Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
In the straw shed, Han Jin described his experience, of course omitting the part about Murphy. He left his question for last; when he attacked the kid, he met a powerful top tier level ten fighter, and he met another when rescuing Louise. From a standpoint of probability, it was too much of a coincidence. He heard Louise discuss the composition of Nicholas’ army: four dragon knights under his seat, of course the powerful beyond levels, and six independent magician groups, each led by a magus or even a grand magus. Nicholas himself was a sword saint, and he had several more sword saints pledging allegiance to him. Lastly, the regimental commanders and the deputies of the Knights Templar were all knight saints. With some calculations, Han Jin quickly understood the horrifying amount of power that Nicholas kept control over; at the very least, he had ten level twelve fighters serving under him!
In Han Jin’s region, finding level twelve fighters was very rare. One of which was the Grand Duke of Solomon, and another was his enemy, Lord Forsa. Guevara, with huge influence twenty years ago, counted as another. Chesam of Cold Shadow City was also another, and there were no others. The current state of Zaganide and Dismark remained unknown, but they were absolutely not level twelve, otherwise, Zaganide would have never let Guevara storm through Black Raven City alone like no man’s land.
Looking at the map, the southwest was indeed larger, but that alone was not a good enough reason for the high density of powerful warriors. Additionally, the magical production techniques of the southwest were more powerful, with the Demon Annihilator Crossbow serving as a good example. Han Jin just couldn’t think of any justification. In theory, tough environments should provide more training opportunities. Wars between lords were endless, fighting each other in an entangled mess of alliances. Even the mercenaries in Isolated Cliff City struggled frequently with holy animals, and the lack of power could easily deny the right to survival, pushing every professional on the route of tough training.
However, peace still prevailed in the southwest. Per Panven, wars were rare decades ago. For example, when Nicholas succeeded the Lord of Iron Fist City, the leader of the much more powerful Doreen City, Len, did not choose to seize the territories of Iron Fist City, and only demanded intermarriage. Were it for the likes of Chesam and Zaganide, they would have raged their troops much earlier!
It made no sense that a city witnessing so much bloodshed could be worse off from various ends.
Jeddes thought about it for a prolonged period of time, as he asked about the situations in Black Raven City, Beit City, Holy Crown City, and Wild Willow City, then gradually continued, “Maybe… it’s about the level of civilization.”
“Civilization, what do you mean?” Han Jin was confused.
“You don’t know the lives of the average person.” Jeddes said lightly. “A person, if unable to feed himself, can’t do anything else. From your words, I can sense that the level of living is below average, and the average civilian needs to rely on armies and bandits for survival. That’s all they ask for, right?”
Yalina’s group exchanged short glances, but didn’t speak.
“How can that be?” Jeddes sighed, “That’s the inferno! Compared to you, we have fine climates, abundant resources and materials, and the ability to feed the civilians. That’s why they have time and effort to think of means to change their fate.”
“I understand what you mean.” Han Jin continued, “The intent to steal grows with hunger and cold, and the feel of reproduction comes with warmth and food. Some things could only be thought of when basic survival needs are guaranteed.”
“It may not sound great, but it is very precise indeed.” Jeddes smiled, “Also, have you guys thought of the fact that the population shrinks as combat continues! Only when the civilians settle can civilization progress. Do you know how many people reside in Iron Fist City?”
“How many?” Saxon asked in curiosity.”More than three million.”
Winston, Gibran, and the others were shocked. More than three million people in one city, it was nearly ten times the population of Holy Crown City!
“Do you know how many magic academies and fighting academies there are in Iron Fist City?”
“How… how many?” This time, Saxon’s facial expressions appeared unnatural.
“More than forty magic academies, and more than fifty fighting academies, with tiers to differentiate one from the others.”
Nobody followed his words. There was only one magic academy in the City of Elements, controlled by Duke Solomon, and only one in Holy Crown City, controlled by Dismark. Cold Shadow City under Chesam had three magic academies, and Fatto City controlled by Lord Forsa had two fighting academies.
“Our Word of God Magic Academy is different from yours!” Yalina argued with her face lighting up red, “Every student in our academy is elite!”
“In terms of descent, right?” Jeddes smiled, “Excuse me for asking, but how many magi has your Word of God Magic Academy produced?”
“Are you doubting our power?!” Yalina shouted with anger.
“No, you misunderstood.” Jeddes said quickly, “Over the last thirty years, our magic academies have cultivated more than one hundred magi and grand magi, albeit pledging allegiance to multiple different people. How many did your ‘elite’ Word of God Magic Academy cultivate?”
