There was a small skirmish in the middle of the night when a small group of Anomalies showed up but that was easily dealt with by the Vanguards without needing my involvement.
The mining continued to the next day and I was just stuck sitting around again with nothing to do.
Like literally just sitting around where I was seated in a chair and just watching the others do their work inside the camp.
The Vanguards had been organised to do patrols around to clear out any Anomalies in the area and to also ensure our route back to the portal was clear.
They were already transporting some of the mined Mana Crystals back towards the portal so we have to make sure that the transports aren't ambushed on the way back.
I didn't even need to be near them because apparently, a Mortal God's protection from the miasma is so large that it might as well cover the entire rift.
So literally… I'm the only person right now who was just sitting around and doing nothing.
Even Olivia who was standing beside me as my guard was also busy coordinating the operations as well so she was more busy than me.
I never thought that I would say this but… I think even being put on guard duty was more interesting than what I'm doing now.
I sighed internally before I looked around the camp again, spotting several of the Vanguards taking their break as they returned from their patrols.
A question came to me.
I turned to Olivia, "Speaking of which… Who over here are prospective Guardian candidates?"
Olivia turned to me, "Does my Lord want to know every single one or just the ones who are closest to being accepted?"
"There's that many? I guess just the ones who are closest to being accepted will do."
"Then you have already met all of them, my Lord. All of them fought alongside you against the giant Anomaly yesterday."
"So… The elf mage, the girl with the shield, the cat boy, the centaur and the cloaked figure?"
She nodded, "That's correct. Would you like to look at their dossiers?"
"Err… Why not just give me a verbal summary of them would do for now?"
She bowed, "Of course, my Lord. I believe you are already aware of the mage who has been using the spell that can tear open a space in the air to summon a meteor?"
"She is hard to forget, yes…"
"Avatasia Greetelda, her race is known as Alves amongst them though they have accepted to be called elves after coming here. They came from a World that was besieged by Anomalies and had to abandon their World to escape to another, which eventually led them to Earth. She was one of the top mages in that World and led the exodus from their World to escape from their World. She specialises in space and gravity magic and the rifts have empowered her spells even further to the point that she can tear open spaces to force a meteor to descend upon a target location."
I figured that might be her magic, but that part about her being a top mage in her World was definitely news to me.
"I'm surprised that she hadn't been scouted as a Guardian all this time then."
Olivia hesitated for a moment before she answered, "There were people who tried to scout her as one and even tried to bring her over to the other countries but she chose to settle here instead, saying that it was her fate to be here."
I raised an eyebrow underneath my mask, "You don't think she used her magic or something to predict all this?"
"I do not know but I would not be surprised if that was really the case."
I made a mental note to ask her about it in the future.
Olivia continued, "Next is the girl with the shield, if my Lord remembers?"
I nodded, "The one who managed to protect us from the shockwave of the meteor, I remember."
"Wu Jia Lian, she's a local and has been working as a Vanguard for a while now. She immediately applied to be a Guardian the moment the notice was sent out. Her ability is to manipulate arcane energy to enhance her weapons and project constructs according to her will."
"Project constructs? Like the shield wall? Are they indestructible?"
"According to her, it's only as strong as her will."
"Hmm… The fact that she is able to withstand the shockwave with her shield wall means that her will is pretty strong."
"Indeed. That is why she is considered for being a Guardian. We're still in the midst of checking her background so that would be the deciding factor."
Right, got to make sure that there isn't anything compromising about her history.
"What about Leena?" I asked, remembering the centaur who guarded me while I meditated yesterday.
"Leena Ultila. In her World, her race is called Unamu and she is… Quite similar to the centaurs that are present in your World's myths."
"'Quite' similar? Isn't she basically the same? She has a horse bottom half doesn't she?"
"Her race is… Not quite a horse. It is difficult for me to explain so I will leave it to her if my Lord is still interested in explaining to you."
"Fair enough."
"As my Lord has already seen, she is quite proficient with firearms and her World has also reached an era of technology similar to Earth's so she is no stranger to using them. One of her awakened abilities is spatial weight reduction where she can reduce the weight of something around her to near zero without compromising on their function."
"That's how she is able to carry that much equipment and still run around like she is carrying nothing. Understood. What about the cat boy?"
"Kris Everbright. His race is known as the Kreena in his World and he's a former prince before the Anomalies completely eradicated his world. He lost pretty much most of his family and I believe he might be the only surviving member of the royal family as he was tasked to lead his people to safety instead of participating in the defense."
I grimaced, "Is he…"
"He is not suicidal and is actually quite optimistic, so my Lord does not need to worry about that."
"I see… What about his abilities?"
"Gravity manipulation but only limited to things that he can touch."
I nodded, "That explains why he can swing that giant sword around and flip himself around. And the guy that is fully cloaked and hiding his face?"
At my question, Olivia stopped and looked around and I thought that something was happening until I realised that she was just checking if anyone was listening to our conversation.
She then leaned forward so that she was closer to me and lowered her voice to a whisper.
"Sergei Kiselev… Nicknamed 'Shadow'. He is from the Union of Socialist Republics and used to be an assassin working for one of the underground societies there. He was betrayed by his organisation but he managed to escape and found his way down here. He's trying to get a Guardian position to get a protected status so that his organisation won't be able to touch him anymore."
"Is that going to be a problem for us then?" I asked, thinking that the organisation might come after us if we take him in.
"Unless they somehow manage to get one of their Mortal Gods on their side, highly unlikely."
"I suppose his skills are worth the risk then?"
She nodded, "One of his known abilities is shadow manipulation including being able to travel through them and solidifying them as weapons. He is, naturally, an experienced fighter and also very proficient in assassination. So it would be a better idea to get him on our side than letting him loose."
I suppose this is a matter of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.
Olivia quickly added, "You will have the final say in deciding the Guardians of course, my Lord. If you find any other people amongst the ones gathered here that you want to hire as a Guardian, just let me know. And if any of the people I mentioned are not suitable to be your Guardian for any reason at all, do not hesitate to disqualify them as well."
"Hmm… What about people who are not here?" I asked.
"I assume my Lord is talking about Vanguards that you might have worked together with before?"
"Yes."
"Of course if my Lord has someone you wish to recommend to be your Guardian as well, you can just nominate them and we will do our due diligence to check them if they are suitable to be a Guardian."
I assume the reason why they can't just accept my recommendations is just in case they have problematic backgrounds or something which I understand.
Well… I'm pretty sure Dan would pass the test so… Hey, time to fulfil that promise of yours, bro.