Chapter 63 - The Thunder God's Candidate

"What was that?" Margareth asked as she stared even more intently at Rynold.

'I guess there's no harm in telling her, huh?' Rynold thought to himself before sighing. He removed all pretenses of lying and simply spoke the truth of the matter.

"I just made an order," Rynold nonchalantly said to the Librarian, "I just wanted a workshop on my own, you see. And, uh..., it seemed to work without any hitches."

Margareth's expression turned from anger to pure uninterested just like that. At this point, Rynold considered that this woman might be the most aloof elf in the world.

Folklore and old myths say that elves turn out to be more elegant and welcoming, but Margareth turned out to be the direct opposite of that. Well, the stories don't really encompass the entire elven race but, hey, it's nice that they don't stick to one stereotype.

"I've been meaning to ask," Rynold continued the conversation, "what is it exactly I should be doing? I am the new Lord, aren't I?"

Margareth put down her entire stack of books that she was busy putting away and turned to Rynold's direction. Rynold, on the other hand, somehow nerved. He thought that he might've struck a nerve with that question.

She stood still for a few moments before opening her mouth to answer the question.

"You're not ready," she said with a cold, uncaring look on her face to which Rynold responded by raising his eyebrow. Margareth noticed the look on his face and realized that he's going to need a lot more convincing than that.

She turned to the side and avoided Rynold's gaze before speaking.

"You aren't ready because your Mana Core is still weak. Sure, you passed the trial and all, but you can't really expect me to drop all of the Lordly duties to you right away, can you?" Margareth said with a slightly arrogant tone before continuing.

"Let me manage the duties, for now, like I've done before and you can focus on training your Mana Core up to a stage that's acceptable," she said with slight concern.

Rynold knew that the concern wasn't directed towards him but rather her people instead. The citizens of this tree turn to her for guidance and the changes in the ownership won't matter because the people still consider her as their leader. It wasn't like that would change overnight.

With a sigh of relief, Rynold nodded, ensuring his trust in the Librarian that stood above her before. After which, his gaze refocused with determination. Something about what Margareth said had struck him.

"What do you mean by my Mana Core being weak?"

Margareth's gaze turned ever so slightly towards the door. She paused before responding, "To be perfectly specific, I didn't really mean just you. All of the ones who approached the tree for the trial turned out to be as weak as a twig in this world. You can't even hold a candle to the keepers like me. Speaking of which..."

She slowly walked towards the door, her heels clicking with every step she took. When she got to it, she swiftly opened the door and Jack came pouring in and tumbled at her feet.

It was obvious that the guy was trying to listen in on the conversation. Rynold, however, was a lot more impressed with how Margareth had sensed them. Rynold couldn't sense a person when they don't emit any sort of killing intent or any movement. What's more, was that Jack was behind a two-inch thick door.

'I guess I still have a lot to learn about Mana,' Rynold thought as he went to help Jack off the ground.

Margareth moved back to her chair and sat down. It was evident that Jack had crossed the line before and now that he snooped around, Rynold doubted if he could stop her from killing Jack this time around.

"Everyone, come on in," Rynold said as he patted Jack on the back and walked first towards where Margareth was, and sat down next to her. "Make yourselves comfortable."

A total of six people came in. Well, six people and a wolf.

"Okay, I called you guys in here today because I'd like to know where you guys stand from here on out," Rynold started the conversation, "but before we get to that part, I'd like you guys to introduce yourselves."

"What is this, kindergarten?" Jack said sarcastically.

Rynold sighed in complete disbelief. He would think that Jack would've learned by now that it's better to coordinate with simple matters such as this one. Rynold grabbed the coat that he borrowed from Jack throw it back at him with enough force to, hopefully, knock some sense into the guy.

Jack caught the coat with barely any time to react and smiled at his success. He then proceeded to introduce himself to the crowd.

"The name's Jack, currently single. I'm that guy's," Jack pointed to Rynold, "tactical support and ranged damage dealer."

Margareth looked at Rynold in complete doubt. It was as if, somehow, just being associated with Jack has put Rynold even further down in her mind. Rynold just shook his head and sighed before letting the others continue.

"Oliver," he proceeded next.

Rynold didn't think much of Oliver's cold attitude since it wasn't the first time he was like this. Even though he oozed charisma most of the time, Rynold knew it was normal for Oliver to react like that, especially after the tragic loss.

"C-Cecil," an awkward young man stuttered, "I, uh..., just use spells a lot."

Impressions of Cecil made Rynold think that the guy had potential. It was his common habit to overanalyze habits and such. His instincts state that Cecil could be an amazing spell caster but his awkwardness and lack of self-confidence have gotten the better of him.

A young girl continued after Cecil.

"Neana," she said with an air of superiority, "people call me Nea. I'm a summoner."

'Oh?' Rynold raised an eyebrow.

He sensed something out of the ordinary this time around. Instead of being able to look past this girl and sense her true intentions, he couldn't. It was as if her arrogant aura acted as a shell to guard her vulnerable self. Rynold knew this quality in a person could only lead to disaster, so he made a mental note about this Neana.

"Chris," a man who was well into his twenties introduced himself, "I'm Cecil's older brother. So far, I've just been bashing some skulls in with my bare hands and use blunt weapons as a primary. A pleasure to meet you all."

Rynold raised an eyebrow once more. He sensed that this guy was not to be messed with as he could deal serious damage. Whether emotionally or physically, Rynold knew he didn't want to find out and vowed to only interact with him in a professional manner.

Lastly, a bulky guy grunted and exuded an oppressive aura, like a weapon constantly ready to strike.

"Leo," he said with a tone of might to back his words, "swordsman and...," he paused to raise the sleeve that covered his right shoulder to show a sigil.

"The Thunder God's Candidate."

Oliver reacted with a simple gaze and, for the first time, showed interest. Jack also was surprised at the guy's sudden revelation but he somewhat knew that the guy was dangerous — just not to this degree.

Rynold, though, was indifferent. In fact, he even yawned.

It was an act of provocation and a test to measure the guy's overall emotional maturity. Because this time around, Rynold had no trouble seeing past Leo's stature to accurately guess what kind of guy he is.

Leo was a textbook jock who thought that brute force was the answer to everything. He even picked out to be a swordsman and, to this, Rynold seriously considered the Thunder God's intentions.

'What a basic bitch!'

That was the first thing that Rynold thought of when he took two seconds to accurately guess Leo's attitude and overall personality. Case in point, he even maddeningly grunted and scoffed at Rynold's yawn, like a bull ready to run him down.

With a sigh of disappointment, Rynold stood up from his chair. He decided to at least treat them with respect. These guys took the time to accept his request of meeting him here, after all.

"Rynold," he calmly introduced himself, "thank you all for meeting me here."

He looked around the room before continuing, "I don't think you guys heard but I managed to snatch this Tree's Lordship. So, with that, I'm here to ask you if you would like to join me under this banner or to leave of your own volition."

Rynold directed the question to the four strangers that had just introduced themselves as Rynold already knew both Oliver and Jack's responses.

Before they could even answer, though, Leo, in all of the basic things he could do, approached Rynold and grabbed him by the collar.

"Who do you think you are to order us around? Huh?" he threatened Rynold with his sword drawn.