Warlock of the Magus World

by Stayrr

What happens when a scientist from a futuristic world reincarnates in a World of Magic and Knights? An awesome MC is what happens! A scientist’s goal is to explore the secrets of the universe, and this is exactly what Leylin sets out to do when he is reincarnated. Dark, cold and calculating, he makes use of all his resources as he sets off on his adventures to meet his goal. Face?

26. 787

Read Warlock of the Magus World - Chapter 787 – Truesoul Splitting online free - Light Novel Full

Truesoul Splitting

"Father… you…" After hearing Leylin's of intentions, Syre couldn't hold himself back even if the Warlocks sitting below had no objections. At the same time, although her expression hadn't really changed Freya was already tightly clasping her dress.

Leylin noticed all of these minute movements.

"Of course, before the experiment, I'll definitely make time to stay with you…" Leylin glanced at Freya and consoled her.

Meanwhile, his eyes scanned across those below him, "Everyone, please allow me some time to be with my family…" Since Leylin had spoken, the high-ranked Warlocks naturally did not say more and bid farewell, leaving the space to the family of three with the highest authority.

"I'm sorry, Freya, but there's a reason I have to do this!" Leylin watched his wife apologetically, "I promise! This temporary parting is all preparation for us to be together for eternity… Please believe in me…"

Freya's eyes reddened, and Syre scratched his head.

"Alright, let's not talk about stuff that will dampen our moods. Send the order for a banquet to be prepared! I'll spend good time with you for now." Leylin watched Syre tenderly and smiled.

……

Several months had already passed by the time Leylin had returned to his laboratory once more.

At the thought of how he'd been rushing everywhere for these months, even Leylin could only rub his nose and laugh wryly.

There was not just Freya and Syre in his family. Whether it was Celine and his son in Twilight Zone, Belinda, her sister and Aegnis in the underground Alabaster City and the rest who hadhad intimate relations with him, all needed to be pacified.

While the time he spent with each of them was short, the amount of time it added up to came to a terrifying amount.

Of course, with Leylin's personality, he only spent more effort appeasing Freya and a few others. The rest of the women were consoled with just some transmissions.

After all, Leylin clearly knew which women held more importance to him.

"Besides taking care of those affairs, there was also the development of the Ouroboros Clan and the Farlier Family…"

Leylin merely set a rather approximate aim when it came to this and got his subordinates to do the rest. With Syre and Daniel, the two rank 6s in charge, there was little he needed to worry about.

"Next… is to vigorously do research on reincarnation techniques and do all I can to make a strategy for the World of Gods!"

Leylin's eyes displayed his anticipation as he immersed himself in experiments and research.

Time flowed like water, and the years passed by in a blur. Things of the world outside his word seemed to lose all importance to Leylin, who'd sunk into experiments and getting proof.

In his mind, the truesoul splitting technique he had gained from Melinda, the method to maintain control over a truesoul clone that he had obtained from Ignox and many other techniques were already being broken up and re-organised to form an even more complex and profound body.

The mysteries of the truesoul began to unveil itself before Leylin, allowing Leylin to touch on the truth of the world on a deeper level.

"Universe and truesoul, macroscopic and microscopic, matter and conscient… At the very heart of it, everything mysteriously has its similarities. Is this the secret of the universe?"

Leylin looked intoxicated.

In front of him, dazzling starlight fused into one body, yet its form seemed to be constantly changing.

From the outside, its eemed to be an irregular spheroid formed of starlight. There were scenes of the explosion of the universe and shrinking of the black hole, which then gradually formed into a human figure.

[Beep! Completion of Rank 7 spell— Alternative World Reincarnation. Referenced material: 'Soul Splitting Technique', 'How to control your soul— Enoja', 'Exploring the mysteries of the world', 'Truesoul concealment— Basics for Devils']

The A.I. Chip's prompt sounded, followed by an even more detailed introduction to the spell.

[Alternate World Reincarnation. Rank 7 spell. Ability to split the truesoul of the main body and project the body to another world to be reincarnated. The main body will have absolute control over the truesoul clone and synchronise completely with the world origin force's frequency, getting treatment as a native would.]

In the Magus World's history, there were few rank 7 spells, and much less spell models to record them.

This was because the existences of laws, after reaching rank 7, could make use magic at its source and bypass the process of using the spell model.

Besides, spells at rank 7 and above usually needed the corresponding power of laws as the basis, and had no properties that allowed it to be used widespread.

The spell formation that Leylin had specially developed was much different from the original soul splitting technique.

"It can be said that this 'Alternate World Reincarnation' is actually a new method of traversing to another world. If used on an ordinary person, it would still have the same effect."

Leylin's lips quirked up into a smile.

His rank 7 spell not only made use of the intelligence of Melinda and Ignox, but also included what he felt was important.

Amongst this was the A.I. Chip's simulation analytical skills as well as the transformation by the world origin will.

In his reincarnation spell, the truesoul had to go through a transformation by the world origin force. Hence, the clone that successfully descended into the World of Gods would be no different from a native, and even gods would not notice.

Only with these would his clone have enough space and time to develop.

Of course, because the clone had abandoned all its original abilities and lacked any power from the main body, the clone would start off in the weakest state.

However, with Leylin's truesoul memories, the clone would definitely grow quickly and then begin to spy on the domains of the gods.

It was only after reaching the realm of the gods and synchronising with the world origin force that the clone would possibly coordinate with the main body, in order to break through the barrier of the crystal wall.

"The theoretical and practical experiments for these have been completed. What's next is to put everything into practice…"

Leylin looked very grim. Neither the splitting of his truesoul and reincarnating it in the World of Gods were simple tasks.

Even with Leylin's semi rank 7 body of laws, he had to treat this very seriously.

"So I've finally reached this point?"

Leylin's eyes were filled with emotion. All his memories flashed before his eyes, from starting off as an ordinary little noble that developed into a being filled with fear in the Magus World, to his memories of glory and splendour afterwards.

Leylin's mind lingered with the mysteries and vastness of magic, the glory and mystery of the World of Gods, as well as the limitless strength system and the supreme truth.

Now, he was completely giving up the path the ancient Magi had walked, entering the World of Gods in order to search for the origin or to meet his end.

The slight wavering in his emotions was suppressed by him in the blink of an eye.

Soon, his eyes went back to a state that was impervious to desires and passions.

Leylin arrived in the astral laboratory. Here, an astral gate exactly the same as before had been rebuilt.

The large stone gates and the strange, simple patterns seemed to be narrating some ancient and great history.

"Manderhawke Plate!" Leylin's right hand flickered with light, and a round stone plate appeared. There was even a large part missing at its edge, as if something had taken a bite out of it.

"Based on the data from the previous experiment, I've modified it further and made an imitation Manderhawke Plate with the addition of some other materials!"

Leylin's eyes flashed as the A.I. Chip's robotic voice sounded.

[Manhark Plate (Imitation). Weight: 2451g. Effect: Weaken world force, makes it convenient for transmission of energy. This is an imitation, made from the Manhark Plate Beezlebub possesses. Holds 46.5% of power of the original. Maker: Leylin Farlier.]

"Mm! Compared to the previous inferior versions which only had 20 – 30% the effects of the original, this imitation is evidently more powerful. It should help the plan work more smoothly…"

Leylin touched his chin, suddenly looking resolute, "Let's begin!"

Rumble!* A dazzling golden, blazing sun slowly appeared from behind him.

This was a projection of Leylin's truesoul, representing a peak rank 6 Warlock. This was the strength of the highest quality soul!

The golden soul flames that appeared physical wreaked havoc in the laboratory . Besides the astral gate, everything was incinerated into nothing.

"First up… the splitting of the truesoul!"

Leylin looked incomparably grave. Based on the technique to split the truesoul into two, a powerful tearing force entered his point mass.

At the heart of the point mass, which was where a Magus' soul and strength gathered, the peak rank 6 truesoul began to tremble abruptly.

Pain! The intense pain of tearing one's soul apart! Leylin bore the sudden attack, which made him turn pale with cold sweat running down profusely.

At his back, his blazing sun truesoul quivered, and even the Targaryan appeared, producing hisses of misery and suffering.

"Hah! Split!"

Leylin looked extremely malicious, as if a devil from hell. With his yell, a white streak of electricity fell, striking the figure behind him.

Crash!*

The golden sun split in an instant, forming two truesouls, one larger than the other.

"Ugh—" At the moment his truesoul was split, Leylin's mind went completely blank, and his eyes were filled with confusion.

"Such weakness…"

Once he completely regained his senses, he forced a smile as he sensed the terrifying injuries to his truesoul.

"Just breaking off a small part of my truesoul is already so terrifying…"

Leylin gazed at the two irregular truesouls. While they had both turned into flaming suns, the physically larger one was obviously tens of times bigger than the smaller truesoul.

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Alternate World Reincarnation

"Injuries to the truesoul are the most terrifying. Even existences of laws will sink into a deep sleep in order to heal them…" Leylin laughed wryly, "This is a result of splitting a small part of my truesoul. If it's anything like what Beezlebub did, it's very possible that my main body would just die…"

The phantom Targaryen behind Leylin's back withered and slowly disappeared. A bit of faint red light flew out from between his brows and disappeared into his hand, flashing like a firefly. This was the smaller truesoul that Leylin had split. The experiment had to begin immediately, lest it dissipate from prolonged exposure to the external world.

"Astral gate, open!" Leylin huffed in a low voice, and a procedure identical to before was executed. His soul force waded through the long astral river until it arrived at the tremendous crystal wall surrounding the World of Gods.

"Manderhawke's Plate!" The stone plate in Leylin's hands came to the crystal wall, emitting a light that caused a portion to seem to be on the verge of melting.

At the moment a channel opened through the crystal wall, Leylin's eyes brightened and immense rank 7 spell undulations were emitted from his body. "Rank 7 spell— Alternate World Reincarnation!"

Time seemed to stop in that instant. That bit of truesoul in Leylin's hands was enveloped in the brilliance of the Alternate World Reincarnation spell as it disappeared into the World of Gods.

Everything happened quickly. Once it was done, the Manderhawke Plate exploded into powder, and the crystal wall from before closed itself quickly with no trace of a flaw.

"It's all up to the truesoul now…" The huge astral gate gradually collapsed, and Leylin could only smile wryly.

With his serious injuries, he could only slumber in his laboratory, recuperating with time as he controlled his clone in the World of Gods.

"These injuries are enough for me to sleep for a few hundred years. If I don't get any benefits from the World of Gods, it would be such a huge loss…" With this thought, Leylin's body disappeared into the ground under the laboratory.

With the slumber of his main body, all of his attention was focused on that clone.

The brainwashing and refining from a world origin was a very terrifying process.

Leylin's truesoul could sense that ever since he entered the World of Gods, terrifying energy whirlpools had formed next to him, tirelessly washing away all traces of the power he used to possess.

Evidently, this was an effect of the rank 7 spell, Alternate World Reincarnation. It allowed Leylin to reach the core of the World of Gods and be altered by the origin itself.

Once this modification was over, he could perhaps wash off all traces of being from another world and truly become a native of the World of Gods.

This alteration happened extremely quickly. The luster of the Manderhawke Plate had diminished by a huge degree after opening just the external layer of the crystal wall, and after opening up the World of Gods, it had been directly destroyed with no traces of it left at all.

Next was the power of the rank 7 spell, the reincarnation spell that allowed Leylin to arrive in this world. Its luster gradually dissipated.

Just like stripping off a greatcoat, once the rays of light of the reincarnation spell dissipated, Leylin's truesoul was fully bared in the immense darkness.

Vastness! Terror! Boundlessness!

This was Leylin's truesoul's first thoughts. Compared to this enormous world, his little truesoul was nothing and couldn't even be compared to an ant, and it could only tremble in the corner.

The and powerful source immediately invaded into Leylin's truesoul.

The truesoul, which had already been shrunk and condensed to a large degree, surprisingly gradually became slower under the alteration of the world force.

"Even soul force has been forcefully removed…" Leylin's truesoul watched this process, able to only laugh.

The truesoul was constantly altered, to the point that Leylin's own conscience was gradually becoming fuzzy.

Gradually, the changes from the world force went on to the deepest layer of his truesoul, where his memories and his most important elements of self were.

The tremendous soul force ruthlessly invaded it with no intentions of stopping.

"Could it be that… I'm going to be defeated just like this? With such a laughable method?"

Leylin's truesoul was on the verge of death, and only this little thought appeared tenaciously, as if making its last struggle.

Bzzt bzzt!* At this moment, a bright silver white light shone from Leylin's truesoul memories.

Under the influence of the white rays of light, the world force hesitated for that slight moment, and then let go of Leylin's memories, altering other areas.

"Could… could this be the power of the Alternate World Reincarnation spell? So it still has a bit of energy left, stored in my memories? Or… it's something else?"

Leylin's truesoul was perplexed, but having been diminished to the limit quickly sank into a deep sleep.

Time seemed to stop at this moment, but at the same time, a long time seemed to have passed.

"Where… is this?" Leylin, who regained his consciousness, sized up his surroundings, stunned.

Perhaps 'sizing up' wasn't the right term for it, because he no longer had a body, and naturally had no eyes or organs like that.

What he was now doing was using his senses to explore the area like feelers.

Darkness… It was darkness all around with no light at all. Leylin, who was now conscious, measured up his surroundings and felt helpless.

"Even my truesoul has vanished. I'm just a body that's a mixture of memories and a fragmented soul now?"

Leylin's conscient was suddenly enlightened. At this moment, there seemed to be a black hole in the air that sucked his conscient in.

Leylin's conscient found itself getting dizzy as it sunk into a deep sleep…

"How long have I slept for?"

When his conscient re-awakened, the surroundings had changed once again.

While it was darkness all around, orange-red light could be seen. He could even hear some low hums in his confusion.

Thankfully, while his conscient was weak, Leylin could tell that his conscient was no longer without a source but had something maintaining his life.

