Duke Hushum entered the throne room with Ruhnan Noku.
Aldred sat on his throne with Corduul standing beside him. Duke Hushum frowned when he saw the weirdly tall metallic person slightly covered in red robe. The man was around 2-3 meter tall, looking thin and fragile despite being made out of metal.
But that was not weird. There were a lot of weird magicians with weird forms. Most of them in the shape of demons, animals, demonic beast, and even undead. Though Duke Hushum had never seen one like the metallic man before, he wasn't weirded out by his appearance.
Rather, it was the way that the metallic man did not exude any energy at all. Just like the metallic golems that he saw earlier. None of them had a tinge of mana, and yet, they had devastating firepower.
Duke Hushum wanted to think that the metallic person next to Aldred was a golem as well, but the Duke was a Diamond Rank. He could see that the metallic person had a small life force coming out of him. Which mean, he was a human. A living, breathing, human being.
Duke Hushum had heard that Aldred could turn Diamond Ranks into his undead, could he possibly turn a human into a golem as well? But what was the point?
Duke Hushum's thought process was interrupted when Aldred spoke.
"Nice meeting you, Duke of Wihuland."
Duke Hushum smiled. "I like your toys, Aldred. I want you to give me some of it. Especially, the one beside you. I want him."
"The one next to me is not for sale. But I will give you some of my golems for free as a gift for your son's birthday."
Duke Hushum's smile slowly disappeared and his face darkened.
Even Ruhnan Noku was shocked as well. Why did Aldred say that? Everyone knew that Duke Hushum got cursed to never had a descendant.
Hushum's face returned to his bright smile. "I believe you are mistaken. I don't have a son."
"Hmmm, really? I believe his name was Fuhned. Then again, maybe I was wrong."
Duke Hushum trembled, fist clenching. "How-- again. I think you are mistaken."
"I see," Aldred said with a grin.
Duke Hushum was enraged at Aldred's behavior. He actually wanted to threaten Aldred a bit and obtain some golems for himself. But instead, Aldred was the one who threaten him.
Nobody knew he had a son. His existence was completely unknown. Even his own wife thought the child was dead. Aldred might be lucky to guess that he has a son, but how could he know the name?
How did he do that? Divination magic should not have worked.
Aldred was already laughing inside. This Duke Hushum was the one who had sent the army towards him. Aldred knew it was a test, but still, he did not believe that the Duke would not destroy him if he got the chance.
Aldred had activated his godly eyes the moment the Duke entered the throne room. From there, he had received so many informations about him that maybe Aldred even know more about the Duke more than his own wife.
Duke Hushum unclenched his fist and calmed down. It seemed like he had underestimated his opponent too much. Not only he had superior army, but his ability to gather information was exceptional as well.
Even though he hated Aldred's guts, he had to praise him for that.
"Duke Hushum," Aldred called. "I also have a son of my own. His name is Tom Nicholas. I heard you are quite influential in the Withokere University. I hope you can take care of my child. Of course, I do not expect to receive this favor for free. What about this, I will give you the aircraft that brought you here."
Duke Hushum raised an eyebrow of interest. "The large metallic flying thing, you are willing to give away that?"
"Sure, why not. Anything for my son."
Aldred's wives giggled within the divine dimension when they heard that.
"Alright, I will take care of him. Where is he?"
"Tom, come here."
Suddenly, a bright fire flashed into existence and Aldred, in his child form, appeared. He bowed to Aldred. "Why do you call me, father?"
"Tom, this is Duke Hushum. He will protect you while you are in the university."
Duke Hushum silently activated a spell to gather information about the boy. To his shock, he actually learned that the boy was also a low Diamond Rank just like his father.
At such a young age and already a Diamond Rank. Aldred must be very fond of his child. The boy must have been fed with thousands of rare treasures to achieve this result.
And not only that, the energy from the boy and Aldred felt the same. As if they were an identical person.
No wonder Aldred loved his son so much. They were so similar, not just in appearance.
But seemingly in body and spirit as well.
Tom turned around and bowed towards the Duke. "I thank you, uncle."
Aldred flicked on Tom's head. "That is the Duke of Wihuland for you."
Duke Hushum laughed. "No, no. Uncle is fine. So, tell me what kind of magic have you learned?"
"I can manipulate fire." Tom moved his hand around and small fire dragons completely with scales, hair, and teeth flew around him. They looked so animated and alive.
"Not bad." In complete honesty, Duke Hushum was impressed by what the boy just done. The fire dragons looked so real as if they were real dragons.
Most magicians could only create something stiff and fake. But the boy made it look like he added souls into these fire dragons.
"Is there anything else?"
"I can control wind as well, though not as good." Small tornado formed in his palm, then suddenly, it turned into the shape of a fairy with a pair of wing. It moved on Tom's head, blowing his hair playfully.
"That's quite impressive."
