The others accompanying Clara too came forward one by one to introduce themselves when they began to feel comfortable with Zach and his group. They looked on with eager expressions as they awaited Zach and Diana to introduce themselves as well.
Feeling the countless gazes on them, Zach and Diana were obviously pressed to reveal some of their information.
"I know that it can be hard for you to trust strangers that you have met for the very first time but I hope that we can get along with each other. You can call me Mr. Smith." Before Zach could continue his introduction any further to satisfy the curiosity of the group of people surrounding them, Diana butted in and hijacked his introduction.
"He might look fierce and cold but he is easy to approach once you get to know him. I am Diana Smith; his wife." said Diana as she pointed towards Zach with a loving smile.
Zach couldn't help but want to roll his eyes at this kind of introduction. Why did she have to make him look bad while introducing herself? On top of that, she looked way too enthusiastic to play the role of his wife. This was definitely not normal among couples. They were usually not this excited. Worried that her excitement might expose their lies, Zach grabbed her arm and exerted a slight force to attract her attention towards him in a subtle manner.
As he had hoped, Diana took control of her runaway thoughts and barely came out of the role of his wife for a moment to consider their situation.
"Why don't you let your people get treatment for their injuries before making a move? They seem to be in a horrible state after the battle with the Iron Mantises."
Clara appreciated Zach's concern for her people and agreed to his suggestion instantly. Various healers in her group took out their equipment from the satchels hanging by the side of their horses and began to treat the others with the help of various potions and herbs.
Bruce took this opportunity to offer his help as well. He asked his healers to offer their assistance as well in order to earn the goodwill of the member of the Windsor family.
With Bruce's help, it didn't take long to finish dressing up the wounds of Clara's men. Her men came to thank Bruce and his men one by one and Bruce acted graciously as if he hadn't done anything much.
While Clara was talking to Zach and his wife, a particularly strong looking woman with a heavy sword hung on her back walked towards Clara with a frowning face. Zach noticed the strength oozing from this woman and wanted to hear what she had to say with such a serious expression on her face.
"Young lady, we shouldn't have encountered the Iron Mantises in this place. From what we know, this place isn't their territory nor is it anything like their preferred natural habitat. And there should be nothing that could have attracted so many Iron Mantises that are known to be particularly aggressive and territorial to gather together in one place. It seems our luck isn't quite with us this time. Maybe we should return home lest we encounter something even more dangerous than the Iron Mantises. Thankfully, Mr. Zach and his people came in time or we might have suffered a fate worse than death."
Clara listened to Grace patiently and didn't interrupt her but the turmoil in her heart and the feeling of unease wasn't any less than what Grace was experiencing.
"Although this can be attributed to bad luck but I believe that the things here aren't that simple…I wonder if…" Clara frowned as well but her voice gradually trailed off beyond the audible range and nobody could hear what she was mumbling under her tongue.
Although Clara didn't believe that her group encountering the Iron Mantises had anything to do with their bad luck, she didn't want to prolong their departure considering the falling morale of her people after having been pursued for so long by the Iron Mantises. She felt that it was better to listen to Grace's suggestion and head back to Byzantine city in order to recharge their energies as early as possible.
All the people around Clara witnessed her going into a trance as she listened to Grace's words but none of them could hear what she had to say about it. They only released the breath they were holding when Clara turned back towards Zach and Diana and expressed her gratitude with all the sincerity she could muster amidst the worries growing in her heart.
Of course, Zach and Diana brushed off her thanks as nothing more than a formality and began to chat with her enthusiastically about the Mesore state. While Zach was a good actor and didn't reveal any weaknesses, Diana was an amateur actor at best. She was fretting at the thought of being caught in her lies especially in front of Zach. She didn't want to lose this opportunity as this was an opportunity for her to get closer to Zach and pretend to be his wife. Therefore, she was a nervous wreck unlike her confident self when she commanded her soldiers in battle or when she took over the responsibility of training them. She wasn't afraid of physical labor as it was evident from how good of a fighter she was. But the mental exhaustion that came with always putting on an act was too much to take for her heart. She could barely breathe without making a nervous sound. She was definitely not fit to be an actress of any kind.
Diana stole countless looks at Zach's face while he wasn't paying attention to her. Of course, Zach didn't notice her actions at all. He was too busy looking at the system screen in front of him instead of the Diana who was right beside him.
He had received a system notification just a second ago that had booked all his attention. Hence, Zach was unable to give Diana any form of encouragement to continue with the act.
Upon clicking the notification window the full message came into his view.
[**Congratulations**]
[You have met all the conditions for completion of the quest 'Breaching the Iron' by killing all the beasts chasing after the group of humans.]
[Quest Rewards]
[A new weapon has been unlocked. You can access it in the Weapons Arsenal where it will always be available in the future for your use.]
Zach was too focused on finding out about the reward for such a challenging quest and couldn't pay attention to anything that was happening around him.
While Diana continued to play her role as his wife with trembling lips, Zach hurriedly opened the Weapons Arsenal and began to scroll through the list to find the name of the new weapon he had received.
It didn't take long before he came across a name that made him want to jump up and down in jubilation like a little girl who had found candy in the middle of the nowhere.
The payment he had received for cleaning up all the Iron Mantises was quite more than sufficient. The weapon he received in compensation was more than enough as a reward; not to even mention that he had saved Clara as a result of the quest completion who seemed to be hiding another source of energy inside her body.
Zach hurriedly opened the details of the weapon that he had found in his inventory in order to figure out how good it was and what he could expect from it in the future.
[Primary Lightsaber]
[Physical Damage: 4000] [Magic Damage: 3500]
[Durability: 100/100]
[Weapon Description: A weapon that is a miracle created by the merger of techniques used in magic engineering and blacksmithing. A top level magic engineer begged a top level blacksmith for days in order to convince him to work alongside him on a seemingly impossible project only for it to succeed miraculously in the end. Even the creators were surprised by the result of their efforts but no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to replicate the results of their research again due to the non-availability of excellent materials like the Diatium cell. This weapon holding the good of both the worlds has the ability to enable the weakest of humans to experience the world of swordsmanship without training their physical bodies as much. The force of the swordsmanship can be imitated through the explosive energy created by controlling the excited light particles along the hilt of the sword. The weapon is excessively durable due to the use of top notch blacksmithing skills in its creation and the absence of the blade makes it surprisingly light to carry and increases the attack speed beyond that of a rapier.]
[Weapon Skills]
[Armor Piercing Slash]
[Skill Description: The basic attack of a lightsaber which involves swinging the lightsaber in a horizontal or vertical arc to deal damage to an enemy. The explosive penetration power of the weapon due to the high temperature of the plasma blade, make it a deadly weapon in close range. The lightsaber is a very versatile weapon, capable of cutting through almost anything, including metal and other lightsabers. Therefore, all slashing attacks with the weapon have a slight probability of ignoring the defense of the enemy entirely.]
[Bulwark]
[Skill Description: The lightsaber is a deadly weapon capable of both offense and defense. A skillful swordsman can easily deflect or block heavy projectiles or magic attacks relying on the explosive motion of the plasma contained by the focusing crystal. A skilled enough swordsman can be practically invincible against ranged attacks with a lightsaber in his hands.]
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