Escellar stopped for a moment, almost surprised by his old friend's aggressive denial of ever having any relationship with the elf. The janitor, sensing the uncomfortable atmosphere that had developed, slid off somewhere else, leaving Escellar and Eldren to their own devices. But the expression of slight hurt and confusion lasted only for a moment on the elf's face. It was reasonable to expect that a race that only lives a century or less would have an incompetent ability to remember faces and names as well. After all, twelve or so years was much more for a human that it was for an elf. And Eldren always was a rough person. It wouldn't surprise the airship captain that he'd have grown even rougher during the years. No doubt, the trials of parenthood had hardened Eldren. Human children were insufferable little beasts, after all.

Nevertheless, the mage did make good points, and tipping his hat, Escellar acknowledged those words, before replying, [b]“Well, I see that you've done quite some research, Eldren. However, there are a few important details you seemed to have not taken to account. First, the wyvern, which is our main target for the mission, absorbed talentium upon contact, but could still be injured or, at least, obstructed by other physical means. The same could be inferred of from magic. If, per chance, you were to use a spell to take existing stone and strike the rift beast with it, would it not sustain injury?”[/b]

Escellar then stopped, looking at the janitor, before returning his gaze to the ragtag man in front of him. [b]“Secondly, the fundamental creation of talentium and steel swords are the same. While it would be unwieldy if their talentium weapon was a hammer or a spear...it should be quite possible for Sword Skills users to use a steel weapon whilst being empowered by talentium, and thus, would be possible for talentium-users to fight without having their weapons eaten the moment they struck.”

“The Seyour family simply weren't able to reach that conclusion quickly enough. It's a pity, but that can't be changed. I'll leave the decision up to you, Eldren, but surely the Warlock that fought under the Six-Winged Knight could toss a few boulders around, neh?”[/b]