Elise was returning from her boss hunt with the rest when she was called on by Callan to his castle. She gathered her things and freshened up before heading over. When she arrived, she found Callan drinking recovery potion as if it was going out of style. He was sitting near his main entrance waiting for her. His clothes were still torn open and you could see the wounds closing. Elise's eyes darkened at the sight. Who would try to attack Callan in broad daylight, but as she looked closer, she noticed it was claw marks. She didn't say anything at first, just waited for Callan to stop drinking potion after potion. He threw the last bottle he owned at the ground after emptying it into his mouth. He was in a foul mood. Then he finally said in an angry tone, "there's some powerful beast in the cave you suggested. I almost died. Was that your plan?" Elise's face scowled, then she spoke, "You asked me to find the location of the new beast. I found it and gave you the coordinates. I told you I should have gone first since I have been leading boss rallies." Callan looked at her in the eyes and then let out a breath of air. "I just needed to see your face to confirm I wasn't set up." Elise kept examining him with her eyes and then asked, "how did you survive?" Callan rested against the wall and said in a much more relaxed tone, " I used my men as meatshields to get out. I'll have to use some crystals for the shrine to get them back. Some deserted me and others can't be recovered." Elise looked at Callan's gargoyle that had grown. It was maybe 3 feet tall, but now it was 4 feet and it grew some muscle too. She then asked, "what did you do to your gargoyle?" Callan looked at his gargoyle and replied, "I fed it." Elise furrowed her browns and then Callan rolled his eyes because he didn't want to explain himself. "Lucy's stomach growled in the cave, so I fucken fed it." He laughed really hard at his own comment. Then he kept talking, "I didn't know Lucy was hungry." Elise, still puzzled, then asked, "what did you feed it?" Callan answered, "I told it to eat anything in the cave that's not me or my army. Then in the middle of the fight in the dark, it fed on something and that's when I left." Elise went Oohh and asked, "what beast was there? The announcement didn't give a description of it. It was mysterious and without the power level posted. That's why so many have failed and began to disappear." Callan had been grabbing small stones of grabble near him and throwing them at a water fountain to the right of him. Then he said,
"I couldn't see. There was something distorting the light and we were weakened before the encounter. My chest felt heavy and it was hard to breathe. When I started coughing out some shit and then I knew I was in trouble. I coughed some black stuff when I got here. The recovery potion didn't get it out, just healed the damage. I still have to go into the infirmary to clean that crap from inside me."
Elise nodded in understanding and said, "well you're alive and you are closer to finding out that I am." Callan furrowed his brow, " Eden went in with DBoots too. We took separate tunnels. I haven't checked how they did." Elise said, "Oh, DBoots was with Eden, how interesting. I'll chat with them both. I'm on friendly terms with them." "Don't bother, they're probably dead already, I lost a lot of power on this hunt," interrupted Callan. Elise had already sent a quick hello to both of them and pursed her lips at what Callan said. She had met them both at the server mixer and found them entertaining. Then replies came in from both Eden and DBoots. Callan raised his eyebrows as he heard the notification sounds. Elise looked at Callan cautiously, then said, "I guess they survived as well."
When Eden and DBoots received the message, they both took it as a normal hello. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then they received the same question from Elise, "a little birdy told me you went searching for the new boss today. How did it go?" Both Eden and DBoots were in their separate castles and paused at the message, then they messaged each other "What's our story for the hunt?" when they noticed they were on the same page, they laughed. Eden then messaged DBoots, "is your concubine asking because she wants to know about the boss or because we were together." DBoots replied, "probably the first one, she is not my concubine, we just have a mutual interest." Eden replied, "sure you do, wink wink." Then DBoots replied, "I'm not that easy. I'm classy." Eden replied, "Classic peeping Tom, ha ha ha , but seriously, let's just say we tucked tail and got out with our army once we noticed the dark particles." DBoots replied, "yes sir, mam."
