Chapter 557: Meeting the President Again
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
After his meeting with Chief Silverfox, Benjamin returned to the room of another inn and started rethinking about his mission in Icor.
In his original, tentative plan, Regina should be the central station for the roaming mages, he could publicize the news of the magic academy through this channel. However, Chief Silverfox so solemnly told him that there was not a single roaming mage around, his plan was smashed into pieces.
He had to leave Regina and contact the local mages at other places.
Where could he go?
While Benjamin asked Chief Silverfox to continue with the investigation, he could not just sit idly and wait. The positive attitude of the chief in life was deeply engraved in his mind. Although the structure of the magic circle in Icor was quite ancient, many of them possessed magical gifts. However, due to lack of pointers, it would probably be wasted for their whole lives.
He really could not wait to have a parade in Icor for a propaganda to recruit and to dig out all these potentials.
Unfortunately, if he really had the courage to do that, the Queen would definitely burst in anger. She would even seal off the borders and disallow anyone intending to go to the magic academy. If that really happened, all of Benjamin’s hard work would all be wasted.
He would be better off staying low-profile for now.
Benjamin waited until the next day while he stayed over at the inn in Regina. At the promised time, the President of the Mage Guild showed up as promised and had a secret meeting with him in the room.
"To return to Regina at times like these, you really have a heart of a lion."
As the President walked through the door, he smiled and said.
"What is there to be afraid of." Benjamin laughed as well and added, "As long as the Queen doesn’t know, I can even live in Regina for a year or so without any problem."
"Don’t underestimate the capability of Her Majesty the Queen to receive such information, should you make a careless omission, the consequences will be dire." The President put away his smile, shook his head and said, "Since she returned from the troop withdrawal in Carretas, your name has become taboo in the whole Palace. Her whole plan fell short just like that, Her Majesty really hates you."
Benjamin shrugged.
"It is really all thanks to your reminder, Lord, otherwise, I’m afraid that we wouldn’t have been aware of anything then." He continued to ask, "However... What is the true purpose of the Queen’s plan? What is it that is actually hidden in the undergrounds of the Gealorre Palace?"
"It should be the Abandoned Valley of Gods as told in the legends." The President answered. "But by the looks of it now, the legend must be false. I’m not sure about what Her Majesty actually wants, but when she returned, it seemed like she acquired a certain magical gift."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin was a little shocked.
A magical talent... Can this even be created from nothing?
For most of the people, spiritual energy and affinity to elements were the indices to measure magical talents. They could be strengthened through various meditation methods but their foundation would not change. In other words, the weaker the foundation value, the weaker the effect of the meditation.
From this perspective, everyone could practice magic, but most of the people could meditate for months and still not accumulate sufficient spiritual energy and affinity to elements that could support them for the fundamental level of magic. Thus, these people were regarded as "not gifted".
The Queen obviously belonged in this category.
Thinking back to what he saw on the grounds, various weird light spots were gathered around the Queen’s body, Benjamin thought about it and described this to the President. After hearing Benjamin’s words, the President was in shock as well.
"Magical talent... Is this the treasure left by the First Generation Emperor?" The President mumbled.
Benjamin could not care less about that, but instead asked, "So does this mean the Queen can practice magic and become a mage now?"
If that was the case, the situation would be much more complicated.
"No... Maybe it’s because of your interruption before, even if Her Majesty the Queen possessed magical gifts, she could only use one or two magic. But no matter how much she meditates, the spiritual energy and affinity to elements will not have any changes at all, then this so-called talent will actually be useless."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin let out a sigh of relief.
As long as she would not become a mage.
Previously, when the Queen could control so many mages, it was all done through the use of magic potions, Royal power, control of public opinions and so on. She was just a commoner, which was why it would require a great effort to garner control. By any chance, if she really became a mage, who knew how arrogant she could be.
Moreover, Benjamin thought about cracking the magic potion and freeing the Mage Guild. If the Queen really became a mage, even if he had successfully cracked the effects of the magic potion, she would still be able to control most of the people in the Mage Guild.
Luckily, he cut her off at the most crucial point.
"So... About the magic potions that the Queen used to control everyone, is there no way at all to crack this effect?" Thinking about all that, Benjamin bluntly asked.
"I have been secretly studying about it." The President looked helpless, "However, I’m not a potion mage, and I can’t seek help from other mages as well, I just couldn’t find a way to go about this."
Benjamin, on the other hand, was not disappointed but said, "So did you manage to discover anything?"
The President nodded and took out a piece of paper from his pocket. He wrote a few lines of words on it and passed it to Benjamin.
"This is a combination of my various information, a predicted formula. I’m not sure if it’s accurate, but... Even if there’s a formula, I’m afraid only masters who have been studying about potions for a lifetime can research the cure prescription."
Benjamin took the formula and kept it after looking at it. He had not heard about most of the ingredients which were written. The refining process was also very complicated, he would not be able to draw a conclusion from it with his current level.
But...The captives that they held at Carretas. Benjamin’s potion mage was constantly collecting their fresh blood to research for a cure.
If this formula was passed to them, could it be of some help?
"Anyway, why did you let Mage Vinci research on this? Isn’t he a renowned potion master?" Benjamin thought and asked out of curious.
"Potion master? Do you know for how long he has not refined magic potions by himself? Ever since his shops spread all over Ferelden, he has always been busy managing the business and had not time to concentration on studying." The President smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "The truth is, this formula is written with his help. He also added that this is the most that he can do."
"If that’s the case..."
Upon hearing this, he felt that this would be quite tricky as well.
Although the President seemed heartbroken that Mage Vinci had abandoned his main occupation, Mage Vinci must still have had a decent standard no matter what. For problems that even he could not solve, would those tactless potion mages in his men be able to solve?
"Mage Benjamin, back when I helped you escape from Regina, I didn’t think that you would come this far." The President looked at him and said, sighing, "Even though I too hope that you can free the mages in Icor, this will not be an easy task. You’re a young man with a bright future, there are way greater goals that can be achieved by you, you don’t have to put in too much effort on this issue."
Upon hearing this, Benjamin laughed and shook his head.
"What are you talking about?" He slowly said, "If the magic academy were to be built, it cannot be short of mages from Icor. I will definitely free all of them."
A very simple logic, the Queen would not cooperate as easily as General Stuart. One day, there would be a life-or-death situation between them. As for releasing all the mages in Icor, this would be the best method of defeating the Queen.
How could he give up then?
What were the other goals to be achieved? Even if he wanted to settle the Church, he still had to cross over Icor’s land!
"If that’s the case, let me recommend to you a few people." The President smiled with relief and said, "I have privately recruited a few students who did not join the Mage Guild. Now that Icor is like a pool of mud, it will not be ideal for them to stay here, let them seek shelter from you."
"No problem, I guarantee that they will be safe and sound with me."
The president nodded and said: "Other than that, didn’t you want to rope in more roaming mages from Icor? I have a list here with the name of the greater roaming mages in the country."
While saying that, he handed out another small booklet and passed it to Benjamin.
"Thank you."
Benjamin nodded thankfully.
With this, he would have saved up to at least a month’s time in collecting information. It was indeed his best decision to have met up with the President of the Mage Guild.