Chapter 157 - Accord Spheres' Origin

During Oliver's rather abrupt realizations, Rynold was busy trying to figure the logistics of his new creation.

"Do you think it'll work?"

Rynold was skeptical. Well, it wasn't really anything different from what he usually felt. But, this time around, his skepticisms were a lot more reasonable.

That's because, this time, he actually had a consult.

"It's an interesting device. That much is certain," Prominence Alpha answered as it stroked its chin. "However, to accomplish such a thing would require intricate knowledge of Enchant magic."

"I'm not surprised."

Half-expecting something like that, Rynold already knew where to find it. The device that he was about to make highly depended on a lot of different types of magic. But, the primary one was an Enchant-oriented spell inlaid in the device itself.

"Not only that," the Spirit of Fire added, "Your dexterity must be top-notch to be able to apply the proper runes and Mana lines in the device itself. Judging by your past creations, your current skill level won't be enough."

Rynold was never the most dextrous person out there. In fact, his current skill level was considered average by normal people's standards.

Still, he continued along this path because he wanted to. His passion for craftsmanship was always going to be there.

He was determined to continue. So much so that the current problem he was facing seemed parallel to one that he had gone through before.

It was during the time Rynold was trying to make the Accord Spheres.

There was a point during the eight-month period when Rynold was struggling. He had stood before an impasse when he was trying to make a single Accord Sphere.

The plans were already in his head. He had successfully figured out how to make it and what he needed to do. Everything was in place. But he couldn't succeed no matter how many times he tried.

Why?

Rynold found the answer after a week of struggling. He had been in the workshop for that entire week, not even going out for a breath of fresh air. The loop that he had been experiencing during that period was something he could not break himself.

He realized this when somebody knocked on the door.

"How long are you going to stay locked up in here?"

Neana, who was pinching her nose, opened the door. She came to see how Rynold was doing, only to find him rotting in his own stench.

The man had not taken any break during the entire week. He had an overwhelmingly disgruntled look on his face that even Neana had been doubtful to approach.

Beyond that, however, Neana seemed to have noticed that Rynold was feeling defeated. Unsure as to why Neana decided to be the one to cheer him up.

"Alright. Get up! Come on. You need to clear your head."

After a rather nondescript series of events that followed, Rynold sat on his bed next to Neana, who had been waiting for him to finish cleaning himself.

"Tell me what's going on."

Without any prompts whatsoever, Neana took the initiative to ask Rynold what was bothering him.

"Damn, I don't really know," Rynold slouched ever so slightly as he sighed. "The thing that I'm trying to make won't work for some reason. The damned thing is so stubborn. I can't figure it out."

Simply remembering what he had gone through that week reminded him of his failures. The defeated expression on his face won't seem to go away on its own.

Following this, Rynold then proceeded to whine and complain about what happened. Surprisingly, Neana was listening quite attentively, not that Rynold actually noticed. By the end of it, though, Neana said something that Rynold would later greatly appreciate her for.

"Why don't you let me do it?"

Snapping back to the present, Rynold smiled all so suddenly. He remembered what Neana had done for him. It was something he would be eternally grateful for.

"Got an idea?" the Spirit of Fire asked as it saw Rynold's face light up.

"It's a little bit more than just an idea," Rynold said as he headed towards the workshop door. "I'll be back in a bit. I have to check on something before we actually get started."

Without waiting for a goodbye, Rynold walked out of the workshop and boarded his personal Floating Platform.

His current destination: the Library.

As Rynold quickly made his way through the tunnels, he noticed the people around him. They were carrying smiles on their faces, unaware of the Association's actions back in his dimension.

'I wish everything were this peaceful.'

A thought of hope sparked in his mind as Rynold soon reached his destination.

"Damn, it still feels kinda stiff," Rynold murmured to himself as he jumped off the Floating Platform. No matter what he did, the shoulder where the Soul Doll had bitten him still didn't feel right. Regardless, now was not the time for that.

With a swift knock, Rynold immediately entered the Library directly after. He expected Margareth to be asleep at this time, but somehow, he had lucked out.

"Ah, My Lord! How are you today?"

Rynold was taken aback by how enthusiastic the normally apathetic elf was. It was... weird.

"I'm fine," Rynold quickly dismissed his confusion. "I need your help on something." He then explained what he needed to do.

The reason he came directly to the Library was exactly because of what he needed for the Accord Spheres before. The conversation they were having at this very moment was almost the same as when Rynold was trying to make the Accord Spheres.

"I'll do it, My Lord, but under one condition," Margareth understood the situation and was willing to help Rynold out.

He knew that the elf would be more than willing to help him, but the condition was a sudden surprise. Considering how much effort she had made to keep the Tree running smoothly without much of Rynold's input, however, Rynold was definitely going to hear her out.

