Mage Adam

Chapter 237: Sacrifice (1)

Before Adam arrived in Titania, it was impossible for him to split himself and create a whole race.

Even though Adam had tons of resources and the tech to make loads of avatars of himself, they were basically just fancy robots without any spark of life. They could do jobs but didn't have any imagination.

Imagination was the key to real life.

But now, the special "Original Flames" changed everything for Adam. In every avatar he made, Adam left a little bit of magic, like weaving a tiny thread into each avatar's being. These threads, glowing with the same energy as his Original Flames, had the chance to turn into real life.

This wasn't the Mage World, so Adam couldn't tap into the Mage Network. However, with the magic of the Original Flames, Adam was able to die and pop back into any of his avatars whenever he wanted.

This new tech brought up tricky questions, like, which of the avatars was the real Adam?

This might sound easy, but it was a big deal for many transcendent powerhouses. In theory, the real avatars could get everything except the current powers from the original. This meant they could also cultivate and become stronger. Plus, since the avatars could develop their own personalities, there was a risk they might turn against the original Adam.

But Adam wasn't worried about this. He was much like a computer, and he had total control over the programs. He could fix them, remove them, or reset them. He had plenty of ways to handle it.

Dealing with digital bugs was natural to him.

With this feature, this plane and its Original Flames became even more valuable. To get the Original Flames of the whole world, Adam had to connect with the Titans, or else he'd be creating just useless chunks of metal.

The devil, seeing all these avatars of Adam through Adam's perspective, couldn't help but feel nervous. He thought Adam was going to go off the rails sooner or later. The more he dwelled on it, the more scared he got, and he decided to hide away.

Adam waited around for a whole day and night but didn't hear anything from Iron 27. He could only check through the Flame Vibration Receiver that Iron 27 was still okay. Getting bored, Adam merged all his avatars and used them like paint on Lithium 15's surface. Then he himself became really small, as tiny as a speck of dust in this huge world, and followed the signal.

The special paint made of mithril worked like an invisible shield, way better at staying hidden than any energy-based shield could be. As long as Adam didn't use any powers, it was pretty unlikely he'd be spotted. This was also because Lithium 15 and his Flame was so quiet, almost like he wasn't there. If it weren't for that, hiding the big energy vibes of a level four would be a no-go.

On his trip, Adam managed to dodge past groups of Metal Eaters. Two days in, he finally got a message from Iron 27 saying, "Stay put if it's safe. I'll be there soon."

...

When Adam and Iron 27 met up, Adam first thought Iron 27 was just a heap of broken metal. But when he saw the bright Flames inside him, Adam realized Iron 27 wasn't that seriously damaged.

Iron 27, towering at thirty-seven meters, was a sight with all its scars and missing bits. Through the gaps, Adam could see its complex Vital Generator. His arms and legs were rusty, covered in a mix left by dead Metal Eaters, and still had some nasty liquid on them.

Iron 27 wasn't fussed about his looks. Seeing Lithium 15 was okay made him relieved. "The Metal Eaters are gone. We've got eleven hours to make a move. Let's hit the road."

Adam said, "Hold on, let's get you patched up first."

Iron 27 waved it off, "No need. A Warlord's body isn't for a Knight like you to fuss over... Wait, what are you doing?"

Right then, Adam's mithril body melted away and zipped over to Iron 27. The mithril bits, acting like tiny robots, got to work fixing up Iron 27, who was mostly made of iron. They took iron from the good parts to fix the damaged spots. The bad mix of metals dropped off in big chunks, and the liquid left by Metal Eaters got wrapped up and kicked out.

From this, Adam figured out that the liquid was a special kind of rust-maker meant to mess with Titans like them. If Iron 27 got too much of it, he'd turn into a pile of rust. The Metal Eaters' energy and shield attacks were probably rust-makers too. As for the fact that these worked on all sorts of metals and mixes, it must be because of the Metal Eater that turned its back on the Royal Intelligent.

It was so hard to face an enemy that knows you inside out.

Iron 27 just enjoyed the fix-up and quietly made up his mind about something. As he handed an energy block to Adam, he complimented, "Nicely done. You'd make a top-notch Intelligent."

Adam just took the compliment and added the energy to his core. Ten minutes later, both Adam and a fixed-up Iron 27, with Lithium 15 in tow, were back on their journey.

Nobody had any idea about the tough fights Iron 27 had been through.

Adam saw on his radar that the number of Metal Eaters, shown as white dots, had gone down a lot. This meant they could head straight to their destination without worrying too much.

After ten hours, they made it a thousand kilometers to where the Metal Eaters' border nest was.

And it was quite the sight.

The nest looked like a bunch of hive structures popping out of the ground, clinging to cliffs, and even floating in the sky.

Tons of Metal Eaters, all different shapes and sizes, were zipping around, moving metal around. 

They could even see some Titan leftovers still glowing with Flames.

The three of them found a sneaky spot to land, and Iron 27 softly woke up Lithium 15.

Lithium 15 took a look around, then focused on Iron 27, who looked okay. He spoke up directly, "So we've made it, and everything's gone pretty smoothly so far, huh? That mithril kid is really something. Iron 27, did you find what we're looking for?"

He sounded casual, as if he was just asking about where salt was kept in a kitchen.

Iron 27 didn't answer him but said to Adam again, "You'd be an amazing Intelligent. I kind of wish I hadn't brought you here; you're worth more than the whole city of Ironburg."

Lithium 15's eyes sparkled with flames as he looked from Iron 27 to Adam, suggesting, "If that's how it is, you two should head out first. I can take it from here on my own."

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