Elise showed the replies to Callan on how Eden and DBoots left the cave right away. Callan had been messaging Muffin to do her own investigation and he showed Elise what Muffin had found out. In Muffin's message she wrote how she faked knowing what happened to Eden in the cave and asked how she was doing. Her informant said when she asked around, they only saw Eden return alone. No army. Muffin had asked around FTG too but no one knew DBoots was even hunting for the new boss, so no one paid attention to his whereabouts.
Callan at first thought Eden lost her army, but then checked the stats on the server, and noticed she was still at the same power level. Except she was ranked 27th due to server war. The story wasn't matching up and Callan didn't like it. How the fuck did Eden and DBoots come out unscathed from that cave? What were they hiding? He looked at Elise and told her, "Find out why she's lying." Elise pursed her lips because he was always acting like the king, but he wasn't even the leader of the alliance, she was. It irritated her. "There are better ways of getting information, Eden tends to leave out crumbs of information because she's terrible at lying. DBoots on the other hand, he is very tight lipped. I'm sure I can get the real story."
Back at Eden's castle, she was resuming reading the letters she received by members interested in growing into a fighter. She wrote out their names and placed them in a system based on their ranks in the server, size and knowledge. She had received a request from Blowzella to come over and talk about something. Eden took a moment to think about what she could possibly want to talk about. Actually, there was a lot she had been missing since she wasn't taking part in some of the meetings, like the identity of Erza, Odin's attack on her and the merge offer. Eden thought that if she really wanted to be involved in alliance business, then she would be more up front. She replied to Blowzella that she can meet her at the tavern in the server community town, but Blowzella wanted to speak in private. Eden didn't want to suggest going to Blowzella's castle because she didn't want to get caught up in the identity of her villagers. Something in the back of Eden's mind still. So reluctantly Eden suggested that Blowzella come over. Perhaps she can test how Erza would do in an interaction.
Eden received a message from Callan asking her how she was doing. "Hello Miss Eden, I heard you got out safely. Did you manage to see the boss?" Eden replied, "I got out safe and I did not see the boss of the cave we needed to defeat to win." She was referring to the king but Callan didn't know that. Then Callan said, "how fortunate, I wanted to check on my best fighter." Eden responded, "I'm not your best fighter, unless you have made up your mind that all of my members will be guaranteed a spot in your alliance." Callan replied, "We don't have room for everyone, but perhaps we can do it in cycles, once the alliance expands in capacity, the rest can come." Eden felt like it was a start. She was happy to find out her members won't be left behind. Then Callan asked, "what kind of questions do you have to increase power?" Eden replied, "how do I forge stronger armor?" Callan replied, "you go into your catalog and look at the different types of crystals you need to forge it. You also need the materials and gold. Then your forger needs to be highly skilled in order to be able to create that. Depending on the forger's level, it can create the armor or weapon as shown in the catalog or create something rare." Eden then asked, "how did you learn about this?" Callan replied, "I have my ways." Eden followed with another question, "is there someone knowledgeable in this server who taught you?" Callan replied, "You could say that, but I can't give you all my secrets." Eden then replied, "what you shared is enough knowledge for me since I'm still learning. Thank you. It's getting late for me, I'll talk to you in the morning if you have time." "Sounds good, sweet dreams Miss Eden," answered Callan. Eden got up from her chair in her study after setting all the unread letters in one stack and the answered ones in another stack. Then she removed the towel from her head and went to her room. Callan was still in his study just reading the conversation over trying to find the crumbs Elise mentioned. He scowled as he said "I gave her the information you told me to give her, but she gave me nothing." Lucy, who was right behind him moved in closer to his ear and said "there was more than one in that cave. She didn't meet the boss of the cave. That indicates that there was a leader. They are magical beings, I could taste it in their blood."
