"What do you want to know?" I wasn't going to tell him about my grimoire but anything other than that was fine.
"Several things. I know how deep the study has taken into golem manufacturing. Yours is by far more refined than the recent prototypes by leaps and bounds."
"Because I didn't make it. The late civilization did."
"You mean to tell me that, that thing is a relic?" The count had the tone of doubt.
"Not exactly. It's more like a loot drop from a rare spawn. Hence, new."
"Gles told me the rare spawn didn't drop anything when you defeated it."
"Let's just say I have a unique spell."
"What about the doll and armor?"
"Same. Loots from a rare spawn."
"Your spell is very useful, it seems. Being able to give you more drops than normal."
He was right, the Arcane Hand was a cheat as it is now. What more if I leveled it up? Would the peak card give me the entire deck every time I slay a monster? That should be something to dream about.
"So, does this solve your knight problems?" I threw the count a question.
"For now." He looked worried for Gles.
"I don't know what trouble you're facing. But all I know is that Gles would continue to grow. Someday, she might be able to take down anything that stands on her path." I cheered him up.
"I hope so." He gave a rare smile.
****
The intended shopping resumed without a hitch and of course, the count didn't come as he was busy with other important stuff.
That left me alone to carry the bags. Uxi wasn't allowed to follow us into the mall and was left in the parking lot.
Thankfully, no one was dumb enough to mess with her.
****
Early the next morning we were back at the ruins.
I didn't want to slack off now. Yesterday, even though the count never mentioned, I was able to infer that something was wrong.
The higher-ups were making a move to bolster their forces. They didn't want to cause mass panic, so they were doing things in discrete. Nevertheless, I was able to sense urgency from the count no matter how much he tried to hide it.
I needed leverage if I want to make sure everyone was safe. And so it was time to get serious. I didn't want to make the same mistakes as anyone by thinking everything was going smoothly. I need to make my move before the danger comes.
"Do we have to be this early?" Gles grumbled. She was slumped on top of Uxi.
"The faster you become strong, the more time you get to idle away in the future." It was best to avoid any incidents before they could transpire. I didn't want an unfortunate event to occur before I was compelled to search for strength.
A whooshing sound was heard ahead. A purple floating robe drifted out of the debris.
"Your up," I called out.
Gles turned serious and large mana bolts floated around her.
"Armor on. Target, Floating Robe. Engage." She delivered several instructions to Uxi.
The mount closed in on the foe. Gles fired a few bolts but was blocked by an invisible barrier.
The floating robe fired out a wind blade. This caught Gles by surprise but she fired out a few mana bolts to cancel it out. She added a few more bolts on the wait.
Three more wind blades flew her way but she was better this time. She sent three bolts to intercept the blades, one for each. Two of the bolts collided with the wind blades, the third bolt missed. She followed up another bolt and it strikes the remaining wind blade.
Uxi had arrived in front of the foe and struck with its paw. Before it could hit, a blast of wind knocked Gles from Uxi's back and sent her rolling a few meters away.
Uxi tore a large piece of cloth from the opponent before she bounded to her master's side. The floating robe fired out wind blades in rage. A few struck Uxi but wasn't able to piece any deeper than a few inches of her thick fur.
Gles recovered and conjured more than twenty bolts. She laid flat on her stomach and released all of them together. Some of the bolts were struck away by the wind blades. The attack penetrated the adversary, rendering it to rags.
Gles invoked another bolt and sent it to the spirit core that became visible. The core shattered and the robe followed suit. She seemed out of luck as there was no drop.
"Good work, you adapted fast. If you improve plenty today, you'll get a reward."
"Mhm. I'll do my best." She held a serious but cute face.
We traversed to the nucleus of the city. Gles fought every monster we came across.
At the center of the city stood a badly damaged palace. Its towers had collapsed but the hall was still standing. In the middle of the throne room was a living armor. Only, it was different from the ones roaming the city.
This one was bigger and more extravagant. It was made of white steel and had gold engravings. Its red flowing cape flaps in the wind. It was also mounted on a living horse armor that was made of the same white steel and was also engraved with gold.
On its left arm was a matching heater shield. And on its right was a silver lance. The lance was 99 inches long with 33 inches of that was its spearhead. The staff part had gold filigree surrounding its entirety.
This is what I imagined a knight would look like. All cool and shiny. It should be the boss of this gate. The White Knight.
Like the knight class, it had charge-type skills and spear mastery. It also has defensive, piercing, and strength boost skills.
It was a good prey for me. Why? Because I like that armor, especially the cape.