"In this state, what I need is to do what I can to reduce consumption of energy and allow the conscient to rest in order to amass more energy…."

Leylin's conscient sank into sleep once more. However, before going back into a slumber, Leylin gave himself a prompt.

The terrifying calculation abilities of his main body now became the most precise stopwatch.

Once it reached 17280 000 in his mind, Leylin reawakened.

"Mm, 17280 000 seconds, which is two hundred days have passed?"

Awake, the conscient was elated to find that it had gotten stronger. There was the obvious feeling of energy being transmitted, as if there was a warm rush unceasingly pouring towards his stomach.

"Stomach? Mm!!!" An electrostatic force swept across him, and immediately after, Leylin felt his right leg twitch.

"This…" His conscient abruptly became clear as he then went through a more detailed probe.

Thanks to this slumber, the area that he could explore expanded, gradually forming the image of a baby hugging his head. The veins and even bones could be seen.

"I have a body now! So what happened was that I've always been in a pregnant woman's stomach as an embryo!"

Leylin abruptly understood.

"So it seems like the Alternate World Reincarnation spell formation succeeded!"

However, Leylin soon found himself at a loss, "Do I have to start off as a baby? This is simply too shameful!"

However, with Leylin's thick skin, this embarrassment only had him turn red for a moment, before he began to consider this situation as if nothing had happened.

"A baby is far too weak. With my current state, my parents should be regular human natives of the World of Gods. It's a pity that in this situation, I have no way to protect myself. I can only leave everything up to fate…"

All the previous energy he possessed had been washed off and removed from him. Even the soul energy that Magi were the most proud of had completely disappeared. Besides a bit of awareness, he was no different from other unborn children and naturally had no way to protect himself.

In addition, just thinking for this moment left Leylin feeling dizzy.

"This isn't good! A baby's brain has yet to fully mature. In this state, I should try my best to withhold my thoughts. It's better to sleep."

Leylin understood everything.

Conscients cannot exist without a body. This was even more so in the World of Gods, where laws were even more stern. Leylin now had lost all his solidified soul energy. His conscient and spiritual force could only rely on this developing body of a fetus and he naturally could not overdo it. If the woman were to have a miscarriage because of this, Leylin would be doomed.

Leylin, who understood this well, could only sink into a deep slumber while hoping this pregnant woman would be safe.

"Ugh…" At this moment, in a port city in the World of Gods.

A noble young lady clutched at her swelling stomach, brows tightly furrowed.

"What is it, darling!"

A young man immediately came over to help her along, looking anxious.

"It's the child. He kicked me…" The woman looked gentle, brimming in the radiance of motherly love.

"What a cheeky fellow!"

The young lad bent down, pressing his ear tightly to the swollen stomach, to which the lady protested coquettishly.

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Birth

Waiting was always boring and painful, especially when one's safety was entrusted to someone else. Thankfully, this torture was about to end. Through his own senses, as well as the information he'd obtained from the outside world, Leylin knew he would be born soon.

He'd even felt the invasion of an extraordinary energy during the long pregnancy. It was a pure white positive energy, used to heal and increase vitality. Having experienced it several times, Leylin quickly understood what it was. 'The blessings of a priest! Great!'

This blessing was very beneficial for the development of fetuses, and Leylin naturally accepted it without restraint. What made him even more satisfied was that a family who could afford to call for the blessing of a priest several times would not be ordinary. He was starting in a better environment, so the chances of a successful birth were much higher.

With a good background, he could even have a better life. After all, the chances that those with high social status got were always greater than the what peasants came across. This established trend would never be overturned.

Just as Leylin was pondering over this, he felt the placenta around him tearing, and a terrible odour filled his sense of smell.

Meanwhile, in the master's bedroom at the very centre of a vast manor, the piercing screams of a woman sounded with many panicked voices. "OH! HE'S COMING OUT…"

A nobleman was pacing around on a bright velvet carpet, clenching his fingers so tightly that they had turned pale with stress.

"Don't worry! He's been blessed by the gods, so he will definitely be born safely…" a priest in a white gown consoled him in a gentle voice. On his sleeves were several shining threads of gold, and he had a unique emblem on his chest.

The emblem looked like a thick tome, with some mysterious runes on it. The priest was evidently the bishop of the region, loyal to the God of Knowledge.

His presence wasn't necessary given his status, but this was a family of devout believers of Oguma. They were also his primary supporters in the region, so he'd ended up coming for the birth of their descendant.

"Thank you so much, Bishop Tapris! The Faulen Family will forever remember and abide by the teachings of the God of Knowledge…" The young man did all he could to suppress the anxiety in his expression.

"WAAH!" At this moment, a resonant cry could be heard from the bedroom, causing him to freeze. Immediately after, numerous maids and a wet nurse came to congratulate him, "She's given birth! She's given birth! It's a healthy young master!"

"Really? Let me see him!" The young man's expression was filled with fervour as he took the baby over from the nurse. There were signs of the umbilical cord being cut off on the stomach, but his limbs were thick and sturdy. His blue eyes were as deep as the ocean, and it was especially moving that he was a new life.

Meanwhile, the baby was wailing and bawling away, and the young man was left at a loss.

"What a strong child! God shall bless you!" Tapris had a kind smile on his face, and white light tenderly caressed the child's head. The divine force placated the baby, causing him to fall asleep.

"Please allow me to donate a hundred gold coins to the church to show my humble respect!" The young man told Bishop Tapris, and these words immediately caused him to freeze before the smile on his face widened, "God definitely knows of your goodwill! I will personally pray for the baby as well…"

This bishop had originally intended to take charge of the baptism and even become the godfather of the baby to further deepen his relationship with the Faulen Family. Now, though? A hundred gold coins didn't seem half bad, since it was a huge amount of money.

'Nobles are all sly and greedy. They definitely won't close off all the escape routes they have.' Tapris suddenly recalled the education he'd received and watched the young man meaningfully, but he did not get angry.

After all, ever since he had dedicated the rest of his life to the mighty Oguma, rage and the like had grown rare. The mighty God of Knowledge taught his followers and priests to always remain rational, and fury was the biggest enemy of rationality.

Hence, Tapris seemed rather elegant as he chatted with the young man before hinting that he was going to leave.

Before that, the bishop seemed to remember something. "Oh yes. I've yet to ask the young master's name…"

"Leylin!" Leylin Faulen! This is the name his mother picked for him!" The young man exclaimed excitedly.

"Leylin? That's a good name." The bishop gracefully bade them farewell and left. The young man impatiently entered the labour room, comforting his exhausted wife. However, none of them noticed that the baby who was sleeping peacefully in the cradle opened its eyes for an instant. Its eyes were full of glee before it closed them once more.

Such emotions were an extreme thing for a newborn. Leylin was exclaiming inwardly, 'World of Gods, here I come…'

Leylin was rather satisfied that his name remained the same in this world. It had been intentional; he'd hinted it to his mother from time to time as a fetus in her body.

'So this is my family in this world… I seem to have a good background!' Leylin had seen most of his surroundings in that glimpse. The valuable velvet carpet, the silver crystal chandelier, the soft red brocade duvet, the large curtains embroidered with green daffodils, and lastly the numerous respectful maids and the wet nurse made it clear that Leylin was at least a minor noble in this world, or perhaps one with an even higher status.

After all, not every noble child's birth would warrant the visit and protection of the regional bishop.

The birth was followed by a clamour. His father here was now receiving the friends and family who had come to congratulate them.

His mother beside him was already deeply asleep, while Leylin appeared to be the same. Inside however, he was getting excited.

Leylin took in a deep breath. 'A.I. Chip!'

[Beep! Authorisation to unlock seal has been obtained. Beginning activation procedures.] Familiar robotic sounds could be heard, and immediately after numerous blue virtual lines were projected before Leylin's eyes.

'As expected, the A.I. Chip's here as well!' Leylin's eyes were filled with ecstasy. The A.I. Chip had already been fused with his soul, and the truesoul that had been split naturally carried a portion of the A.I. Chip's abilities. 'No! Only a subroutine of the A.I. Chip has been separated. Still, even just that possesses a large portion of its abilities!' Leylin was very excited.

With his extraordinary knowledge , he could definitely rise up quickly in the World of Gods even if he started off with nothing. With the A.I. Chip's powerful storage system and analytical abilities… Leylin could not begin to imagine the great life he would soon have…

'It's a pity… this is the World of Gods, and the influence of gods permeates every single aspect. I can't be too outstanding… For now, it's necessary to act like all other babies. Otherwise, I'd get suspected or even treated as a foreign force or a being possessed by a devil…'

Leylin was grim. Gods treated the purity of noble bloodlines as an important thing. The bishop that had come today wasn't just a nanny. At the very least, Leylin found many traces of magic in the room, such as [Detection of Evil] and [Soul Defence].

If not for using the rank 7 Alternate World Reincarnation spell and been baptised by the World of Gods' origin, his soul no different from the other natives, he would long since have been discovered. When the time came, even his identity as a noble would not save him.

'Of course, there are also disadvantages of being a native… My strength has been completely removed! Everything is blank right now. I can't even begin to train yet, and I'll have to climb up through the strength system of this world…'

With the baptism by the world origin force, all traces of Leylin being a Magus had been wiped. Besides his memories and the A.I. Chip, he was no different from a baby here.

Most importantly, even though he had numerous high-grade meditation techniques, he could use none of them at all. Those were the paths of Magi, and even if Leylin were to gather spiritual force using those meditation techniques the gods of this world would soon sense the foreign force. This body would suffer the same fate as his soul seed.

'But there must be a way to use spiritual force in the World of Gods… There's no need to hurry. I just need to grow slowly, and I'm bound to find it someday…' Leylin consoled himself.

At this moment, the A.I. Chip completed its first scan. [Beep! Scanning of surrounding humans complete. Establishing database regarding races in the World of Gods.]

'Alright then… Set up my statistics with the average humans of this world.' Leylin instructed.

Neither his original standard of measurement nor the standards of the Heavenly Astral race fit into this context. The former was too low, while the latter started at Morning Star, which was too powerful. He needed to set up a new standard of measurement.

[Beep. Mission established. Scanning host's stats. Beginning generation of database!] The A.I. Chip loyally followed Leylin's commands.

Soon enough, a 3D image of a body appeared in front of Leylin, with concrete information next to it.

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The Faulen Family

[Leylin Faulen, Strength: 0.2; Agility: 0.1; Vitality: 0.3; Spiritual Force: 0.7; Condition: Healthy.] The A.I. Chip projected Leylin's current data in a small blue font next to the image in the database. It was a tragic sight.

'Alright… Except for spiritual force which is closer to that of an adult because of the memories I've retained, the rest are standard stats for an infant.' Leylin Was rather embarrassed. He was currently more weak than when he'd first crossed over into the Magus World.

'However… the standards of the adults here are different from those of the Magus World. They can't be compared.'

Leylin understood the new criteria that the A.I. Chip had adopted. The current statistical units represented the standard of the commoners of the World of Gods. As the laws were more rigid in the World of Gods, there were even changes in the physical constants of the world. It was thus perfectly normal for the average stats here to be greater than in the Magus World.

At this moment, the A.I. Chip's voice sounded once more. [Beep! Unknown energy source has been discovered. Radiation is determined to have a beneficial effect on the host's body.]

'Hm?' Leylin identified the location of the problem discovered by the A.I. Chip, and saw a milky white brilliance within his lower abdomen which was continuously spreading outwards.

"This is… the divine force of the bishop from earlier!" Leylin was very certain about this.

"What effect does this radiation have?"

The A.I. Chip quickly gave an answer, [Radiation appears to be in a state of weak radioactive decay. Estimated to completely dissipate in 279 hours, and at the same time increase the host body's strength by 0.1, agility by 0.1 and vitality by 0.2.]

'Is this the blessing of a god?' Leylin laughed sarcastically, 'A privilege that only the strong get!'

Of course, Leylin recognised that this was indeed a privilege. With these blessings, his growth would definitely surpass his peers. He would also possess greater strength and a more well-built physique when he grew older.

'The disparity between classes is set from birth! The difference in the starting lines mean that the children born of the commoners are destined to be unable to match up to the children born of nobility, favoured by the gods. Even if they put in a hundred times more blood, sweat and tears, and get a little lucky, perhaps all they can see are the backs of those noble children.'

Although Leylin was confident in eventually reaching the peak even if he started off as a lowly commoner, he obviously wouldn't reject a higher social position.

"Where's the baby? I want to see my cousin!"

Clang!* The door to the room was pushed open even as a tender and lovely voice sounded. The person speaking evidently wasn't very old, talking in a childish manner. The other maids seemed to recognise the source of the voice, and allowed her to lean against the side of Leylin's cradle.

"Oh! He's awake!" The little girl cried out in surprise.

'Is this a relative?' Leylin opened his eyes unhappily, and sized up this reckless person who interrupted his train of thought.

The girl had azure pupils like him. Strands of her silky gold hair caressed her fair and delicate forehead, lending a delicate charm to it. Her beautiful small nose was raised up slightly, and below it was a little mouth which revealed her cute canines as she smiled. There were also two tiny dimples, one on each side of her cheeks.

"Isabel, you're disturbing him!" The voices of the other adults could be heard at this moment, accompanied by footsteps. The little girl was pulled to the side, and the occasional discontented voice sounded out from her.

'Isabel, eh? What an energetic little brat!' He sensed great trouble from those inquisitive eyes, she clearly had great interest in him. He predicted that this elder cousin wouldn't let him have peace.

What drove Leylin a little mad that he had absolutely no power whatsoever to resist her right now.

'Dear God, Please send that Isabel back home right away. It's best if it's on the other end of the continent…' he started to pray piously. Such a pity; the World Will didn't seem to hear his prayers.

Soon after, his elder cousin Isabel decided to stay in his family's manor. Apparently, this young lady would be staying with the Faulen family for a long period of time.

Leylin's next few days were extremely tough. He could still tolerate her squishing his cheeks or smothering his face with cream, but the most serious of all was that this female cousin actually tried to imitate the adults by changing his diapers!

