Chapter 407: Meeting Up Again
Seraph Kingdom, within Verdant Breeze Town.
A day has passed since Argentum obtained news from the real-time information network he and the others had created, telling him that Aurus, also known by others as The Great Calamity, has made a move on a city called Nachthexen. At the moment, he was currently helping Delmann and Valstra out in the main three development plans they had for the town. Compared to before, the state of the town right now could be considered a far cry from how it was.
Thinking that it would allow resources to be moved faster, the streets of the town had been repaved with better material, allowing the roads to handle more wear and tear. Not only that, but the streetlights that barely lit up the town while at night had been replaced with streetlights that put out more brightness, and on top of that, used less money to operate. Overall, the citizens of the town thought it was a worthy investment. đŁđŻđđ˘đđ˘đđđđłđ˘đ.đ đđŞ
As for the townâs defenses, the barrier that Felix and the mages bargained over had finally been erected around the town, allowing it to block the attacks of a Rank 5 class holder without a problem. Initially, the barrier was only going to be able to block the attacks of a Rank 3 class holder since they had less money, but with the donation of Torvasâs Rank 9 Mana Stone, they went all out, starting the protection level at Rank 5 and enhancing it to higher ranks. Right now, it had been enhanced to the point where it could stall a Rank 6 class holder for a couple of minutes.
The three main development plans for the town, on the other hand, had been modified multiple times over the course of Argentum becoming the leader of the town as they made sure that the final states of the plans would allow them to accommodate at least thrice the amount of people that were currently in town. Nevertheless, almost all of the people in town had basic access to the parts of the development plans that were built. People had more or less constant access to water right from the comfort of their home, their town was producing around half of the food they needed, reducing the need for imported food, and lastly, the houses people lived in had been more or less renovated to take on a slightly modern style, allowing people to look at their town with a breath of fresh air.
Other than the Tempest Regiment, which was still in the process of being trained and polished, the school, wherein Felix and the others were still finding people that were willing to teach there, and the plan to make the town focused on blacksmithing, wherein people were still finding more varieties of ore veins, Verdant Breeze Town was proceeding smoothly with its various plans.
While talking about what part of the town they should focus on next, a person Argentum appointed to manage the real-time information network instead of Valstra hastily headed to where he was, his expression incredibly urgent. Seeing the urgent expression on the manâs face, Argentum excused himself from the two beforehand as he asked the man, âWhat news have you received?â
The man, who was slightly surprised to see their leader appear in front of him all of a sudden, could not help but gasp for air for a bit before responding, âSirâŚArgentumâŚweâve receivedâŚurgent newsâŚâ
Eventually, the man finally caught his breath, allowing him to explain the news he had received in great detail. âAlthough the news has only arrived now, weâve received news that after The Great Calamity had destroyed the city of Nachthexen, he also destroyed the city of Silver Hoof and Vallachia, both cities also being led by Rank 7 class holders just like Nachthexen.â
âHow long has it been since The Great Calamity destroyed the last city?â Argentum asked in response, taking note that the news he might receive would probably be delayed, thinking that Aurus would make sure to not spread the news of his destruction of settlements. After going silent for a bit, the man replied, âWell, you could say that it has almost been a whole day since it happened, Sir Argentum?â
âDo we have any idea on his whereabouts?â Argentum said after that, to which the man slowly shook his head. âAlthough our team focused on finding his traces tried to search for him, since The Great Calamity has access to a great movement skill, itâs not that easy to do so. Unfortunately, we havenât found his traces even after searching the possible places for a whole day.â
âSince thereâs no new news about him, I guess heâs doing something in the meantime, just like what he did before attacking Nachthexen City,â Argentum thought to himself, though he wasnât sure if Aurus was intentionally delaying his attacks between settlements to catch the inhabitants in those settlements off guard. If only he knew that Aurus was taking breaks to digest the improvements he had made from destroying those cities, then he would have probably done other moves.
After allowing the person manning the real-time information network to return to his station, Argentum could not help but ponder over the manâs words for a bit as he made his way back to where Delmann and Valstra were. âAfter weâve tracked that the settlements heâs aiming for gradually get larger, then it wouldnât be a surprise if his next target would be the provinces.â
âUnfortunately for him, he doesnât know that the Seraph royal family has announced for all of the people in the provinces to make their way to the kingdom in preparation for him,â he continued, recalling how he had been surprised by the move the royal family did. However, it made his deductions quicker as he said to himself, âThat only leaves the last target as the kingdom, then.â
As he thought about the final target Aurus was going to try and destroy, Argentum could not help but think about something else as an idea popped up in his head, still thinking of ways to allow Aurus to regain his sanity. With that in mind, he told Delmann and Valstra that he might be away for a day, to which the two did not care anymore as they were used to him leaving quite often by now.
