Chapter 119 - Shortened Deadline

"How do you even get down there?"

Leo looked over the gaping hole in the ground that led to the cave underneath. There wasn't a ladder for him to safely descend. In other words, the thing was just really a pitfall.

"You just jump down," Rynold casually remarked, "Can you actually help me up first? There aren't many ways for us to do this if you leave me behind."

"What do you mean you just jump down?" Leo started to blow something unimportant way out of proportion. To which, Rynold responded by simply sighing.

'There's no use to explain it to this guy. Geez. It'd be much easier if he'd actually helped me up,' Rynold thought as he pulled Axiom out of his inventory. Activating the Accord Sphere, he sent it to guard the area, warning him if any threats come across the halls.

"Would you actually just help me up?" Rynold repeated for the third time now. As much as he wanted to sit on his ass all day, he had a much better way to recover his injuries at the cave below.

The message had finally registered within Leo's brain as he helped Rynold up from the ground. From there, Rynold motioned to get closer to the tunnel that led to the cave. Without saying anything, he shot the grapple and latched it to the ceiling of the cell. By slowly extending the rope connected to his grapple, Rynold could safely descend the tunnel.

"Heh," Leo lightly chuckled, "Forgot you could do that."

Rynold shook his head in disappointment. "You spend a few days being back in your mansion, and you forget all of the things that magic can do. May I remind you that you aren't actually here for a visit? We've got shit to do, remember?"

"Right. Right," Leo nodded as he stared at Rynold, who was suspended in mid-air, "How exactly am I supposed to get down?"

"Just grab on the damned rope," Rynold said in the most annoyed tone possible. He wasn't in the right state of mind to give step-by-step instructions to a grown man. Rynold was still tired from the battle against the Mutated Bison.

Rynold descended the tunnel with Leo not far behind. By slowly extending the rope connected to the grapple, the two got down to the cave without any hitches.

"You're back!"

Greeted by a soft yet sweet voice, Rynold was coincidentally thrown off-guard. Where the hell is the demoness that harassed him all this time? Who replaced the arrogant Princess with a decent human being? Perhaps, Rynold was hallucinating because of a concussion.

"Not the time, Lissa," Rynold dismissed the eager young girl, "Can you get me to the bed? Shit hurts like crazy."

"I'm surprised that your enemy could injure you to that state, Human. It might have been better if I was with you on the battlefield," Prominence Alpha's voice echoed in Rynold's head once more.

The Spirit of Fire's remarks weren't welcome in the slightest. Rynold had a hard time as it is and getting nagged at by a Spirit wasn't how he wanted to spend the rest of the day.

"Can you cool it, for now, Kitty? Can't you see he's hurt?" Lissa snickered as she helped Rynold to the bed frame as soon as Leo had successfully landed on his feet. Retracting the grapple, Rynold could lower finally lower his arm.

"Lissa? What are you doing here?" Leo was shocked. Seeing her little sister being in a small space with the guy she was supposedly in love with, it was understandable for Leo to feel that way. It was certainly the most unexpected turn of events he hadn't even thought of.

"OI! What the hell did you do to my sister?!" Leo stomped as he accused Rynold of the most indecent acts possible.

"Dude, calm the fuck down, would you?" Rynold groaned as Lissa let him down on the bed, "I didn't do anything," he said as he laid on his back on the wooden bed frame. "And, even if you tried to kill me right now, do you honestly think Kitty here would be okay with it?"

"Please relax, Older Brother," Lissa assured Leo, "he didn't do anything to me. In fact, ever since I got here, I've been treated with nothing but respect."

Leo clicked his tongue in disappointment. On the one hand, he wanted to actually slap Rynold silly because of what happened to his sister. Leo immediately noticed that Lissa has changed for some reason, and he was sure that Rynold had something to do with it. On the other hand, though, Leo could only shake his head and sigh. Clearly, pursuing this subject won't do him any favors.

"We'll talk later," Leo whispered to his little sister before confronting Rynold. "So, what's exactly the plan here, boss?"

Rynold had just rested for a few seconds. Even if he were the most powerful Magic User in existence, he can't easily recover injuries in a matter of seconds.

However, seeing Leo's ultimately relentless and consistent badgering, Rynold made the logical assessment that it was pointless to put it off any longer. The guy won't let up no matter how tired Rynold was.

"For fuck's sake," Rynold murmured under his breath before speaking normally, "We gear up. Your cousin should be doing the exact same thing. Since he didn't get the chance to kill me earlier today, our deadline just got a hella lot shorter."

"What made you think that Wilfred's the problem here? I thought we're here for the throne," Leo asked without holding back.

"Plan's changed," Rynold answered, eyes closed. "There's a plot going on involving your cousin and the Duke. I have no idea what the goal they have in mind, but I'm certainly not going to sit here and do nothing about it."

"Then, what do we do? We aren't exactly in the best place to level up or get any stronger. The armory's locked pretty tightly too," Leo added.

"Armory?" Rynold scoffed, "Do you honestly think we need some shit gear that can't even handle a single trace of Mana? The things that we have are already more than enough to take care of some basic Magic Users. Did you forget that I'm the Mech God's Candidate, and you're the Thunder God's?"

Rynold groaned as he got up from his laid-down position.

"I'm sure you at least remember something as important as that, right? Besides, I've seen what sort of Magic you can use. You've got both Augment and Equip type spells, and I doubt that that's the only spells you have."

"You noticed, huh?" Leo nodded in agreement with Rynold's sudden assessment.

"How's training going?" Rynold directed the question to both the Spirit and Lissa, "Did you learn some basic magic and Mana Manipulation from Kitty over there?"

"I don't appreciate you calling me that," the Spirit of Fire grunted in disapproval, "However, I did teach her a thing or two so as not to be a burden to you. But, teachings can only go so far. She needs experience in actual battle."

Sitting on the bed frame, Rynold vigorously shook his head.

"I won't be sending her to battle if I can help it," Rynold answered, "But... Just in case something does happen, she needs to be ready. Leo, help your sister get used to using Mana in battle upstairs. Bring this with you too. It might help."

Rynold threw Dictum at Leo with relative ease. The defense bot has the necessary features to defend from basic spells. Target practice from a novice shouldn't put much strain on the Accord Sphere.

"What will you be doing?" Leo curiously asked.

"Rest first," Rynold answered with a strain in his voice, "After I recover, I'm gonna get some work done. We need all hands on deck if we want to be prepared for anything that might happen."

"Speaking of all hands on deck," Leo asked once more, "Where the hell is your robot thing? Shouldn't he be a part of this fight too?"

"X is...," Rynold hesitated to answer, "Currently doing something I'd rather not say. I'll call him when the time comes. Until then, you guys need to get some work done."

Seeing Rynold hesitate and keep something from him, Leo wanted to push further and uncover an answer that was more substantial. However, he ultimately decided to leave it be. Leo trusted Rynold enough to know what he was doing. Whatever decision Rynold comes up with, Leo would have faith in it.

Turning to the tunnel that led up to the cell, Leo activated one of his spells that improved his speed. Thunder magic started circulating his feet and crackled loudly as it fully formed. As light emanated from the spell, Leo carried his little sister with relative ease as he left.

"Human," Prominence Alpha called to Rynold as soon as Leo left, "I'm impressed by the fact that you were able to command him with relative ease. An emissary of the Thunder God following orders from an emissary of the Mech God is worthy of praise."

"The guy's asking way too much from me. He'd at least have some sense in listening to what I have to say," Rynold said as he laid back down on the bed frame.