Oh goodness! It was already shameful enough to be fiddled with like a baby after reincarnation, and now his elder cousin who was still a young girl wanted to change his diapers?

'Dear God!' Leylin really had an urge to kill himself right there and then. If only the gods knew of their plight in the future, they would definitely show their strong support and approve of this decision. Unfortunately, there was no such thing as 'if only' in this world…

With Leylin's bottom line and character, these were just trivial matters. After simply blushing in embarrassment a few times, he no longer had as many mood swings. He even quickly discovered the ultimate trick to deal with Isabel. It was crying— loud, relentless crying!

In any case, he was a young baby, and it couldn't be more normal to wail when he was bullied. Once he did, either his mother or some servant or maid would come to his rescue. They even firmly reprimanded the girl at times, which made him feel inexplicably carefree.

After a few such incidents, Isabel didn't dare to do anything unusual that would make Leylin unhappy. She even seemed to be a little afraid of him, which pleased him greatly. It also had to be said that, in certain aspects, Leylin's strong character made one's hair stand on end.

These awkward incidents of life were just trifling matters. Thanks to his identity as a baby, many adults didn't intentionally stay away from him when they discussed matters. Who could guess that a child just a few months old would have the ability to remember anything?

Leylin thus managed to gather a lot of intel. With the A.I. Chip's valiant ability of gathering information and the things the subordinates and servants unintentionally revealed as they chatted, his understanding of the family quickly surpassed that of most others. He even learnt many secrets of theirs.

After all, being able to gossip about their masters without worry while they were not around was practically instinctive to those servants. On top of that, Leylin was still an infant and they wouldn't avoid him. Yet, they would never have imagined that their little master already had a will, and even remembered every single thing that they said clearly.

Although the majority of the things these subordinates discussed were very vulgar and were accompanied by exaggerated imagination, Leylin soon managed to gain a profound understanding of his own family, and even used the A.I. Chip to produce a family tree.

First off would be his father, the baron of the kingdom. Jonas Faulen's father had great military accomplishments. Because of his inheritance, he'd obtained some feudal land, becoming a rising nobleman in the kingdom. He had a few younger siblings and they formed the current line of descent for the Faulen family. His mother, Sarah, was a gentle and benevolent upperclass woman.

As a noble family in military service, they'd had to go through an extremely wretched process to obtain a fief. There was nothing that could be done about it.

Leylin's respected paternal grandfather seemed to have been the head imperial bodyguard of the kingdom. He was on friendly terms with the previous prince, who was also the current king. In the wars that followed, there were a few times when his grandfather almost lost his life, and he ended up with a body full of injuries that couldn't be cured fully even by divine spells. Only then had he barely managed to seize the opportunity to develop the kingdom's territory and became a noble landowner. He was then conferred the title of baron, and breathed his last not long after.

And that was exactly where Leylin's manor was.

Speaking of which, his father Jonas was actually a highly accomplished leader. Upon arriving at his feudal property, not only did he actively open up new lands for agriculture, expand production processes, and breed numerous kinds of cash crops, but he also established a decent port on a remote island. Through providing potable water, food and maintenance services for boats that passed, it had slowly developed.

They had managed to resist a few pirate attacks, causing them to retreat.

Now, the Faulen leadership had already undergone earth-shattering changes as compared to before. Their land was acclaimed as the "jewel off the coast of the kingdom", and it certainly led to veteran nobilities lusting after it.

However, all of this was still within the range of Jonas' capabilities. At least there weren't any intense conflicts at present, which made Leylin heave a sigh of relief.

Isabel was also living in the manor with the family of three. Her parents seemed to have forgotten about her after throwing her here, and she herself seemed to be indulging in too much pleasure to care about her home.

Apart from Isabel, the entire manor was filled with servants of the Faulen family. The grey-haired butler Ryan had the highest status, and there were also a large bunch of kitchen ladies, maids, servants, apprentice knights, and the like present.

The Faulen family's feudal lands were really huge. There was an independent farm, mill, stable, workshop, vegetable oil extraction factory and other facilities. There were even entire plots of fertile farmland that employed farmers, both male and female.

The entire manor was able to supply flour, vinegar, wine and similar items in large quantities, as well as iron farm tools in smaller amounts. Even if they closed their doors to the outside world, they would still be self-sufficient for a very long period of time.

Leylin viewed it as the typical economic situation of a feudal villa.

Due to the Faulen family's short history, they still didn't have the financial ability and physical resources to build their own castle. In actual fact, constructing a castle required the consumption of vast quantities of stone and food, and even the assistance of priests and numerous extraordinary beings. Even ancient noble families often did not have the money to finance a castle.

Of course, once construction was complete, it would be the pride and symbol of the family.

The defensive abilities of castles belonging to noblemen in the World of Gods were top-notch. The castles were protected by spell formations, and even military troops wouldn't be able to bring it down in a short span of time.

When interacting within the circle of nobility, one would often feel as though he was shorter than others by a head without a castle of their own.

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Scholar

Crackle! Crackle!* The bright flames burning in the exquisite fireplace licked at the top-quality pinewood, and it exuded a fragrant scent. A warm flow of air circulated around the main hall, sharply contrasting the cold dark world outside it.

A long wooden table stood unassumingly in the centre of the hall, a white tablecloth draped over it. On it were silver lamps and precious china, all laid out carefully by maids with beautiful figures.

This china was exceptionally glossy. All of the tableware was luxury goods; imported from rare elves and even more exquisite and smooth than a newborn's skin. Decorated with extremely elaborate floral motifs, they were simply high-quality pieces of art, and brimmed with the perfectionist style of elves.

The price of this tableware was certainly terrifying, and couldn't compare to the family properties of all the maids even if added together. If they broke a piece by accident, the great baron would definitely fly into a rage.

Chicken covered in juices and smooth, tender calf loin were all roasted to perfection, and arranged neatly on the dining table. There were long strips of white bread in a weaved rattan basket, and a honey-coloured china pot containing milky-white mushroom broth at the side gave off a rich fragrance. At the edge of the soup pot was a copper ladle for everyone's use. Every seat had in front of it silver knives and forks, but there were also china trays and a few small plates containing fine salt mixed with sesame and powdered black pepper.

Leylin was adeptly using his tender fair hands with the fork and knife. He dabbed a piece of tenderloin evenly in pepper before delivering it to his mouth.

The chef's skills were not bad; the beef was very tender and chewy, which made Leylin nod his head slightly.

"Haha… Look at that! Our child is now a grown-up too!" Jonas laughed joyously from the head of the table, a glass of grape wine in hand.

Leylin's family of three and Isabel were the only ones seated at the huge dining table. The other servants and maids could only stand at the side and wait.The butler, who had quite a high position in the manor, held a white towel in his hand. He stood respectfully behind the baron, and so did the other apprentices.

This was evidently a family banquet.

"Of course. My little Leylin is the best. Look at how much he's eating. With such an appetite, he'll definitely grow into a wonderful young lad who the girls will go crazy over!" Lady Sarah laughed as well.

It couldn't be denied that the current Leylin had inherited both of his parents' genes, and had a pretty good body. His face already held marks of the handsomeness that he would inherit. Isabel nodded from the other side, continuing to focus her attention on the apple pie in front of her.

"Alright. Sarah, I wish to say something!" Jonas put down his wineglass, his expression slightly serious, "I think Leylin's ready to enter a profession, enlightening himself with scholarly knowledge."

"But he's still so young…" Sarah seemed rather concerned.

"No, he's already 5 years old! Other nobles' children all receive education at this age. Do you want our child to lose out to others on the starting line?" Jonas asked a question in reply, rendering Sarah speechless.

Leylin was drinking and eating, but he was listening carefully. 'Education at 5 years old? Seems like I'll be able to interact more deeply with this society. After all, Beelzebub's memories are all related to devils and hell, and have little to do with the main material plane.'

Leylin was also awed by the education methods of these noble families. Their identities as noblemen were not innate. In order to maintain their illustrious glory and position in society, they would have to invest great effort.

Every heir of a noble family would receive strict and harsh education from a young age. This was passed on down throughout the generations, and even though there would be the occasional good-for-nothing fellow once in a while, a majority of them were the most wise and learned people in the world.

'Implementing elitist education and monopolising knowledge?' Leylin thought secretly to himself. At the very least, he understood that the education fees here were simply frightening. As a result, among all the servants in the manor, only the butler and a handful of the knight apprentices were able to read, while the rest were illiterate.

Evidently, the commoners that grew up in such an environment were absolutely unable to compete with the later generations of the noble families. If this was the case even in terms of intellect, the amount of power they were in control of would be worse.

"How about you, Leylin?" Jonas looked at Leylin.

"I think I'm up for it, father," Leylin's response was very composed. He'd had more than enough of pretending to be a child.

"Haha… Now that's a true descendant of the Faulen family! Excellent behavior!" The baron laughed heartily and downed the red wine in his glass in one gulp. He then started discussing with Sarah about the problem of which scholar they should hire.

Leylin, of course, was in no position to interfere, and could only drink his mushroom broth in silence.

"You're in troooooubleeeee~~" Through the gaps between her actions, he could see his elder cousin Isabel, making a face at him as she mouthed the words. He just pretended to not see her teasing him, causing her to roll her eyes.

After he had eaten his fill, Leylin returned to his own room. This was a benefit that he had tried his very best to fight for. Although the baron and his wife had generally agreed to this request, they also had other terms.

Next to his room would be an experienced made, someone separated by only a silken curtain ready to take care of the young master at all times. Leylin, of course, absolutely did not give her a chance to do so. His early maturation made the baron's wife very pleased, yet she also felt a little upset and regretful.

A faint light flashed in Leylin's eyes as he heard light breathing sounds from next door, 'A.I. Chip! Show my current statistics!'

[Leylin Faulen, Strength: 0.4, Agility: 0.3, Vitality: 0.6, Spirit: 1.0, Condition: Healthy.] The A.I. Chip sent the information faithfully.

Leylin's current stats were much better than other kids of his age, and even his spirit had been restored to the average standard of ordinary people.

Even so, this made Leylin frown in dissatisfaction.

'It's taking too long to restore everything! The laws of the World of Gods are really the harshest among all the worlds.'

Through many minor experiments, Leylin was now able to confirm that although there were extraordinary powers in the World of Gods, they rejected beings that were overly powerful. Even if they were deities, it was compulsory for them to leave the main material plane after advancing, and establish their own kingdom in the outside world.

The physical constants here had also undergone changes. The attractive forces between all kinds of particles seemed to be oddly strengthened, which made it even harder to attain extraordinary powers.

In short, even deities had to expend great effort and strength if they wanted to have a great influence in the World of Gods.

'The knowledge aspect is alright, but the education of professions…' Leylin's pupils glistened with anticipation.

In the World of Gods, those who possessed extraordinary strength were unanimously named 'Professionals.'They seemed to be able to have occupations at such places as guilds, and they obtained all kinds of privileges and benefits for doing so.

The number of Professionals among Baron Jonas' subordinates seemed to be scarce. Of course, the Faulen family's fortune was based entirely on their port. Leylin secretly speculated that perhaps the main powers of the family had always been defending that area.

The baron acted swiftly. Early in the morning the very next day, an elderly man who was dressed up completely had been invited into the manor.

"Good morning, Mr Leylin Faulen!" This scholar had the air of someone who had intensively read all the traditional books, and his manner of speaking was also very fitting for his profession. It seemed that he and Baron Jonas had hit it off very well and they had a pleasant conversation, thus he was asked to be Leylin's tutor straight away.

Leylin met his teacher in a small drawing room that had been opened up temporarily.

It was a pity that his wealth of knowledge far exceeded that of his tutor's by leaps and bounds. However, his understanding of the World of Gods obviously surpassed Leylin's, thus Leylin kept a respectful expression.

"Good day, teacher! May I ask how I should address you?" Such refined and courteous actions clearly surprised the scholar. He raised his eyes, and the interest in his pupils grew stronger. Having such an intelligent and gifted child as his student would be an extremely fortunate matter for him.

"You can call me Anthony!" The scholar said as he smiled, "What a polite young mister!"

"Good day, Teacher Anthony!" Leylin saluted once more, but he was actually secretly doing a thorough check of his tutor's details and background information using the A.I. Chip.

[Scan complete. Name: Anthony. Strength: 0.9, Agility: 1.2, Vitality: 0.8, Spirit: 1.7, Evaluation: Normal human, slightly spiritually gifted.]

'This is a typical average scholar…' Leylin sighed to himself. Initially, he had hoped to run into a Magus or some other being that used magic. After all, the identity of a scholar was an excellent disguise for these professions.

But Anthony, who was sitting opposite him, clearly wasn't such a person.

"Then, may I ask what you can educate me about?" Leylin dove straight into the main topic.

This attitude evidently startled Anthony. "As the heir of a noble family, there is much knowledge that you will need to master, such as languages, writing, etiquette and simple arithmetic. Linguistics is my forte, thus I will be developing a course for you on the common language used here. This would also be the most appropriate arrangement for a five-year-old. As for the others that follow… My apologies, but that will depend on the baron's opinion…"

"Alright then, let's begin!" Leylin nodded. Although he had already obtained a vast amount of content regarding languages when he had first been projected into the World of Gods a long time ago, that was obviously insufficient.

After all, as part of a noble family, he had to master specialised pleasantries and even certain speech mannerisms, or else he would be treated like an unsophisticated country bumpkin. Although Leylin loathed the idea of formality, he still had to take the initiative to adapt to the laws as he didn't have the capability to break them. This was the principle of survival.

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Fighting Spirit

"The accurate usage of formalities and the mastery of titles and honorifics at different levels is a complicated subject," Anthony wiped the small blackboard behind him, "Before we begin the course, I would like to introduce a respected deity to you."

Anthony fished out a badge from his chest pocket. On it was a sacred logo in the shape of a book which had a dim luster.

"Can you recognise this?" Anthony asked softly.