The next morning Eden went to the forge building. It was her first time there since most of her gear was accumulated through boss hunt drops. After all this time, she still hasn't explored all of her castle. She didn't even question why the NPC's would even need a place to socialize and rest until finding out about Menky. All she had done before was assume and distract herself with training or the alliance. It was all beginning to get more complicated. Upon arriving, she noticed the furnace was going and there was a lot of basic gear that her troops would wear. She had Erza scan the quality of a pile. Erza told her it was mid tier quality material. The kind she found in boss hunts. Eden asked what the cost of purchasing better quality was. Erza had recommended disassembling the current gear to forge a higher tier. Then she asked how much material could be consumed from the old gear. Erza showed her a list and the consumption cost. Eden then looked for the forger who was an old man working on mending some armor that was picked from the pile. Eden looked at him curiously and then asked, "excuse me sir, may I have your name?" The man took a small jump back in surprise because he had not expected anyone other than General Gabriel to arrive to give him assignments. When the man saw Eden, he respectfully bowed a little and said," I apologize for not noticing you my liege as you walked in, my name is Gunther." Eden signaled him with her hands to stop bowing, "Sir Gunther, there's no need to bow to me. I am younger and I should be paying my respects." Eden then gave a small respectful bow. Gunther shook his hands,"No no no , it's not necessary my liege, you are the castle owner. I am just a villager." he took a quick step closer to Eden and bowed a little more, then asked, "what can I help you with?" Eden pointed at the pile he was working on, and the pile that he had restored. "I apologize in advance since you have already worked on some of these, but I need you to disassemble them and create a higher tier for my army. I will continue to supply you with new material to use until the entire army has their own set." Gunther smiled nervously as he said, "Yes my liege, this may take a while as I am only one." Eden was a little taken aback but not surprised at this new discovery. She looked at Erza and asked, "Is there a way to allocate a few villagers to the forge?" Erza shook her head, "the villagers are under a contract, they will be dismissed to open their spots, but you won't receive the same ones." Gunther looked slightly panicked when Eden hmmmd. "Then I must hire new people specifically for the forge, "is there a way to get one with the advanced skill to forge rare items?" Erza paused as she searched through her archives, then said, "there is not telling when hiring a forger, it's more of a lucky draw. But there is a position of high mages that was recently introduced that doesn't limit their activities to just casting spells. They can be moved to any military assistant position, support or office administrator." Eden took a deep breath and exhaled before asking "I don't really like using magic items unless it's necessary. Just for survival. Is there a rule that it has to be a magic user?" Erza took a moment to scan for requirements, then answered, "No, just have the potential to wield magic. It will show in this meter. As long as the level goes up to the first measurement, they qualify. The highest it goes is 15th implying the magic user is high." Eden thought, this must be how they are trying to incorporate their new captives into the realm. Then she said, "Okay then, Gunther will be in charge of hiring his assistants. Please only higher the ones that meet the minimum. I won't be utilizing the magic tower. At least, I will have grateful subjects that wouldn't be hired anywhere else to be under my protection." Gunther looked at Eden shocked and asked, "you want me to be in charge of hiring?" "Yes, they will be working with you. I need you all to work well together." Then Eden turned to look at Erza and asked, "how many positions can I fill?" "A total of 12. 5 of them will be villagers specifically for the forge. 7 would be from the mage tower. If you had chosen to utilize the tower to its full potential, it would expand the number of positions to 14 max." Erza answered Eden. Then Eden took the scroll and the meter that was produced in Erza's hand to give to Gunther. Gunther looked at the meter and asked, "how does the meter work?" Erza answered, you have them point their finger at the symbol embedded on the bottom of the squared item. Tell them to concentrate and envision a light forming at their tip. It will trigger a shock and allow the meter to read their potential." Eden then pulled her dragon gear from her arsenal and gave it to Gunther, "Please use this material for our army. Have the positions filled by the end of the day." Eden walked away with Erza while Gunther was left speechless with the items still in his arms. Then a notification showed at his right on a floating screen that popped up, Congratulations! You have been promoted to Forge Master! These promotions happened whenever Eden gave a villager or someone in her care a new responsibility. They were issued automatically by Erza and updated to Eden's reports. That is how the knights were promoted to Generals. Gunther looked at the dragon armor and thought to himself, this must've been obtained through an event or bought at a high price, why would she give it to be used for material.