Yalina was unable to answer. Jeddes then continued, “The Kingdom of Magnificent Light has tens of millions of inhabitants. At the end of every year, teachers from many magic academies move around in search of qualified students. But… the tuition is quite high, however, the magic academy will still provide cost-free opportunities for those well-qualified. The magic and fighting academies where you live are only for the aristocrats, right?”
Many of the onlookers, like Gibran, looked somewhat dim after hearing Jeddes’s words; on the other hand, Han Jin sighed. He knew his friends; Sunier is the descendent of a god, and Reg is the only son of Conrod the knight, both warranted the necessary qualifications to become a professional. For Moxinke, it was entirely luck at work; both of his parents had died at a young age, and he was adopted by the father of Sylner. That was the main reason behind his mixed feeling about Sylner; he hated Sylner because of his manners, and he loved Sylner, in part for appreciation, and in part for just being a playmate.
The route for Cessacioun was more complex. He looked forward to life as a traveling poet, and one day met a stray magician who was nearing the age of death. The magician, whose name remains unknown to this day, taught Cessacioun a bit of magical knowledge. From there, Cessacioun relied on a nearly broken book on magic and self-learning to become a warlock. He then lingered around Yalina upon meeting her, and continued learning all the forms of magical knowledge, hence the reason why his speed of improvement was so fast. He had the qualifications, but never learned magic in an orthodox way, making his route to becoming a professional much more difficult than the others.
Of course, Gibran, Winston, and the others each had their chances, otherwise, they would either be dead or a farmer who had no ability to control their fate.
“You really believe that no geniuses could be found in millions of civilians?” Jeddes smiled.
“Your words make sense.” Han Jin exclaimed. He opposed theories of descent and gave much support to Jeddes.
Yalina remained quiet. She had sufficient qualifications to maintain her pride, but was not arrogant enough to believe that there wasn’t anyone in a group of a million people that could compare to her. She had a living example, Han Jin! Two years ago, he was just a beggar living on leftover food!
“Don’t believe for a second that the Word of God Magic Academy is the only first-class magic academy. The Demon Annihilator Crossbow Raphael previously mentioned was the result of a cooperative effort made by dozens of magic academies in Iron Fist City. However, it was not named the Demon Annihilator Crossbow originally, instead, it was called the Dragon Annihilator Arrow. The structure… hehe, it seemed to me that it was purely designed for combat against giant dragons.” Jeddes’ smile grew in size, “But I don’t think the Demon Annihilator Crossbow will have a good future. The dragons in the Dragon’s Territories—- the most powerful of Nicholas’ allies—- was extremely mad and disgusted by its development, and despite Nicholas’ repeated clarification that it was for the giant dragons under Lola’s control, he was still pressured to destroy its blueprints. He also sent his most trusted assistant, the major designer of the Demon Annihilator Crossbow, the grand magus Zenglin, to the Dragon’s Territory for trial in exchange for their forgiveness.”
“Lola also has giant dragons?” Han Jin asked.
“The Dragon’s Territory supported Nicholas, and Dragon’s City had been longtime enemies with the Dragon’s Territories, so of course the city would support Lola. It’s not a secret, do you not know?” Jeddes asked.
“I didn’t, I was never told about it.”
“Back then, Nicholas had built more than two hundred Demon Annihilator Crossbows, hehe… the Kingdom of Magnificent Light’s ability to produce was astounding. The Dragon’s Territory was not pleased with the limited compromise Nicholas made, and demanded that all built Demon Annihilator Crossbows be destroyed, threatening the four dragon knights’ betrayal. Then… after some unknown conditions that Nicholas agreed to, the Dragon’s Territory resumed in normal relations.”
“Has Nicholas ever been threatened?” Han Jin laughed. He then thought of a question, as he recalled Guevara’s earlier words, “Can the Dragon’s Territory affect the dragon knights?”
“Certainly.”
“I am a bit confused, are they dragon knights… or knight dragons?” Han Jin said.
“Whoever has the most power is the leader. There are countless giant dragons in the Dragon’s Territory and Dragon City. How many dragon knights do you think there are on the whole continent?” Jeddes smiled, “Ally? People could only see the scenery as a dragon knight, yet couldn’t see… hehe.”
“Seems to me… that you don’t exactly appreciate the giant dragons.”
“What’s so surprising? The dragons used their power and looked down on every race on the continent, and even repeatedly challenged the authority of the Great God of Light, why should I like them?”
