Chapter 258: Independent. (2/2)

Raymond and Alver also perked up their ears when they noticed their grandfather's soft tone.

”Even a Rank-10 Mage, like myself, has a limited life span. At most, I can only live around 70 more years,” Kure dropped the bomb on the two brothers, who stood up in shock.

They didn't know that their grandfather only had this much time left in this world.

”Haha... Don't be so worried, brats. The other three are of the same generation as me,” Kure referred to the other three Rank-10 Mages and continued, ”It wouldn't be long that this generation of the Rank-10 Mages would completely disappear. The next generation will have to take our place, but it will take decades if not centuries.”

Ozul didn't know if he should leave now or wait for Kure to finish his speech. After a few moments of contemplation, he decided to stay since he remembered to ask another thing that had been bothering him for years.

”Don't you think you can break through to the next Rank?” Alver asked worriedly.

The absence of all the Rank-10 Mages would create a power vacuum!

Not to mention how the tension will rise if the other factions knew that no Rank-10 Mages were protecting them, the biggest threat would be the Magical Beasts.

The ordinary people had always wondered why the stronger Magical Beasts never attacked any human settlement. They didn't know the reason behind it was the presence of the Rank-10 Mages.

If these ancestors suddenly disappeared, they might be able to hide this fact from the humans, but those Rank-9 Magical Beasts had keen senses. They wouldn't miss such a significant change.

”It is easier said than done. Sigh... Even when I have been in seclusion for so many decades, the next realm is nowhere in sight,” Kure sighed while shaking his head.

”But don't worry about it now. With how mysterious the next realm appears to be, I am confident those other old bones won't get anywhere either. Also, I still have around 70 years,” Kure hit the back of Alver, who was looking down at the ground, contemplating about their future.

Raymond didn't comment, and nor did Ozul say anything for a while.

Only when he felt the atmosphere had turned back to normal did Ozul speak, ”You should be fairly knowledgeable, yes?”

Kure raised his eyebrows and answered confidently, ”Of course. I haven't lived for so many centuries for nothing, kid.”

Ozul then began to ask him if he had heard of anyone using some other energy instead of Mana. Kure only laughed at this question as he didn't think there was any energy other than Mana in this world.

Ozul already expected it as such and then asked if there was any method to use artifacts without Mana.

”Using artifacts without Mana?” Kure made a thoughtful face and spoke after a few moments, ”I do remember a renownedphysician searching for a method to be able to use artifacts without using our own Mana.”

A little bud of hope rose in Ozul, but his excitement was short-lived when Kure said, ”There were no positive results during his research though. He wanted his wife to be able to protect herself in his absence using artifacts, but she was only an ordinary person and didn't have Mana.”

It turned out that even a few centuries back, someone had tried finding a method to use artifacts without Mana.

The idea was to store Mana in an object and use a way to supply that Mana to the artifact, which should have logically solved the problem.

However, it didn't happen for some reason, and that renowned physician couldn't achieve any results at all.

”Why do you wish to use artifacts without Mana, though?” Kure asked curiously. He didn't think for a second that the reason for him not being able to sense any Mana from Ozul was because the latter didn't have any in the first place.

”I have my reasons,” Ozul guessed that it wouldn't matter even if Kure knew about his peculiar condition given that the latter hadn't encountered anything like that in 900 years of his life.

Kure didn't probe any further either and looked on as Ozul stood up to leave.

He had learned everything he could here. Further chit chat would only be a waste of his time now that he had so many things to do.

After he left the estate, Alver turned to Kure, ”Grandfather, are you sure you don't want him to join...?”

Raymond was surprised by Alver's words and was about to say something when Kure spoke first, ”What can I do? Force him to become a member of the family? Even if I did, would he truly be a part of the family?. .. At least he has the guts to be independent.”