"Commader, the guest is arriving. Did you want to meet her at the gate?" asked Erza. Eden looked at Erza who was dressed in trousers, shirt, boots and leather vest. She was ready to spar at the training grounds. "Erza, are you able to change your eyes temporarily?" Erza looked at Eden and said, "my changes are permanent, but I can use a fool's ring for less than 1 hour. It temporarily covers you with a skin of your choice. If you decide on one attribute, then it reduces to half an hour." Eden tilted her head, "do I have such an item?" Erza nodded, "yes, you received them through the events in the chests you win and in some boss drops. Though there is no additional buff added to the user, it's purely for vanity or confusion. It's why it's called the fool's ring" Eden thought, this is probably how spies or criminals get away. We can't tell by the skin they wear. That reminded her of her own avatar skin which she hasn't changed. Eden wanted to check out if Erza would be able to substitute for her, but it would be challenging because Erza didn't know how to lie from what she observed. Then she decided to take the fool's ring and use one attribute to change her eyes to look like Erza's brown eyes with a golden iris. Eden asked, "can I use multiple rings?" Erza nodded as she gave her 5 more, but Eden only used one more to change her hair color to midnight blue. Now they are twins. Eden then commanded Erza to cloak and wait a few feet away so Blowzella's guide isn't blocked from coming closer.
Blozella arrived, accompanied with another person, Muffin. Eden felt a burn in her heart and let out a breath of air. Eden gave a forced smile at them and directed them towards the meeting quarters where the majority of the meetings happen if they are held at her castle. Blozella looked around the room as if scanning the area for someone hiding. Eden had Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan with her. They were busy, but Eden just wanted to show some courtesy. She didn't want Blowzella to feel Eden was looking down on her if she didn't have her Generals with her and it was also a show of respect from what her novels taught her. She picked them, because their character backgrounds were nobles. Eden kinda laughed at her reasoning. She was basically acting out a play. Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan bickered over who was going to pull the seat for Eden to sit on. Eden scowled a little, and she told them to stop and pull the chair out for the two guests. They straightened their posture in surprise and walked awkwardly toward the two ladies standing opposite of the round table. It was big enough for 15 people. So their choice of seat was uncomfortable for Eden.
"Welcome ladies, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" said Eden after she got comfortable in her seat. The ladies had their guides take a seat next to them. Blowzella had a dryad for a guide and Muffin had a siren. Eden tilted her head as she considered the reason for their choice. Perhaps it's a reflection of themselves that either they know of or just did it subconsciously. Blowzella answered, " I was wondering if Muffin can join the alliance. She's trustworthy." Eden took a sip of her cup that the servant girl dropped off with grape juice for her and wine for the guests. Then she answered, "that can be arranged, but there might be some changes in the later future, why did she want to leave FOX?" Blowzella asked quickly, "what kind of changes? I wasn't informed?" Eden pursed her lips, "That's going to be discussed in the meeting that needs to be set up." Blowzella looked outraged and said, "are you just focused on power? Because that's how it looks." Eden scowled at the question. The fuck she said, Eden thought. Then she noticed Muffin looking at her intensely. Eden took a deep breath and let it go. "I said it's to be discussed. If I was interested in power, then I'd leave to FTG on my own without caring how you all figure it out. Instead, I'm negotiating with other alliances to help the growth and maximum potential." Blowzella retorted, "we would do just fine, I was the leader of this alliance once but I didn't want it." Eden thought to herself, what the fuck did that mean. She selfishly decided not to take responsibility and now wants to be a fucken leader after all the hard work. Eden narrowed her eyes, "If you feel you can do a better job, then call for a vote. It's in the contract we signed at the beginning." Blowzella stayed silent at the suggestion. Muffin then hesitantly said, "I'm sorry for all this trouble, I just wanted to go to a place that sounded fun. Please don't argue." Eden broke eye contact and looked at Muffin. "You still haven't answered my question. Why are you leaving FOX?" Muffin