"My superior?" Trevor asked and then smirked, "Now, why would I let you do that?"
Gerald looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Because you don't want to be responsible for all the death that will come if you don't let me speak with your superior."
"Death?" Trevor's face scrunched up. "Is this a threat?"
Gerald shook his head slightly, still keeping a neutral expression, "Quite the opposite, I'm bringing a warning of the danger that is to come, and you keeping me here is not helping."
"Hmm?" The young mage lifted his eyebrow, "What danger could possibly threaten us? Look around you, there are hundreds of warriors here, no danger is big enough to warrant an unannounced meeting with the commander, or the Bishop."
"What about a top Silver Rank Minecrawler King? Do you think you can handle it?" Gerald asked with squinted eyes.
Trevor's eyes did the opposite and enlarged in large circles. His face became pale as a sheet of white paper as he questioned, "M- Minecrawler K- King?" He gulped loudly, "You are kidding, right? Is there really a Minecrawler King?"
Gerald didn't say a thing and just stared at the guy with a slight smirk.
Seeing that he was not going to get an answer, Trevor gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! I'll bring you to meet Bishop Arhoch! But I'm warning you, if you anger him or waste his time, I'll not be the one cleaning up your blood! I refuse! Last time I nearly..."
Gerald laughed at his threat and simply stated, "Lead the way!"
"Hmph!" The mage signaled the guard to move out of the way and led Gerald deeper into the Black-Iron Fort.
They climbed a few flights of stairs until they arrived at the top floor of the Fort. There, Trevor knocked on the door and entered, with Gerald following close behind.
The room was quite cozy for being in a tower made of dark stone. Animal furs and soft rugs covered the floor and walls, with bright wooden furniture and golden chandeliers.
An old man, the bishop Argoch, was sitting behind a white desk with carved ornaments of beasts and monsters.
The old man slowly lifted his gaze when the two entered. "Trevor, what is it this time? Another failure? I told you to stop messing with magic you don't yet understand!"
"No, no!" Trevor quickly denied it. "Well, I mean… Yes, but that's not why I'm here!" He quickly moved to the side, revealing Gerald who was standing behind him.
"Who's he?" Bishop Argoch questioned.
Gerald stepped forward and introduced himself, "Hello, sir, it's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Gerald and I'm bringing some important news…"
He came to the desk and took a page out of his notebook and placed it down in front of the old man.
"What is this? A picture?" Bishop Argoch frowned while looking at the paper. "Did you draw this? It looks extremely life-like, but I don't get what's so important about it!"
Gerald gave a light smile and took an empty page and placed it on the table. Then he took out a bottle of ink and a few drops floated out and created a fascinating scene.
It was the picture of this room, of the desk, and the man behind it. Bishop Argoch opened his eyes wide as he took the piece of paper and looked at it in amazement. Then he turned to look at Gerald for an explanation.
The latter smiled confidently and spoke, "I can draw anything I see, and the picture you see, it absolutely genuine! I have traveled deep underground and stumbled upon the Minecrawler's nest and drew this there."
"Wait!" The old man furrowed and took the first page again and gave it a closer look. "Are you trying to say that these hundreds of beasts are real? What about this big guy?"
"All real. The Minecrawler King is probably at the top of Silver Rank in my humble opinion. That's the reason I came here to warn you. If your soldiers disturb it, I'm afraid it will take action. If that happens, then…"
The old man's face went pale at the sheer thought of possible destruction. But then he quickly thought of something, "Impossible! How could you get all the way to the nest and back alive? You don't look that strong, what's your motive?!"
Gerald grinned as if he was looking at a fool, "Is that so hard to do? I took Scent-Removing Powder to remove my scent and quietly moved through the tunnels, avoiding any danger. It's not that hard, really."
He then went on to walk across the room, but there was absolutely no sound coming from his steps. He was actually floating a few millimeters above ground, so of course there would be no sound.
The two mages opened their eyes wide in astonishment. If they didn't have eyes, they wouldn't know a third person was in the room.