"I recognise it! This is the emblem of the almighty God of Knowledge, Oguma!" Leylin nodded earnestly.

The smile on Anthony's face spread even wider, "That's right! All of us scholars believe strongly in the almighty God of Knowledge, Oguma, who is also the origin of all knowledge."

He shot a profound glance at Leylin, "It is also the religion that the Faulen family believes in. Do you pray frequently?"

"I've seen my parents do it!" Leylin replied. After all, you couldn't expect much of a child.

"Very well. Now, follow my actions." Anthony's expression grew sincere, pure, and holy, "Almighty God of Knowledge, you are the origin of all knowledge, the controller of truth…"

Leylin was secretly rolling his eyes vigorously, but he could only follow Anthony and pray, "Your glory will be scattered upon the entire world, driving out barbarism and ignorance, and bringing about the golden age of civilisation…"

A young voice continuously reverberated in the small drawing room. Jonas and Sarah, who were hiding outside the door, had smiles plastered on their faces.

'So apart from giving me language lessons, this teacher is also here to give me lessons on the divine…' Leylin was secretly gloomy, but didn't express the slightest bit of impatience on his face. Instead, he was conscientious and focused, at which Anthony couldn't help but nod approvingly to himself.

In actual fact, Leylin knew that there was totally no way for him to avoid this. After all, the influence that the deities had on this world was honestly too deep. If he wanted to continue living under his false identity, he had to transform into a believer.

A person without faith in the World of Gods would be considered a freak, and would have absolutely no room for survival.

Fortunately, the deities only had great influence on and branded the souls of their own devout followers and fanatics. They didn't pay much attention to the general believers who had only been slightly influenced by the glory of the gods.

What was even more ingenious was that unless one assumed the position of a priest, it was practically impossible to tell the extent of faith that one had. Anyway, all he had to do was just pray at fixed times and occasionally make donations at the church. Leylin felt that he could totally act out such superficial deeds very well.

Based on what Leylin knew, the God of Knowledge, Oguma was a deity that many noble families and scholars believed in. It could be said that he was rather someone all cultured people believed in.

Of these two specific types of people, one set cared only for their interest while the other laid special emphasis on practical laws. They definitely weren't as religious as they claimed to be. Leylin wouldn't stand out if he mixed with them, thus this deity could be said to be the best option.

'There's only one other option in the Faulen family's territory… The God of Sufferance Erma…' Leylin shuddered.

Erma was a deity brimming with devotion and sacrificial spirit. Most of her teachings advised her believers to exercise patience and compliance, making her a deity that many rulers liked to introduce into their territory.

Naturally, the same applied with Baron Jonas. These two churches were the only ones currently in his fief, resulting in a scenario where the upper class prayed to the God of Knowledge and the farmers and sailors prayed to Erma.

Although the Baron also wished to introduce the church of the Goddess of Wealth Waukin into his territory, he hadn't been successful.

The island's trading industry wasn't very prosperous yet, and was even boycotted by the combined resistance of both the current churches. The wealthy pastors who knew how to earn money more than they knew how to preach naturally wouldn't be attracted to this place.

'Excellent!' Upon seeing a white cloud of holy light floating up from the religious emblem and draping itself over Leylin, every single wrinkle on Anthony's face was smoothened out with a smile, "The almighty God of Knowledge has received your prayers. In the future, you may follow your parents to the Knowledge Shrine and Church to participate in scripture-related activities and donations."

"That would be my honor!" Leylin replied methodically as he secretly rejoiced, 'Sure enough, my soul is now wholly native to the World of Gods, and I haven't aroused even the slightest amount of suspicion from Anthony. As long as I maintain this level of faith in future, and do not attract his attention, there definitely won't be any problem.'

Of course, Leylin also knew that he had no path as a priest. After all, priesthood demanded great faith. Not only were priests expected to understand the entirety of their deities' doctrines and follow them, even their souls belonged to the deities themselves.

If his own soul was laid bare under the gaze of the deities, Leylin wasn't certain if he'd be able to conceal the truth.

'However, with my attitude, I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to achieve even the lowest level of a priest…' Leylin grew speechless at these own thoughts of his.

"Alright, let's begin today's lesson. I'll just mention that the remuneration I get from your father is three golden coins every time the hourglass runs out!" Anthony started to write on the blackboard. He wrote in cursive, which appeared highly complicated and beautiful.

"Three gold coins?" Leylin deeply exhaled. Even a young child like him knew that the purchasing power of gold coins in the World of Gods was extremely high.

"Knowledge is priceless…" Anthony nodded satisfactorily at Leylin's show of poor manners, then began the morning's lesson.

This level of teaching was simply considered nothing in Leylin's eyes. He had even specially lowered his speed of learning by a great deal in order to conceal how exceptional he truly was.

Even so, the abilities that he displayed had earned exceedingly high praise from Anthony. He strongly commended Leylin in front of the Baron and his wife, and even predicted that he would become a mighty scholar one day, which made Lady Sarah's eyes twinkle with delight. The Baron lifted Leylin up and tossed him around in the air many times.

After enjoying a sumptuous lunch under the maids' care, Leylin followed the Baron to a small field behind the manor.

This was the place where farmers usually lay their grains under the scorching sun. It was very spacious and empty, a wooden frame upright at the side holding hammers, daggers, pikes, knight spears, and other kinds of weapons.

A warrior dressed in leather armor was already waiting in the centre of the field.

"Leylin, this is the chief imperial bodyguard of our family. You may call him Uncle Jacob!" The Baron introduced him to Leylin.

Leylin could distinctly sense a menacing aura from him, one that could only be cultivated by traversing mountains of corpses and oceans of blood. He also felt his formidable strength; Jacob clearly possessed some sort of extraordinary ability, and was a Professional.

"Uncle Jacob!" Leylin immediately shouted sweetly.

"Your Uncle Jacob has always been in charge of the patrol team at the harbor. I specially transferred him here to take responsibility and teach you martial arts. He is your instructor from today, understood?" The Baron's voice grew stern.

"Teacher Jacob," Leylin secretly rolled his eyes as he greeted him seriously once more.

"Jacob, I'll hand Leylin over to you!" Jonas hit Jacob's shoulder

"Rest assured, Sir, I will definitely teach the young master all that I know!" Jacob straightened his chest.

After the Baron left, only Leylin and Jacob were left on the small field. "Before we start on the warrior training, I have a question for you, young master. Do you know what a Professional is?"

Jacob had a very boorish face. Having had a long-term job that required him to oppress others, he was brimming with a deadly aura. Even if he tried hard to make himself look gentle when he smiled, his looks would intimidate many imps, so much that they would cry.

"I've heard about it before…" Leylin scratched his head.

"A so-called Professional is someone who possesses formidable strength. Even in other countries, they receive preferential treatment, especially so for Professionals who are rank 5 and above." The muscles in Jacob's right hand bulged, as though trying to make him more persuasive. They were covered in a misty brilliance.

"Look carefully! This is an ability that only rank 5 warriors and above possess. Fighting Spirit!" With a loud bellow, Jacob smashed his fist onto the ground.

Rumble!* Smoke and dust scattered throughout the air, as though a small-scale earthquake had occurred in the field. When the smoke and dust dispersed, a huge sunken pit could be seen next to Jacob.

"Wow…" Leylin's jaw dropped open, and he appeared to be extremely shocked. He reacted in about the same way as other children would, but he was actually secretly estimating Jacob's capabilities.

'Such destructive power… It's almost the same as knights who've activated life energy. There's no doubt about it; the harsher restrictions on extraordinary powers in the World of God means that Jacob's true strength should be even greater than this. He should be close to a rank 1 Magus in strength…' Leylin made secret calculations as the A.I. Chip immediately revealed Jacob's stats.

[Jacob, Warrior. Rank: Rank 5 or above (insufficient information). Estimated stats, Strength: 3, Agility: 2, Vitality: 3, Spirit: 1.5. Evaluation: Dangerous!]

Leylin sighed in silence. At the same time, he had also roughly gauged Jacob's strength. 'This body is too weak. Even the A.I. Chip's scanning abilities are limited.'

"I'm only a warrior, thus I can only show you the strength of a warrior, young master." Jacob said regretfully, "There are many different types of Professionals, who possess strange yet mysterious abilities."

It was clear that Jacob was faithfully fulfilling his duty and using his formidable strength to lure the young master into walking on the path of strength.

"Then… what is your rank as a warrior, Uncle Jacob? Can you tell me?" At this point, Leylin fully put his advantage as a young child to use, and constantly tried to acquire information.

"Me? I'm just a mere rank 6 warrior!" Jacob laughed, seemingly embarrassed.

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Ernest

"A rank 6 warrior? How about my father? What rank is he? Is he rank 15?" Leylin appeared very innocent and vulnerable. After all, in the hearts of children, parents were unequalled.

"Rank 15?! Cough cough…" Jacob almost choked on his saliva, "Esteemed young master, Professionals above rank 5 are already valued by nobility. Those beyond rank 15 are treated with excessive respect even among the highest strata of society. There are very few of them on the continent…"

"Is that so?" Leylin stroked his chin. He'd heard about this ranking while he had still been a soul seed, and it seemed like after borrowing a medium to use, the strength of his soul seed was not half bad.

Of course, no matter how powerful he was, he was still a foreigner. Nothing could be hidden from the glory of the gods, and he would easily have been destroyed.

"Uncle Jacob, what happens after rank 15? Are there more powerful beings?" Leylin was like a little guy filled with curiosity.

"After rank 15… ah…" Jacob's eyes were dim, "Then there are only the Legends! Legendary beings can make whole kingdoms retreat, and are the most powerful forces of the continent…"

"Legends?" Leylin's eyes flashed.

"Alright! Let's start training today. First is long-distance running!" At this moment, Jacob realised that Leylin's questions had pushed him off topic. He turned grim.

"Fine, fine…" Leylin began to run around cheekily like a little cheetah full of energy, his smooth motions causing Jacob's eyes to brighten.

……

Deep in the night, in the baron's study room.

Jonas sat behind the work desk, arms crossed as he looked deep in thought. "You're saying Leylin's body has good potential, and if he were to go through warrior training, he he has high prospects?"

Jacob stood before Jonas, speaking sternly. "Yes, my lord! The energy in young master Leylin's body flows very smoothly. On top of that, with a great body from birth, I'm certain that the young master will gather fighting energy and break through to become a rank 5 warrior in ten years if he perseveres with warrior training!"

"Alright. You may leave," Jonas waved his arms tiredly. Only after Jacob bowed and left could he laugh wryly. "Outstanding literary talent and an outstanding physique! Leylin, you truly are a gem gifted to me by the gods!"

Jonas grabbed at his hair in frustration. Every parent hoped their child would be a genius, but when Leylin was outstanding in both of these respects, Jonas grew distressed as to how best to nurture the boy.

"It's obviously necessary to continue the cultural lessons, but what about the warrior training?" Jonas knew Jacob's strength well, and if Leylin truly had talent, it would be a waste for him to be training under Jacob.

On top of that, warriors had low status in the World of Gods given how common they were. While they could grow extremely powerful at the higher, more profound realms, one would unavoidably be treated like cannon fodder in the beginning. Jonas was hesitant about it.

"What are you worrying about?" At this moment, a gentle voice was heard from outside the study room, and Jonas' eyes brightened.

"Ernest! Welcome!" Jonas stood up while beaming sunnily, watching a figure walk out from the shadows.

The figure had a head of long, soft, silver hair. His eyes were filled with wisdom, and while he looked young he had a great aura. He wore a yielding gown similar to those of scholars, and had a mysterious golden decorative motif on his chest. Powerful magical force twined around his body, giving him a very menacing aura. Evidently, Ernest was a powerful magician.

This was a magician! The spellcasters of the World of Gods grasped powerful abilities in magic, and were existences that could control the natural elements around them. More importantly, every spellcasters was extremely well-learned. Their breadth of knowledge was above that of many famed scholars.

Of course, due to the great amount of resources and time that had to be poured into magic, magic was a Profession of nobles. Regular commoners definitely couldn't pay the expenses required to study and conduct experiments.

"We meet again, Jonas!" Ernest smiled gently, giving his friend an enthusiastic hug.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get here in time when your child was born. Experiments that probe the abyss are too complex and time consuming…" Ernest looked sorry.

"Treat this Ring of Light as my belated gift!" He passed a glimmering silver ring to Jonas, "Though the light spell in this can only be used thrice, it's not bad for a child's toy…"

"Thank you very much, on behalf of Leylin as well!" Jonas took the ring carefully, moved by the present. With his knowledge, he knew that even a temporarily enchanted item like this could easily fetch ten gold coins.

Magical items were that expensive! Often times, they could not even be sold due to their exorbitant prices.

With the Faulen family's background, they would at most befriend a few useless magic scholars, and it was impossible to make connections with powerful spellcasters like Ernest.

Meeting him was a pure coincidence. After finding out his true identity, Jonas had spent much effort to build up a great friendship with him.

After they sat down, Ernest continued his query, "Jonas… What's worrying you?"

"Well…" Watching the powerful spellcaster, Jonas had to conceal the glimmer in his eyes. He laughed wryly, "You know Leylin is already five, right? His talent is worrying me. I'm worried he'll lack the guidance he needs, which will cause him to walk the wrong path and not be able to show his outstanding talent…"

Jonas mentioned Leylin's display in detail. It had to be said that even while he was hiding a lot of information, Leylin's was definitely a talent amongst the natives here.

As Jonas continued, Ernest's eyes brightened, "Tomorrow! Let me see the child tomorrow. If he really has talent, I can consider taking him in as my student!"

"Thank you so much!" Jones stood up, elated.

"It's nothing!" Ernest smiled slightly. He had already noticed Jonas' objective, but he didn't particularly mind. He had gotten a huge sponsorship from Jonas before, and taking a child in as a student wasn't much in return. Of course, the child needed to have talent in magic, even if it was at a low level.

