Soul of Searing Steel

Have they really completed the construction of Winter Fort?

Upon hearing that news, Joshua raised his eyebrows. His heart was racing with joy and surprise. Well, that was a gigantic structure that was being built in the middle of a snowy mountain. It was already a big project that required a substantial amount of manpower to transport the construction materials over to the construction site. Also, it was not even a year since the construction began. Was the construction completed already?

“That’s fast.”

As he was speaking, he opened the door and entered the study room. He could not help but sigh. “I didn’t expect the mage to be so efficient.”

03 came down from the ceiling gently. After that, she floated over to Joshua’s side. She did not seem surprised though. She just spoke calmly, “Back in those years, the people of Karlis did not spend more than a few years before they were done with the construction of the pyramid fortress. While you and your people here spent almost a year to build such a small academy. That’s considerably slow.”

“How can we compare to that? You and your people had utilized the strength of a whole civilization. Meanwhile, we’re just utilizing the manpower we have in a territory that only belongs to one count,” Joshua retorted.

“All in all, this is really slow.”

03 did not intend to be reasonable with the warrior. However, she then turned her head and told the warrior another good news, “Oh right, the holy knight that has been looking at me with a strange expression on his face had recently found an unusual spot in the volcano. The density of the elements in that area is bizarrely thick, and they’re very unstable. Ordinary members of the expedition party cannot even enter the area.”

As they were talking about that, the expression of the female Artificial Intelligence became serious. “That’s part of the deep area of the volcano itself. That’s also the area where the lava gathers around. Joshua, with such volatile and strange area in there, you should grasp the concept of what it really is.”

When the warrior heard the news, he could not help but freeze for a very brief moment. Then he stopped doing what he was doing at the moment and sank into deep thought. “Is there really such a thing? Can it be that… Can Roland really be that lucky?”

Upon thinking about that, he already made some guesses about that area. For that, Joshua made a decision. “It is indeed possible that it might cause a volcanic eruption. When I have the time, I shall go over to the Great Ajax Volcano for an inspection.”

Afterward, 03 also spoke about some of the small trivial matters. As an Artificial Intelligence, the warrior entrusted her with the mission to transmit information. After reporting to the warrior, she then floated in mid-air above the liege’s residence and went back to the other mansion where her true body was located at the moment.

Meanwhile, Joshua looked at some data and determined that there were no thirty creatures in the North that could advance to Gold tier. He could not help but let out a sigh.

He did not think that the quest was difficult though. It was just very troublesome for him. Thirty Gold-tier monsters were not like a bunch of naïve Chinese cabbages (1) that would just stay there and wait for someone to hunt them down. Furthermore, for each monster, one day would be required to search it, and another one day would be required to track it down. Yet another one day would be required to locate its lair and kill it. Occasionally, if he were to encounter a monster that was tougher or maybe much more proficient in fleeing away, then one more day would be spared for that hunt, wasted just like that. Under that circumstance, the warrior would need at least half a year to complete this quest even if he did not do other tasks and focused only on slaying daemons.

Of course, not to mention about completing it in half a year, even if he takes about one or two years, his progress to Supreme tier would be deemed as extremely fast. In other words, the others would have been joyful to the point that they would jump around in excitement if they could progress at that pace. However, Joshua was displeased to know that. All sorts of calamities were approaching fast now. There were only so few laid-back times left for him to take things easy. If he did not speed up his progression now, he would certainly be suffering a lot in the days to come.

Lifting his head and looking upward, Joshua stared at the fluorite lamp and the pyroxene lamp hanging above his head. The two colors, gold and white were dazzling. Compared to a year ago, the lights that these magic stones created were getting brighter already.

That was the proof that the density of magic elements was getting thicker and thicker before the arrival of the Great Mana Tide. The increasing density of the free-roaming energy would make it possible to awaken the bloodlines. Through trials and training of Combat Aura, the number of people who could activate magic power would increase along with time. Meanwhile, the dimensional barrier in the North had become thinner and weaker than the others across the Mycroft continent, all thanks to the ‘visit’ from the Evil God that attempted to invade this world in the past. That was also why the magic energy in this land could increase much faster than the other lands. Nostradamus decided to establish his academy here in the North because of that reason.

“If it’s about the source of recruitment, I should not be worried about that. The mage has definitely found some noblemen that are close to him and invited them to join as his apprentices. Meanwhile, he should have certainly gathered quite a number of civilians with the ‘Gift’. Also, he should have recruited some teachers. After all, he is the dean of the Royal Mage Academy back in Empire City. As long as he is willing to look, there will always be people for him to recruit.”