"Incredible!" the Bishop mouthed. But then, he scowled again, "Why did you bring us this information?"
"Eh?" Gerald was slightly surprised by the unfriendly tone. "Why? So you don't get annihilated by your ignorance, of course!" Gerald laughed, "It's none of my business what you do with it, though. I just came to give you a hand out of my goodwill."
"But I guess my help is not wanted. Well, see ya!" he waved his hand in goodbye and went towards the door to leave.
The old Bishop mulled over his words and then swiftly stood up, shouting after Gerald, "Wait! We first need to know where the nest is! We still need your help to find it."
Gerald grinned slightly before making a neutral face and turning around. "Why should I help you? I already told you more than enough. I do not work under you, so if you want my help you need to at least offer me some benefits!"
Trevor was speechless, 'This guy sure has some balls speaking to the Bishop like that! Is he crazy?' He hid in a corner, expecting the Bishop to explode with rage. But instead, something interesting happened…
"Hehe, hahaha!" the old man laughed loudly. "Okay, good! What do you want then? Gold? Jewelry? Magic artifacts or gear? Treasures? Perhaps women?"
He was feeling much better now that Gerald asked for stuff. Working with someone that didn't want anything was always sketchy. You never knew what ulterior motives they had. However, working with someone that wanted wealth, it was easy to control them.
"Hehe, of course not! Bishop Argoch you are a smart man, you can't be serious with offering me this trash!" Gerald made a knowing grin.
He came closer and took a seat. His eyes looked straight into Bishop's as he spoke, "What I want…is knowledge! Whatever access to elite books and magic spells, formulas, and such you have… I want it all!"
The Bishop half-closed his eyes. "Knowledge, huh? The most valuable resource of them all… Smart!"
Then he leaned closer with a frightening look, "But do you really think your contribution is worth that much? All of my knowledge? Hah! Who even are you to demand stuff like that?!"
"Me?" Gerald shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "I'm just a poor old cripple that was once a warrior…"
Bishop Argoch didn't know what to say. The guy was definitely young, probably just around twenty, and although he was missing a hand, it didn't seem to bother him that much. Unfortunately, the amount of bullshit he was spouting was too much for the old man.
"Change your request. You are definitely not getting your hands… Your hand, on our secrets!"
"Oh come on, old man! I am willing to work with you and help you take over that ancient temple or whatever that thing is! I'll even reduce my request to just one hundred books! Please split them up evenly among all topics…"
"Did you just say ancient temple?" Bishop Argoch rudely interrupted him. His eyes suddenly became much more lively and a certain strong emotion was hiding in the depths of his mind.
"Well, yes… You can clearly see it in the picture I gave you…" Gerald pointed at a barely-noticeable structure in the background. "I have seen stones full of weird symbols on my way there, and a massive building sits inside the nest."
Bishop Argoch sat back down and caressed his beard with a frown on his face. His eyes jumped from Gerald to Trevor and then across the room, seemingly without reason.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, the old man spoke with a serious and heavy tone, "Fifty books! You can come and collect them after you do your part. But you must make sure not to speak a word of anything you just told us to any living being outside!"
"Why not?" Gerald questioned.
The Bishop squinted his eyes and hissed, "Just don't! We will hold a meeting tomorrow morning, Trevor will lead you to us."
"Eh, why me?"
"You can go now. And remember, nobody must know…" The old man gave him one last look of warning before kicking them out of his room.
"What a kind old man!" Gerald smiled after the doors closed behind them.
Trevor, who was walking right behind him, jerked his head back to look at the door, and then wiped the sweat off his forehead when nothing happened.
"You are crazy, man! How can you be so casual with Bishop Argoch?!" he suddenly burst out loud when they almost left the Fort. "One wrong word and he would break your bones and feed you to the dogs! He almost did it to me once!"
Gerald gave him a smile and waved his hand dismissively, "You think too much! How could such an amicable old man be so cruel? Well, anyway… I'll come back here tomorrow for the meeting then! See ya later!"
Watching Gerald leave, Trevor exhaled loudly, "Man, those guys will never believe me what I just witnessed."