The next day, Leylin was informed that all of his classes were postponed, and that he was going to meet someone important.

"Leylin, my child!" Jonas stood before Leylin, looking extremely serious.

"I will bring you to see a powerful magician later. Even in the entire continent, he is a very terrific person, so you must be respectful. Is that understood?"

"Yes, father!" Little Leylin nodded vigorously, looking forward to this. 'A magician? A spellcaster in this world? I can finally walk the path of the elements again…'

Leylin was more than aware about whether he had talent in casting spells. In addition, he didn't have plans on choosing a different profession having restarted his life. He was a Magus, and it was much easier for him to reach the peak of the path of magic.

Of course, he had not considered becoming a Warlock once more. He had gone through a great number of trouble to break his bloodline shackles in the past, and wanted nothing to do with it again. Hence, becoming a magician was currently Leylin's best choice.

"I hope you'll become a powerful magician. If that happens, our Faulen family…" Jonas' tone held hope and anticipation as he rubbed Leylin's head, bringing him to the drawing room. In there was a magician with long silver hair, gazing over him with eyes as intense as lightning. Goosebumps arose on Leylin's skin.

"Ah!" A low hum could be heard from his lips.

"Come! Leylin, this is your uncle Ernest!" While perplexed by Ernest's expression, Jonas immediately hinted at Leylin to greet him.

"Good morning, Uncle Ernest!" Leylin bowed respectfully, his bright eyes full of curiosity.

"Good child, come here." Ernest's eyes were filled with excitement. Even Jonas could tell that he was holding his emotions back.

"Hold this!" Another silver ring appeared in his hands. Unlike the previous one, this looked like an exquisite work of art, and had a glistening gem embedded at its crest. Jonas could tell at first glance that this was a magic item with a permanent spell inside. Compared to the one from before that could only be used thrice before it was rendered useless, it was at least ten times the value.

"Thank you, uncle!" Leylin respectfully took the ring, while he held it with contempt in his mind.

'A magic artifact that can be used only when my spiritual force has reached a certain level? What a primitive method of sensing…'

The moment he held the ring, the energy pathway and structure within was laid bare before Leylin's eyes. 'I'll take this chance to show off my ability then!'

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The Path of A Wizard

Bzzt bzzt!* A bundle of bright white light emanated from the ring on Leylin's hand. Piercing white light startled Baron Jonas, blinding him temporarily.

Baron Jonas rubbed at his reddened teared-up eyes, finally managing to recover from the blindness caused by the light spell. What he saw in front of him after that was a wizard who was at a loss for words.

Dear gods! Jonas rubbed at his eyes, watching Ernest in front of him while unable to believe his eyes.

Was this the wizard that he knew? Everyone knew that wizards were the symbol of wisdom and calm. There were few matters that could make them lose themselves, forget leaving them at a loss.

"Haha… very good, Leylin. You did well!"

"Ernest… do you mean that… Leylin passed?" However, Jonas no longer thought of the other matters, because he had already come up with another possibility at the sight of Ernest's expression.

"Passed? Ah, of course! His talent is so great that he might even have a place in the Magic Association! Even my mentor would be jealous of me taking in such an excellent student…"

Ernest spoke sternly once he calmed down, "Jonas, my friend! It is my responsibility to inform you that your child Leylin has great talent in the path of magic! Even now, his spiritual force far surpasses those of his age, and with the correct guidance I believe he might even break through to the realm of a grandmaster, or even…" Ernest's body was beginning to twitch without his knowledge.

"Alright, alright! Well then, Ernest, are you willing to take my son as your student?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" Ernest already considered Leylin the student who would carry on his legacy. Had Jonas not allowed it, he might even have resorted to force to acquire him.

"Then that's great! I want to announce this great news to everyone. I'll hold a celebration!" Jonas' face glowed red with pride. The fact that the young master of the Faulen Family had been taken in as the student of a powerful spellcaster definitely raised the family's status and influence in the kingdom.

Jonas was already becoming impatient, "Well then, are there any other procedures for Leylin to study under you, what about fees?"

"We can talk about that later. For now, please give us some time alone…" Ernest respectfully waved his hand, and an invisible force pushed Jonas out. The door closed itself automatically.

"Don't be surprised. That was merely the effect of 'Mage Hand'. It's a parlor trick." Ernest turned, putting what he believed to be his kindest smile on his face as he consoled the startled little guy.

"Ye- yes, mister!" Leylin shrunk back on himself as if in fear, yet his eyes secretly held a shrewd expression, 'A.I. Chip, has this been recorded?'

[The wizard's spellcasting has been recorded. Storing data!] The A.I. Chip quickly answered.

'Great! However, the power of this spell is rather…?' Leylin could clearly tell that something was different about this person. Even in the Magus World, high-ranked Magi needed to practice for a long time in order to cast spells with such instantaneous effects.

'No! He doesn't have the ability to cast spells instantly. It's like he had already prepared this spell beforehand and stored it. With a designated gesture and command, the spell model was activated…' Leylin himself was an expert in of spells, and he immediately saw through the process.

'Though I'm not too sure about the theory behind it, this seems to be the way spells are cast in the World of Gods. Compared to the Magus World, there seem to be many differences.'

"This… this is magic?" The young voice quivered, yet it held a curiosity within.

"Yes, this is magic! With just a slight move of a finger, you can call on the power of nature!" Ernest rubbed his hands, and flames appeared in the air, turning into a little bird, a man, and many other shapes. Finally, it abruptly dissipated, turning into a small flame.

Seeing that he had successfully captured the little guy's attention and admiration, Ernest's lips curved in a proud smile.

Yes, with just the slight movement of a finger, immense power could be called upon. There was no need to be like those warriors or other physical Professionals, labouring, bleeding, and sweating like a fool. Such things were very crude and violent.

Besides, even the lowest ranked wizard would gain many benefits from copying scrolls or performing alchemy. Compared to the Professions of those low lives, magic was obviously a more mysterious and noble path. Of course, such a thing would capture a child's heart.

Ernest felt very good about himself, having arrogant thoughts. Of course, the terrifying expenses and harsh requirements for talent while one studied to become a wizard was something he ignored.

"Then… Can I become a wizard?" Finally, Ernest heard Leylin's apprehensive words, which made him feel like he was in the clouds.

"Of course, my child! You have the talent to be an outstanding wizard! I, Ernest of the Burning Shadows, am very willing to be your guide on the path of magic!" Ernest did his best to seem solemn.

"But… there's something I need to remind you of. While you have an astounding talent, you'll have to put in more effort than ordinary people. The path of wizards does not allow for laziness," Ernest expression was stern as he began instruction…

Soon enough, news of young master Leylin of the Faulen family coming under the tutelage of a powerful wizard spread its way around the port.

In the World of Gods, wizards usually represented power, mystery, and power that could not be withstood.

Wizards represented torrential power and mystery in the World of Gods, a strength that could not be withstood. The Faulens had produced a magic student, and he was even very talented. That meant that there was a huge likelihood of the appearance of a powerful wizard in this family!

This potential immediately caused many to disregard the fact that this family was a new and upcoming noble family. Many traditional nobles began to accept the existence of the Faulen family, and many made plans to extend an olive branch to them.

Baron Jonas cleverly made use of this opportunity, helping the Faulen Family gain many advantages, bettering the lives and the environment of the family.

Of course, this had nothing to do with Leylin. He was far too young and could not help out in matters of the family. The only thing he did was to accompany Ernest to attend a banquet, gaining the blessings of everyone in the land.

Bishop Tapris, who followed Oghma the God of Knowledge, personally came forward to express his regret.

Leylin's powerful spiritual force did not only give him talent as a wizard. If he could accept the teachings of the God of Knowledge and abide by them in body and mind, he would have a smooth path to priesthood, and he could even advance faster than other priests. With such a great seedling snatched away by a wizard, Tapris naturally felt very regretful.

It was a pity that he would never know that it was impossible for Leylin to rely on the God of Knowledge, nor would he ever become even a rank 1 priest…

After they made their relationship as master and student official, Leylin's lessons as a wizard began. Under Jonas and his wife's enthusiastic attempts at making him stay, Ernest had decided to remain in the manor, completing his duty of instructing Leylin in magic.

In actuality, he was a wizard without a fixed residence and did not possess anything like a magic tower. Based on the intel Leylin had received on the sly, mostly from his mentor letting it slip by accident, he was only rank 9 and far from rank 15, the rank of a grandmaster wizard. He was even further from becoming a Legend.

If they wished to build a magic tower, unless they were favoured children backed by the most powerful of organisations, even grandmaster wizards had to save up for centuries.

Leylin maliciously thought that Ernest had nowhere to go, which was why he had no choice but to freeload at the Faulen family's place. Of course, even a rank 9 wizard was an outstanding person on the Faulen territory, hence Jonas and his wife both agreed to it. Both sides were willing.

Leylin's magic courses were scheduled for the morning. His culture teacher Anthony could only come in the afternoons, and Jacob was laid off his initial job of instructing Leylin in his path as a warrior. If not for Leylin coming up with the reason of needing to train his body, using half an hourglass' time everyday, he would probably be patrolling the ports.

"Spells are actually gods' gift to wizards. The Weave, created by the mighty Goddess of the Weave Mystra, is the source of all magic…" In the very first lesson, Leylin almost choked as he heard Ernest stating this seriously.

"Spells? Gods' gift? The Weave?"

"Yes!" Ernest looked extremely grim. It seemed like these were his true thoughts.

"Alright!" Leylin nodded seriously, but he was snickering inside.

'It's obviously his own strength, yet he has been shackled. How should I judge him…' As Ernest spoke, Leylin acquired a better understanding of the wizards in the World of Gods.

The spellcasters here, or rather wizards, essentially used meditation to increase their spiritual force, communicating with the devil web that was everywhere to create spell models and then store them as magic.

This conclusion left Leylin speechless.

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8 Years

"In that case, master, if a wizard can only store magic one day before using it the next, then isn't it necessary to determine which spells to use on the day before? And once the spell slots have been used up…" Leylin raised his hand and asked.

"Yes! All wizards need to prepare all the magic they will use a day prior. It's important to know which spells to prepare, and as for the issue of spell slots being used up…"

Ernest looked very stern. "Remember this well, Leylin! Once a wizard uses up all his spells and has no scrolls or magic artifacts on his body, he is no different from an ordinary person. Hence, you can never let yourself get into that situation. This is very important! I've seen many who used up all their spells and were unlucky enough to be gnawed down the core, without a scrap of flesh left on their bones!"

"I understand!" Leylin sat back down speechlessly.

'Based on what he said, wizards actually use their spiritual force as a currency to buy the authority to use magic from the Weave. While this method makes the requirements to become a wizard less stringent, this is basically a nightmare for those who are talented enough to build spell models by themselves…

'So in general, wizards are impotent and diminished versions of Magi?' Leylin felt disconcerted. 'So while it allows those without enough aptitude to use magic, this Weave is inflexible and confines true talent in magic!'

Leylin's eyes flashed, 'Perhaps this is the goal of the gods, to prevent the rise of a wizard who is too powerful. Could this be an effect from the final battle with the Magi? In that case, I should look up the history of this Weave Goddess. If my guess is correct, she must be a new god that only gained popularity after the ancient final war!'

Despite knowing this, Leylin obviously would not stick out his neck and try to change things. His goal was to remain low-profile as he grew up, and he absolutely would not do something like challenging the gods.

Before having the confidence to break through the power of laws, he had no choice but to explore the path of wizards.

"Next… I'll teach you a meditation technique, and then you can start making contact with the Weave…" Ernest continued to teach from the lectern, unaware that this pupil that looked studious on the outside was exploring many new ideas.

'Meditation here isn't too different from Magi's meditation techniques, but the effects are slightly weaker. Of course, coupled with the laws of the World of Gods, there are many areas I can learn from. As for the Weave…' Leylin's spirit began to extend outwards.

Using the method that Ernest had taught him, his spirit seemed to touch upon a powerful existence. It was a network of invisible energy shaped like a spiderweb, and it enveloped the entire World of Gods with its powerful energy.

Even the surface density of the energy pathways left Leylin's scalp prickling.

'Are those nodes spell slots? I never thought that just the surface layer of the Weave would be enough for me to feel stunned like this,' Leylin watched the Weave, his eyes full of admiration as he grew more convinced in his guesses.

'So powerful… It must have been created as a joint effort by the gods. Mystra should be one of the most powerful of peak rank 8s, which is why she was selected to manage it.' Leylin knew very little about the gods. All he knew was that there were a few stages to the most powerful of them, second to the World Will that was the Supreme God. Unlike in the Magus World, there were greater gods, the middle gods, and the lesser gods.

Mystra was definitely among the most successful of the greater gods, having tremendous divine force. Even if Leylin's main body were to fight her it was unlikely that he'd hold the upper hand.

"I've already given you the meditation method. Next up is to continue practising the use of your spiritual force and making contact with the Weave. Other students might need up to three months, but you'll be able to do it in a month!" Ernest spoke frankly.

All of a sudden, a strange undulation spread, causing his expression to change.

"Weave! You've made contact with the Weave!" Ernest charged forward, grabbing Leylin's slender arm. His eyes went read, "Leylin, is it really your first time touching upon magic?"

"Of course, master! I've rarely even left the manor since birth!" Leylin's eyes gleamed as he answered innocently.

"Then tell me! Are you the illegitimate child of the Weave Goddess?" Ernest asked extremely seriously…

……

Come fall, there were scenes of a great harvest everywhere. Grain and flour filled warehouses, and many farmers looked gleeful at the sight.

This harvest was enough for them to pay their taxes, and would even leave enough food for them to live through the winter and plant seeds at the beginning of spring. At this thought, they could not help but begin to pray, singing praises in the favour of the gods, as well as the benevolence and generosity of the lord.

With the profits from having a port and with many residents moving from the continent to the island, the Faulen family's taxes were set very low, which could be considered a very benevolent act from them.

Haystacks were piled up high in the training grounds of the manor, forming forts in varying shape. Two figures were now clashing on the ground.

