"Young Lord Valerius," Cassandra said with a sweet smile, "how about you show us how it's done?"
Marcus narrowed his eyes. "If Lady Cassandra asks, how can I ignore..."
Saying that, he crept towards the barrier, unsheathing his sword on the way. Fire alighted in his weapon as the noble son braced himself for the attack. He built up the power, taking several seconds, sword intent rising to the surface, causing several people to raise their eyebrows.
"Ember sword, Second form: Endearing Heart."
Crimson fiery flames ablaze the sword as Marcus struck the barrier. His firepower weakened the barrier, while Sword intent did the rest in clearing a small hole into the formation.
"You know, it always rubs me the wrong way when someone shouts the name of their moves," Warden mumbled.
"Good stance," Caleb praised, while Agnes watched with mild interest. The alarm blared, but the guy wasn't done yet. He forced out more firepower and his piercing intent, but the formation reinforced its restoration as well. Marcus tried to force his way for two full minutes; unfortunately, he didn't even come close.
Still, Warden would rank his power to be at least A-grade.
"Looks like I fell short," Marcus said as he came back, his expression turning weary and ugly. Well, with his handsome appearance, it was really impossible for him to look ugly. He was arguably the second most handsome fella Warden had encountered, the first being June's elven cousin, whose name Warden already forgotten.
"A valiant display, young lad," Caleb said as he moved forward, his spear in tow.
Now Caleb did not have such firepower as Marcus. Hell, his power fell short of most Iron rankers. However, Caleb had mastered his Intent completely, and through that fact only, he plunged his spear and created a hole. He tried to force his way easily; unfortunately, the restoration runes didn't let him.
"Hmm, the formation is particularly weak against intent," Warden mumbled.
"It is only natural," Aki said. "Other than the few runesmiths and spell casters, most who made it had some grasp in Intent."
"Looks like I won't be cleaning toilets, after all," Caleb returned with a smile. He honestly hadn't expected anything more than this.
"Pierce, won't you try?" Marcus asked.
"I probably would have," the man in question answered, "but now I don't want to embarrass myself."
"Come on, don't underplay yourself," Marcus snorted. "I wish Cole were here; his runesmithing skills might have helped him gain something out of this."
"Oh, I already called him," Pierce said as he moved up for his turn. "Don't know if he'll be here though."
"Oh, I forgot how famous she is," Warden mumbled.
Agnes was unperturbed by the attention she was getting. She poured in her intent, reinforcing her essence of darkness. Within a minute or two, it began to eat through the barrier, while she cast wards to isolate the restoration runes from reinforcing the shell's integrity.
A frown crept up on Warden's brow. So this was the reason behind her confidence. Warden felt stupid not to have noticed before. Of course, her power ate through the runes of her equipment; this was to be expected of her. Warden was just so tired that the thought hadn't dawned on him, even if it was in plain sight.
Minutes passed as cheers rang through the crowd. Agnes disappeared into the darkness and reappeared on the other side of the barrier. With a mesmerising smile on her lips, she shot him a sardonic look and came back.
"There we have the ninth person who manages to cross the barrier," Aki announced.
"I expect nothing less in front of the Captain," Caleb said.
"Well done!" the others cheered.
Agnes came back to stand next to him, still grinning. "I could have done it with just one finger, but I decided to give you some face."
Both of them knew it took her more than just a palm, yet Warden chuckled at her playful arrogance.
"Well, with that skill gem you gave me already worth enough to hire a master runesmith a few times," Warden said. "I don't think you need more than that. How about you ask for something else instead?"
"Something like?"
"I don't know," Warden shrugged. He whispered only to her, "Maybe help for some secret job that you've been working hard on."
Agnes's eyes narrowed in a cold light.
"Anyway, you're asking for me to participate, right?" Warden walked forward towards the barrier. "Watching you succeed seems to have convinced me. Just watch me..."
"Are you going to use runes?" Jenni booed from behind. "That's cheating..."
"Nah, I don't know Warden for too long," Agnes said. "But one thing I'm sure of: he likes to make a spectacle of himself."
Warden bringing out his sword only proved her words right.
"Is he serious?" Jenni snickered. "Man, it'll be tragic if he sucks hard..."
"Nah, I'd win."