gulped and said, "it's very cut throat, I just wanted to be in a place where I have a little fun and not worry about constantly going to boss hunts." Eden took a sip of her drink again, "but boss hunts are part of your success. Your armor is next level from mid tier, but not quite the high level. I was a result of being part of a hydra raid." Muffin looked at her armor and cursed herself for not switching to a lower tier armor. It was because Blowzella mentioned Eden respects power that she used all her best items. Then Eden said with a softer tone, "I won't turn you away, if you're looking for fun, then it's fine. But we have made boss hunts more mandatory if you aren't going to PVP. Our PVP players go defend the alliance territories, other castles, join war events and train. You don't have to stay one permanently, just pick one to help out a bit." Muffin smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "If you need help with resources, our team can help. Just be considerate that they also need to grow as well." Muffin smiled and nudged Blowzella that just looked irritated. Then Blowzella looked around and asked, "where is your guide?" Eden responded with ease, "she is actively following my orders." Blowzella stopped looking around and asked, "like what?" Eden let out a breath of air and asked in response, "Do I need to run everything by you Blowzella? Last I checked, this is my castle and I am your Leader." Eden pulled rank to stop Blowzella from continuing to ask questions in front of a newcomer who she didn't know if she can be trusted yet. Blowzella raised her chin and said, "No. I was just curious is all. I also noticed you changed your appearance." Eden tried not to roll her eyes, instead she leaned back on her chair and crossed her legs. Then took off one of the rings that changed her eye color back. "It's merely cosmetic. Pure vanity to accentuate the beautiful feature I already have," answered Eden with a little hint of mock in her tone of voice. Blowzella crossed her arms and leaned back into her seat. She was using a skin that she purchased during an event. It was of a long red hair beauty with bright blue eyes. Her lips were permanently a deep red and cheeks rouge. Eden then leaned in on the table with her elbows as support as she placed her chin on her hands that held up her face like a hammock. "What I am interested in is that you wanted a personal meeting of a subject that could have been discussed over mail or private message." Blowzella said reluctantly, "Muffin insisted on visiting your castle because she thinks highly of you." Eden looked at Muffin that nodded fervently. Eden gave her a smirk ,but was not convinced. She then let it go and said, "If this is all you wanted to talk about then we can continue with our day." "Your battle in SVS, I wanted to hear the details for myself since I missed the meeting. I didn't receive an invitation," blurted Blozella. Eden felt uncomfortable reminding her there was no invitation because she was unconscious and everyone who gave a fuck about her was already there. So they did an improv meeting. Then Eden replied, "Yes, I apologize for not remembering to send out official letters to attend." she paused, "However, I do recall sending you specifically an email that the topic wasn't up for discussion and we were not to indulge in any rumors regarding it. Besides, you can see for yourself that there is no record of any battle after the camp attack." Blowzella then asked, can your guide re-send me that report?" Eden looked at the dryad, "there's no need, your guide can pull it up for you. It's an effortless action. My guide is fulfilling my task." Blowzella continued to push the topic of Erza, "When will your tasks be completed, I wanted to see your guide." Eden then felt the burn in her chest again. Does she think I'm stupid? I know when someone is fishing for information when I see it. I used to run a security team before I got sucked into this place. Sir Tristan and Sir Lancelot were standing near the back of the room. They were barely holding it together during the interaction between Eden and Blowzabella. When they saw her last reaction to Erza's whereabouts, they had to stop each other from taking a step forward. Eden heard their movement and cleared her throat. "Sir Lancelot and Sir Tristan, please see to it that these wonderful guests get out safely and promptly. I'll meet you both at the training grounds after I make a stop somewhere else first." Eden then got up and began to leave the room. Blozalle said in protest, "you're not even going to walk us out?" Eden didn't turn to look at them and said, "I have an alliance to run and responsibilities to fulfill. Don't expect me to drop everything just to entertain your curiosity."
