The three days passed without anything notable. I had hired a lot of apprentices who worked day and night to process the raw materials while I forged weapons without stopping in my private forge. In those three days, I stayed focused on the operations of the forge.
Naturally, there were some attempts to block me. For example, no supplier in the whole capital was willing to sell anything to me … and more interestingly, the guards suddenly became far more proactive in searching the carts, stopping and confiscating any forging material that didn’t belong to official suppliers.
I was able to bypass that blockade using teleportation, which probably left the guild members scratching their heads about their apparent failure.
However, I ignored all of it as I faced a young enchanter who was trying to solve the problem I had given to her. She was the first one who had managed to solve the unofficial test I had given her, making her a good candidate for my plan.
Now, she was trying to solve a deceptively simple Arcana ward structure and turn it into an enchantment. She was nowhere near solving it, but she still made good progress … most importantly, she was willing to understand and solve it despite her skills being useless, which meant she was a good candidate as a magical assistant.
Was she perfect, no. But I had to start from somewhere; and under the circumstances, speed was far more useful than the alternative.
So, I approached her when she was alone. She tensed when she noticed me, which was understandable as I used a disguise. I ignored it as I spoke. “You have true potential in magic,” I declared as I let my voice gain an incredible cadence. “Tell me, girl. Are you willing to learn the secrets of true magic?” I said.
“Who are you. And, w-what do you mean?” she asked, looking suspicious, but I raised my hand, and a useless ball of mana appeared on my hand. Useless, but nearly impossible to create without an average stat distribution over thirty, along with a good understanding of Arcana mana.
She gasped in shock. “B-but, why here…” she said as she watched the rotating ball.
“Because this place is such a distraction, one of the many places we recruit our true students. People capable of understanding the truth about the magic,” I said, exaggerating slightly.
A bit rude, but it was a recruitment pitch. Hardy an avenue of accuracy.
“May I think about it?” she asked.
“No,” I answered. “Either accept or leave.”
She looked at me in disbelief. “I can leave. What if I tell others?”
“And people will believe you?” I countered with a smirk. Of course, I wouldn’t actually let her leave, but instead put her into some kind of sleep for a few weeks, which should be enough for my trick here to turn useless.
She looked confused, while I tapped into my Light node slightly, and the Arcana mana turned into light mana, still dancing elegantly…
“I accept,” she admitted. It was a bit hurried, of course, but understandable. She was a mere six-level mage, and already at her limit, which put her slightly above a common worker even with her surprisingly decent precision stat. And, I had already researched her. No family, no close friends. Perfect target for our organization.
Which was certainly not a cult. Right?
All of those factors made her easy to accept my abrupt suggestion. Not to mention, with my display of power, I had about a thousand different ways of harming her if I wished. Ironically, it made it easier for her to believe me.
“Good.”
“What do I need to do?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I said as I grabbed her shoulder, covered her with mana, and teleported. She gasped in shock as she saw the chaos of the Aether, but before she could register, we were under Silver Spires.
“Hello, love,” I greeted Helga with a searing kiss, distracting her from studying.
After she pulled back, she noticed our guest. “A candidate,” she asked.
“Yes, the first student of your chapter,” I answered, following our previously agreed lie. Since I recruited her acting like an already existing organization, we needed an excuse as to why there were no other students.
Building a new chapter was a good excuse.
I didn’t bother asking, but I was sure she still believed us to be under the capital. A good thing for the students to believe.
“I’ll leave you two to get acquainted,” I said, and after another kiss, I teleported away. When I returned, I used an illusion to look like our first student, exited the building, walked into an alley next to a building I hired for guild spies … and disappeared.
If I could use a string of disappearances on the guild, it would be even better.
But, for now, I hadn't taken any action. It would be more effective if I could point out several disappearances.
After I ‘disappeared’ in the alley, I returned to the base, only to change into another disguise and leave. However, this time, my disguise was deliberately poor. At a distance, I could already see several spies following me while I stepped into a black carriage waiting for me.
In the carriage, there was a servant waiting for me, serving me a drink. “My lord is glad that you have decided to take his meeting. You won’t be disappointed. He’s the one that can break the guild’s resistance.”
“I don’t need his help against a bunch of pencil pushers that forgot how to hold a hammer,” I answered, arrogant and direct just like a stereotypical man who spent all his time dealing with forging than other humans. That rash and careless attitude were not exactly designed to achieve optimal political objectives.
But it allowed me to poke around the complex web of political alliances easily, without care. “I have already told him what I need from him. If he’s unwilling to deliver that, you might stop the carriage right now.”
“Don’t worry about it, grandmaster,” he said. “My prince is happy to give you what you need as long as you supply him with what you promised.”
I waved my hand. “Just a thousand sets of armor. It’s nothing,” I said as I bragged shamelessly, but said nothing else. Even when the carriage left the city walls. A while later, a group joined us on horseback, carrying bows, but the lack of reaction from the servant suggested that they were pre-arranged bodyguards.
I might have tensed if I was just a fighter as I led them to believe, so I decided to put that show on. My fingers tightened around the glass while I looked out of the window, subtly fidgeting. As we moved away from the capital, not using the main road, more than one monster attacked us.
But, with a full squad of bodyguards around us, nothing happened.
“Our royal guards are very competent,” he commented. Which, I had to agree with. Of eight bodyguards, the weakest was level sixteen. Already at his level cap, but with a decent stat distribution. The strongest was level twenty-two … but with some interesting Skills. Like, having illusion magic rather than a melee ability.
A spy, and a very good one from the looks of it. I felt flattered.
I was already worth mobilizing such an important asset.
“Since we’re approaching the residence of our prince, would you like refreshes about the etiquette, grandmaster?” he asked.
“No need,” I said. “I’m a blacksmith here to talk business. He can summon one of the frogs from the court if he needs to be entertained,” I said, glad that my character didn’t require me to bow and scrape.
I certainly didn’t want another year acting as some kind of servant.
It took almost half an hour for us to arrive at the mansion of the prince, though even if I didn’t know about the owner, it wouldn’t have been hard to guess. The first reason was the lavish nature of the place, as who else would have walls covered with gold and gems.
I would have understood if they were a part of the wards, but I could sense that it was not the case. There was no mana connection, just opulence.
Of course, that didn’t mean there was no magical protection. I could sense several wards, layered on top of each other, though they prioritized defense over counterattack, all under a central point of control. Clearly, they assumed that, for any attack, they would receive reinforcements in quick order.
The wards were strong yet simple … and certainly not resource-efficient. Clearly, the royal family was not lacking in money or other resources… Curious, I dug deeper into the structure, trying to see if there was a nasty surprise, like a surprise addition by the Eternals that would trap me … but it seemed clean.
“We’re here,” the servant said, and I stepped out as I arrived at the inner court.
—
{Strength: 45 Charisma: 45
Precision: 45 Perception: 45
Agility: 45 Manipulation: 45
Speed: 45 Intelligence: 49
Endurance: 60 Wisdom: 45}
{Purified Divine Spark: 33280}
{Pseudo-HP: 15000 Mana: 20000}
{ADDITIONAL SPARKS
Light - Chosen 7.4
Nature - Chosen 10}
{MINIONS
GODDESSES
Elven Goddess
Goddess of Knowledge}
