Chapter 51

Zale snapped back to reality. The summoning voice of one of the women's heavy accents left him confused. "What category again?" he asked, trying to cover up his mental absence.

"The human category."

"They are nothing like humans! They are giant, volatile reptilian monstrosities," the other man accused.

"Yes, but they are intelligent. Does that not count them as being capable of human reasoning? Just because they don't appear in the same form does not mean they are any less sentient. Though not very agreeable, they certainly have shown to be more similar to humans mentally than orcs, which I will remind you we added to that category."

"Sir?"

The man turned his eyes to Zale in search of confirmation, but Zale's mind was distant, his eyes vacant for a brief moment. The word 'sentient' had dredged up the memory he'd been prying at. It was a fairytale from the Coma Library, if he recalled correctly, though he wasn't sure he had. "There was a story I read from the Coma- Temple of the Holy Ones. It was about the progenitor races. I can't recall their name, but there was one that all the sentient races came from. I think we should try using cores for that in the experiment. It's the only category I can recall," he lied.

In truth, Zale suddenly remembered many different races, as well as their progenitors, but it was something he didn't quite believe himself. Instead of leading them down another rabbit hole, Zale honed in their efforts, and they rearranged the lists to fit the sentient beings into one, dragons included.

It took the greater half of the day, but they'd finally managed to compile a list of close to a hundred different cores they'd found. Most of these cores were tier 7 and above and were expensive. Very expensive. So much so that Zale cringed away just looking at how much some would cost. "Can we really afford this?" he asked Kahmil.

She chewed her lip for a moment while scanning the prices they'd added to the list. ��We CAN. Though, whether or not it is a good idea to buy them all is a different story. I believe it best to run all purchases through to the treasury department. Of course, we'd need Shai to push something like that through," she added.

Though he was hesitant to request the purchase of the higher tier cores, Zale did authorize the request of several tier 7 and a couple of tier 6 cores that appeared on the market. He was glad that their division had many crystals and cores on hand, but the millions of dollars worth he'd requested made him gag. Mert stifled a small smile. "Master Sotanaht, please be assured that all the expenses are within reason. I am sure, short of ruining the country, our pharaoh would spare nothing to achieve this goal you both work toward. It has been the desire of Pharaohs for countless centuries."

"Mert, it's not really that I'm worried about where the money comes from. I just can't help but think about all the things I could do with that money. Think of how many tacos you could buy with that money!" Zale retorted, half a joke and half trying to add up the number.

It was a lot of tacos.

As Mert said, though, the purchase was confirmed, and the cores arrived the next morning. "All that is left is to choose something to be enchanted in the crucible. Have you any ideas, sir?"

The young man stood by Zale while the others carefully set up for the run of the forge. Rahja had only appeared when the preparations began, and he stood in a corner with a fierce scowl. "Anba, bring me a book. The oldest one you can get your hands on," Zale instructed.

The young man trotted off without question. Ten minutes later, he returned with a book that looked old enough to turn to dust in a stiff breeze. Zale arranged it on the crucible. "Is everything in place?"

Confirmation went around, and Rahaja reluctantly took to the consol.

As the process began and the magic machine began to thrum with power, Zale felt that involuntary chill run his spine. His life flashed behind his eyes as a shadow, but nothing more. The memory of that nightmare receded. He would live another day, but how many more would he survive? The thought pumped through Zale like liquid fire as the machine pumped the book full of mana. The room buzzed with energy, and the audible roar left Zale's ears empty when the sound suddenly died.

The next feeling was an unmistakable, inexplicable pull at the corner of Zale's vision. While the others seemed crestfallen, the usual energetic glow of receding mana that had accompanied their successes absent, Zale's heart swelled. He went to the book and inspected it before lifting the volume from the Coma Library. "Sir?" Kahmil asked, seeing his broad smile and jig of joy.

"It worked!"