"I don't believe you!!" Ophelia said, or rather shouted. Her cheeks were beet-red, and her eyes were watery. She didn't want to believe that Nial had already advanced to the Saint Runicier rank.
Ophelia had always been the best when it came to forging and her craftsmanship as a Runicier. Her engravings were always the best. Only Nial was a great rival, though she was still better. Her foundation was better and so was her knowledge. The only thing Nial had always been better with was his creativity and desire to make experiments.
He didn't pursue the traditional work of a Runicier but preferred plain efficiency. Nial never cared much about the weapons he created either. They had one task, and as long as they fulfilled their purpose, Nial couldn't care less whether the runic armaments broke afterward, or if they could be used once again.
In fact, he was the type of person that liked the one-time usage items. He was basically the inventor of broken runic armaments!
Nial smiled at Ophelia, feeling a little bit of pity as he retrieved ten more runic armaments from his spatial ring.
"Chose any of them. I made them whenever I was a little bored. Though their blacksmith was great, so they look great, they're just the scrap I engraved whenever I felt like playing around a little," Nial said calmly.
His calm words felt like a sucker punch deep in her stomach. Nonetheless, Ophelia picked up a blade before she began to analyze it once again.
The sapphire blade of the shortsword shimmered with a cold, blue radiance as if frozen in time. Its surface was beautifully carved with intricate snowflake patterns that seemed to dance along the blade, exuding a feeling of the icy element that was naturally released. The hilt was studded with gleaming sapphire, creating a stark construct against the smooth, frozen blade.
This feeling was amplified through the grotesque, seemingly crude runic constellations and hieroglyphs that had been engraved on the hilt, in comparison to the elegant, gracious engravings that covered the sapphire blade.
The blade itself seemed to exude a frigid aura, sending chills down Ophelia's spine. The delicate etching of snowflakes along he blade evoked the image of the everlasting winter and the unrelenting power of nature
Ophelia paled. She lifted her head and looked over to Nial
She opened her mouth.
Silence filled the room.
Ophelia closed her mouth.
Seconds passed.
She opened her mouth again and let out a deep sigh.
"Shit!"
Nial continued to smile but he turned to the others, leaving Ophelia aside.
"Before I can focus on the Orion Shelter, I will have to get to know the current situation of Jundra, in its entirety, what exactly is going on in the surrounding area, which races want to obliterate the Orion Shelter, how many resources we have, what kind of talents we have in the Orion Shelter and more.
I think these pieces of information are probably the most important right now Of course, I also want to know your stories…especially why my sister didn't even think of returning home for a decade when she was roaming around Jundra!"
The last comment caused Sabrina to frown lightly. She was just about to retort, saying that Nial hadn't been at home for six decades when she recalled that Nial had been on the other side of the Universe, quite literally. He didn't even have any Worldbridges, dungeon portals, or means of instant teleportation over there.
It was already a wonder that he was capable of returning in such a short time. After all, not many existences were strong enough to travel through the Meteorfield. Most of them were either Primordial existences or strong enough to be on par with them.
"I…let's first talk about the other things…" Sabrina muttered, not really daring to start a fight with Nial. She could tell how it would end and didn't really like what Nial would think of her adventure through Jundra.
After all, she was just trying to find herself, grief to cope with their mother's death and become stronger. She was suicidal and fought everything and everyone for several years until she was encircled and nearly killed form a group of Heligav. Mathias was the one who found Sabrina. He rescued her with his powers as Elementalist and they started to travel together.
They encountered many Heligav and because Mathias hated the Heligavs to the core, they started their hunt.
Sabrina and Mathias were not proud of the things they did, but they didn't regret them either. After years of constant fights, Sabrina was able to enter the golden portal that lead to her Constitution's Trial which allowed her to abandon all of her abilities in exchange for remodeling her body.
Sabrina was much stronger than ever before but unable to bind abilities to her. She couldn't even release mana outside her body anymore. However, that was certainly worth it because she could cultivate extremely fast and become powerful enough to fight Bella Morningstar once they found signs of the Angel Kingdom.
Everything else was history, if one were to exclude that the six decades after Nial's disappearance brought forth many changes, including the realization that feelings had developed between Sabrina and Mathias.
Time changed many things but Nial didn't intend to do something about Sabrina and Mathias. They seemed happy, so he wouldn't interfere. Sabrina was strong enough to take care of herself. That was something he understood well.
"As long as you took good care of father while I was away, everything is fine," Nial just said before he agreed to talk about the other, more important topics.
He was currently oblivious to the things that had happened in the known Universe, and even more so on the Origin.
Nial only knew a few things about Dilan, the Undying, and what he achieved in the last few decades.
However, he and Dilan were different. Furthermore, Dilan had been taught for 10,000 years in the City of Trials. Comparing himself with a masochist who couldn't die, was not exactly something Nial should be proud of, even less knowing that he was more than 10,000 years younger than Dilan!
"Let's talk about the future plans, yes!"
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