It was March now.
The time till the Time of Troubles was around half a year. There were about 20 months till the fall of the Goddess of Magic.
Soran always felt that something was chasing him. Even though he had walked fast enough, he still felt that time was not enough. After the news that the vampiric demigod had defeated the temple of Fear, Soran’s sense of crisis became more and more intense. According to the original historical events, it should be Lilian, the Witch of Terror, who woke up, controlled the temple of Fear, and finally sets off a tragic killing. But now the control of the Fear temple had become the vampiric demigod, and a massacre seemed to be on the horizon.
Vivian had been sent back to the outer islands.
Soran could not risk further awakening the Fear divinity within her because as the boundaries of the plane became looser, the higher-level demons could break through the barrier of the plane to the material plane within half a year at most. Devils had appeared; they bewitched powerful people to start wars. Since this time, the number of devil followers on the material plane had become more and more frequent, and some evil organizations had carried out taboo sacrificial rites.
Relatively, the south coast was now more peaceful after the battle.
The news from each area was not very good.
There was a sign that the orcs have moved south. The mixed-race orcs launched plunder. The internal friction of the humans had increased. Even the red dragon duchess, who had just fought with Soran, was involved in the war of suppressing the rebellion. It seemed that since March, tensions that were brewing in the past six months broke out, and wars have burst out in at least seven places on the whole continent.
There was also news about Autumnfall.
Soran heard that the half-elf god had gone missing, so his priest had no power.
He did not remember where the god fell to, but he remembered that he, ultimately, died in the Underdark. As the weak gods fell, the world’s attitude towards the gods gradually changed.
The eastern sea route was running smoothly.
The mission of the monk monastery was to suppress those ancient evil creatures. At least before the destruction of the demon army, many powerful monks would live in seclusion all over the world.
This was their tradition!
Just like the monk that Soran encountered, he would be training somewhere.
The eastern sea route was to supply the consumption of monasteries. It also needed a lot of resources to cultivate monks. Many secret methods needed expensive herbs.
Soran still had some honor because he was a person who kept his word, and a good monk was also lawful. Both of them attached great importance to the existence of order and rules.
The one responsible for the eastern sea route was the half-elf first mate.
He was a decisive person. Handing him control of the eastern sea route would be good.
That was why, around March, Soran was ready to go back to the outer islands.
He had to prepare for the next step. The foundation of the outer islands was to further his plans, which were to make for the Saints and deities.
Even if he didn’t have a conflict with other gods, a fight with Fear was inevitable.
Even though he had died, he had not disappeared completely!
Soran needed Fear to completely fall and never be a threat to Vivian at all.
There were four Elemental Stone.
The earth Elemental Stone was near the elven territory, the water Elemental Stone was in the Frost Kingdom, and the fire Elemental Stone in the desert area. The general location of these three places was clear to Soran, but he only knew that the wind Elemental Stone was in a dangerous area.
This was a legendary mission!
Gaining the earth Elemental Stone was a complete coincidence, and he now remembered the huge rock giant who rushed out from under the altar of elements when they finally left.
That monster was the real guardian of the earth Elemental Stone.
After the four Elemental Stones combined, the user would get a legendary summoning spell.
“An army of Elemental!”
In those days, someone completed the task with a pile of heads. With Soran’s strength, he should be able to try to finish it independently.
After all, he had equipment that surpassed his previous power!
His first stop was the Frost Kingdom. Something was going to happen to Arrendell, and Soran wanted to check it out.
He was a person that emphasize his promises!
The altar of the water element was only 100 kilometers away from Arendelle. There were many active Ice Trolls nearby. He planned to cross the north to get there and would pass through Arendalle on the way. Then the next stop was the desert of death. The first goal was to get the fire Elemental Stone, and later try to get the Rogue’s artifact [Cloak of Proof Against Detection].
This was a piece of core equipment against the Saints!
As for the last Elemental Stone, he may need Gloria to help him since the place was rather dangerous.
Four pieces of Elemental Stone would lead to the opening of a seal. The reward was a shard of divinity. If you had divinity at the same time, then it would lead to someone becoming a demigod!
Both Vivian and Soran could leverage on the Shard of Divinity to become a demigod.
Thus, Soran wanted the shard no matter what. After all, this was one of the few methods that Soran knew how to get a shard without killing a god.
Even if Soran joined hands with everyone, he would not be able to defeat a weak god.
That was because a demigod would be immune to the legendary spell [Time Stop].
If Vivian’s ability to stop time were useless, then the success rate of defeating a god would decrease. This was the same with the god slaying spell “Melf’s Minute Meteors.” After all, this spell could only help break the god’s protection, but not directly kill the god.
The outer island was different now after some time.
The port of Mordor had doubled in size, with two more unfinished monuments, namely, the Sea shrine and the Riches shrine. Both temples seemed to be competing for strength. The materials used to build the temples were extremely expensive. Many of them had to be transported across the sea from other places. People were realistic. They believed that if the temple were more majestic, then more believers would be attracted. According to this progress, it was impossible to build the shrines within one or two years.
The trade of the outer islands had attracted many traders.
Especially after the chaos had disrupted the trade on land.
The city of Mordor was still the same.
It was just a little bigger. At the same time, green buds were emerging from the southern arable land, and spring wheat had been planted. This year, even if it was not a good harvest, they could still ensure self-sufficiency.
Soran had many things to do in this short time.
During the afternoon, the slaves were gathered and counted. Mordor now had around 3000 slaves.
Soran stood on the high platform and looked down at the slaves below. Then he nodded to the red-haired pirate girl beside him. Then, nearly 30 slaves were brought out.
“I emphasize my promises.”
Soran looked down at the slaves in front of him and looked at others. His eyes swept over to the drow warriors beside him, and he could feel that the other side was avoiding eye contact.
Soran walked toward the slaves. There were two that looked like brother and sister.
“Those who are hard-working will get the corresponding reward.”
Soran watched the slaves; they seemed to be nervous. Only the first two brothers showed surprise because Vivian had promised that some people would be rewarded.
“As your master!”
Soran looked down upon the thirty slaves and said in a deep voice, “I give you freedom! From this day on, you will acquire the identity of a resident of Mordor, owning your own house, property, and family. ”
“Men!”
“Free them!”
Cheers were heard.
The other slaves there could not help but look up with shock on their faces.
Were they free?
How was this possible!
But what happened next made them realize that this was not a joke. The city guard next to them untied the shackles of more than 30 slaves, and then threw them pieces of rough linen clothes. In addition to the two brothers standing in front of them, the other slaves were still surprised, because they did not expect that Soran would give them freedom.
These slaves that got their freedom were good slaves.
Most of whom came from the mainland, and only three were wildlings.
The freedom was not to let them come and go. They were only granted the identity of the residents of Mordor City, and then had the right to housing, property, and family formation.
These people still had to work for Soran.
It’s just that they didn’t have to be packed in stinking cages or beaten by guards. They could earn their wealth and live a life far beyond that of other slaves.
Freedom?
Relative freedom was still freedom.
“Bring them there.”
Soran turned to look at the red-haired female pirate and said in a deep voice, “There are houses arranged for them in the north. From tomorrow, they don’t have to work with other slaves. People with special skills will be assigned to other places. People without special skills will be assigned to work in the port. These two people are very talented in farming, so let them be in charge of farming.”
There were many differences between slaves and population
Soran’s next step was to transform the slaves in Mordor into its city’s population. Of course, they had to be docile slaves. Those wildlings who were challenging to discipline would be left for the drows.
