Transmigrate to another world

According to the archmage, the empire was founded by refugees. They fled from another empire that had been taken over by demons. Hearing about demons, I look at Drog.

"Drog, do you know of any other demons on this planet?".

Drog says "There are others here, they are far away but I can sense them."

"Can you say anything about them?"

Drog says "I can sense many of them, probably hundreds, and seven I can sense clearly. They are demon lords."

"Demon lords, huh, I take it they are immensely powerful?"

Drog says "Yes, they are the strongest apart from a demon king. But there hasn't been a demon king for a long time."

"Why not?"

Drog says "Because becoming a demon king takes a lot of power and the other lords fight hard to make sure no one else becomes king."

"So, they are all too busy fighting each other to gain enough power to become king."

Drog says "Exactly. I had hoped that being here alone would give me the opportunity, but that was before the archmage got me."

"And now?"

Drog says "Now, after what you did to me, it's all about surviving until you die and I'm released from this contract."

"What if I became the demon king?"

Drog says "Hah, you're rank zero, it would be practically impossible. I'd be surprised if you survived a year based on what I've seen so far."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

I ignore Drog and go back to reading the journal. The journal tells of the refugees traveling across the land bridge, and how they were pursued by an army led by demons. The refugees' best mages gave their lives to create a barrier across the entire land bridge to block the persecution.

Apparently, after reading this, he left immediately and spent the next week searching for this barrier. When he found it it had almost failed, so he spent the next month reinforcing it. Apparently Phillip had no interest in dealing with a demonic invasion of the empire.

He said he would make sure that future archmages would continue to maintain the barrier. Since he was the last archmage and a thousand years have passed I wonder if the barrier is down now. From what Mericel told me of the politics I doubt the four kingdoms could even work together to repel an invasion.

Although I wonder how the beastmen would fare against the demons, my battle with Drog seems to indicate that the beastmen are on par at least physically. And the beastmen should outnumber the demons if Drog only perceives hundreds, perhaps an outside enemy is just what is needed to unite the nations.

After King Raden is dead, of course, I will make sure he dies whatever it takes. To do that I need to get out of here first, my only regret is going to be leaving the forge behind. It's a masterpiece and it's already haunted, I wish there was a way to shrink it and take it with me.

Wait, I remember reading that the archmage cast a shrinking spell when he was young so he could play a prank on someone. I quickly scan the previous pages until I find it, as I think it explains how the shrinking spell works. Maybe I can enchant the forge to shrink and take it with me.

"Magic Skills!

- Magic skills: (3)

- Channeling Level: 5

- Enchantment Level: 4

- Disenchantment Level: 5

I thought so, I may be out of mana but my abilities to manipulate it are still here. If I disenchant the weather spell and channel it directly into an enchantment for the forge I should be able to do it.

"Ruby, can I talk to you?"

Ruby comes out of the amulet in spirit form and circles me once. Then she takes human form and sits on the bench next to me.

Ruby says, "What is it, master?"

I quickly explain my idea and how it should work. I explain to her how the shrink spell works according to the archmage's journal.

"I wanted to ask you if you think it will work. I don't want to get hit and be called stupid again."

Ruby says "You mean you're really learning? Hitting you was the right thing to do. As for the incantation, it seems like it would work, but I don't have the skill to do it."

"No need, I'm going to do the incantation."

Ruby says "But how? You can't use mana."

"Right, I can't use or store mana anymore. But I still have the skills to manipulate mana."

Ruby says "Well, in that case, I think it's worth a try. The archmage put a lot of work into the forge and tools, and from what you've told me about the world I doubt there's another forge like it anywhere."

"That's what I'm thinking too. Okay, I'll give it a try."

Ruby says "I'll take care of you. If you need to use my mana or channel anything on me, go ahead."

"Thanks!"

With Ruby as a safety net, I go into a meditation trance and go into the inner world. With my inner sight I take a look at the forge and the room. The first thing I notice is that the floor on which the forge sits is not part of the cave, in fact it looks like it has been placed to move it.

I wonder if the archmage had the same idea of making it transportable. If he set it up that way it will make what I'm going to try much easier and more likely to work. Well, I guess there's only one way to find out.

I turn my attention back to the cave walls, the time spell is huge and complex. There will be much more mana than I need for the shrink spell. So I start, find the end of the spell and begin to unravel it. Once I free a segment, I move it to the forge and imagine the spell I want to cast as I put it in place.

As I create the new spell, I make sure it includes the forge, anvil and all the tools. It's slow going, as I'm moving mana from one spell to another, but it's going well. I finish the forge spell and realize I have a problem, there is a lot of mana left in the time spell.