The Guardians' Throne - The First Magic Swordsman

Chapter 365 - Cry

            Just as Zaos had expected, he didn't hear rumors about the things he did in the castle until now. That was because the king and his two advisers were working to prevent the turmoil from spreading. However, it was obvious that some countries would have spies infiltrated, and those spies already informed Ashiris kingdom… that was why the royal family was mobilizing its army. That was good for them since it would keep his pursuers busy. However, it would cause a war. Many people would die because of those incidents… that is another thing that might cause problems for Milliendra if she discovers it.

"... Let's rest for the day. We will have a long journey ahead of us from tomorrow onward," Zaos said.

            The next day, Zaos opened the map and rechecked some things. There were three villages around that were only a single day of travel from the port. Those seemed like some nice places to check. Because of the bandits, most people wouldn't welcome foreigners, and that was the reason why they needed to be checked. But before that, Zaos had to solve a problem…

"For the time being, we need to disguise ourselves as traveling merchants in order to avoid suspicion," Zaos said. "Still, we won't fool anyone if we don't have any products to sell."

          While they had some animals, they weren't for sale. Picking up fruits from the groves around would take too much time as well… Zaos had an idea, but it was a bit risky and probably wouldn't give him much money back if it fails.

          Zaos and Aleni moved toward the nearest village, and as expected, they weren't welcomed with smiles. If anything, the people there looked at them with stern eyes. However, they opened up a little to them when Zaos said that he wanted to buy used or broken magic tools.

"Hello, my name is Rick, and I am buying all kinds of magic tools," Zaos said.

            Zaos saw several shops selling those in the port, so trading them shouldn't be a crime, even the used ones. Since the people of that village cultivated the land using some magic tools, their prices weren't that high. So, in the blink of an eye, Zaos obtained a reason to stay in the village for the rest of the day and even gained a stock of those magic stones.

"They produce wheat here, so most of their tools are to help with that," Zaos said, looking at the piles of items that were basically copies of each other. "Still, it seems that they last for a long time since they are used in place of physical strength."

              All of the magic tools stopped working because the magic stone had lost all of its mana. Even without checking it, Zaos could sense that. The stones were usually blue spheres of all kinds of shapes that emitted a faint blue light, but without mana, they looked like glass.

"Is this really wise?" Aleni asked, slightly angry "Shouldn't we work on trying to find a way to help Milliendra?"

"This might help her, though," Zaos replied.

"How?" Aleni asked.

"Do you see the magic book I read every night? It has the knowledge of all spells the followers of the demon god can use," Zaos said. "And yet, it doesn't mention anything about how someone can drain mana from another person or how we can exorcise someone. So, that tells us that the demon god didn't leave the knowledge that could cause problems for him later. That is why we need to try many things. Besides…" 

"Besides?" Aleni asked.

"We can't show our true skills here, it will eventually spread rumors, and someone will connect the dots sooner or later," Zaos explained. "With that in mind, we need to make a living doing something else."

          That sense, but from Aleni's perspective, it seemed a roundabout way to do things. However, it also looked like Zaos was determined to follow a road that would cause fewer problems to Milliendra down the road.

            After that conversation, Zaos began to analyze the magic tools. They didn't look that complicated, but he was certain that there was more than the eyes could see. For simple tools, the magic stones basically enhanced some parts to make the work easier, like enhancing the blade of a scythe or the prolonged ends of a hoe.

            Zaos tried to feed his mana into the magic stones, but as expected. It wouldn't be so simple to solve the problem. However, it shouldn't be that complicated either since those could be found in nature.

"Alton said that they can be more valuable than gold, but I guess the size influences the price," Zaos thought.

            After the sun began to set, Zaos and Aleni left the village, and once again, she returned to check from rumors. Meanwhile, Zaos broke a single hoe in many parts and then learned the trick of the magic tool. There was a small tune that connected the magic stone to the end of the hoe. There was some small inscription there as well. Zaos recognized the symbol… it was basically the same type of magic he used to enhance a weapon. However, the inscription had been modified to drain just a small amount of mana from the magic stone.

"If I use the reverse process… it didn't work," Zaos frowned.

            Maybe Zaos will have to buy a fully charged magic stone to learn the tricks behind that. He suddenly had an idea… wouldn't it be awesome if he could create a rapid-fire crossbow that fired magic bolts and would be recharged by a magic stone… what a fearsome weapon it would be.

"GYYYYAAAAAH! GYAAAAAHHHH!"

            For some reason and out of nowhere, Milliendra began to cry. That was odd, she just had her dinner, and she had been put to sleep as soon as she finished… Zaos put her in her arms, and then he began to calm her down.. However, he clicked his tongue when he felt several presences approaching, and none of them belonged to Aleni.