After those thoughts, Joshua suddenly had an idea in mind. He walked up to the window and looked at the city that became quiet because of the blizzard and cold wind. He thoughtfully said to himself, “I may be able to help a little too… I can also provide a chance to my people in my territory.”

Nostradamus wanted to set up an academy not only for the wealthy nobles but also for the needy civilians. He wanted to establish an academy that could teach magic to anyone. At first, he wanted to take in a large number of apprentices. For that, he purposely built a strangely large academy in the middle of the mountain. Such a thing was too common to the point that it was natural to everyone in Joshua’s previous life. However, across the continent of Mycroft, this was a surprising move.

This was a fantasy and civilized world with individual strength as the main point. Although the truly powerful champions could already travel across worlds, however, the civilians were currently living in the eve of the magically industrialized era. Their lives were not poor because of their fertile lands. However, there was no extra time for them to take studying seriously.

Even though that was the case, the vast majority of people do not claim to be completely illiterate. Because of the universal education provided by the church, they could at least read some notices and write their own names and phrases for prayers. But only few could read and understand all words and characters on a book or a newspaper. Only the rich, the nobles or the descendants of class bearers would have a certain channel and ability to master more knowledge.

Originally, the Mage Academy was established mainly for the descendants of those aristocrats. Meanwhile, Nostradamus had the idea to provide that passage, the chance for civilians to get access to learning magic. That thought of his would be like a fool speaking about an unrealistic dream in the eyes of ordinary people. However, for a Supreme-tier mage, that was a possible reality that could be realized. In the meantime, Joshua was also interested in his ideals. Under the support of two champions, the construction for the Winter Fort was swiftly completed. However, currently, the warrior had suddenly realized that he could actually do better than that.

“Because of the existence of the rune factory, Moldavia will need a lot of workers who knows magic. They don’t necessarily need to be strong, but they must know some basic rune knowledge.”

The Winter Fort could definitely open a course to meet the needs of Moldavia. The status of these workers was not low to begin with. As a part of the production line of the rune factory, their salaries must be generously much, and they did not need a ‘Gift’ that was too powerful. Only basic coordinating skills were required. After all, rune technology only required people who knew the skills to engrave and activate them. It would be a simple thing to learn even for ordinary people who wanted to learn a part of it. It would not take too long as well. In a few months, or one year at most, an ordinary person could have completely master the basic teachings and begin their internships in the rune factory already.

For instance, look at the enchanted armor. The process of gorging and grinding the parts of the armor would not need a true mage or a blacksmith to do it. Meanwhile, speaking about the assembly of the armor, drawing rune lines and patterns could also be done by others. If the corresponding courses were offered to the people in Moldavia, the people in Moldavia who could be a part of manufacturing magic-enhance equipment would increase tremendously. The efficiency of manufacturing those equipment might even increase over a couple of times over as well.

Moreover, this would also mean that the average civilian could have another way to climb higher in regard to status. After all, those who only had average ‘Gift’ could only be workers for trivial projects. That was something that could not be helped though. However, if the grandchildren of one of those civilians were born with a much more superior ‘Gift’, then they could have better basics when they had become workers for the rune factory. By then, they would be able to access to better resources and opportunities to nurture the future generations.

After putting his thoughts aside on the matter, Joshua took out his own notebook from his study table and wrote in some of his random plans. While he was writing, he was also muttering to himself, “This is really unexpected though. I have actually become the kind of man that will alter the sons of the farmers into factory workers. This is truly a rare experience… The universal investigation on ‘Gift’ will be requiring a large amount of resources and money. So it seems that there is still a lack of money here. Then the priority can be put on the main city and the areas around it… wait a minute.”

When writing that, the warrior suddenly paused, furrowing his brow. “In fact, we do not necessarily need to train mages only. I have experienced meeting so many warriors and knights here. There are also quite a number of archers in this city. I can actually start a Class Academy here as well… However, that can wait. I should wait until the money is enough before considering to start a new course. It should still be acceptable to think about it by then.”

After the basic rules were finalized, the next step was to fine-tune the details and activate the communication circle. Joshua and Nostradamus began to conduct further communication and consultation with each other in such regard.

The conversation between the two of them continued until late at night. As for the suggestion of the warrior, the old mage thought about it for a while and expressed his approval. He also believed that it was necessary for them to adapt to the changes along with the passing time instead of implementing the teaching methods of the aristocrats upon Winter Fort. Some changes had to be made in such regard.

Until the end, both of them had finally completed a rough layout and the process flow of their plans.

Hence, a few days later, an important announcement was sent from the liege’s residence and spread across the entire city.

TL Note:

1) Chinese cabbage is a metaphor to refer to something that just stands still or waiting for someone or something take action