"So, this is the mine." Noel carefully looked around. The entrance turned out to be a natural cave. He suspected that this cave was actually a small vent of the previous active volcano that directly connected to the outside. But now that they weren't active anymore, it could connect them to the inside of the volcano.
"Yeah. From my experience, the volcano never erupted again…"
"How long was it?"
"I only know about four years from now though."
"That is enough. In four years, I don't think anyone can challenge us anymore." Noel nodded with a serious expression. He selected the Demon Hunter medal while asking, "Do you sense anything from the inside?"
"My instinct doesn't warn me of anything. I don't think there is a demon nest inside."
"Even though it's a perfect place to create one? This place is filled with minerals…"
"Yes, but if you think about it, the Demon Banner Army first cleared the area and created a new border, right?"
"Ah, I almost forgot about it. Yeah, the Demon Banner Army should have known about this place and cleared it up first." Noel agreed with her statement. Considering both of them had a lot of experience in the Demon Banner Army, they knew that the Demon Banner Army had considered this place.
"Should we go deeper?" Anna asked.
"Sure. I have to make sure this place is safe before sending the people to mine it." Noel nodded.
Both of them smiled and closed their eyes for a second to activate the Moon Blessing.
The cave lit up in their vision as both of them confirmed that they could see each other in this darkness.
"Let's go." Noel waved his hand and continued. The tunnel itself was quite big. It had a radius of three meters, allowing numerous people to come and go.
The rock was extremely sturdy, so they could definitely create a mine here without fearing it would collapse. The problem would be whether the enemies would attack them or not.
"This is going to be a problem." Noel frowned.
"What's wrong?"
"In the past, you should have harbored a lot of hatred for me, right?"
"Why do you ask that?"
"I mean, have you considered attacking this place? In fact, just destroying the entrance is enough to create a lot of chaos and panic." Noel pointed at the back. "Even if I send a lot of soldiers here, they would have a hard time stopping the destruction."
"Unless you are a Spirit Transcendence, I don't think it's possible to destroy the inside of this cave. If you look at the direction, we're going straight into the mountain… So, the weakest part would be the entrance."
"Yes. That's what I'm concerned about."
"Why don't you just reinforce it with runes?" Anna asked.
"Runes, huh?" Noel fell silent. On the one hand, it was a feasible option. On the other hand, he didn't know who he should send to reinforce this place.
Tristan was busy studying under him. Livia was the same, and she even had to plan out the curriculum for the Rune Academy, so she was completely occupied. Roel had to provide a lot of equipment for them, so it wasn't possible to ask him.
In the end, there was only one person who could do it.
"I guess I should do it." Noel sighed. While he looked like he had a lot of free time, he was actually busy. He had to handle a lot of negotiation as well as confirming the plan of every pillar. After all, everything required his permission.
"Or do you want me to do it?"
"Hmm… Harden is not enough to handle the reinforcement. I should get something even stronger." Noel contemplated. "You should know that there are a few levels of runes, right?"
"Yeah. In the previous life, you've introduced three levels of runes: basic, intermediate, and advanced runes. They are differentiated by their complexity as well as the amount of Spiritual Energy. Harden is a basic rune, so it can only withstand up to Spirit Wielder Level or Advanced Level Demon. Mid Level Runes can even inflict serious injuries to Spirit Grandmaster. And the Advance Rune is the most complex thing that can even defeat a Spirit Transcendence."
"Yeah. There are only a few Spirit Transcendence experts in our kingdom, so they shouldn't be dispatched easily. I think about using Mid Level Rune to reinforce this place."
"Hmm…" Anna looked down for a moment as though something was bothering her.
"What? Did I make another decision back then?"
"No. You reinforced the mine with Mid Level Rune. I don't know its name, but it's strong." Anna paused. "It's just… don't you have something more powerful?"
"An Advance Rune? Just so you know, the only Mid Level Rune I have used so far is the Rune Blast. And my mastery in rune is not that deep currently."
