Farewell
“Tower genie, I wish to exchange contribution points for ‘A Brief Introduction To The Four Great Elements’, as well as Gandalf’s ‘Exploring the Cosmic World’!” When it was time to leave, Leylin spoke to the managing genie of the wizards’ vault.
“Lord Leylin, you now have a total of 580 contribution points. Exchanging for these two magic resources will require 80 contribution points. Continue?” the tower genie asked.
“Yes!” Leylin touched the emblem on his chest. With some secret probes, he could sense that the tower genie was communicating with the information in his emblem and refreshing it. Soon, it deducted the correct number of contribution points.
*Boom! Boom!* Two earthen statues walked over, holding crystal balls with information inside them.
The tower genie’s voice sounded again. “Please note: The information is only meant for the wizard to use alone. It must not be shown to outsiders, or you will be punished by the enforcers of the palace.”
Leylin already knew about this rule, and he shrugged his shoulders, taking the two crystal balls and walking out of the guild.
‘Regular wizards can only read the information on the first two levels, and there are even some restrictions on that. My permissions are already the highest that all foreigners can get...’ Leylin sighed inside.
Whatever it was, he was still a foreigner who had enlisted for less than a year, and was only a middle-ranked wizard. While he had a little bit of a reputation as a genius, he was nothing before he had fully grown into his power.
‘All the research and procedures that are free to read in the wizards’ vault has been stored in the A.I. Chip. I need to spend contribution points for the rest...’
Short of becoming a Legend, he couldn’t access the vault free of charge. He could only use his accumulated contribution points to slowly get the information on the disciplines he wanted. Were there no war, it would have been delusional to completely obtain all the information he wanted with his current means.
However, things were different now. Leylin’s eyes glinted icily, “Soon... The shadow of war will soon be upon us...”
The advent of war was no secret. Intelligent people like Leylin could tell this was about to happen years ago, and now even the junior-most officers like Aulen had found out.
The most obvious evidence of this was the obvious decrease in the number of wizard apprentices and official wizards coming to Silverymoon. The crowd on the streets had even thinned out. The city guards had been mobilised more often recently, and they were even openly recruiting.
Of course, those who joined now would not have the great treatment that Leylin had gotten. With his own foresight and the advantage from his information, Leylin had made the most of this final chance to enlist. Now, if he was lucky, he could be recruited into the middle ranks.
However, this was obviously not what Leylin needed. What did that mean to him? What he needed was to have achievements; by unceasingly getting more contribution points and spreading his fame, he could soar straight to the inner circle of Silverymoon City.
His actions would definitely be hindered by those stubborn conservative members, which was why it was necessary to walk the less trodden path.
‘Tiff is doing well right now. He’s gathered some power that I can make use of...’ Leylin continued to scheme.
“Oh my! Isn’t this our genius foreigner from the south, mid-ranked wizard Leylin?” This peculiar voice and the sarcasm in mentioning Leylin’s title made him immediately aware of who it was.
“Commander Cassley!” He inwardly rolled his eyes, but on the surface Leylin still straightened his chest and saluted.
“Mm! I heard that you did well this time and saved Aulen and the others from a group of werecreatures. Not bad...” Standing in front of him was a young officer. His ears were slightly pointed and he had fair skin from his elven heritage. His appearance concealed his true age.
He was a true high-ranked wizard! On top of that, he was also a higher-up amongst the city guards, and Leylin had to treat him with respect. He obviously knew that the instant he seemed disrespectful, things would be deliberately made difficult for him. Hence, all his actions strictly followed the etiquette in the army with no errors.
Seeing Leylin’s display, Cassley had an shady look in his eye and even some restrained fear.
“I heard that your next mission is a punitive expedition. Work hard. Once we expand the army, it’ll be a chance for you youths.”
Taking the general encouragement, Leylin got out of the way and stood by the side of the road. Only after the commander vanished from the Wizards’ Guild did he continue forward, sighing in relief.
Even a world with extraordinary powers was similar to ordinary human societies, with factions and power struggles. Leylin’s achievements that outstripped his age already left a lot of people unhappy with him. With the quick promotions, his increasing contribution points, and the spread of his name, this discontent had reached the limits.
