The Archmetamagician: The Weave Collapses Again

"This isn't the place to talk. Come with me." Gordon led Anser to the reception room on the top floor.

Seeing this, Nefis tactfully left ahead of them, giving the two some privacy.

"Have you ever heard of the Griffon Forge?" Gordon asked mysteriously.

"The six-armed griffon demigod of the Astral Plane?" Anser asked in surprise.

"You know quite a bit. Yes, that Griffon Forge," Gordon replied.

The Six-Armed Griffon was regarded by many as the demigod of pocket dimensions and artisans, the patron of all artificers and creators throughout the multiverse, and the master of space, creation, and pocket dimensions.

Its demigodly sanctum was rooted in the Astral Plane, an independent extradimensional workshop said to be capable of crafting every kind of magic item, from ordinary items to Legendary items and Artifacts. It had everything imaginable and could practically be called the heart of the multiverse's magic-item ecosystem.

No one knew exactly how to contact the griffon, yet it always seemed to know precisely who needed what item.

"You can contact the Six-Armed Griffon?" Anser's heart skipped a beat. If he could commission a custom Artifact, that would be incredible.

"No." Gordon raised a hand in denial. "But one of the Society's members owns a special Artifact called the Griffon's Treasure Saddlebags. It's sentient and connected to the Griffon Forge in the Astral Plane."

"This member has spent decades working as a magical courier and earned a special reward: he can send one Legendary item into the Griffon Forge and have it upgraded into a powerful Artifact with no negative effects."

"He's willing to let you use that reward. The price is those two Artifacts, plus your full assistance on one occasion."

Anser leaned back against the sofa, his thoughts churning.

He had heard of the Griffon's Treasure Saddlebags. They were one of an unknown number of Artifacts created by the Six-Armed Griffon for the purpose of carrying, collecting, and delivering magic items.

The Artifact was sentient and possessed a virtually limitless extradimensional capacity. Magic items could be sold directly to the Griffon Forge through it, and it also came with quite a few powerful spells.

However, its holder had to take on the duties of a "magical courier," earning rewards by delivering magic items and letters. If the "magical courier" failed to complete a magical assignment, the Artifact might stop providing its holder with assistance.

For this member to have worked as a magical courier for decades, he certainly had remarkable perseverance.

The key question was whether trading two Artifacts, one Legendary item, and one instance of his full assistance for a single Artifact was actually worth it.

Anser had no experience with anything like this, but judging by Gordon's excited reaction, he thought it was well worth the price.

Speaking of Artifacts, although the term contained the idea of the divine, they weren't actually weapons used by gods. It was simply the name mortals gave to the most powerful magic items.

Most Artifacts were of damn-all use to deities. They were clearly designed for adventurers. It was just that the creation of some Artifacts genuinely did involve gods.

Artifacts fell into two categories: divine Artifacts and mortal Artifacts.

Divine Artifacts were vessels of divinity, tangible extensions of a deity's portfolio, authority, and essence. They were intended for a deity's agents, such as saints, Paladins, Chosen, and Clerics. Others couldn't use them.

Mortal Artifacts, meanwhile, were specifically crafted for adventurers by mortal legendary artisans, high-level spellcasters, demigods, extraplanar beings, and the like. Sometimes they also had class requirements.

Take the Eye and Hand of Vecna that Anser had obtained. Their creation was inevitably connected to Vecna in some way. They might appear to have no requirements for use, but in reality, using them would almost certainly draw Vecna's attention.

That was why an Artifact's power and compatibility mattered more than sheer quantity. After all, there was a limit to how many magic items any one person could attune to.

"It's just... the price is too high." Anser felt that member was being a little greedy.

The man had the Griffon's Treasure Saddlebags, so he could simply sell the two Artifacts to the Griffon Forge. Trading two for one meant he would effectively be getting the upgrade for free.

And on top of that, he wanted Anser to do him a favor. If the task proved too difficult, Anser might even have to burn "Fate" on it.