Blozabella and Muffin were silent until they got outside of Eden's gate. Then Muffin said to Blozabella, "She's such a bitch. Why do you stay with her? I'm only coming here because of you." Blozabella mounted her horse, "I'm here because I have many to help, they would be sad if I left." Muffin then asked, "why do you let her talk to you like that?" Blowzabella replied, "I don't, but many others love her and she is manipulative. She left me out of conversations I should have been in." "That's so unfair!" Muffin exclaimed. "You don't even deserve that. You're too nice," Muffin added as she got closer with her horse and patted Blozella on the back of her shoulder. Blozella had a tear drop forming under eye, but she smudged it off. She took a deep breath, "I care about people." Then she furrowed her brows and looked at Muffin to say, "Sorry I couldn't get her to reveal her guide. She's so secretive about it. We couldn't test your theory." It's okay," responded Muffin with a smile. Then they rode off. In the distance stood Sylvie with her squad listening to their conversation. They were in their human form hiding in the shadows of the woods.
Eden arrived at the study and began to write to Callan in their private message. "Are you free?" She waited about 5 minutes before sending a second message. "I just wanted to confirm with you what is going on with Muffin." No reply from Callan. Eden was still fuming from the earlier interaction but she took a breather and decided if it was something important then there would be a reply. She switched to her training gear and was heading out when she her the notification come in. She sat back down to open it and see his reply, "What are you talking about?" Eden thought of how she could word it in case it backfired on Muffin that was really trying to escape without paying the fee. "I offered her a place in my alliance, she seemed to like her visit with Blozella here." Callan took a few minutes to respond, "There's nothing going on with her. She's just easily impressed. Next time you contact me regarding my alliance, make sure it's serious. Otherwise I can't drop what I'm doing just to reply to you." Eden got annoyed at his reply, it sounded a little too much like what she just said to Blowzella. She then replied, "I thought you would want to know I offered her a place, since I don't go sneaking around behind people's backs to do what I want to do." There was no reply from Callan. Then Eden decided to turn off her notifications she would receive remotely. She had a habit of turning them off when she was doing something that needed her full attention. Then turn them on after she is done. For war, they were always on, but her alliance members knew not to distract her unless it was important. Eden left for the training grounds.
Sylvie was done updating Celeste and Cerberus on what she overheard. Celeste said to her via mindlink, "We need to find a way on how to get into her castle without alerting the defense runes of an intruder." Then Sylvie notified them both that there were villagers traveling in a cart to the castle from afar that Lewis just spotted with his enhanced eyesight. "Intercept them and find out what they are traveling for." Sylvie and her squad moved fast and halted the driver. The driver screamed, "Thieves!" Then a few soldiers pop out of the carriage with swords. "We aren't thieves , we just seek help," answered Sylvie. She looked at the man with a hat dressed in fine robes. Then Sylvie took out a few golden coins and said, "We need someone to kill the 3 thieves that robbed us. They took our chests and ran off in different directions. This is all I have to pay, but my chests are full of these." The man almost grobbled at the sight of the gold. It was more than what he earned in an entire year for transporting resources and villagers for hire. The man gave a mischievous smile when he looked at Sylvie and her men. They didn't have any weapons on them. They were well dressed but they just lost all their gold. They were just peasants without their gold. The man placed his right thumb and index finger on his chin and said,
"I wish I could help, but I have villagers I am transporting to a monarch. They are to be hired for work and for you to get in my carriage, you must sign the contract to become one of those villagers seeking a job. Without a signed contract the carriage's protective shield won't drop". He lied. He could drop it by reciting the chant, but he wanted to trap them to keep the gold for himself. He planned to pay any monarch to help him find those three thieves. Sylvie updated Celeste and then asked, "which monarch are you headed to right now?" The man responded, "Great Eden, she has requested villagers for her forge and mage tower." Celeste asked Sylvie, "how many." Sylvie repeated the question. The man said, 12 in total. If you are not hired here, you would go to the next monarch." Celeste took a moment to think before saying, "you make the choice if you are willing to risk your freedom for the mission." Sylvie asked Celeste, "How important is the mission to you my Queen." Celested responded, "the future of our pack will depend on it." Sylvie then answered the man, " I will sign the contract." The rest of the squad received the same option to risk their freedom or not, but they agreed to risk it once they saw Sylvie sign.