In order to get more opportunities, Leylin had taken the initiative and entered Aulen’s faction, thereby relying on the bigshot behind her. There was no other way around it. If he wanted to climb forward, his own strength was far from enough. It was necessary to get be backed by other factions.
Without anyone backing you, it was only a matter of time before you were eliminated. While he found this beneath him, lacking in strength Leylin could only play by the rules. In that case, was there a faction better than his own immediate superior?
By relying on Aulen and the power backing her, Leylin had been able to survive up to this point. However, this also led to him offending the other factions. The high-ranked wizard Cassley, for instance, was obviously from another faction. Leylin and Aulen had long become eyesores to him.
Of course, with Alessandro and the elders around, this competition was still positive. Nobody dared make a move in public. Hence, since Leylin had presented himself perfectly, Cassley could find no excuse to reprimand him.
“Looks like he’s going to give our team trouble in the next mission...” Leylin muttered to himself. This degree of treatment was still within the scope of the rules, and his backer must have also done something as well.
‘But he’s taking the lead to make things difficult for us and is unafraid of telling me about the dangers of the mission. Does that mean they are absolutely prepared?’ Leylin’s expression was grim. This action of his implied a 60 to 70% confidence.
Of course, Leylin was already used to concealing his strength. A plan based on his surface strength would fail to account for his true might. This alone could lead to Cassley losing everything he banked on.
“It’s a good idea to discuss this with Aulen as soon as possible, and see if the bigshot behind her can help us...” Leylin had a feeling that this was a confrontation between the two organisations, and his team had coincidentally been involved. The two sides had long since discovered the incoming battle and were now doing all they could to suppress their opponents and gather more strength.
That he was pushed to the front of the stage to become the vanguard meant things were now very dangerous. As the bannermen, they would obviously be attacked at full strength.
‘But danger is also an opportunity!’ Leylin laughed grimly to himself, ‘As long as we can get past this, the rewards won’t be meagre. How else could this be fair?’
Leylin never feared danger.
‘Leylin! Hey, hey! I’m here!’ The young girl’s tender voice attracted the interest of many people, causing them to stop and look on. However, the person who had called him out did not seem to be affected in the least, and was even waving her arms.
‘Is she finally here?’ The feeling from the devil’s mark already told Leylin the identity of this person.
He looked up and came before the female knight, “Long time no see!”
“Long time no see, Leylin!” Rafiniya was still in a knight’s attire, but there were now a few servants guiding the horse. It seemed like she had matured quite a bit in these two years, and grown a few centimetres taller. Her powerful and lush thighs immediately stopped passersby in their tracks.
It did not feel good to be ogled at like this, so Leylin brought Rafiniya away.
“You’re a wizard! I knew it; you were bluffing me all this time! Also your name is Leylin, not Ley!” Rafiniya exclaimed huffily, her personality still the same as before.
“Haha... that was all a disguise in the past!” Having been seen through, Leylin didn’t even blush.
“By the way, why are you here?” There was a huge distance between the north and the west. Leylin had reached Silverymoon ahead of Rafiniya, but the fact that she had actually come here still surprised him slightly.
“I’m travelling around now, and I heard rumours that a war’s going to happen here. I came because you were here too.” Rafiniya spoke seriously, “As a knight, my dream is to maintain justice and protect the peace of Silverymoon!”
‘I knew it...’ Leylin massaged his temples. Only foolish girls like Rafiniya would run to battlefields when there were no benefits. He glanced at the servants behind her, eyes full of pity, “With a mistress like this, it must be exhausting.”
Upon hearing this, the servants behind Rafiniya nodded vigorously, but when Rafiniya turned back, their expressions immediately changed, looking indignant.
“Struggling for a career of righteousness is all I live for!”
“The miss’ methods are correct. We support you wholeheartedly!”
“How is it? So many people are supporting my dreams! Silverymoon City will definitely win this time, and the evil orcs will definitely lose!” Rafiniya proudly raised her head.
“Yeah, yeah. Have you joined the city guard?” Leylin asked bluntly.
“Not yet. I came to meet you once I arrived!” Rafiniya answered truthfully.
“Good! I’ll introduce you to people then. How about joining my team?” Leylin suggested. With Aulen’s authority, taking a new recruit into his team was no issue.