Chapter 114 - Logical Conclusions

"I don't really know."

With a deep sigh, Lissa stared into the open space of Rynold's cage. She was obviously frustrated by the fact that things had suddenly gone awry.

Truthfully, though, Rynold could empathize with how badly things have gone. If it weren't for the sudden appearance of gods and the New World, he'd still be somewhere in class.

Anyway, now was not the time for him to lament that.

With Lissa's earlier statements, though, Rynold was able to guess why the hierarchy in power was completely irregular. To the point where it didn't make any sense whatsoever.

'Hm...,' Rynold started to think as he kept quiet. He knew that if he said something, it would only upset the young Princess.

'Based on what she said, it seems that the main problem is the Duke and his son, Wilfred. But, considering that the current King and Queen were completely useless even before I met them, what the hell changed? What made the Duke suddenly act like he wanted to be the one in power?'

"Lissa," Rynold called on the Princess, who had nearly fallen asleep. "Is there anything you can tell me about when the Duke started to come in with the monsters?"

"Mm...," Lissa moaned as she had gotten comfortable with leaning on Rynold's shoulder, almost falling asleep. "I think it was when about 9 or so months ago..?" she murmured as the blinking of her eyes started to slow down.

Rynold immediately realized it. About 9 months ago was when it all started. The entirety of the series of events that had led to this point started from that point 9 months ago.

'Shit,' Rynold inwardly swore as he let Lissa sleep.

'The Duke must've been awake at that point and received the same message that everyone did. To rise above everyone else. He knew full well that he didn't need to do anything before that because he already controlled everything.'

Rynold's thoughts led to the conclusion wherein the Red Rain was the catalyst that initiated the Duke's actions. What really bothered him, though, was why isn't there anybody who can use magic here?

From the words that the first window appeared, Rynold understood that the New World was meant to be an equalizer for everyone that had survived. Kings would be toppled down and the balance of power would instantly shift.

Survival of the fittest. There really wasn't much else to it.

Which inevitably meant that the Duke wanted the power all to himself.

The Red Rain happened at the same time all around the world. Thus, it meant that the Red Rain would pour regardless of the time difference in different parts of the world. So, it was possible that the Red Rain occurred when most people were inside their homes and asleep.

Rynold was able to start piecing the puzzle together.

'Fuck.'

That was the first thought that popped up when he realized how messed up things were.

For one thing, their main opponent wasn't the King and Queen. It was the Duke, instead. Rynold inwardly swore at the fact that Leo hadn't exposed such crucial information in the first place. Otherwise, Rynold would've thought of a completely different plan from the start.

Another point was the fact that there was no evidence of magic within any of the halls. Rynold's keen senses were always for the lookout of any evidence of magic, but Leo was the only one who had it.

That meant that the Duke was careful. It was as if he knew that there would be threats so, he kept his distance and stayed somewhere where Rynold couldn't get to him.

Regardless, those things were nothing compared to the third and biggest point.

The Duke was starting an army.

Rynold's thoughts led to that point. In hindsight, it may have been nothing, and Rynold was simply overthinking things. But, considering the things that Lissa had told him, it wasn't a farfetched idea either.

Based on the information provided by Lissa, the Duke had control over a lot of different things including the military outside the castle. It was safe to assume that the Duke monopolized all of the drops from the monsters that did come up.

Which, coincidentally, meant that the military under the Duke were the only ones who had access to magic and Mana.

Facing an entire army of Mana Users may not be the best idea. Even if he were at the Tier 2 Mana Core stage, Rynold highly doubted he could stand against an entire army.

With a deep sigh, Rynold was faced with a proper dilemma.

The most reasonable thing to do was to cover his own ass and get out of here. Since he had the teleportation stone, Rynold had every ability to leave. But, was it the right thing to do, though?

He didn't need an answer for a question as simple as that.

Arguably, leaving would only make things worse for Leo. And, from what Rynold could tell, it would result in a very bad outcome if he left Leo behind.

With that said, Rynold didn't know what else he could do at this point. The best thing he could probably do was to wait and see what would happen. The information that was provided to him merely scared him to a certain degree. However, his determination was still strong.

As much as Rynold wanted to be proactive, though, there really wasn't much he could do. Since most of his time ever since he had gotten here was spent in the damned cage, Rynold didn't have many avenues to get stronger.

Well, except for one.

Easing Lissa off of his shoulder and placing her head gently on the ground, Rynold moved to the tunnel.

He descended slowly and quietly onto the cave that he discovered to make sure that Lissa wouldn't wake up. With each step, Rynold started to feel the presence of the Exanite once more.

Soon arriving at the cave, Rynold was greeted by a proud-looking Spirit.

"Are you done mingling with the other human?" the Spirit of Fire's voice echoed from within Rynold's head.

"Yes," Rynold nodded with a slight chuckle, "Appreciate the eavesdropping, by the way. Couldn't have done it without you."

"Your welcome," Prominence Alpha answered with a prideful tone.

"Anyway," Rynold shook his head and tried to focus the point of the conversation. "Do you think we can set up some sort of catalyst for that thing? I might be able to whip something up with the materials I have."

Rynold pointed at the Exanite located deep within the hole on the ground, its purple light still shining. Rynold thought about it for some time and eventually came up with the idea of building an item that would house the properties of Exanite.

"Infuse my properties onto the catalyst and we should be able to do it. However successful we may be, that I am unsure of," the Spirit of Fire reaffirmed Rynold's earlier thought.

"Good," Rynold smiled, "Let's get to work, shall we?"

Without a single shred of doubt in his mind, Rynold pulled out a folding desk from his inventory. It was one of the essentials that he had packed before the journey. The funny thing was that it was also the same thing that gave him the [Encumbered] status. Well, that and a bunch of other things that were needed for a workstation.

An anvil, forge, lathe, the whole set came out from Rynold's inventory. Pulling them out one by one immediately gave Rynold a sensation akin to lifting a literal weight off his shoulders.

Albeit the smaller size of the things that he brought out, Rynold set his mobile forge up. It took some time for him to completely bring it to the bare minimum specifications, but soon enough...

Pulling out the [Hammer of the Worthwhile] from his inventory, Rynold got to work. But first, he directed the Spirit of Fire: Prominence Alpha onto the small forge. Rynold made the entirety of the Spirit as the fire for the forge, to which Prominence Alpha reluctantly agreed.

Pulling up a nearby ore from the ground, Rynold started to get to work.

He threw the small piece of ore into the fire in which the Spirit forcefully burnt with every power in its being. Rynold pulled it out when it was ready.

With every swing of the hammer while infused with Rynold's Mana Infusion, the small ore was shaped into a small orb-like appearance.

Suffice it to say, Rynold was glad to do something like this again. He hadn't felt like a proper smith in such a long time that the sound of the hammer pounding against the ore was pure happiness to his ears.

Soon enough, Rynold was able to produce a small metal orb that was in the shape of a basket. It wasn't much, but he hoped that it would work with the small piece of Exanite in the ground.

Rynold slowly inched his way towards the source of the purple stone.

With metal tongs in hand, Rynold reached in.