced the night before, but had been unable to as the elder was already being put on blast by Rosemary, who had seemingly gotten there mere moments before them.

Well, the royal palace was not that far away from the academy, the volcano witch could get in between the two places at any time, so they just sat down on a nearby bench and shamelessly eavesdropped on the conversation.

"Really now?

But it is impossible for the shipment to have been switched on the way there, it takes one hour at most to transport and only goes through populated streets in broad daylight, always at noon… What do those constructs you received looked like-" having expected this question, she pulled out a piece of parchment detailing the mechanic, enchantments and runes used in the conception of the goods she had seen.

"It does indeed not quite look like what I saw here… Mmh, let's go ask the workers, they know all this stuff best" the headmaster casually smiled and led the way, completely unfazed by anything.

Watching the old man with his bent back, sided by Rosemary, who was definitely not how the two brothers had imagined, stepping off toward the underground area.

Both of the young men gave a look to one another and decided that curiosity was still the way to go, wanting to see where this would all be going.

"Always knew the geezer was suspicious, no one that decrepit can land such a pretty girl…"

"That's just jealousy Saul, and you definitely wouldn't be if you would go out there and give it a try" Zola slapped the back of his brother's head as they followed to two great mages from a very far distance, trying to appear as natural as they could be, although they failed to realise that they were most certainly far from being as slick as they would have liked.

Soon arriving to their destination, the headmaster and Rosemary took a look at what was being produced, less workers were present around than there had been at night, but still a hefty quantity of sleep deprived craftsmen and craftswomen were just walking around, mind half-filled with utter nothingness, half-filled with the greatest ideas and concepts to ever grace their mind sanctums, in short, it was a beautiful.

Rosemary had not specialised in these sorts of crafts, she was more familiar with the runes used to cast spells rather than the runes carved onto objects, although they had many overlappings, runes utilised in the latter had a tendency to be pulled from ancient languages that were more attuned with the concept or ever so slightly modified, as for enchantment, it was typically either seen as basically the same thing as runes, or as some sort of temporary buff-type spell cast on arms and equipments. Read the latest on My Virtual Library Empire

The egregious complexity of the magical field was at its finest, still, she had studied such things extensively as well and could recognise the various layers of both fields put onto the trebuchets and various other constructs, they were shipped in separate pieces and were to be assembled later by soldiers, but some here were fully put together so as to check if the various runic patterns and enchantments put onto each piece was working harmoniously with the rest.

Just as Rosemary had expected, what she was seeing here had nothing to do with whatever they had been delivered before, one thing that was odd however, was that the things they had received, which had been equipped with runes clearly created with intent to eventually fail, not just randomly, but after a precise amount of usages, and enchantments that had been made to gradually weaken with each use, those clearly defective hazards that not just anyone could have noticed, they had been enchanted and carved upon by people of greater finesse that the experts gathered here.

It took a certain level of talent to create something of this kind, and it took even more to make one that was so perfectly set up to fail, not only that, but each construct was not the exact same, their organised breakdowns and destruction was different nearly every time.

She didn't mention it just yet and went to take a look at the materials used here, and just as expected, no trace of the wood she had seen back then, whoever was responsible, not only had access to master carvers and enchanters, but they had their own supply line as well, and somehow always managed to exchange the goods from the academy with their own.

Rosemary put one hand up against her forehead, did they have some undeads or undead-affiliated intruders? That sounded the most plausible, but also hard to imagine that a group like this would have the means to put this all together.

'They even use ambient mana exclusively for their things…' otherwise, she would have just searched for someone with the same mana, or with residues of it clinging to their bodies.

"And you have really noticed nothing weird?

It is frankly impossible to exchange the merchandise along the way, capital guards are everywhere along the way and no stops are ever made" the volcano witch was not suspicious of the headmaster, as much as she loved to hate him, he was to be trusted, but the same could not be said for the academy as a whole, he was not the only person around with a certain level of authority.

"You know that nothing can escape my senses here, the workshops and shipping process are not in private areas, my eyes are always on it" he reassured her, workers had stopped what they were doing, instead staring at the parchment brought out earlier, jiggling in between shaking their head in disapproval and nodding at the ingenuity.

"I don't recognise this way of rune carving at all, it has no flair at all, perfect but bland, no personality" one murmured.

"Whoever did this did all of the runes, it seems like they know a variety of runic language, bringing them together seamlessly…" another remarked.

"The enchantments are very purposeful as well, it's harder to distinguish the style in them, but they are all straight to the point, the enchanter is not afraid of putting the exact limit of enchantments on the material, most would leave themselves a margin"

"Oh, you think it's the same guy? It's true that the runes and enchantments are working off one another precisely"

"I wish I was so talented"

Rosemary narrowed her eyes at the elder.

"Are you really certain that your attention is all there? I heard that you have been receiving visits, if you see what I mean, which hasn't happened in years, are you sure you are not a bit distracted?"

"Nah, I have never been more aware, don't worry about my old bones Rosemary"

She was not convinced.