Upon arriving, they followed the crowd to the forge building where Gunther was doing the hiring. Murphy and Kane were going to go first but Sylvie stopped them. "I want to see if he is hiring just to fill spots or if there is a requirement. We can intimidate everyone to back off if its the first," she told them via mindlink. They watched the first one follow Gunther's instructions, which was to use the meter first. Once it moved to the first mark, Gunther smiled and asked a few questions. The first question was if they liked magic and casting spells. What they would do if they didn't achieve the next level. If they had a plan to advance. Did they find forging weapons boring? What was it that they liked about forging? What would they like their monarch to do for them?
The first person answered, they aren't sure if they like magic, but if given the opportunity, they would try to be promoted. As for their monarch, just that they get fair wages. They weren't fond of being in the heat, but they would try it. Gunther then thanked the first person and said, "better luck on the next monarch." Then the second person got to the second mark on the meter and was dismissed without being asked any questions. The Third person got the 5th mark on the meter and Gunther thanked him and asked him to wait, but didn't ask any questions. Then the fourth person got to the first mark and Gunther asked the same questions. It was a female villager who was petite and looked fragile. She answered, "I don't have a preference in work, just as long as I get food, shelter, and some clothes. She looked down at the ragged clothes she was wearing. Then she said carefully, I can only hope the monarch treats her villagers well. I will work hard. Gunther took in a breath of air and assigned her a mage role. Then asked her to wait next to the one pending. Sylvie noticed this one was immediately hired and had a low amount of mana for magic use, yet she was given mage so easily. She looked at the rest and they understood the same thing. They made their way through the crowd and asked if they could switch out some garments for some of the old ones. The villagers were extremely happy to do it because they were just given one pair of clothes to travel in and to sleep in. They didn't get a new wardrobe until they reached the monarch's castle and they bought it from their own wages. After a monarch's fall, they would be captured from the attacker or placed in limbo by the elders until they were sent out again.
Two more were hired for the forge. They were husky men and they had expressed that they enjoyed the labor part of the forging. Then it was Sylvie's turn. She concentrated on just moving to the first mark and succeeded. Then for her answers, she said she wasn't interested in magic, but if that is where she was needed, then she would go where she is useful. She then said she admired the weaponry, but she doesn't know how to use it. As for her monarch, she would love to follow a devoted person to her people. Gunther smiled and assigned her a mage position. Gideon, Lewis and Murphy followed the same example as Sylvie ,but they each had to change the way they worded it to sound genuine. They were given a mage position. Then it was Oscar's turn. He tried to focus on the meter to get the first mark but his concentration was off that he ended up pushing the mark all the way up and passed the limit. Oscar tried to cover the result in a panic and dropped the box on the floor. Then he apologized nervously, "I am sorry, I think I broke it. It's giving the wrong results." Gunther had seen the result before Oscar tried to cover it and asked him, "Why are you trying to hide your ability?" Oscar moved his head lower to Gunther in order to show weakness. "I, I, I , I'm not interested in the magic tower or want to be used to hurt others. I just want to work and be invisible to the rest. I was a soldier in my last assigned position and it has only brought misfortune. Working in the forge would bring me peace," answered Oscar while looking at Sylvie for help. Gunther noticed the eye contact. Then told Oscar, "I was instructed to not hire anyone above the first mark, but I asked this man to wait because I wanted to see if my liege would reconsider. But you are too strong, and she would just dismiss it. I have seen her resolve in our broadcast." Gunther looked at Sylvie, and said, "I see you don't want to disappoint her." Then he paused to think. He would be dismissed as a mage if Eden knew, but not as a villager since he