Kyran turned his attention back to Noir and asked, “How about the status of the defensive array here in the Tower?”
“The truth, we encountered a small problem with the calculation and I had to revise some of the materials we will use. Doing so, we also had to add more to the list. However…” Noir turned to Vaness with a slightly complicated expression.
Seeing Noir looking at him, Vaness looked at Kyran with an apologetic smile.
He said, “The new materials needed are quite troublesome to acquire. I’m ashamed to say that it has been years since we have them in our inventory.”
Malia, hearing this turned to him with a surprised expression, “Materials that even your chamber has trouble acquiring? What kind of materials are these?”
“Most of it are materials from forest beasts that can only be found in the south. Another is a rare stone found in the Ruins of Shaiha, and last is a thousand-year-old bark of the Duali Tree,” Vaness replied with a solemn expression.
As soon as the council members heard this, they gasped in surprise.
Even Malek was moved. He heard they were finalizing the additional materials for the array. But he did not expect that the materials they needed were relatively rare. Not to mention expensive.
“Those are indeed rare,” Malia agreed with a sigh.
“‘Materials that can be found from the forest beasts in the south’,” Callan repeated.
He also sighed and shook his head. “The Mercenary Hall had received a lot of request to hunt those forest beasts, but until now, only a handful of mercenaries completed the request. Even then, they had to form a few squads to deal with one.”
“Can I ask what’s so special about those beasts?” Kyran asked Callan.
“The climate in the south is harsher compared here, thus the forest beasts that lived there had evolved. But because of their evolution, it is not easy to kill them. Some also developed intelligence and formed a pack,” Callan explained.
“For short, they are tougher than the forest beasts around here and they move in groups.” Kyran summarized.
Callan nodded, “Yes. That is correct.”
“Okay. I understand the gist of it,” Kyran replied and looked at Noir. “How many of those forest beasts will you need? Or do you only need specific parts?”
Kyran’s expression looked indifferent that the council members could not help but sweat.
Did he not understand Callan’s explanation?
Those forest beasts were not invincible even if they moved as a pack. If the council members also moved together to hunt them, they could kill one or two in a single confrontation. However, they would not come out unscathed; thus, they never did. They were the leaders of The Conclave’s four constituents. If something were to happen to any of them, it would not suit The Conclave’s situation.
They already learned a lesson, especially to what happened to Hugh a few years ago.
Stella sighed. Only she and Malek were the ones who reacted differently to Kyran’s words. She could not blame them. They only knew Kyran’s strength from when he attacked the Mercenary Hall and the Tower of Conclave. Though his display of power was exemplary, hunting forest beasts were different from fighting humans after all.
But Stella and Malek knew. Kyran had more experience dealing with forest beasts than with people. The things he experienced at military school and the Regis’s could not be downplayed.
“Um. How many forest beasts?” Kyran repeated when Noir only looked at him blankly.
“Noir?” Stella also called for Noir’s attention.
Noir blinked a few times and recomposed his thoughts.
It took him a short while before finally answering, “Well… ah…three medium-sized forest beasts should be enough.”
Kyran nodded.
“Okay. How soon would you need the materials?”
“We are currently in the initial stage of the array creation and the materials from the forest beasts will be used during the third phase of the middle stage, which will begin a week from today if everything went accordingly.” Noir explained.
Kyran nodded in acknowledgement and calculated the days in his head. If he had seven days and planned to get used to his warp ability in the next two days to help with the transportation of materials, then there were only five days left. Initially, he planned to continue training in molding his magic for a few days, but he would need a couple of days to hunt those beasts.
‘I have at most, three days to train and prepare before setting out,’ he thought. ‘I hope Nolan is back by then. He’d be a great help if he’s with me.’
Although Kyran did not expect Nolan to help him unconditionally, Nolan mentioned hunting forest beasts back when they were at the abandoned warehouse.
‘We’ll hunt a different forest beast but he’ll probably agree as long as its dangerous,’ he thought with a wry smile.
Kyran already knew Nolan had a knack for throwing him in danger. But he knew that when his life would be in trouble, Nolan would not hesitate to save him.
Probably.
“Okay. I’ll have it ready by then,” Kyran told Noir.
When Stella heard him, she became worried. She was confident with Kyran’s strength, but initially, she thought he would gather some people to help him hunt. The way he spoke, however, gave her the impression that he planned to hunt alone.
“Kyran,” Stella called and gently tugged the back of his sleeve.
Kyran looked at her and saw her worried expression. He did not need to ask to know what she was thinking.
“There’s still a few days. Going alone is my last option but I plan to wait for him. Hopefully he’ll be back before I set out,” he explained in a low voice just loud enough for Stella to hear.
Hearing Kyran’s explanation, Stella heaved a sigh of relief. She knew who he was referring to and agreed.
Kyran turned his attention back at Noir and Vaness.
“What about the rare stone?”
Noir shook his head with a sigh. “The rare stone can only be found at Shaiha Ruins. Unfortunately, the Templar Code had bought the full rights over that ruins from the Royal Family.”
‘Templar Code?’ Kyran thought with a slight frown.
The Templar Code was another independent faction within the Yflaen Empire that rivalled the Conclave. They were located in the west, and according to the Conclave’s record, they were an overly righteous organization. They never really cared about the overall situation of the empire. However, the Conclave managed to find proof that the leader of the Templar Code had a hidden connection with Deputy Marshal Imman, the man rumored to be only a step away from being promoted to a Magus.
If they wanted to get a rare stone of the Shaiha Ruins, they might cross paths with the people from the Templar Code if they could not plan their moves properly.
Kyran sighed in his heart. All these hidden connections within the empire were very troublesome.
“That is correct,” Vaness agreed. “Given the Templar Code’s reputation, I doubt they would easily sell us a small piece of stone without rousing their suspicion as to why we needed it.”
Callan nodded and added, “Although we managed to control the circulation of information inside Starhorn, we can never be careless. After all, my memory magic is not omnipotent. They may also have a means to find out the truth of our situatio that we are not yet aware of.”
The rest of the council agreed.
“It’s okay. Since it was my fault, I’ll get the stone. I have thought of a few ways how to deal with it but I still need more information,” Kyran said.
The council members once again reacted to his words.
Did they hear him right? He already came up with a few ways to get the stone?
Seeing the incredulous look on their faces, Kyran suddenly felt uneasy. Did he say something wrong? He belatedly realized how most of them seemed to act surprised at most of what he said. Getting a rare stone was not that hard.
If they knew what he thought, they would all probably flip.
The Templar Code was not just a small-fry organization that anyone could cross.
…
Well.
The Conclave was the same, but Kyran ignored that and even wrecked its main stronghold; the Tower of Conclave.
He was not planning to do the same with the Templar Code, would he?
Black lines appeared on most of them as they thought of this possibility.
“Can I trouble you with providing the rest of the information I needed?” Kyran asked Hugh and Callan, ignoring the look of disbelief on their faces.
Hugh snapped out of his reverie and nodded, “Certainly.”
Kyran nodded and turned his attention back to Vaness.
“How about the other one?” He asked.
Vaness also recomposed himself and replied, “The last material is the thousand-year-old bark of the Duali Tree, and it is only found in the periphery of the Chaos Palace.”
Kyran’s ears perked up after hearing this.