Mage Adam

“All of this is thanks to you, especially you, Adam, my friend. Without your help, there would be no Titan in the ether void now,” said Lord Svorsi, crouching down to invite Adam to stand on his shoulder.

“What are the final terms of the pact? What do you need to do?” Adam asked.

Lord Svorsi flew smoothly through the air, carrying Adam toward the new Royal City. “First, we must fully participate in large-scale wars with the mages. After a while, once we adjust to our new lives, we will open this plane to the mages. When that happens, some mages will come here, and any Titan who wishes can form pacts with them. They can create partnerships to live and fight together. This is a good thing; we’ll see a bigger world and greater powers. We are warriors, and warriors should fight. If we stay in peace for too long, the newcomers will lose their drive, and we’ll become rusty.”

Lord Svorsi spoke eagerly. “The Titans look forward to that day. It will be an honor to fight alongside the mages.”

Adam paused for a moment and said, “My reason for coming today is about that too.”

Lord Svorsi, curious, asked, “Do you want to recruit a partner? Any Titan can join, except Lord Veigar. I’d also be willing to form a pact with you.”

Svorsi was excited, but Adam felt a bit uneasy. His request seemed out of place, like asking to take someone’s child and do something terrible.

“It’s not like that? No worries, whatever you need, we’ll help. Lord Veigar is inside; let’s go in.”

As they talked, they arrived in the Royal City. The Titans knew Adam was their guest, so they paused their work to greet him with respect.

They didn’t meet in a palace or anywhere like that. Even though the Titans had a new living space now, they still lived simply and humbly. The Royals had decision-making power but still had to work.

When they opened the door, Adam found himself in a Flame House. Many Titan Intelligents were tending to various Flames, while Lord Veigar stood before a strange machine.

Seeing Adam, Lord Veigar gave a standard mage greeting and warmly said, “Welcome, my friend. Look at this place; it’s quite impressive! Mages are truly remarkable; they easily solved our race’s heritage problem. From now on, the number of Titans won’t limit our growth.”

The machine was a conversion device, powered by the remnants of the Titan God’s Original Flame and the Genesis Flame.

The mages had returned the Titan God\'s Original Flame after the war.

Adam’s initial thought had been right. Most sentient beings, including Garfield, could be turned into Original Flames. The first batch of supplies from the mages included many sentient life slaves, which excited the Titans.

After touring the factory, Adam explained his purpose. Once he outlined his plan for the personal chip, he said, “I hope to get some newly formed Original Flames. I know this may be asking a lot, but…”

The Titan kings went silent at Adam’s request. Just when he thought there was no hope, they suddenly burst into laughter.

Lord Veigar pointed to the Flames around them and said, “Friend, did you think these Flames are living beings? Are they the newborns of our race?”

“Uh, aren’t they?”

Their laughter grew louder. If they had tear ducts, they would have been crying tears of joy. “No, no, of course not. Your races need males and females to mate and create new life. Special substances from both must combine for conception, right?”

The Titans spoke openly, and Adam felt comfortable replying, “It’s not that simple, but generally, yes.”

Lord Veigar continued, “So in your view, before conception, are those substances considered life?”

Suddenly, Adam understood. “Of course not; only after conception can it be considered life.”

Lord Veigar clapped his hands. “For us, even though we lack that need and function, passing on the Flame is the same. The split Flames are not life; the newborns are true life.”

Lord Svorsi added, “When we were in Titania, we treasured every Flame because we were on the brink of extinction. In our earlier history, the Original Flames were also tools and consumables, so your worries are unnecessary.”

“Moreover, your personal chip doesn’t take away the life of the Original Flames; it simply gives them a different way of thinking and purpose. We fully accept this. Other mages are doing similar things. We welcome Flames to function in new ways. Besides, who can deny that this is a different kind of continuation of the Flames’ life?”

Adam sighed in relief. He hadn’t expected such a tricky issue to be resolved so easily. 

Before coming, he had prepared for the Titans to refuse his request and imagined having to work with the Seventh Tower to develop integrated circuits.

From the Flame House, Adam took over a hundred Flames and reached a preliminary agreement for future cooperation.

The Titans wanted to give them for free, but Adam declined. He believed relationships should not be taken for granted; the Titans needed resources for their development, and he didn’t want to exploit them.

He signed a letter of intent with Lord Veigar, agreeing that once the plan started, the Flames would be treated as commodities, with specific prices set based on market conditions at that time.

Afterward, Adam politely declined the Titans’ invitation to stay. He returned directly to the Tower laboratory to continue developing the program and creating several types of chips.

A month flew by. In high-level meetings of the Mage World, which Adam couldn’t attend, the Great Archmages and the World’s Guardian had ongoing discussions about his plan.

Am I remembering it wrong? I thought the Flames had memories of the previous owners.