"Pay attention to your centre of gravity, I'm coming!" Along with the warning, a blonde teen in white training clothes brandished a metal sword like a viper, twisting his body in an arc in mid-air, spinning around to arrive next to his opponent and thrusted his sword forward at an unexpected angle.

Leylin's opponent seemed middle aged. His face had marks of age on it, his hands were full of calluses, and he now looked as if he was battling his greatest enemy.

"Hah! It's this way!" He called in a low voice, holding the heavy sword in his hand horizontal.

Clang!* The two swords produced a dull sound as they collided with tremendous force.

"Crap!" The man's expression changed and he slipped. Having lost his centre of gravity, his entire body was thrown off balance.

Boom!* He felt a tremendous force slam into him, but the force turned gentle when it hit his chest, and he seemed to be sent flying away rather delicately, as if he was light as a feather.

When the middle-aged man opened his eyes once more, the blonde teen's metal sword was already at his chest, "You've lost, Jacob."

"Yes, young master Leylin, I've lost!" Jacob laughed helplessly.

"Your earlier parry was not agile enough, and you lacked instinct in your movements!" In front of him was obviously Leylin. However, Leylin was now guiding Jacob in detail as if he was the teacher instead. Jacob listened obediently, watching him in admiration.

After sending Jacob away, Leylin picked up a white towel and wiped off the sweat on his face before walking into the bathroom. The steady rise of the cloudy steam made the room look a little hazy.

Coming before a precious mercury mirror, he judged his appearance. He had curling golden hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face which inherited his parents' excellent features. While the fine hair near his lips betrayed his true age, it did nothing to conceal the mature charm he possessed.

'It's been ten years since I've started training to become a wizard!' Leylin sighed. Hr followed it up with an order, 'A.I. Chip, show me my current stats!'

[Leylin Farlier. Age: 13. Race: Human. Rank 5 Wizard. Strength: 1.5, Agility : 1, Vitality: 1.3, Spirit: 5. Condition: Healthy. Innate skills: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 2 slots (1), rank 1 slots (2), rank 0 slots (3)]

After fumbling around for many years, Leylin had developed more functions for the A.I. Chip, and even the stats were now more detailed. He turned his attention to the description of his innate skills.

[Innate Skill. Sturdy: Host has persevered through warrior training, and possesses a sturdy physique. (Strength 0.5, Vitality 0.3)] [Erudite: Plentiful experiences and great knowledge has allowed the host's willpower and spirit to expand and become more resilient. (Spirit 1)

'The stats that the A.I. Chip shows includes the bonus from my innate skills…' Leylin looked rather solemn, "In other words, besides the strengthening of my spiritual force from birth, my body is practically comparable to a regular adult?"

After the passing of so many years, Leylin found that due to the limitations by the world's laws, it was extremely difficult for humans to raise their strength.

There seemed to be some kind of bottleneck when raising any of his stats, and once they reached an average of one his progress had stalled. Only his spiritual force, which was related to him being a wizard, was still somewhat increasing, but it too seemed to have reached a bottleneck.

'When it comes to my body's stats, Jacob still surpasses me in many ways. The reason I could defeat him was technique… Is this some added bonus from being a warrior?' Leylin stroked his chin, sinking into deep thought.

While the increase of his strength would be shocking to his peers, this did not satisfy him.

"Perhaps I should find an opportunity and go on a trip outside!" Leylin inwardly made a decision as he bathed in the warm water. He naturally had ideas about how to increase his strength, but he obviously could not implement them at home. Travelling abroad now seemed to be a rather good idea.

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Anthony

'A.I. Chip, how's the progress on the analysis of the Weave?' Leylin inwardly asked, closing his eyes.

[Beep! Analysis prioritises concealment of the host. Current progress: Rank 0 Weave 87.69%, Rank 1 Weave 37.61%, Rank 2 Weave 2.33%!] The A.I. Chip quickly replied.

This was one of the many reasons why Leylin was advancing so slowly as a wizard, and he was very interested in the existence of the Weave. If he was able to completely analyse the Weave without being discovered by Mystra, it would make it extremely convenient for him to cast spells.

Even with such a huge project on his hands, Leylin was still able to reach rank 5 as a wizard. This display was already enough for Ernest to rave and exclaim that he was a genius, even a monster.

Wizards in the World of Gods were ranked according to their level of contact with the Weave. Those below rank 3 could only make contact with its surface, memorising and using rank 0 spells. They would acquire a deeper understanding of it upon reaching rank 3, gaining the ability to use rank 1 spells.

Leylin was now a rank 5 wizard, able to make contact with the second layer to use rank 2 spells. He was doing rather well for himself. On top of that, being a wizard in itself gave him great status. If he was lucky, he could even be conferred a lordship as he was in a large noble family, and it was highly likely that he'd gain his own land with meritorious deeds, passing it down the generations.

This was the dream of commoners. It was a pity though; at this level everything was like the dirt on the ground to Leylin, filling him with disdain as he trod on it.

'Ranks 1 to 5 are considered normal in the central continent, and those from rank 6 to 10 are considered elites. From 1- to 15 are experts and those above are true powerhouses who enjoy great reputation in the continent. Even if they aren't considered Legends, they are the apex of power, and those who appear most often. Legends could care less about worldly matters, placing their ambition and hopes on obtaining divinity, perhaps igniting their godfire and obtaining a place as a deity…'

This was Leylin's current understanding of the power hierarchy in the World of Gods, obtained from the intel he had acquired as well as his own conjectures. Gods were set on a pedestal here, living in their divine eternal lands while their churches and priests raised followers for them.

The prime material plane prevented all powerful forces from entering, and even if a god were to make a material body and descend they would only have the strength of a peak Legend at most. Of course, they held another title; they were called Saints. Even if their real bodies descended they would still have the same name.

Hence, there were many situation in the prime material plane where high-ranked Legends besieged Saints and caused their fall. Sometimes they even managed to rob them of their divine force. Those gods would basically not let their real bodies descend and could only do that with their clones.

'Legends are the most powerful in the prime material plane. If I can become one quickly, I'll have enough power to protect myself. Besides, I need to do that to gain divine force.' Leylin stroked his chin. As he had gotten enough nutrients growing up, he was already rather tall for a 13-year-old, as could be seen in the mirror. Besides his face being immature, he was practically a little adult.

'Is the reason for the bottleneck in my stats that I've yet to fully develop?' Leylin pondered over his situation, 'Based on this progress, it'll probably take centuries of training to reach the rank of Legend. That's too long, and I haven't even considered what comes after…'

Leylin conjectured that the Legends of the World of Gods were quite similar to Morning Star Magi. They possessed abilities that surpassed imagination, and while one used legendary magic the other used Arcane Arts. In addition, they both met the bare requirements for entering the ancient war campaign, and after advancing, they would undergo a massive transformation.

'Compared to the rankings of Magi, the division of ranks in the World of Gods are greater in number. In addition, those high-ranked Legends have abilities comparable to rank 5 Radiant Moon Magi…' Even in the prime material plane, there were many powerful beings amongst the natives of this world. While there were high-ranked Legends, there were still many children of gods, divine beings, and even demigods.

Based on Leylin's thoughts, their abilities would not lose out to rank 6 Breaking Dawn Monarchs, or even a near rank 7 like him.

"The World of Gods is filled with danger," Leylin sighed. Not only were there churches and followers all over the continent, the gods had eyes everywhere in their children and family. The moment abnormalities were discovered, and he attracted the attention of the gods… Leylin instantly felt his scalp prickle in fear.

'Perhaps… Adventuring is not a good option. There are many ways to increase the lifespan of wizards. I can use time to train… Besides, my main body can afford to wait for me!' Leylin changed his mind.

Without external dangers, he didn't mind spending more time if that would ensure his safety.

"Young Master Leylin, your afternoon classes are starting! Don't make Master Anthony wait too long!" A gentle voice was heard from outside, and Leylin was pulled back to reality.

"Alright!" Leylin found a towel and wiped at the droplets of water on his body, and then headed to a room outside.

There were two maids with pretty faces and blushes on their cheeks. They went forward, using their tender little hands to straighten the creases on his clothes.

In a feudal family, the family head and young master's personal maids were very important. They not only had to serve their masters in their daily lives, but also take care of their master's bodily needs. If nothing went wrong, this role was usually taken on by the daughter of the housekeeper.

The Faulen Family obviously could not do away with this custom. Leylin's two personal maids were the daughters of the main housekeeper Leon. It was obvious that they had already prepared themselves mentally and were even slightly excited, but Leylin had no plans to do anything.

'I'm only thirteen. Although young masters might have become experienced in that area at this age, they can't be compared to me…' Leylin knew how to control himself.

"Claire, Clara! Has Master Anthony arrived?" Leylin watched these two sisters, and only when the flush spread down to their pale necks did he ask them teasingly.

"Ye- yes, young master!" Claire blushed as she answered, feeling slightly relieved yet also disappointed.

"I can't let my teacher wait for too long…" Leylin smiled as he left, not forgetting to tease them for a while.

"But this'll only go on for these two years…" Smelling that sophisticated aroma, Leylin mumbled to himself.

……

Rays of sunlight shone in through the window, brightening up the hall.

"Mentor Anthony!" Leylin respectfully bowed. While he'd already learnt all the knowledge that the scholar knew, Leylin did not act too rudely since manners were compulsory for nobles.

"Leylin, you did well!" Anthony was already an old man, his kind voice low and his eyes shining. It was obvious that he truly liked this student.

"I've already taught you everything in terms of etiquette and speech in the continent. Today, we shall delve into its history…" Anthony produced a thick yellow tome that looked like a dictionary and placed it on the desk.

History was a rare subject even among nobles, only a few scholars focused on it. However, Leylin differed from the rest; he was extremely interested in this subject.

"History is confusing and tasteless. Many nobles hate it. Can you tell me why you chose this?" Anthony caressed the cover of the volume, looking rather nostalgic.

"It's because knowing history makes one wise. It's like a mirror that allows us to know ourselves better. No matter how foolish or absurd a situation, it's already occurred in the past. We need to prevent such things from repeating."

"A novel idea… cough cough… that makes sense… cough cough…" Anthony's face was flushed, but he suddenly began to cough, his body bending into a stooping position.

"If you can see that, you're definitely my student… Of course, you have Ernest as your master and might not think much of this, but I hope you'll take this!" Anthony's hands trembled as he produced a white silken bundle and unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing the emblem within.

"This is the proof of my glory as a scholar, presented to me in the king's capital by the God of Knowledge. It is now yours… Cough cough…" Anthony's hands trembled as he placed the emblem in Leylin's hands, "I believe you will not tarnish its glory!"

"I swear on it!" Sensing that this old man's life force was already fading, Leylin answered seriously.

While he already had a wizard for a mentor, Leylin had not abandoned his studies of culture, and Anthony taught him very seriously. It could be said that in these 8 years, the old man had already spent a lot of effort on him.

'What a great teacher!' Leylin judged inside, but had no plans of helping him. On one hand, he wanted to avoid revealing himself, and on the other, the concepts in the World of Gods were different. In the eyes of believers, death was merely another beginning. With the guidance of a priest, their souls would rise with glory to the land of the gods, where they could live an eternal life.

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Calendar of the Gods

The followers of the gods would definitely be redeemed after death. That was the basis of the teachings of the gods. For this reason, the teachings of the gods spread throughout the world, causing the rise of numerous zealots who were willing to give up their lives for their beliefs.

Any research relating to the soul was made taboo here, and was considered to profane the dead or the gods.

'How foolish they are to place their hopes on someone else…' Leylin sighed, but did not try to change this mindset. He knew very well how difficult it would be to change an ideology that had turned into a culture over tens of thousands of years.

For this reason, his master Anthony faced death in a very calm manner, and it did not interfere with his daily work.

"Perhaps some day in the future… Your name shall be carved in the church of knowledge, and if my name were to appear in the introduction, I'd have no regrets in my life…" Anthony stated his wish.

The church of knowledge had a wall of glory, where the many names of those who helped pass on knowledge and wisdom were inscribed. It was considered the greatest honour amongst scholars in the continent.

Anthony's hope was that when others saw Leylin's name there, they would find his own in the introduction, where he would be mentioned as a young Leylin's teacher.

"I will work hard, master!" Leylin was speechless, but he could only answer in a vague manner.

"Good! Let us start today's class. Flip to page…" After hearing Leylin personally agreeing, Anthony's face glowed the red of fire that had just been fed oil. The tiny bit of life force he had emitted a vigorous energy.

Leylin listened to him and turned to the page, and an ancient map appeared before him. Due to the many fingers that had touched it, the lines of the map were incredibly blurred.

The black lines of charcoal drew the outline of a broken continent, with many little islands like stars surrounding it. The edges of the ocean were full of darkness, marked out with symbols of danger and the unknown.

"The history of our prime material plane is the history of great discovery. From the beginning, where there were written accounts of the redbud flowers up till today, the continent has evolved to the state that you see right now…" Anthony spoke unhurriedly, "The rise and fall of many nations resulted in many dangers to the continent. You'll find the changes to the borders of these nations on the next page… Now, I'll need you to mark out where we are on the map!"

"This…" Leylin watched Mentor Anthony speechlessly while he kept rolling his eyes inside.

"Our Faulen Territory is in the territorial waters of the southeast part of the Dambrath Kingdom. It was a newly developing land that was found and occupied after the kingdom's third sailing expedition…" Leylin pointed to a corner in the northeast on the map, where there were the vague words of 'Dambrath'.

Due to the the scale, the entire Dambrath Kingdom was just a grain in the vast ocean. While this was what Leylin said verbally, his eyes were beginning to blaze with excitement and fire.

The World of Gods was vast beyond words, and there were even kingdoms established by the beastfolk and elves. Similar to the Magus World, there were things like the underground, where many dark races resided.

On the surface of the continent were hundreds of kingdoms and dukedom, and an inexhaustible number of villages.

