"What can we even do to provoke such a large number of necromancers?" Gideon smiled bitterly and then shook his head. "The closest I can think is that, since the entire Silvia Kingdom is currently facing troubles through someone's manipulation, that mastermind must have invited all these necromancers to create troubles in this part of the kingdom. But after traveling so far, these necromancers must have felt this city could be their perfect base, or perhaps a perfect breeding and experimenting ground, and so they have fully set their eyes on Batley City."
Everyone went quiet hearing Batley City's tragic story. Eric felt this could be the perfect script for his next movie. It would definitely be a blockbuster!
At this moment, Brunhild walked in with the tea. After serving everyone, she sat in a chair while glancing confusedly at the weird silence.
Lyria asked Gideon, perplexed, "Why don't you request help from Sildargrade? They wouldn't ignore such a huge crisis over an entire large city, would they?" After all, the trouble that Batley City was facing was complete annihilation, unlike other cities that were only facing some troubles and hindrances.
Gideon answered while sighing ruefully, "I did that long ago, and they said that they will send someone when we receive a direct attack. They cannot wait here for the necromancers to attack, and neither do they have time to go out searching for those two Master Rank necromancers. If it were some other time, it wouldn't have been such an issue, but since the entire kingdom is currently facing various situations, they just cannot sit back silently within a single city."
Eric took a sip of his tea and then calmly looked at the old man. "So, I am guessing something unexpected happened recently, and so you are panicking more than in the past?"
Gideon gave Eric a sour look and then picked up his cup. After taking a few sips, he calmed down.
"That's right," he agreed. "I took in a large number of immigrants as they were targeted everywhere in their own settlements, and we also couldn't provide timely support to so many places. These necromancers took that to their advantage to ambush and kill many of our capable Mana Wielders." His expression turned mournful. "Taking that opportunity, those necromancers somehow sneaked into the city, and... someone knowledgeable among them secretly took action and destroyed our space gateway."
"What!" Lyria and Livy stood up in shock; even Eric gaped.
This was the same as backstabbing even him! He was innocent! Couldn't they wait for just one week more? Now even he was stranded in this city.
Brunhild froze while holding her cup. She understood what that meant.
This meant there wouldn't be any more support from Sildargrade, or anywhere for that matter, and they were left all alone to fend for themselves.
Gideon looked at the shocked Lyria and Livy strangely. "Why are you girls also panicking and looking so lost?" he asked.
Eric massaged his temples. "We were originally planning to use the space gateway to leave Batley City." He stared straight at Gideon and inquired, "How long will it take to fix it?"
"It's not possible to fix it by ourselves," Gideon shook his head. "Only an Array Master proficient with Space Gateway creation could fix or rebuild it. And only Sildargrade has such a knowledgeable Master Rank within the Silvia Kingdom."
Eric, Lyria, and Livy sighed, exasperated. Both girls sat back, wondering how long it would now take them to reach the capital through other channels. They didn't have unlimited time to waste.
They were well aware that they were incapable of recreating a vast array like the space gateway, as those required spiritual sense to create—not something that could be done with just knowledge and skill—not to mention they lacked complete knowledge on this.
At this moment, Gideon's eyes flashed, and he promptly struck the iron while it was hot. "I can tell you three come from some great background beyond Batley City, or perhaps even the Silvia Kingdom, and you definitely have a powerful Master Rank as your teacher. Can you ask your teacher, or any other Master Rank you might know, to come and, along the way, help us and this city out of our current predicament?" he asked with a hopeful tone.
Brunhild's eyes also brightened. She turned to look at Eric with hope.
Eric watched Gideon blankly for a moment and then asked back, "And how do you expect them to arrive when there's no space gateway here anymore?"
Gideon nearly slipped off his chair. His 'hammer' missed the 'hot iron' and hit the 'cold water' instead!
He stammered and argued, "M-maybe you children have some artifact that can call for them? Or perhaps they are nearby, or perhaps they have flying artifacts like airships or something similar?"
Hearing this, both Lyria and Livy's eyes narrowed. They suddenly recalled what an airship was. In fact, they had traveled on one while coming to Ringwood Town, but it had been such a long time and they were just depressed children back then that they had long forgotten about it. But just recalling it wouldn't change anything, and they also didn't fully understand what airships really were.
Meanwhile, Eric's gaze was vacant as he stared at Gideon. He wanted to ask what the hell an airship was. An airplane, a helicopter, or one of those helium aircraft? But asking that would reduce his 'powerful, hot background'. So, he dismissively answered, "Give up, old man; you and your city are doomed."
Gideon's mouth twitched. He felt helpless. It seemed he and this beautiful city that he had spent his entire life developing had reached their end. Unfortunately, these children couldn't become the much-needed heroes of Batley City.
He sighed with loneliness, but he had also expected this result.
He finished his tea and was about to stand up and leave, as there was no point conversing further, but at this moment Eric stopped him.
