"good morn me king" along the way dwarves greeted Don with a small bow as Don nodded back and continued walking.
It's been two weeks since the construction works started yet Don could see the progression as they almost build the houses for all of them.
The houses they built were two stories as box-shaped with its front door dead center, four small windows near each corner and constructed of the same red brick and wood. A path made out of leftover bricks made a shallow S-shape between the gate and the front door.
Also seeing many elves were helping the dwarves and working together as Don said made him happy in his heart. On the other side near the river, Dhursir and some old dwarves were plowing the land while singing as some of them were trying to fish in the river.
Don wanted to go there and have a talk with Dhursir however at that moment a bright beam of light appeared in the castle with a huge boom sound. The dwarves and elves dropped everything they were doing and looked at the light beam coming from the castle.
"Arrora stay here" as Don said he dashed towards the castle without wasting any time.
After a moment of running towards the castle, Don could see the light beam coming from the room he gave to Benedict for his experiments.
However, when he got closer to the room the beam of light slowly started to fade away as a loud female laugh reverberated the halls, he knew the voice it was Reghys.
At the moment he entered the room Don could see a sphere-shaped light floating in the center of the room as Reghys, Benedict, Arya stood around the sphere. Benedict looked away from the sphere and saw Don walking towards them but before Don came near them Arya ran towards him to welcome him with an excited smile on her face.
"We did it we did it" Arya repeated the same words and Don could see the girl couldn't hold her excitement and joy, she was jumping in joy while clutching her hands against her chest.
"Did what?" suddenly Catalie appeared inside the room and asked Arya but before Arya could answer her the little girl opened her eyes wide and floated towards the sphere.
"The converter... it works " Arya said as she and Don walked towards the sphere. The sphere radiated dark purple energy as Don could feel the energy coming from the sphere.
"Don let me introduce you to the new energy that this world has never seen "
Reghys pointed at the purple sphere as her voice was so full of proudness and confidence.
"I thought I heard it's a converter" Don turned his head to see Knight entering the hall with Dhursir, Stodemar, and Arrora.
'"It can do that too come let me explain" Benedict rolled up his sleeves and looked happy beyond words, Don could even see some tears flowing from his eyes.
"You know the battle energy is more powerful than the magic energy right?"
Benedict asked looking at Don and Knight as they nodded their heads
"It's too powerful that we couldn't even convert a bit of battle energy into magical energy the existing materials cant handle that kind of power"
Everyone around Benedict looked at him without even batting an eyelid as he continued
"So we tried the other way, I won't bore you with the device's architecture but what we did was increase the amount of pure magical energy we extracted from the magic stones with the help of Reghys"
Reghys gave them a half-shrug as she stood, chin up chest out.
"After a huge amount of pure magical energy we did it we created this strand of battle energy" as Benedict said he gently took out a small vial from under the device.
"Just this mu... holy" seeing the vial from away Knight was disappointed at the amount of the battle energy inside the vial but when Benedict held the vial closer to Don and him, Knight almost fainted in surprise and shock.
"Yes i know, its ten times more pure and powerful than the battle energy stone you gave us"
Just like Knight Don was shocked too because ten times pure and powerful meant their cultivation would soar through if they used this pure energy.
"Good great job and this is?" Don was really happy and excited to improve his cultivation because there will be more grandmasters and heavenly level magis would appear since the magical energy in this world had already started to replenish.
"Until now what I've said is only the secondary objective of the device what's super awesome is this" Benedict pointed his both hands towards the purple sphere and proudly said
"I call this the bound energy"
Even though the name is weird but Don understood its Benedict's achievement so he could call whatever he wants however Don still couldn't understand why this energy is the main output of the device or what he would do with this energy.
Seeing the confused look on Don's face Benedict chose simple words to explain
"Bound energy was created when we mixed the two energies together as in we increased the purity and the amount of magical energy and sent it through less amount battle energy from the stones it was an extremely delicate and dangerous process"
Don realized if he doesn't interrupt or ask any question Benedict would go on and on about the process
"So this bound energy, what can we do with it?"
"What can't you do with it? Your people could use this energy instead of magical energy to cultivate it's more powerful and since bound energy partly made of battle energy they could do things a normal magi couldn't of course they would still be weaker than pure battle energy users like you two"
Having heard all the information on the device the only drawback of the device seemed to be the abundant requirement of magical and battle energy stones but he had a huge amount of battle energy stones in his s.p.a.ce rings and thanks to Reghys and Dragon King he had magical stones as well.
However, the desire to acquire more wealth started to rise in his heart because it's always best to have more than enough wealth.
"Are there any side effects of using this bound energy?"
As he asked this question everyone standing in the room looked at Benedict for his answer Benedict however just had a wide grin on his face
"If being more powerful and awesome than normal people counted as side effects, yes there are"
Hearing Benedict Don and Knight were very excited and happy because this is like getting a juicy steak after starving for months for them. However, after thinking about everything Don's face showed a serious look
"You did a good job all of you but I want this place locked down immediately"
Benedict was shocked to hear DOn but before he could say anything,Catalie's projection appeared beside Don
"Catalie lock this place down I don't want anyone coming here without noticing me or Knight"
"Yes brother as you wish"
Don saw Benedict was shocked and looked like he wants to say something
"I know you have questions, follow me" Don didn't wait for their answer as he walked away from the hall towards the throne room. Benedict and Arya couldn't know why he's locking down the place after getting this breakthrough as they followed him without speaking anything
After a moment of locking down the energy converter, Don was now standing in the throne room before Benedict, Reghys, and Arya with Knight, he even dismissed Arrora and the Dwarfs out of the throne room.
"I did what I had to do, what do you think would happen if someone we couldn't trust finds out about the converter?"
Benedict and Arya didn't need to guess the answer because they already knew the answer. If the world hears about this new energy or the converter it would make the entire empire panic and covert for the device. The powerful sects and kingdoms would use all kinds of reason to wage war against Don and his people to put their hands on the device.
"What should we do?"
Benedict asked in a shaky voice his previous excitement had turned into fear.
"Don't worry it's only temporary I know what I need to do"
Seeing Don's confidence and demeanor Reghys knew he has a way to ensure the safety of the device and them.
"You have a way?"
Arya clutched her hands and looked at him without blinking for his answer
"We need an oath-taker"
When they heard Don their eyes went wide in a sudden realization.
The oath-taker was an ancient magic-infused mirror used by the kings to ensure the loyalty of their subjects, it was different from master-slave bond because if the subject is forced or in some kind of duress while taking the oath the mirror would not take it from him/her.
The oath-taker must be willing to take the oath and the one possessing the mirror the king would also need to take an oath. In simple words, the oath-taker mirror is like an agreement between the two parties.
If the subject or king didn't oblige by the oath they took they will face disastrous consequences. However, some rulers use some loopholes in the oath they take to deceive the people who take the oaths.
Normally the oath-taker mirror would be infused within the ruler's body to ensure the mirror's safety and only taken out in the case of transferring the mirror to someone else, usually that someone would be the heir of the king.
"Don the mirror would cost a fortune?"
Reghys knew the rarity and the value of such a magical item besides Don didn't have a lot of people so buying a mirror would be extremely wasteful unless he's planning to buy a small one.
"For now a thousand oath-taker is enough"
Just like Reghys thought Don decided to buy the small one yet the small one isn't cheap either.
"The only place you could buy one is"
Before Arya could name the place Don interrupted her with the correct answer
"The Thousand Arms Auction House"