Humans, beastfolk, elves, dwarves, pygmies, goblins, jackalfolk, death spirits… all sorts of races and gods of varying types showed the legends that had happened on the continent.

There were hot-blooded adventures, secret conspiracies, many races, various cultures and even wars and peace between gods!

Every dimensional being, whether devils, demons or anything else, were all watching this area with lustful eyes, hoping to gain a portion of it despite the watchful eyes of the gods.

"This is… the beginning of the legends…" Leylin's heart blazed. He was already itching to begin wandering around the continent.

Of course, this desire was quickly suppressed by the cautiousness that lay in his genes.

With his might as a rank 5 wizard, he might be considered an elite in adventuring groups in this dangerous continent, but there were far too many existences that could take his life.

"Alright! Let us take a look at the Lionheart Nation at the middle of the map. On the calendar year 37628 of the holy calendar, 30 years ago, Lionheart King Charlie…" Anthony began his lessons while Leylin listened attentively.

However, Leylin's thoughts were wandering.

'The holy calendar! That's the calendar established by the gods. While on the surface, it began because of the birth of the gods, in reality, the first year is actually a year after the end of the ancient Final War!'

This dark history was obviously not written in historic records. This was information Leylin had gathered through his resources, as well as Ernest and Anthony accidentally letting this slip, and a conclusion that he had eventually come to.

'The ancient Final War practically left the World of Gods in ruins, and the continent was even split into several parts. Civilisation was destroyed in the prime material plane in an instant, and they sunk into their darkest time. Many gods fell, but there were also those who were fortunate enough to gain their divine powers and rose rapidly, igniting their godfires and becoming new gods. The Goddess of the Weave Mystra is the best example! They must have established the holy calendar after the new gods created their churches!'

Leylin's eyes were shining, "Hence, amongst the gods, given the division of the ranks of the gods, which is that between the old and new gods, the old gods must have powers that generally surpass that of the new gods…"

Evidently, if Legends in the prime material plane wanted to slaughter gods in order to obtain their divine powers, the new gods were their best choice, which also applied to Leylin.

'On top of that, in the World of Gods, it's already been 37,000 years since the ancient Final War?" Leylin stroked his chin, "Looks like time flows differently in the God of Worlds as compared to the Magus World…' After the class was over and he had sent Mentor Anthony away, Leylin returned to his room.

"Young Master! Young Master! You have received a letter from Miss Isabel!" At this moment, Claire jogged over, holding a pink letter in her hands. She was breathing raggedly, her chest was bouncing, and even her little face had flushed pink and filled with beads of sweat.

"Thanks for your trouble!" Leylin touched her hand, causing the maid to flush pink bashfully and run off.

"Hehe…" Having teased her successfully, Leylin chuckled in satisfaction as he sat back on the couch, tearing open the pink letter in his hands.

"To my beloved cousin, Leylin Faulen,

Dearest Leylin, are you doing well? Do you still need to have your diaper changed? It's been about five years since I left the Faulen Island, but I still can't get used to the darkness and dampness of this city, especially the moss on the ground that practically extends all the way to my room…"

On the letter was a little girl's immature handwriting. She began with banter, but that then turned into longing and complaints.

"Has it been five years?" Leylin sighed, recalling the time he'd been with Isabel. While she liked to bully him, she obviously felt protective of him.

However, she had her own family as well, and when Leylin was eight, they had come to get her. While leaving, Isabel had bawled. Leylin still remembered the feeling of her grabbing his hand tightly.

'Based on Father's arrangements, I will enter the Grain Goddess' church and become an apprentice priest. I've heard that rules are very strict there, and I hope I'll still get the chance to communicate with you through letters… Isabel.'

"Becoming a priest?" Leylin nodded. In noble families, besides the first son needing to take over the feudal status, the rest of the children seldom received money and were even chased out of their homes.

If the second son was intelligent, they would study management and become the housekeepers of some noble family. The rest might become knights or enter churches.

The daughters would take on the great responsibility of getting married to other families. It was very common for there to be old husbands and young wives, or old wives with young husbands.

For Isabel, being able to study as a priest meant that she would have power of her own, as well as support from the church. Even if she would need to marry someone in the future, this was not half bad.

But… At the thought of the shrewish cousin of his who would need to bemoan the state of the heavens and fate of the people, carrying the name of the gods by her lips all day long, Leylin had the urge to laugh.

After reading the letter, Leylin went to the side in his home.

There was a small-scaled smelting room. On the laboratory table with a metal surface were numerous valuable glass apparatus.

Just purchasing these items had led to the earnings of the Faulen Family diminishing for a few months.

Besides, Leylin was still starting out with the miniature versions. The real stuff was with his mentor, Ernest.

With such terrifying rates of expenditure, it was understandable that many magicians came from noble families.

Besides the lucky, only nobles would be able to bear the terrifying cost of the materials for casting spells and experiments.

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Wither

A pungent herbal odour wafted through a dimly lit room, mixing with the strong smell of incense. The two scents mixed to leave one light-headed.

An old scholar lay on a bed with an exquisite brocade silk quilt draped over him, on the last leg of his life. The atmosphere was heavy, and light sniffs sounded out on occasion before they were suppressed.

Leylin was clad in black ceremonial attire as he stood amongst the guests, expressionless as he watched the old man on the bed. There was no sign of the inexperience on his face from before, and instead he seemed more mature, like a handsome young man.

It was obviously Anthony on the bed. This scholar was a normal human after all, and his life force had been diminishing for a long time. Being able to hold on to till date was already something that greatly surprised Leylin.

On top of his role as a student about to send his master off, Leylin had a more important matter to attend to.

At this moment, Anthony's body twitched and his throat moved. There was a slight flush on his face, and it was obvious that death was near.

"Priest! Get the priest!" His wife shrieked, and the children around her burst into tears.

The crowd split into two, revealing the sorrowful face on Bishop Tapris. "The gods will watch over you from the divine realm."

"Thank you! Thank you, Lord Bishop!" Anthony's wife wept. As a bishop of the god of knowledge, Tapris evidently had a high status on Faulen Island, and being able to have him attend meant Anthony was given face. While Leylin suspected this had to do with his powerful family, it was still a good thing, no?

Tapris waved his arms, showering him in holy light and stabilising Anthony's condition. Afterwards, the scholar began his last prayer. It might instead be called a narration of his memories. "My life… began at the island of Sicily…. "

"Leylin, my student, I hope to see the day you succeed. Even in the divine realm, I'll be rooting for you!"

"I understand, master!" Leylin quickly hastened forward, the A.I. Chip's detective abilities being raised to the maximum.

Tapris was moved by Anthony's mention of Leylin, something he'd done even after reciting his will. It showed how well Anthony thought of his student; his own investment hadn't been wasted.

"I… I see the glamour of the gods…" Anthony struggled for the last time, raising his palm. The light in his eyes dimmed, and his arms powerlessly fell to the side of the bed.

"Nooo…" "Anthony…" "My dearest Anthony…" Many cries began to sound in the room.

Tapris' face grew even more pious as he began Anthony's eulogy, "He was a learned scholar and a good samaritan, one who was willing to help others. As a follower of the god of knowledge, Anthony Blunton used his entire life to pass on the teachings of the gods. The gates to the divine realm shall open for him in death…"

'It's here!' A trace of emotion flickered in Leylin's eyes. Through his powerful senses, he saw huge, shining golden gates. The gates opened to a bright holy light, within which Anthony's soul rose from his body on its own. After taking another peek at the world of the living, he threw himself inside…

'The divine realm, situated in a plane above the prime material plane…' Leylin sighed inside.

'Normal followers' souls must first enter the soil and, after being evaluated by the God of Death, advance into the divine realms of the various gods. However, Anthony's soul bypassed that procedure. Is this a privilege from the bishop?' Leylin wondered.

After the souls of followers reached the divine realms, they would in theory become petitioners, henceforth breaking away from mortality. As long as the god and their divine realm were not destroyed, they would basically exist together with the god.

To a certain extent, this was a sort immortality, but they could not be bothered by external forces.

'It's rumoured that high-ranked petitioners can undergo a transition in terms of their souls, becoming something like a holy spirit… Every such one is a precious asset of the god, but their numbers are…' Based on Leylin's thoughts, these holy spirits were souls that could not die nor be extinguished, very similar to materialised souls.

This meant that, in theory, every holy spirit was comparable to the truesoul of a Breaking Dawn Magus.

'While the formation of holy spirits relies entirely on external forces, there is the benefit of living a stress-free immortal life while depending on the gods. Over time, the defences of the gods' divine realms must have grown extremely terrifying…'

With a limitless number of believers, holy spirits, and the power of being the authority in that realm, gods were basically invincible in their own divine realms. Even the more powerful deities couldn't easily dispose of the weaker ones if they were in their own realms, and they would have to pay a terrible price.

As for those Magi who had accidentally intruded into a divine realm… the result was obvious.

'Evidently, master Anthony's soul has a ways to go to meet the requirements to become a holy spirit. The mighty god of knowledge, Oghma, would obviously not make an exception for him… But with the bishop paving the path for him, he'd probably be in a better situation than many petitioners.'

After the divine lights retracted and the guiding force disappeared, Leylin's tense body relaxed. Bishop Tapris approached him then as well, having completed the ceremony, "Leylin!"

"Lord Bishop!" Leylin bowed to him respectfully. After all, he was a follower of the god of knowledge even if in name.

"Anthony was a pious follower. He will definitely be treated well in His kingdom, there's no need to worry…" Tapris consoled him, and seemed to have more to say.

Leylin and Tapris left the room, heading to a garden. Those people around had voluntarily left this area to them. "If I don't remember wrong, you've already held your coming of age ceremony. You're now a true man!" Bishop Tapris shifted the topic to Leylin.

"Yes, it was conducted last month…" Leylin answered modestly. Based on the customs of this world, boys would be considered adults once they hit 15, and could marry and have children.

"I was by your side when you were born… At that time, you were a little guy, still in your infancy. You've gotten so big in the blink of an eye…" Bishop Tapris laughed gently, as if reminiscing. As a rank 10 priest, the years did not leave marks on his face. In reality, he was much older than Anthony.

"But… I rarely see you attending celebrations at the church. Baron Jonas might be busy with work, but Lady Sarah is a very devout follower…" Tapris' voice showed a hint of disapproval.

"My apologies, lord bishop! I often conduct experiments with master Ernest and I must lose track of time…" Leylin quickly apologised.

A look of helplessness appeared on Bishop Tapris' face. Wizards in general had the least piety in them. Many of them were just general followers, and he'd long since expected this. In reality, while the entire Faulen family might be followers of the god of knowledge, they had never completely lost themselves in the teachings of the god.

In many areas on the continent, the worldly authority that nobles had were perpetually in conflict with gods' authority. Even Baron Jonas had brought in a new god, Ilmater the Crying God, while the church of knowledge already existed. He planned to build a church of wealth, allowing other gods to spread faith in them amongst the followers.

This was the instinct of a noble, but Tapris obviously couldn't accept it. His plan was to pull in the next generation head of the Faulen Family.

It was a pity that wizard Leylin was just like his father. While he never forgot to donate and make sacrifices to the church, he rarely took part in zealous religious ceremonies. On top of that, he was a wizard and had help from his mentor… Tapris' expression grew darker.

"My apologies for my rude actions, Bishop Tapris! Please allow me to donate ten gold coins to the church to repent for my sins. On top of that, please inform me the next time there are celebrations and gatherings!" When it came to matters of faith, Leylin had long since planned to treat them with less importance. However, since Tapris had brought it up, he had no choice but to do this.

Anyway, he already had plans to go to the church's celebrations every once in a while, pretending to be a follower.

"Good! There will be a holy baptism seven days later. It is a day in remembrance of the god of knowledge's feat in reforming the demon, Angmar. The church will hold a grand celebration, so I hope to see you there…"

"It would be my honour to. I'll definitely go!" Since this was a personal invite from Tapris, Leylin agreed straightforwardly.

"Good!" Tapris nodded, and was then asked away by someone who had been waiting for him beside them. Besides Anthony's funeral, there were many matters he had to attend to.

After the Lord Bishop left, Leylin remained in the garden, watching the white rose behind the wooden railing while deep in thought. 'He wants me to go there personally? What is that supposed to be? A warning?'

In reality, with his status as a noble the power of the church was not as immense as one would expect it to be. If Tapris dared overstep his boundaries, he would definitely be jointly resisted by the entirety of the nobility in the Dambrath Kingdom.

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Sudden Change

The battle for authority between gods and royalty had always been a problem. As the next leader of a low-grade noble family, Leylin was considered royalty. Tapris could not do anything to him, at least not out in the open, else the royalty would declare war on him. Even the pope of the god of knowledge would only choose to sacrifice Tapris and pacify the royals.

'Besides… it's not like Oghma is the only god on the continent. There are still many new churches that are crying out, trying to gain more followers. Of course, this is only what might happen in the worst-case scenario. Things probably won't get that bad…' Since he could now predict Tapris' future actions and the worst consequences, Leylin felt at ease as he returned to the manor.

He first met with his master Ernest, and mentioned Tapris' demand. He thought nothing of it and answered with a grunt, and then sent Leylin out. It seemed as if he was preparing to immerse himself in a very important experiment, and his mind was wandering while he was speaking to Leylin.

'Perhaps I'm motiving master to work harder as well. A few days ago, he was saying he was about to reach the fifth level of the Weave or something like that…' Leylin's rapid progress must have been a huge motivation for Ernest, who had been stuck at rank 9 for a while now.

In reality, he was actually far from truly reaching the fifth level of the Weave. Leylin cleverly hid a portion of his own strength as well, else Ernest would probably want to commit suicide from the humiliation.

Half-reclining on the sofa in the room, Leylin waved his arms and got Claire to come over and massage his head while he communicated with the A.I. Chip.

'A.I. Chip, what's the recent progress on the analysis of the Weave?' he commanded with his eyes shut.