would be locked into the forge role. Then Gunther asked Oscar, "what's your favorite weapon?" Oscar replied, "They're all useful in their own way, to pick one is to disregard the individual beauty of the weapon." Then Gunther assigned him a forging role. Kane who was nervously waiting his turn now wondered if he was going to screw it up like Oscar. When Kane walked up for his turn he greeted Gunther and then looked at the guy who received the mark of 5th. Kane asked, "can he test it's not broken? I don't want to lose an opportunity to work here because it really broke." Gunther nodded and directed the man to try the meter again. The man did as asked and he got the same mark. Then Kane gulped and placed his finger on the symbol. He was so nervous that he couldn't concentrate and closed his eyes instead. His forehead began to sweat because he would be the only one who failed and then separated from his pack. He was beginning to think of all the good times he had with them and how he was going to have to say goodbye. Oscar who sucked at his mana control was just above his. They were known for putting in too much power on things. Which is why they were better at attacking than defending. Defending required focus and control to not hurt the ones behind you that you are protecting. Kane always played the super macho role, but right now he was acting like a little punk ass bitch. He didn't notice that his emotions and nervousness were allowing his mana to seep out. He hadn't even begun to focus on moving the meters when Gunther began to start asking him the same questions as everyone. Shocked he looked at the meter and saw it was on the first mark, it was shaking on the right spot and Kane removed his hand fast before he fuck it up. Kane answered and was assigned to the mage tower as well. A sense of relief washed over him. Then Oscar mindlinked him, "you were shitting bricks weren't you." Kane yelled in their link, "Shut you fucken mouth. It was just difficult to put out so little power into a box without breaking it." Oscar roared in laughter in his head. Then Kane looked at Gideon, Lewis and Murphy who were smirking at him. Stupid Oscar had already told them what he said to me. Sylvie just shook her head at them both and then looked alert when she turned to look at the entrance.
Eden arrived at the forge hoping to see if the task she had asked Gunther to complete was done. It was still early, but she wanted to check on the progress and to see how Gunther set things up. "My liege! You have arrived. I am sorry I have not completed your task yet." exclaimed Gunther as he tried to make his way to Eden to give her a proper greeting. Arthur, Gabriel and Gwaine were behind Eden. Erza was floating behind them because Eden had asked her to stay back in case a non-human villager was within the crowd. She didn't want to know if there was one in order to give everyone fair treatment. After learning Maximilian wasn't human the back of her head. Eden waved Gunther to stop trying to bow and asked, "what of the task I gave you. How far have you completed?" she asked with softness in her tone. Gunther showed her a list, and said, "there is one spot of each position left. I had a question because I wanted to run it past you before I made a decision." Eden looked at Gunther, "Oh, what is it that you have a question on?" Gunther signaled for the man to get closer and then Erza floated a little back. Eden didn't fail to notice Erza's movement. Eden then looked at Gunther who was a little excited and nervous at the same time. She didn't want to burst his bubble, then she stopped him before he asked by raising her hand. Then she said, "Whatever it is you are thinking, I will trust your decision making. Remember my requests and consider that your role is important to the safety of our people. Their armor depends on you." Then Eden placed her hand on Gunther's shoulder and smiled. "I will trust your judgement. Please have the new hires meet in my study so that I may see your final choices." Speechless for a moment, Gunther stuttered to say "Tha tha tha Thank you my liege. I will do my best to not disappoint you." Eden closed her eyes as the flashes of his last few moments flashed in her eyes. She forced a smile and walked away with her eyes still holding the water it was collecting. She forgot that she could see their past life's last moments with contact. This was probably to encourage monarchs from not getting too close to the villagers, preventing any socializing or any personal connection.