"Hold on. Although we cannot provide any direct support, we can still help your city indirectly by increasing your strength." Eric grinned like a scheming merchant.
This time Gideon's eyes turned blank as he gazed at Eric in confusion. Just what does this lad want to say?
Eric looked at the broadsword lying on Gideon's lap and spoke, "I can see that your sword is mid-grade Tier 2. And it just so happens that I have a high-grade Tier 2 broadsword with a very similar shape and size to yours; it also has a Fire Rune engraved. Want to buy it?"
Gideon stared at Eric in a daze.
The difference between a mid and high grade was only one step, but in reality, it was almost a major rank difference. Maybe with a high-grade Tier 2, an Apprentice Rank could only receive a minor improvement and exercise a small portion of its strength, but he, as a Rank 4 Warrior, could wield it as if he had jumped a whole minor stage in Rank 4!
A weapon truly shines when it's wielded by an equally powerful person. An Apprentice Rank holding a Tier 2 was vastly different from a Master Rank using it.
Not only that, any elemental rune could be immensely helpful to him, as he was an element-less Warrior.
Using elements through runes was limited and energy-consuming, but as long as he expended more mana onto it, then even the simplest attack he performed would become countless times more powerful than what he could perform at this moment. The Fire Element was also a very powerful offensive element.
Brunhild, on the side, was completely flabbergasted.
A Tier 2! And a high grade! Perhaps only a few people in the capital have those. It is a weapon only a powerful Rank 4 can properly wield! A near-legendary sword! Eric really has a high-grade Tier 2 weapon? This is preposterous; just how big is their background?!
Gideon knew more than Brunhild and was not too amazed at it being 'high grade,' as he knew many people had high and peak grades in Sildargrade and even in their neighboring kingdoms. But what was truly shocking was that it had rune!
The higher a weapon's grade was, the more difficult it was to successfully engrave rune.
With this weapon, he might not be able to defeat the two necromancer Master Ranks, but he would have a higher chance of surviving and even intimidating those necromancers into retreating. With this weapon, his city had a chance of survival! Though it may not go exactly how he expected, it was a chance nonetheless.
Gideon nearly jumped and grabbed Eric's hands like a close brother, but he held back, took a deep breath, and confirmed with a trembling voice, "I-is t-that true?" He coughed and asked normally, "Also, the rune is Tier 2, and successfully engraved without any problems?"
That was a stupid question, as lower-tier runes couldn't be used on higher-tier blacksmith products and vice versa.
"Yes," Eric coolly answered.
"Can I see it first?" Gideon tried his best to sound calm and steady.
Eric nodded and stood up, and then started heading towards the kitchen, as that was the closest room.
After entering, he paused, glanced behind, and warned, "Don't bother peeking with your spiritual sense; I can feel it." He then ignored the bitter look on Gideon and closed the door.
Gideon smiled wryly. He finally understood why he was caught earlier, as he was previously checking them with his spiritual sense.
Eric didn't want to expose his pocket watch in front of a Master Rank. Perhaps Gideon wouldn't notice anything particularly amazing, but just as a woman shouldn't be naked or half-clothed in front of an unknown man whom she couldn't control, a man similarly shouldn't show off his wealth when he couldn't control the greed of others.
Maybe he wouldn't mind showing it off in the future to collect donations from greedy people, but at this moment, he didn't want to harm Batley City by injuring or killing their sole Master Rank.
Within a short few moments, Eric walked out holding a dazzling sword.
It had an orange body due to the metal used; its handle was dark brown. From the base of the blade to the tip, there were various mysterious words engraved, giving the sword a mystical look.
The mysterious words were runes; they didn't need to be so big, but Livy had made them so for two reasons: for aesthetics and also to make it easier to succeed in Tier 2 rune inscriptions. When she was putting the rune on this broadsword, she was still a newbie with Tier 2 runes, so she was cautious. Later, after practicing a few times, she even engraved Tier 2 runes on daggers.
As soon as Eric walked out, both Brunhild and Gideon stood up in shock. Their eyes were completely glued to the gorgeous sword in Eric's hand, and they couldn't pull their attention away from it.
Even Brunhild, who was an archer, felt she might be willing to change to a swordswoman if she owned that sword.
Gideon, meanwhile, was salivating; of course, from the outside, he made sure to look like a proper, respectful elder, despite the fact his hands were quivering with impatience to hold that broadsword in his own hand.
Gideon had never seen such an elegant, radiant broadsword.
It wasn't just the look, but the presence the sword had. It was projecting an air that it was an absolute beast within its tier and grade.
He had no doubt of the sword's power; even without holding it, just from his own experience, he could tell that the creator had poured all their focus and dedication into making it. If the creator declared it was their masterpiece, Gideon would wholeheartedly agree. It was that magnificent.
Eric didn't keep Gideon waiting and handed him the sword to check it by himself.