Gordon remained silent for a moment before speaking. "That member... is almost never at headquarters. Another Tower Master spoke with him through Sending, but he refused to budge."

"If your name hadn't become so prominent lately, he might not even have contacted us in the first place."

Anser's lips twitched as he shook his head slightly. So the man had specifically come looking for the "Chosen Killer."

He considered it for a moment and decided there were simply too many uncertainties. He would be better off taking the Dragonlance or the mythallar instead.

"I might not even be able to help with something that a powerful adventurer needs assistance with. Forget it," he declined.

"Then there's nothing we can do. The Magic Research Society only has the Dragonlance." Gordon sounded quite regretful.

From his perspective, trading two Artifacts for one was still worthwhile. They were both members of the Society, so however calculating the man might be, there would still be limits to how far he would go.

"A friend of a friend also has something pretty good. I'm planning to go take a look, and if it's suitable, I'll take it. You've gone to a lot of trouble for me lately, President Gordon." Anser stood and gave him a courteous salute.

The Dragonlance was a melee weapon specifically designed for slaying dragons. Anser had looked into its properties, and it wouldn't improve his capabilities all that much. His spells were hardly ineffective against dragons either.

"Don't feel bad about it. Your appearance has also given the other members an opportunity." Gordon looked at Anser and found himself liking him more and more.

A person's words and actions reflected their nature. Some qualities, if you weren't born with them, simply weren't there.

Anser was eager to see the mythallar, so after exchanging a few more words, he took his leave.

Once downstairs, he cast Teleport directly in the main hall, with the Star Palace as his destination.

Light and shadow shifted before his eyes. Suddenly, he felt resistance, and his body was repelled, throwing his teleportation destination slightly off course.

He looked around and found himself a hundred meters above the Star Palace.

Seen from above, the entire Star Palace was protected by a hemispherical magical barrier. Teleport couldn't take him directly inside.

'Your heir dies, and now you're finally willing to turn it on,' Anser couldn't help grumbling inwardly.

Still, if even a fragment of a mythallar was this powerful, then a complete and unusual mythallar had to be something else entirely.

Fort Jacqueline was an old noble estate in its own right, yet even its castle only had detection arrays, and those were activated only at critical moments.

The thought made him even more eager to see that mythallar.

'Hopefully it isn't a useless piece of junk the moment the Weave goes down.'

He descended at the entrance to the Star Palace and was immediately escorted inside by a warrior in a black-and-gold hooded robe, heading straight into the inner palace.

The Queen was overjoyed to see him, but she wasn't of royal blood and therefore couldn't enter the secret vault.

The eldest princess, Veronica, soon arrived. Together with the two elderly men Anser had met before, she led him into a subterranean passage beneath the royal bedchambers. They continued downward the entire way, winding through who knew how many hidden doors. Even after more than ten minutes of walking, they still hadn't reached their destination.

At one point, Anser began to suspect that the royal family had hollowed out the entire asteroid.

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive. Neither of the two elderly men showed the slightest hint of a smile, while the eldest princess looked uneasy, her eyes filled with worry about the future.

'She's the sacrifice.' Anser sighed inwardly.

It was a sad story. Veronica truly was talented, but once she entered into symbiosis with the Eye and Hand of Vecna, would she still have any future at all?

"We're here," Veronica suddenly said.

Anser surveyed his surroundings. It was a spacious underground chamber, square in shape and several hundred square meters in area. Numerous crates, weapons, and suits of armor were piled throughout the room.

Obviously, they were merely camouflage.

The two elderly men approached one of the walls and simultaneously pressed their hands against the metal surface. Magical radiance erupted, and an oval blue-black portal appeared on the wall.

"Come with me. We have one hour." Veronica stepped through and vanished from the chamber.

Anser took a deep breath and entered the portal.

The familiar sensation of dizziness flashed past. Light and shadow shifted before his eyes, and an elderly wizard with snow-white hair and beard suddenly entered his field of vision.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

---

I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

---

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!