"No, I'm not talking about that. I'm saying… There are a few branches for the rune, right? Enhancement Rune, Rune Engineering, Rune Spell, Rune Body, and…" Anna paused, allowing Noel to complete her words.
"Rune Array!" Noel widened his eyes in shock.
He checked his system to confirm his memory. He almost forgot that he hadn't raised the Rune Mastery to the maximum.
Rune Mastery (9/10)
"Rune Array is the combination of all arrays. For example…" Noel pointed at the entrance. "If I use Harden in the entrance, Rune Spell on the outside wall to create some sort of defensive mechanism, Rune Engineering to shoot out objects or move things to trigger another mechanism, while using the Rune Body on the soldiers…"
"Yes. Even if you use only Low Level Runes on all those, you can still beat the power of a Mid Level Rune. But what if you use Mid Level Runes on them?" Anna asked.
"…" Noel fell silent. Even a Spirit Transcendence wouldn't be able to destroy this place easily. For now, the Rune Body might be the easiest to steal, but the embedding method is still unknown. So, even if the people were kidnapped, they wouldn't be able to learn the method.
If he hid the Rune Engineering and Rune Enhancement, unless they studied it properly, no information would be stolen. And lastly, the Rune Spell.
Rune Array was the concept that combined all those concepts into one.
"Still, I will need a lot of blood, at least, Peak Level Demon blood."
"We've received it from the Demon Banner Army. I will also lead the soldiers to hunt demons."
"Fair enough. It'll take time, but it's not like they're going to attack us right away. I should be able to handle it personally."
"That solves it, I guess." Anna harrumphed as though she had made a lot of contributions.
"Yeah. Thank you, Anna." Noel nodded.
"Hmmm, you're pretty honest this time."
Normally, Noel would have a hard time acknowledging her contribution because it would make him look like he had lost to her. In fact, she felt Noel had changed after reaching this territory.
"I'm pretty much honest this whole time. What do you mean?" Noel shrugged.
"Well, I can't deny that, but you never want to acknowledge it."
"Then, I ask you again." Noel pointed at Anna. "Who are you?"
"I am…" Anna was confused and subconsciously wanted to reply with her name, but she felt the hidden meaning in that question and corrected herself, "I am your fiancee."
"That's right. And I am your fiance. We are building this Lounstein together, so if I don't acknowledge your contributions, am I qualified to be your fiance?"
Anna couldn't reply to him. However, one word really struck her heart. 'Together,' yes, they were doing this together. Unlike other families who usually ended up with a political marriage, they were different. She was here because her desire and Noel were the same.
It seemed that she was still a bit attached to the past.
"Hehe…" Anna couldn't contain her smile. There was a genuine happiness that sprung from her heart as she kept muttering, "Together…mhmm… together…"
Noel walked closer to her and said with a gentle tone. "Well, you're not wrong about one thing. If I admit it, then it's the same as acknowledging my loss. However, it's fine. We'll go through this together. If I lose to you, I just have to contribute more next time and take back my victory."
"This time, even if we lose, it'll be to each other. There is no Noel or Anna… there is only the Ardagan Family."
"That's right. We're fighting against those people, not each other anymore."
"Yeah. We're still the same. The only difference is that we're on the same side this time…" Anna chuckled. "That's just like us."
"Indeed. That's why, even though this is very embarrassing for me to say, I have to tell you this. With you, I feel like I can do everything in my wildest imagination. You will be able to stand beside me no matter how far I go… Don't you feel the same?"
"I'm lacking a lot of things, and you are the same. But with me here, you are invincible."
"With me here, you are invincible," Noel repeated her words, acknowledging it. At the same time, he reached both of her hands and asked, "Together?"
Anna held his hands firmly and stated with a determined expression. "Together."
They had played, teased, and fought each other a lot. However, today, they confirmed one thing. The frustration they experienced after getting played, the embarrassment, or even the disastrous defeats they had gone through… their enemies were the ones going to experience it.