"Sure, whatever you need."

"You must promise me that you will take care of yourself."

Surprised, Rynold didn't expect to hear something like that. Rynold thought that he would be acting upon the responsibility as the Lord of the Tree of In-Between. He expected something along the lines of doing busy work that had to deal with the imminent issues within the Tree itself.

But this... wasn't something he wanted to hear.

Regardless of whatever Rynold's mind was thinking right now, Margareth still had a serious expression on her face. It appeared that what she was saying was something of official business.

"You have a responsibility to the people in here as well as to your own," the elf continued, "The Tree's citizens put their trust in you, My Lord. It may come as a surprise, but the citizens respect your presence and jurisdiction as the Lord."

"That's... surprising," Rynold let out an answer as he listened to what Margareth was saying.

"The actions that My Lord had done during a time of crisis was something that the citizens revered. Even though My Lord might not think of those actions as anything special, the citizens respected the actions of humans risking their lives for creatures of other species."

Rynold had somewhat seen this coming.

He knew that his instinctive movements at that time might've caused a positive image on him, but it was not to this extent.

Additionally, Rynold even thought that he had been doing a lousy job as the Lord. But, it seemed that the people had a completely different impression.

"In addition to that," Margareth continued, much to Rynold's surprise that there was more to what she was saying. "The citizens have also heard of your words of encouragement to a group of elves during the attack. The term used to describe those words is: inspiring."

'The hell?'

The last statement that Margareth said was the biggest shock out of all.

Rynold could hear his brain stop.

The first thing that popped into his brain was just utter bewilderment and confusion. For him, there was absolutely no way that his abrupt, blunt, and overall arrogant speech was inspiring.

"Fine, I'll take care of myself better."

With a rather frustrated and confused sigh, Rynold accepted.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"Jack? What are you doing here, man? I thought you were training," Rynold turned around and greeted.

"Eh," Jack raised his shoulders in denial, "Training's not cutting it for me anymore. I just want to relax."

"And coming here is the way to do it? You know how busy Margareth is. Shouldn't you hang out with the others instead?" Rynold heard himself say those things, which made something in his head instantly click.

"Wait. Is there something going on between you two? You have been spending an awful lot of time here..."

"Nah," Jack casually shook his head, "I'm just that bored. Bothering people who don't know how to loosen up is fun. You wanna give it a shot?"

Rynold was skeptical of Jack's outright denial. He was casual. Perhaps, a little too casual. He eyed the two of them with a rather questioning look before proceeding with what he came here to do.

"Right. Well, whatever's happening here is fine so long as you don't disrupt each other's work. I'm gonna need the book before I leave."

Upon receiving what he came here for, Rynold quickly left the two alone. The truth was, he didn't really mind if anything were going on between the two of them. In fact, he might go as far as saying that he supported it. For now, though, he had other things in mind.

In his hands was a book that he had used before.

This book had previously aided him in making the Accord Spheres. No. It was a lot more accurate to say that this book was the reason the Accord Spheres existed. Consequently, it was because of this book that Rynold learned how to read the language in it.

It was a book about Enchant magic. The contents of which perfectly aligned to those who want to inlay Enchant spells to items.

The Accord Spheres were the fruit of his labor.

It took two full months to understand the concepts of Enchant magic. Following this were a bunch of experiments that tested how well his knowledge of it was.

By the end of it all, the failures could have been as tall as a small hill.

Despite that, through countless trials and errors, Rynold managed to finish the Accord Spheres. He had the help of both Neana and Margareth. Without them, he would inevitably have given up.

On top of his personal Floating Platform, Rynold headed his way back towards his workshop.

Something about doing all of this again reminded him of the moment after Rynold had succeeded in creating the first Accord Sphere.

"What will you call it?" Neana asked as she saw Rynold's face light up. His hands were holding a small metal ball. On it was a bunch of beautiful inscriptions and symmetrical lines.

"Honestly, I've been thinking of this for quite some time now," Rynold said as he activated the small metal ball, "I want to call it the Accord Sphere."

"Hmm... I don't know why you would call it that. Isn't there anything better?"

The Accord Sphere whirred into life with a low hum. It spun around Rynold as he tested his control of it. Spinning and revolving in more ways than one, Rynold was satisfied with the output.

"Well, the word accord has two meanings," Rynold sat down next to Neana as the Accord Sphere landed in the palm of his hand.

"Accord could mean to harmonize with another. By that, this small thing would be able to bring in people of different backgrounds together as one," Rynold calmly explained as he grabbed Neana's hand.

As the palm of her hand opened, Rynold gently placed the Accord Sphere on Neana's hand. Then, he continued.

"The other meaning is to give someone power, strength, status, and... respect."