‘System, can I use the scales to upgrade Alex’s equipment?’
Asher asked while looking at the corpse.
[I thought the host wanted to hand it over to the tailor to boost her experience and upgrade her in the process. But if you have changed your mind then it shall be so.]
[Would you like to use the drake’s scales to upgrade commander Alex’s sword? Yes or No?]
‘Do it.’
“Come try hitting my shield again. With your sword this time around.”
Alex knit his eyebrows and tightened his grip around his sword’s hilt, ready to launch an attack at Alec’s shield. He was the stubborn type and refused to believe just a shield could bring him, a diamond-ranked knight, to his knees!
The snow beneath his feet sank as he gathered his force. Just as he moved, a brilliant white light coated his sword. It was so bright that he and his brother squinted until their eyes were barely visible.
Bam!
The sword struck the shield.
Alec found himself 4 meters away. His two feet left deep prints on the earth, right from where he once stood to his current position.
His cold expression broke as his eyes widened in shock.
Alex, on the other hand, looked at the brand new sword in his hand. The entire blade seemed to be made from hard scales, and the edges had the color of iron that was almost at melting point!
The heat alone was frightening.
[Nightmare: A sacred-ranked sword formed with a key material, the scales of a powerful beast known as a drake, a subspecies of the dreadful dragons. Capable of burning and cutting anything except the owner.]
Alex swung the blade a few times and smiled broadly.
This upgrade was different from the other type of upgrade, where both the soldier and his equipment would be upgraded. This one was solely for the weapon, and the owner would have no prior knowledge about him wielding it, so the shock and awe were tenfold higher than when their ranks were upgraded.
Sacred-ranked weapons were treasures nobles in the wasteland would exploit all their forces to gain; no matter the means, they must have it.
However, this was far from Asher’s mind. He was more interested in the heart of the drake because he was preserving it for Sirius.
Alec and Alex now had sacred-ranked weapons, powerful weapons that could wound Sirius badly and even kill him. While he trusted the twins and believed they would die to protect him, a lord should not be without other cards.
A lord needed wisdom more than power, or even his power could enslave him and he would end up dead.
After digging out the heart, he discovered it was shriveled. All the blood, including the one in the heart, was sucked away, but there was a small crimson crystal in the heart pulsing gently.
He removed his coat and wrapped the heart.
“Your Lordship, how do we leave?”
Alex stood behind Asher, who was on one knee facing what remained of the drake’s corpse.
“On foot.”
Asher responded.
Alex nodded.
Alec approached them with his horse. “My Lord, there’s a mount for you.”
As Asher looked at the horse, his ears trembled, causing him to look toward the south.
“That sound…”
“It’s the sound of horses.”
Alec said, his voice several folds deeper than Asher and Alex’s.
“Heeyah!”
A man on horseback burst out of the forest with other riders behind him. The man had black hair with some gray on the sides. Concern was etched in his face as he dismounted, and upon closing the gap, he went on one knee.
“Your Lordship, I am glad you’re safe.”
“Arise.”
Ark stood up. Other riders who were the shura vanguards brought spare horses.
Asher averted his eyes from them. “How is the town?”
“We only saw the destruction but did not experience it.” Ark responded.
“That’s good.”
Asher smiled.
He thanked his stars that the eruption was caused by a beast and wasn’t a natural one, or they would have faced losses. This was one of the reasons why mages were important assets to a noble household.
A water mage would have conjured water to stop the molten magma.
“I want you to check that volcano later. I hope there won’t be signs of it becoming active in the future, and I also want to know how much was destroyed.”
“Will you stay in silverleaf or head back to Nineveh, My Lord?”
“I’ll head back right away.”
“Then I shall send the report through the falcons.”
Asher patted his shoulder and mounted a horse.
“Alex, cut a good portion of that drake’s meat and give it to Mr. Ark. He’ll need it for the kind of work he’s doing.”
The soldiers chuckled, but deep within their eyes, they hungered for that meat.
Who didn’t know all the subspecies of the dragon kind?
As fearsome as dragons were, their meat was a delicacy and would sometimes mutate those who ate it.
Upon hearing that that huge amount of meat was a drake’s meat, Ark White had moist eyes.
He couldn’t believe his lord was so generous to give such treasured meat to a mere blacksmith like him.
“I’ll head for Silverleaf first. Two vanguards will protect this meat, and others will return with a cart to transport it to the town.”
“Yes, Your Lordship!”
……..
A few days later, Asher arrived in Nineveh. As he entered the castle gate with his men, he saw Kelvin, Cynthia, and other servants at the entrance into the castle.
They knew of his presence from the moment he arrived at Nineveh’s gates.
When Asher dismounted, all his servants, including Kelvin, went on one knee.
“Welcome back to your castle, Lord Asher.”
“Arise.”
He said with a soft tone while approaching them.
When he was close, Cynthia smiled at him and bowed her head.
“Where is Sirius?”
…….
Far away from Nineveh’s walls, a troop of 100 silver-ranked soldiers on horsebacks clad in bronze-ranked leather armor protected two exquisitely built carriages that spoke volumes of how wealthy the owner is. The crest on the carriage was the same on the soldiers’ armor.
It was the image of a flaming shield.
A man clad in plate armor rode beside the carriage. He was Nicolas, the gold-ranked knight and leader of the troop.
“My Lord! There’s something you need to see.”
Claude opened the window and looked out. “Is it the reason we are slowing down?”
Nicolas nodded.
Claude frowned.
He opened the door and came down. His slightly vexed expression changed to horror the moment he saw a massive beast feasting on the corpse of a horned bear, a beast that was from the beyond. Yet this terrifying gold-ranked beast that had an impenetrable defense was food for this mighty white wolf!
