Chapter 542 Ironvault Hoarder: Valthor
"That so? Thanks."
The monster didn't bother with them after that, rushing towards the banquet hall they had just left while carrying a massive knapsack on its back.
As soon as the monster breezed past them at supersonic speed, Luke turned to look at its figure with a dumbfounded expression on his face, one that Evan could completely understand the reason for.
"Isn't that-"
"The strongest entity in this place? Yes. Does it have any intention of fighting us? Clearly Not."
With just a glance, the Sword Saint could tell the power of the creature that had just passed them, and from what he could sense, it was strong enough to require him to go all out.
"Hold on a sec, I want to talk to it."
[Master? Are you okay? We should be getting the heck outta here!]
Kayla could not help but retort as was also capable of discerning that creature's strength, and it was not something she wanted to be around.
But before Evan could reply to her, the monster returned from the hall, holding up the dead Blade Wraith's Sword in his hands while using an analysis-type skill to study it.
Seeing it was still in good condition, the monster nodded to itself and tossed the weapon into the knapsack on its back, before turning to the people in front of it and saying.
"You're still here?"
"Yep. Wanted to make a little deal with you."
"A Deal? Do you have anything you could offer me?"
The monster alternated its black eyes between Evan and Luke, its gaze settling at the top of Evan's head momentarily as it sensed something 'off', but was ultimately unable to sense the Lightning Spirit's presence.
"Yeah.
In return, I want you to offer me your help in the future; when you're a lot stronger.
Don't worry, it would not be something you cannot handle."
The boy tacked on that last part after noticing that the creature's eyes were narrowing in suspicion, but just before it could say anything else, Evan pulled out something from his inventory that caught its attention.
It was a bow made from a rare, silvery-white material that appeared to have been forged from stardust itself. Its limbs were adorned with intricate runic patterns, and when Evan drew it lightly drawn, the bowstring glowed with a soft, ethereal light.
"…"
Evan then put the weapon back into his inventory and gave the monster a small business smile before continuing.
"So, what say you, Valthor?"
It narrowed its eyes lightly when hearing Evan call its name, but linked it to the skill activation it had sensed when it first showed up in front of them, concluding that the boy most likely possessed an analysis-type skill like it did.
'The boy's not that much of a threat besides the stench of world law essence on him, but that man; he'd be difficult to deal with.
I guess that's why he's so confident.'
While the monster was thinking that, Evan was pulling up the information about the monster, both from his appraisal and his game knowledge.
'Valthor, the 'Ironvault Hoarder'
An Armigeri, a race of beings that possess a deep affinity for hoarding and guarding powerful weapons and artifacts.
Known as enigmatic and solitary beings, wandering the world in search of valuable weapons to add to their vast collections.
And in Valthor's case, that collection is the Knapsack on his back, a spatial artifact that seems to have an endless capacity.
Anyway, I expected him to agree immediately, given that's the weapon of a dead 'Living Legend'.'
Evan studied the monster's gaze and noticed him glancing in Luke's direction, instantly understanding that the latter was wary of the Sword Saint.
'That makes sense though. Besides, if I wasn't with Luke, I would not dare make such an offer to a Peak Epic Level existence like it.'
"…Fine. I agree. But we'd seal it with a binding vow.
Let me go get someone who knows contract magic."
"Worry not, I have a few magic contracts here."
The young hero pulled out a bundle of magic contracts from his inventory, muttering something about his stock running out before apporting a pen into his hands and tossing them over to the monster.
"You write out the terms I stated."
He did this to increase the level of trust the monster had for him, and it proved to be effective as its wariness lowered a tiny bit.
Though the monster's handwriting was quite horrible, it was able to use simple words to write out the terms of the contract and pass them back to Evan who explained how the binding of the contract worked.
"I see…this is the thing I saw in that book."
Valthor muttered to itself as it stamped the contract with its blood, after which Evan did the same.
"Here."
The boy then pulled out the bow and tossed it to Valthor, along with one of his custom-made noble badges, similar to the one he gave Griselda.
"What's this?"
"My Crest. I'd need a way to find you when I want to cash in my part of the deal, wouldn't I?"
"…Makes sense."
It analysed the badge with its skill to be sure Evan didn't add anything funny, before putting it into its Knapsack along with the would not sit back and talk with you like me."
"We want to deal with that guy who locked himself up in the Core weapon.
"…What are you humans doing here anyway? A lot of the others would not sit back and talk with you like me."
"We want to deal with that guy who locked himself up in the Core part of the Castle. And I just had the thought that it'd be nice if you could take over here after we're done.
You can make here your base, perhaps even revive this city if you like."
Evan spoke with a shrug of his shoulders before turning towards Luke and showing him the way forward on his map.
The Sword Saint took one last look at the Armigeri who was looking at Evan with confusion all over its face, before following the young hero to the next section of the Inner Castle.
Besides a few T-Rexes who Luke easily dissected with a single slash, the rest of their journey was rather uneventful, as if the monsters were trying to avoid them for some reason.
Evan didn't take long to guess that the reason may have had to do with Valthor.
It was quite welcome as they didn't spend extra time fighting monsters unnecessarily and Luke was able to conserve as much energy as possible for the main boss battle.
◇ ◇ ◇
"GROAARR!!!"
A giant T-Rex Roared wildly as it kicked off the ground and charged forward with speed uncharacteristic of its huge body.
The creature's giant maw was opened wide and dripping with hot saliva, which was also acidic as it melted the ground where it touched.
Its target was the young Hero of Mimicry who unsheathed his obsidian black blade, engulfed it in a thin layer of icy energy and released an aura slash towards the monster.
He then half-sheathed the blade back and watched as the monster took five more steps towards him, before coming to a complete stop.
Immediately after, a thin red line appeared on its body, dividing it in two from head to toe.
*PLOP!
Its body split into two equal halves and dropped onto the floor, with blood and acid saliva spluttering out and about.
"Once again, I defile my blade on an unworthy object."
Evan spoke with a saddened expression on his face, while Luke and Kayla just silently gave him blank stares.
[Master, you can re-enact your fantasies later. But for now, can we move on?]
"…you could have at least let me enjoy my moment."
Sighing softly, the boy properly sheathed his blade and then led the way towards the area section of the Core Castle, the Throne Hall.
The closer they got, the colder the air got and the heavier the ambient energies became, but this only affected Evan and Kayla while Luke could handle the increased pressure with ease.
"That Ice Skill of yours…it's a Series Skill, isn't it?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"No particular reason. Just wanted to make sure my guess was correct."
"Guess about what?"
Luke nodded as he covered them with his energy to help them fight off the increased pressure before answering.
"How you can still use the Ice/Water Element despite having those multicoloured flames."
"Oh…"
'Was Mesarthim supposed to have a restriction?'
The boy questioned internally, scanning through the system Archive to check if it was true while also simultaneously pulling up info on their target.
"The person we're gonna be dealing with is the last king of Verduracliff. A Powerful Battlemage whose level I estimate to be at least 685."
[But wasn't this kingdom destroyed 700 years ago? Or did he survive the destruction while all his people died?]
Kayla asked the question Luke had also wanted to voice out, one to which Evan replied with a quick summary of the events that led to Verduracliff's end.
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