Darius stood before Nicholas, Elijah, Maximo and Shanks with his arms folded behind his back. The three men glanced at each other with uncertain looks and then back at Darius.
"That… Lord Darius, you want us to retire from our duties and follow you?" Nicholas asked with confusion.
"That's right. You few are currently in positions that are not expandable to me, and I feel that your work would be better suited to where I am going now." Darius explained with a smile.
The men were surprised by this. "Obsolete positions? So there is no longer a need for a City Lord of Safemoon, or a principal of the Academy?"
"Such things can be filled by others with far less qualifications than you all. No, I would rather have you accompany me to Pan and assist me in spreading my influence and managing my growth there." Darius highlighted with a wave of his hand.
Hearing this, the fellows were surprised, but then their eyes lit up.
"Pan? The continent of those immortals?" Elijah asked with a rushed tone.
Darius' eyes gleamed. "That's right, that is my next target of conquest, though I plan to have a more personal approach to it."
"Damn, then count me in!" Shanks exclaimed with excitement.
"Oh? Why the reactions gentlemen? Do you really find Pan so attractive?" Darius asked with amusement, already knowing the answer.
"Of course! The powers of those so called Immortals are a big grander and more versatile than our magic, not to mention that they were the only continent that can boast endless growth for all species as long as you accumulate energy!" Maximo excitedly revealed.
"But you do realize that it comes at a cost, right? The ratio of unawakened and unsparked there are higher because you need a special organ called a Spirit Root to practice their cultivation techniques. Even if you are a Grandmaster mage and travel there, you might be limited to your power system because you do not have a spirit root."
This calmed down their enthusiasm but they shared looks and smiled. "Even so, we know that with your means, Lord Darius, you can easily give us the best Spirit Roots." Nicholas pointed out confidently.
Darius glanced at the fellow askance but nodded. "That's true, and it is wise to realize the extent of my provisional ability for you."
Darius then swept his eyes over them. "So, what do you say?"
The four men unhesitatingly expressed their acquiesce, making Darius nod. "Make preparations. We 'll be leaving in a few hours."
Before Darius could leave, he was stopped by Shanks. "What about Derek and Portia? And Jorge as well as Foldo?"
"They are better left to fill the shoes of you lot, not to mention that they are too young to manage such a thing. As for Foldo, he is severely embedded in the atmosphere of Fallon, and pulling him out does more harm than good." Darius stated as she shook his head.
Shanks went went and did not ask anything more. Meanwhile, Darius teleported to his mage tower and saw that Gunner was squatting to chat with Xela and Luna with a brotherly smile on his face.
When they saw Darius arrive, their faces lit up slightly.
"Ive informed the others who will come with us about our journey. We need some people to handle some misc things while we further our goals." Darius informed them with a smile.
The thee Branded Servants nodded in understanding. Darius then moved to sit down and began to think about what to do with Pan.
The Spirit Root issue was not a light one. It was a make or break for anyone who wanted to enter their power system, and even if you had one, you could only use t in the special environment they possessed using the special methods they possessed.
This meant that the cultivation methods to initiate oneself into the the path of immortal hood were in the hands of the powers of the Pan Continent, the sects.
These strange and pseudo-efficient governments were very brutal and usually operated with extreme corruption, or extremely survival of the fittest, there was usually no in-between.
They were also very militaristic and narrow-minded, willing to go to war for the slightest issue and would happily throw out their lives of their people, these disciples, just to satisfy bruised egos.
Darius realized that his presence was sorely needed on this land. The Sect system had so much potential that was going to waste due to the mental retardation of those at the top of the pyramid.
Even worse was the fact that despite Pan's potential, it was not even in the top 3 strongest continents, even barely making it into top 5 at 5th place.
This was due to the fact that the quality of life on the continent was poor and the life expectancy was poor. Unless you were a cultivator or from a powerful lineage, your chances of living till 30 were very slim.
Mortals died there in droves when cultivators fought and they were often abused and used like resources by the evil factions among the immortals.
This was cutting their own feet, since majority of their power came from mortals who discovered they had Spirit Roots and then were inducted. However despite knowing this, the immortals hardly changed their ways and their system, rather telling themselves tripe bullshit like 'you are not fated if you die' and 'only the strong with talent with make it through'.
Immortals perfectly encapsulated the saying that if one could blame anything but themselves for the problems they caused, then one should. Now, even fate and destiny took the blame for poor management and shitty practices.
However, with the advent of Darius and the Branded Servants, all of that would come to an end. Darius planned to create a super large sect that would rule over the continent and subjugate it to his whims, also promoting its growth and efficiency!
