Upon hearing this voice, twins’ raised their shapely brows, and looked up. Though they still appeared as indifferent as before, if one looked closely, one could see hints of wariness in their eyes that weren’t there before.
Wilfred’s expression also changed and he couldn’t help but curse, “Tch! These damned hyenas!”
Swoosh!
Immediately after speaking, he felt a piercing glare from up above, along with a chilly warning that sent shivers down his spine, “Don’t push your luck, old man. I’m not like these two lovers of yours over here. If you dare to disrespect me like this, I’ll directly kill you. Let this be my first and last warning to you.”
Wilfred’s expression turned dark but he didn’t dare to say anything. So, he just scowled and kept silent.
Just then,
Swoosh!
The twins’ figures flashed and they appeared in the sky, right above Wilfred and punched.
Bang!!
A muffled bang resounded. Then, the space in front of them twisted and revealed a middle-aged, freckled-faced lady in black robes, holding the twins’ fists in her palms.
The twins glared at her and impassively said, “He may fear you, we don’t! So, don’t you dare humiliate us or we also wouldn’t mind killing you.”
The woman glared at them back, her eyes flashing with deep rancor. A split second later, however, she smiled and let go of their fists.
On the ground, Wilfred’s expression underwent multiple changes. When he saw twins attack, his heart skipped a beat and he couldn’t help but think that the twins were… seeking death.
After all, unlike the twins and him, who had broken through into the Early-stage of the Five-star realm in recent years, this demoness of a woman from the Seidal Family, the infamous Bloodthirsty Queen, Imentet, had been in the Middle-stage for over a decade now.
Moreover, since the legacy of all of the four noble families were almost equally powerful, the twins wouldn’t have any advantage in that department. Also, even their perfect synergy would be enough to bridge the gap between their strengths. After all, the gap between stages in the Five-star realm or higher was a lot bigger than in the mortal realms.
When Imentet showed herself, palpable rage in her eyes, he was sure the twins were going to suffer. Given their pasts, one would think he would look forward to their suffering, but he, for some reason, didn’t want them to suffer which made him come to a disgusting realization… he still had feelings for them?
‘Damn Wilfred, have you forgotten how they played with you? How they ruined your reputation and almost killed you? How can you still have feelings for them?’ He reminded himself which made him angry, which suppressed his unwanted feelings. He then looked up, awaiting the scene to unfold.
However, instead of bursting out in anger, Imentet smiled. Really? Was her reputation false? If he knew that, he wouldn’t have–
Before he could complete this thought, a scarlet whip appeared in Imentet’s hand which she swung at the twins.
The Twins’ seemed to have expected this, and had already taken out two symmetrical shields, which they joined and placed in front of them, the ‘shields’ then lit up with a white light. Once they saw this, the Twins’ seemed to sigh in relief and watched the scarlet whip streak across the air with a glint of anticipation.
The corner of Imentet’s lips twitched when she noticed this.
Thwak!
The whip landed.
!!!
…Nothing happened apart from the slight dimming of the white glow which made the Twins’ eyes light up. Although this whip attack wasn’t Imentet’s strongest attack, it carried at least 50-60% of her strength if not more, but their shield blocked it without any damage. From this, they could tell even if Imentet used all of her strength, their shields would hold strong or take a minimal amount of damage.
They looked at each other and nodded in satisfaction before looking at Imentet with an expectant look. Clearly, they wanted her to attack a few times more to test it more.
Swish!
Imentet suppressed the urge to swear and pulled her whip back, looking calm. Storing it away, she clasped her hands behind her back and looked at their shield, “A lifebound artifact, huh? No wonder you aren’t afraid of me unlike your little boyfriend.”
In the entirety of Green Leaf Kingdom, including the Elves and a few other races that lived in the Kingdom’s territory, the best magic weaponsmiths were the Fullers thanks to their bloodline abilities that helped them interact with metals on almost molecular levels, help extract their essences and refine them without much difficulty compared to normal.
In fact, if Dwarves were excluded, none even came closer to being their match in the entirety of the outer regions, and even in the Central plains, the forces that could compete/exceed them could be counted on a single hand.
However, being best in weaponsmithing wasn’t what put them on the same level as the top forces of the kingdom. After all, other forces weren’t poor and could easily procure magic weapons.
What made them powerful enough to be the kingdom’s top forces’ equal was the fact that the Fullers could craft Lifebound Artifacts, something even the best grandmaster weaponsmiths could spend decades or even centuries trying to craft without any success.
Someone who didn’t know what exactly were Lifebound Artifacts would wonder how were they special or any different from regular magic weapons?
Firstly, unlike regular magic artifacts, the Lifebound Artifacts could grow and evolve with the person they were bound to.
For example, if a One-star mage were to acquire a Low-grade Tier-1 weapon and broke through and became a Two-star, Three-star or higher ranked mage, provided that the Lifebound Weapon had the potential to grow and the mage in question had nourished it enough with his mana, it could evolve and become a Tier-two, Tier-three or higher ranked weapon.
Secondly, the formation of Lifebound Artifacts required a series of complex magic runes in specific formations unlike regular magic weapons which only needed a basic type of runes such as Amplification Rune, Strengthening Rune, Rigidity Rune etc. to work.
The presence of a series of complex runes gave the Lifebound Artifacts a specialization. For example, if the weaponsmith wanted, he could inscribe a group of runes in such a way that when triggered, it could activate a magic spell, just like the Twins had done with their shield–the white glow was the manifestation of the defensive magic spell inlaid when the shield was crafted.
For mages, this trait of Lifebound Artifacts was even more lucrative than the first one since a Lifebound Artifact’s inlaid spell didn’t need time to cast, the mage just needed to trigger the time with his mana.
This trait is usually further enhanced by another special ability of a Lifebound Artifact–Mana Storage.
A Lifebound Artifact could store mana which the mage could use to activate the inlaid magic spell, saving his mana. In a fight, other factors excluded, if a mage had more mana than his opponent, he is sure to come out on top.
Furthermore, mages could use the stored mana to replenish their mana reserves if need be.
This showed how valuable a Lifebound Artifact was and how much different it can make in a fight. The Twins’ short fight with Imentet was a great example. If the Twins didn’t have their Lifebound Shield, the chances were high Imentet wouldn’t have stopped until she seriously injured, crippled or even killed them given her famed ruthlessness.
Seeing the Twins didn’t respond, Imentet narrowed her eyes and chuckled darkly, “If I’m not wrong, you’ve recently forged this shield, right? Are you sure you want…”
The 10 Bonus Chapter Mass release between 10-15 November!
