Chapter 1429: Unlikely Friends

General Sethran paused. Both of them watched Duke Amene’s blade break apart right in his grip. The Blind Duke himself, despite not seeing the sword in the sense of the word, had a despondent look on his face and was looking at the blade with pupil-less eyes.

He slowly raised his gaze to the General and an unpleasant look warped his face.

"Oh, good stars, again, again, you did it again! I told you to be careful with your blows!"

He tapped the broken sword angrily.

"Hit below the center of equilibrum, my goodness, when do you ever listen, do you have any idea what it took me to get another sword this time, and you just had to go and break it off? Just how reckless are you?"

General Sethran paused and blinked. He pointed to himself, still blinking.

"Hey, hey, you’re the one who came looking for me for a spar, and you kept saying hit hard, hit your hardest, you even allowed me to touch your precious Whitestone, and now, I’m at fault? I should have shown some restraint? You double faced bird, just what is enough for you?!"

Northern, from where he stood, found himself dumbfounded at the two grown men, vicious generals of war, arguing like children. He was lost for words.

Both of them kept going at each other. Duke Amene grimaced.

"It’s simple, strike as hard as you can doesn’t mean you have to strike without a brain, Seth."

"Oh, Lord Jiro, spare me the lecture, your sword breaking is not my fault, rather it is a question of your own skills, but you find comfort in blaming my mechanics, and telling me I’m just an illiterate combatant. You sometimes forget, young man, that I am the one who can see?"

"Having all those eyes and not being able to see the center of balance distribution. I suggest you trade them for an extra pair of ears General Sethran!"

The General fumed, glaring at Duke Amene, meanwhile the Blind Duke wore one crooked grin.

Silence charged between them with heavy tension. And in that tension, Northern finally cleared his throat.

"Ahem..."

’I never thought watching two old men fight like kids would be this awkward.’

Both of them slowly turned their heads. They had been so absorbed in themselves that they were only now noticing Northern’s presence.

Immediately he did, Duke Amene’s eyes widened.

’I didn’t sense him!’

He sounded with surprise.

"Lord Northern! You’re the last person I expect to see here."

His regalia of silence and dignity returned, as he bowed slightly to Northern.

General Sethran also looked equally blown away by Northern’s presence.

"Well, I wanted to have a talk with you, ask your opinion and ask you to help me relay it to General Sethran."

He said as he walked forward, throwing a glance to the General.

Duke Amene’s expression relaxed, he turned to his friend with a slight puzzlement.

General Sethran shrugged in response.

Northern stopped a few meters in front of them, he studied both of them.

"But crap, I never knew you two were this close."

Both of them responded coincidentally at the same time.

"We are not close—"

They caught each other, glared and turned to Northern. Duke Amene spoke gentler.

"Lord Northern please, do not group me with a barbarian such as this man, whom a blind man can see way better than he can."

A vein appeared beneath the skin of the General’s temple.

Northern glanced at the two with an envious smile.

’Looks good to have a friend... hmm... let’s focus on what I can here for.’

"This certainly is a bond shared on the battlefield, I have come to help you with something that could strengthen your impact on the battlefield, therefore reinforcing your bond."

Northern grinned internally.

’Goodness, such pitching skills, have I done this before?’

Both of the Dukes glanced at each other then looked at Northern together, hesitant.

"Lord Northern... a way to...?"

"Goodness, please what are you thinking of this time."

While Duke Amene sounded tender, Duke Sethran sounded slightly disturbed.

Northern chuckled lightly.

"It’s no big deal really."

He opened his hand and a whirlwind of white sparks formed into a silver steel. On the other hand, its sheath appeared, a pale, obsidian, light steel case adorned with strange wave-like patterns in silvery color, flowing across the length of the case.

"This is a new sword model I created, I call them Argents, right now, I have a hundred of them. I think they’re perfect for special squares, your Aerial squads could benefit greatly from them."

He pitched, looking at General Sethran.

It was not General Sethran that touched the sword first, even though he was looking at it with dazed eyes. Duke Amene’s hand slowly slid on the flat of the blade in Northern’s hand.

"My goodness... Lord Northern, I never knew you were such profound master blacksmith... the length of this blade, its edge, the weight distribution, and even condensing its power in the pommel, everything is flawlessly managed. Graceful stars, to think I would see such a excellent creation again!"

Northern smiled, hiding the sheepish part of his smile with a lot of effort. But at the same time, a slight wound tore through that happiness.

He raised his brows.

"You have seen craftsmanships like this?"

"The Great Lineage of Embervein... my family holds an heirloom of theirs, forged by their distant ancestors."

It was General Sethran that responded.

Northern raised his brows.

’Master Eleina’s lineage?’

He was not surprised, he was not surprised at all.

Instead he smiled.

"This heirloom, can I take a look at it later?"

Duke Amene frowned displeasingly.

"This old fool, he broke it. Will you actually believe he broke his family’s heirloom, the very only Divine Weapon that has been crafted by human hands! As far as things went, it might have even been the only Divine weapon that the world had seen... and he broke it."

Duke Amene was usually a very calm person, but he seemed to be a different person when swords were involved.

Northern looked at General Sethran with side eyes. Surprisingly, the man looked remorseful this time around.

’It’s a little sad, I have been looking for the secret of creating a Divine rank item, but unable to figure it out, analyzing one surely would’ve helped.’

It was definitely an interesting find, he was sure that a Divine item would terrifyingly breach the gap between ranks, when wielded by a Drifter of lower rank. Of course, another problem is finding who can wield such a thing. Only Transcendents should be capable.

’I have made weapons meant to be wielded by Luminaries fit for Sages, this is the least of my worries.’

General Sethran shrugged with an awkward smile.

"I mean, if it’s anything, I kept the shattered pieces."

Northern turned to him.

’Perfect!’