Assured that the town would still continue to improve while he was away, he disabled [False Visage of the Animate] and activated all of his movement speed boosting skills and spells to head towards the Flame Spirit Inheritance. While heading to the inheritance, he went ahead and circulated a bit of the energy in his body to form a connection with one of the beings that signed a Spirit Contract with him, specifically Eleanor.
âHey, Eleanor. You there?â he asked as he continued to trek tens of meters with one step. In response, the voice of a woman replied, asking him, âYeah. Whatâs up?â
âIs Herellia still there?â he said in response, to which Eleanor replied, âLet me check.â
After a few seconds of silence, she told him, âYeah, sheâs still here. No, wait. You didnât even tell me that she could leave. Anyways, why are you asking whether sheâs here or not?â
âWellâŚâ As he replied to her question, Argentum could not help but let out an awkward chuckle. âI was planning on letting her move out of the inheritance.â
âOh. Makes sense.â Surprisingly, Eleanor wasnât against the idea. âAfter all, it has been over half a month or so since you brought her hereâŚor has it already been a month? Either way, itâs time for her to make use of the things she learned from me.â
âAlright. Talk to you later when Iâm there,â Argentum said in response to her words before cutting off the connection between them.
âŚ
Sometime later, Argentum had arrived at the entrance of the Flame Spirit Inheritance, the same charred and dilapidated building he had entered back then to become the inheritanceâs partial owner. Contacting Eleanor, he was then brought inside the inheritance, prompting him to ask Eleanor, âSo, where is she?â
Swoosh!
With the slightest movement of her fingers made out of energy, Eleanor allowed a corridor to open, revealing a red-haired girl in a red kimono at the end of the corridor. Seeing how the corridor to her room was opened, the red-haired girl could not help but look at the other hand, noticing the entity made out of gray energy heading to where she was.
Although it had been quite a while since they last met, she could still feel the same energy emanating from him. So, when he arrived in front of her, Herellia could not help but stand up in joy and exclaim, âArgentum, youâre finally back!â
âSorry for not entertaining you all this while,â Argentum replied as he radiated an aura of slight guilt. In response to his words, Herellia let out a light chuckle, saying, âWhat are you talking about? With Miss Eleanor teaching me a lot of things, there has never been a day where I was super bored!â
âThen again, there were days where I wished to head outside,â she said, letting out an awkward chuckle after that. Hearing her words, Argentum went ahead and activated [False Visage of the Animate], leaving Herellia slightly speechless. After a few seconds, she asked him, âHave you ascended to the Animate level? Isnât that impossible for a Pseudo-Animate?â
âUnfortunately, no. This is just a skill Iâve learned from one of my friends in order to allow me to mingle with other people,â Argentum said in response before letting out a playful giggle. âIn any case, donât you think itâd shock Horell if he were to find out that I also turned into an Animate?â
At first, Herellia couldnât help but widen her eyes in response to his words. Though, not long after, she could not help but find it amusing as well, letting out a chuckle as she said, âWhy wouldnât he be shocked? If I were him, Iâd definitely be depressed!â
After talking about a few more things, Herellia and Argentum then left the room as Eleanor helped them leave the inheritance. Accompanying them before they departed, Eleanor asked the two of them, âIs there anything else youâre missing?â
âHmmâŚâ After pondering over it for a bit, Argentum told her, âCould you tell Felix to follow us to where weâre going? Also, could you give Herellia some movement speed buffs? Itâs going to take a while for us to arrive where we want to go.â
âI could do the last one,â Eleanor replied as she snapped her fingers, covering Herellia in a fiery red light that made her feel like her body was lighter. After that, she turned around and told Argentum, âAs for the first one, you have a Spirit Contract with him. Just contact him.â
Whoosh!
With that, Eleanor headed back into the inheritance, leaving Herellia and Argentum looking at each other for a bit before the latter asked, âShall we move?â
âWhere to?â Herellia asked in response, trying to get used to the feeling of being able to move faster.
As he activated all of his movement speed boosting skills and spells, Argentum lightly smiled as Herelliaâs eyes could not help but light up at his response.
âThe Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance.â
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Swoosh! Swoosh!
While making their way to Tempest Cliff, which was where the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance was located, Argentum could not help but ask Herellia, âSo, what kind of things did you learn while Eleanor was teaching you?â
âShe taught me most of the basic stuff I needed to know as an Animate,â Herellia replied. âHow to eat, how to drink, how to manipulate energy, how to improve my skills, as well as reading and writing. For some reason, the Animates really like to concentrate on reading and writing.â
âThose two are going to be indispensable for you once we head to the Animate settlements, so sheâs not wrong,â Argentum said as he nodded at her statement. âAnything else?â
âI guessâŚthings I didnât know about myself?â As she said this, she could not help but slightly blush, prompting Argentum to let out a cough to alleviate the awkward atmosphere gradually forming around them. Slowly changing the topic of their conversation to mundane things, they eventually arrived at the entrance of the Verdant Blossom Branch Alliance.