"Um?"
Meld, who was fiddling with magical elements in the house, trembled involuntarily upon hearing Lord Maragon's words.
The elemental crystals that had just begun to take shape immediately collapsed, and the room seemed to have been lightly bombarded by a ball of air, causing the items inside to shake.
"Malagon, this is no laughing matter!"
Melder's expression immediately turned serious, his eyes fixed on Lord Maragon, expecting a positive answer.
“How could I joke about this? This concerns Catherine, my precious daughter!”
Malagon, on the other hand, looked relaxed, and then directly brought the Ekjali Ruby in his hand in front of him so that Meld could see it.
The gemstone glowed with a faint red light, as if an unnamed power was contained within it, and Meld's eyes lit up as he hurried toward it.
"then!"
Malagon laughed and threw the ruby over without considering whether Meld could catch it.
"Hey, why are you like this?"
The ruby started falling when it was half a meter in front of Meld, but Meld didn't reach out to catch it. Instead, he strolled leisurely to a chair to the side.
The ruby didn't actually fall to the ground; instead, it suddenly hovered in the air, as if an invisible thread was pulling it towards Meld's back.
Melder sat down in the chair, brushed off non-existent dust from his robes, and then reached out to catch the ruby that floated toward him.
He squinted and carefully examined the ruby in his hand, a strange smile appearing on his face. Then, a wisp of pale red thread flew out from his hand holding the ruby and disappeared into the ruby's body.
Buzz—
The ruby began to tremble slightly.
Meld released his grip on it, and the ruby, now free from Meld's external force, remained suspended in mid-air.
Meanwhile, the thin, pale red line inside the gemstone was moving about, as if searching for something.
The ruby vibrated more intensely, and Melder's eyes shone even brighter.
...
The ruby stopped trembling, and the thin red thread had disappeared.
It suddenly lost its support and plummeted from the sky, but Meld caught it with lightning speed.
"It really is the Ekya Ruby, no problem!"
Meld looked up at Lord Maragon, who was still standing at the door, and smiled.
"That's good. Keep it safe. I'll find the rest as soon as possible!"
After saying that, Malagon prepared to turn and leave.
Do you think there's still enough time?
Melder’s tone was calm and devoid of any emotion.
"This yellow sapphire was found ten years ago, while this ruby has only appeared after another ten years!"
Meld continued speaking, but then he produced another yellow gem in his hand, which, in terms of shape, was exactly the same as the Ekjali Ruby, only the color was different.
"There's still time! The appearance of this ruby at this moment has given us hope!"
"Even if it weren't for the Alliance, I would still keep searching for Catherine!"
Maragon's eyes were resolute, showing no sign that he had given up on finding other gems.
"Alright, I won't say anything else. I will do everything I can to protect Catherine, you can rest assured about that!"
Maragon didn't say thank you; perhaps such a cliché was no longer appropriate between the two of them. He simply nodded and turned to leave Archmage Meld's room.
The city lord had already left. Meld glanced down at the two Ekja gems in his hand, then with a gentle flick of his wrist, both gems disappeared.
"I hope this damned ancient legend isn't just a hoax!"
He wasn't saying this to Maragon; it was more like a comforting remark to himself.
...
After parting ways with Phil, Joey left Ashfurnace City again.
He didn't go back to find the bearded man and the others. Instead, he felt that he needed to speed up his familiarity with hunter skills, especially his proficiency with the bow and arrow, which he needed to practice more.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Joey fired three arrows in quick succession, startling the hare in the distance, which ran away in a frenzy.
"As expected, those characters in TV dramas who can use weapons as soon as they get them are all lying!"
Joey looked at the Shark Bow in his hand. The bow should be quite good, but his skills were really lacking. If the hare was a target, he would definitely miss all three arrows.
He didn't think the Sea Shark Bow, which Anna deemed a jinx, was an ordinary item. He believed that the only ordinary item was himself, not the bow.
Joey started practicing on wooden stakes, and the distance between them was also shortened considerably.
I need to build up my confidence first.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Three more arrows were shot out, but the wooden stake was empty. However, an ordinary arrow was stuck in a stone a meter away from the stake.
"This... the deviation is a bit too large!"
"Others shoot wherever they're pointed at, I shoot wherever I'm pointed at!"
Joey took a few more steps forward as he spoke.
"Whoosh whoosh!"
Three more arrows.
As expected, all three arrows missed the target again.
Am I really that bad at this game?
Joey, still unconvinced, took a few more steps forward.
He drew the bow and released the arrow in one smooth motion, but the result was still unsatisfactory.
"Hey, I don't believe it!"
He moved forward a few more steps.
...
I was only about two meters away from the wooden stake.
"Whoosh!"
Another arrow was fired.
"Got it! Got it!"
"Yes, that's a good start. It shows I've made progress. Keep it up, Joey Brown, you can do it!"
With no one else around to encourage him, he had to cheer himself up.
He then took a half step back and continued practicing.
He firmly believed that becoming an excellent hunter was not just about learning theoretical knowledge, but also about being fed with more arrows, which is why he always insisted on practicing shooting.
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