[Beep! Progress on analysis on the Weave: Rank 0 Weave 100%. Rank 1 Weave 41.22%. Rank 2 Weave 2.3%.]

After seeing these numbers, Leylin sighed noiselessly.

'Two years have already passed, but there hasn't been progress in the two layers after rank 0. The analysis of rank 2 has completely halted…' Though Leylin knew that this was due to his command to maintain stealth, he still gre dejected by it.

'But analysis of the rank 0 Weave has finally reached 100%! What kind of surprises will it give me?' Thinking this, Leylin instructed, 'Give me the information on the rank 0 Weave.'

In that instant, Leylin felt like his line of sight was drowned out by words of laws. All of them held the power of laws, and Leylin felt like he was losing himself within.

[Beep! Analysis of rank 0 Weave complete. Obtained all rank 0 spell models!] The A.I. Chip intoned loyally while opening up a subdirectory. Within it were rank 0 spells of varying types, all arranged in an orderly fashion.

Resistance, Acid Splash, Caltrops, Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Daze, Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Electric Jolt, Sonic Snap, Ghost Sound, Silent Portal, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation…

A whole array of rank 0 spell models of varying types that included spells Ernest may or may not have taught him before were displayed on the A.I. Chip.

"Based on what master said, wizards can be separated into varying factions. There is abjuration, conjuration, enchantment, transmutation, divination, evocation and necromancy, which comes up to a total of eight schools. There are also spells which everyone can use… A wizard can choose to train in two to three spell schools before one's energy is completely exhausted. Master Ernest, for instance, is versed in evocation and transmutation spells, and he can't even use the spells of other schools at all…" Leylin muttered, "But now, I've grasped control of all the rank 0 spells of the eight great schools as well as those that can be used by all wizards…"

[Beep! Host has obtained all rank 0 spell models. Removing restriction on rank 0 spells. Host has obtained authority to cast all rank 0 spells without any restriction! Exempted from effects of forgetting spells!]

Having conquered one layer of the Weave, the benefits that Leylin obtained were terrifying. While he could not match up to the controller of the Weave, Mystra, having these benefits made it simple and very convenient for him.

This means that besides being proficient in all rank 0 spells, I won't need to prepare rank 0 spells the day before and can use them on the day itself…" Leylin was rather excited. The flexibility this allowed was enough for many wizards' eyes to go green in envy.

"Furthermore, not needing materials when casting spells and not forgetting spells…" Leylin's eyes brightened. Many rank 0 spells required magic materials to cast, something that wizards usually spent the most of their money on. Forgetting spells was also what had many wizards fuming with rage. After casting a spell, wizards would completely forget the original spell model and would have to relearn and memorise it.

From Leylin's point of view, the controller of the Weave had drawn all their spirit and soul strength and slowly exploit them. The gods who were at the top of the Weave were practically vampires.

However, with these effects, Leylin could now do away with the limitations of the rank 0 spells.

"Since I've only analysed the first layer of the Weave, this only works for rank 0 spells… But wizards have always been wise about what spells to cast. Even a rank 0 spell can turn the tables if used correctly…" While he would only have these effects when it came to rank 0 spells, that was already enough for Leylin to be elated.

After completely analysing the rank 0 Weave, Leylin could even steal other wizards' spell slots and get them to cast the spell in their memories for him. It was a pity that Leylin was not the Goddess of the Weave. While he could make things convenient for himself, it was best not to go too far.

If he did so, the wizards who noticed something was off would definitely investigate and report it to the gods. It was much too easy to be discovered, which was why Leylin dared not do this.

"At the last part, once the A.I. Chip completely analyses the Weave, I might be able to challenge the Goddess of the Weave herself…" Leylin's eyes flashed.Meanwhile, white rays of light flickered at his fingertips.

"Ah…" Claire, who was massaging Leylin, let out a shriek.

"What, have you never seen the power of spells before?" Leylin watched her teasingly. Before the coming of age ceremony, his two personal maids had fully committed themselves to their duties and helped their young master become a true man. Of course, this was only in terms of his body.

"N- No…" Claire's eyes were filled with envy. The power of magic obviously left her intoxicated. Due to the harshness of the Weave of this world, wizards cherished their spell slots like they did their eyes, planning their spells everyday. Nobody would be like a spendthrift like Leylin, playing with magic even if it was only rank 0 magic.

"There's something more fun!" Leylin watched Claire, a teasing look on his face, "Mage Hand!"

The sounds of girl's screams and coquettish laughter transmitted from the room, causing the maids who passed by to turn red…

Sudden, hurried footsteps destroyed this beautiful scene.

"Young master, young master, something's happened!" Clara, the other sister, ran in. She'd even forgotten the courtesy of knocking. She was met with the sight of her sister all flushed, and her young master, who was in a state of undress.

Though it wasn't as if she'd never seen this, Clara still turned red. "My- My apologies…"

"There's no need to bow. Tell me what happened!" Leylin stood up leisurely. He knew that for Clara to become so frantic, it must be something very serious. In comparison, his entertainment obviously came second, and Claire focused on not herself, but arranging Leylin's clothes.

"Miss Isabel has already reached the manor. Madam Sarah has requested you to go over quickly!" Clara calmed her ragged breathing and finally managed to present the information in its entirety.

"Cousin Isabel?" Leylin was confused, "Wasn't she apprenticing as a priestess for the Goddess of Agriculture? She can't leave for three years, so why's she suddenly here at the Faulen lands? She's obviously not here on a vacation…"

Hurriedly pulling on a coat, Leylin went to the other side of the manor. For safety during their training and experiments, he and Ernest stayed far away from the couple.He headed to outside the drawing room and saw his housekeeper, Leon, standing outside resolutely while looking sorrowful and strong.

This housekeeper was also Claire and Clara's father.

"What happened? Is this about Isabel's family?" Leylin approached him and asked.

"Miss Isabel is inside. Please persuade her! I'll let Madam tell you what happened." Housekeeper Leon bowed low.

'What is this? I have a bad feeling…' Leylin had an ominous feeling that there was trouble incoming, but he still walked into the drawing room while bracing himself.

"Mother! And… Cousin Isabel!"

After greeting his mother, Leylin glanced towards the other person in the room. However, she had changed so much that he could not believe his own eyes.

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Request and Preparation

Isabel stood in the drawing room, and she still had the long golden hair and blue eyes that Leylin was familiar with. However, her pretty face was stern and icy, and her sharp gaze held an aura of danger.

She wore tight-fitting soft leather armour and had a black scabbard for a longsword at her waist, her slender legs forming a beautiful arc. Leylin sensed an iciness and despair in her temperament, as well as the flames of revenge hidden deep within. There was also evil.

"Long time no see, cousin Leylin! I'm so glad you're still doing well!" Isabel drawled in a hoarse voice. Her icy gaze seemed to melt a little while watching Leylin, becoming more welcoming.

"Aunt, I'll be off now!" Isabel bade Sarah farewell, while the rims of Sara's eyes turned red.

"What happened?" After Isabel left, Leylin's expression turned dark.

"Ahh… my pitiful little sister…" Madam Sarah began to weep, and Leylin could only stay by her side.

Through the inarticulate descriptions from his mother, Leylin somewhat guessed the situation. Cousin Isabel's family had been struck by a disaster months ago. Her family had been massacred in cold blood, and there were traces of demons and devils left behind at the scene, which meant it might have something to do with an evil deity's ceremony.

Practically no one survived other than Isabel, and that was because she'd been at the church of the Goddess of Agriculture.

While Isabel's father was not a true noble, he did have a temporary status as a baron. While this status would only last for his life, these actions immediately resulted in anger from the church and royalty, and the town hall even announced that they would find the murderer.

There was another issue. Her family had always been a liaison between the Faulen Family and the Dambrath Kingdom on the continent. The consequences of this act was that the Faulen Family would lose all means of contact and news from the continent. Needless to say, there were also many troublesome matters which needed settling. Whatever it was, having a devil involved made things complicated. Leylin's father in this world had already set sail after he had gotten this information, planning to go to the continent and solve the problems.

"You have to console your cousin Isabel properly. She only has us left, and I heard that she even had to deal with an attempted assassination just recently! Oh, my poor child…" Madam Sarah wept, while Leylin nodded seriously.

Cousin Isabel just now obviously lacked the temperament that a priest should have. Evidently, the revenge she wanted to exact, or perhaps the series of shocks she had endured after the incident had caused her to walk the path of blood and vengeance. Who knew, she might even be involved in some ceremony or sacrifice to the gods.

"Hm? This timing… does it mean Bishop Tapris already knows about this?" Leylin came to a sudden realisation. With the communication between churches, it was very possible that he had received the news before Leylin had, which made his recent invitation very interesting.

"A storm is coming…" Leylin walked out of the drawing room. As he watched the overcast skies, his expression became as gloomy as the weather.

'Something seems off…' Leylin touched his chin, 'Her family can almost be seen a branch of our Faulen family in the Dambrath Kingdom. This act against them seems to be aimed at us…'

'Are the up-and-coming Faulen lands now being coveted by the nobles? Or is this an effect from us eliminating a few pirate crews sometime ago?' A multitude of possibilities arose in front of Leylin. When he regained his senses, he was already standing in front of Ernest's room.

"Is it Leylin? I still have important experiments to finish…" Ernest's annoyed voice could be heard from within the room.

"I'm sorry, master, but I feel like we need to have a serious talk," Leylin's smile had no effect on him.

"Fine, but only for half an hour!" The door was pulled open, revealing Ernest's haggard face. His hair was messy, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

One could see filthy clothes and all sorts of junk everywhere upon entering the room. There was practically no place that was clean save for the laboratory.

Leylin flung a grey shirt that had been tossed onto the sofa away and sat down. Ernest seemed to think of something at this point and wiped his face, watching his prodigious student.

"Leylin! You seem to be have met with some trouble… does it have to do with the church of knowledge you mentioned in the morning? It shouldn't trouble you this much; is it something else?" Ernest was rather concerned when it came to this student of his, someone who had a bright future ahead of him.

"Yes. It's a huge problem…" Leylin laughed bitterly and began to narrate the situation.

"So you want me to act and maintain the safety of the manor?" Ernest's brows fluttered, as if he had seen through Leylin's plans. It had to be said that this was perhaps the best choice.

"No, no! I actually want to ask master…" Leylin shook his head instead and requested something else, causing Ernest to watch his student in wide-eyed shock.

A moment later, a gigantic flying bird soared from the manor, with was a figure seated atop it.

"My student really knows how to order his teacher about…" This figure was evidently Ernest, though he was now hastening his journey and cursing along the way.

"The strength of Father's guards and a rank 9 magician should be enough to take care of the dangers and challenges…" Leylin muttered as he stood by the window, watching the bird shrink into a tiny black dot as it flew away.

If he was the one who had orchestrated the elimination of Isabel's family, causing Baron Faulen to lose his connection to the mainland, it would only be the first step. Next he would create traps and hinder the baron who was heading towards the continent,

The Faulen family was a noble family that was new and still developing. Once Baron Jonas died, there would only be a widowed mother and an orphaned son left behind. He didn't have any support either, and was the easiest to deal with.

Hence, protecting the baron and his men was the key in this situation. And the only high-ranked power the Faulen Family could rely on right now was the rank 9 wizard Ernest.

"The meagre benefits of our island and port are far from being sufficient for those great nobles. The power that the other party holds shouldn't be too powerful. Hopefully, with master Ernest's strength coupled with that of the family, we should be able to successfully take care of this matter…" Leylin's eyes flashed.

Of course, while he focused mostly on Baron Jonas, it wasn't as if he prepared nothing for the Faulen Family. Initially, he had planned to get Ernest to handle everything. In the worst case scenario, Leylin and his mother themselves would be safe. Perhaps this was something Baron Jonas realised as well, which would be the reason he hadn't invited that old friend of his on the journey. However, Leylin had spoiled his plans.

"With master Ernest, there's no need to worry about the baron, but the defences of the manor are diminished by a great degree…" Leylin sighed, "I'll have to make up for it myself…"

Leylin had always been training his abilities as a wizard on the sly, but he'd never had the chance to use them in real battles. Of course, with his experience prior to this reincarnation, this wasn't a huge issue. He rather anticipated practicing on a few dumb bandits and the like.

"Alright, now to see what master left for me…" Leylin returned to his room and fiddled with a few artifacts on the table. Ernest was no fool, and he'd obviously made preparations for his student's safety by leaving behind a few protective artifacts.

"Hm, let me see…" Leylin's eyes were filled with curiosity as he tidied up the artifacts on the table. Ernest had only left three artifacts behind. There was a black ring and two unknown scrolls with some magic patterns on them, emitting a mysterious luster.

"Appraisal!" Leylin tapped on them, and several streaks of white light burst out, returning with information about them.

"A magic ring with a protective shield that displaces attacks, as well as two rank 4 spell scrolls. Mm… One's a Stone Skin spell while the other is an offensive Blizzard spell…"

Given the types of the spells, Ernest had evidently made them himself. They were the best quality artifacts he could make given his rank, and on top of that there was the additional costs from the high rate of failure.

Leylin put on the ring and played around with the scrolls in his hands. In many cases, rank 4 magic scrolls could even turn the tides of battle from defeat to victory, and Leylin was very aware of what they were worth. Though many of the materials to make the scrolls had been supplied by the Faulen Family, Leylin still felt his heart warm.

"These things give me some more security… I might need to modify the plan…" Leylin muttered to himself as he returned to his room, sending the sisters away.

"A.I. Chip, show me my current stats!" Leylin commanded.

[Leylin Farlier. Age: 15. Race: Human, Rank 6 Wizard. Strength: 1.6. Agility: 1. Vitality: 1.5. Spirit: 6. Condition: Healthy. Innate Talents: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 2 Spell slot (2), Rank 1 Spell slot (3), Rank 0 Spell slot (???)] The A.I. Chip loyally intoned.

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Spellbook

A wizard's advancement required large amounts of time and energy, and the difficulty of advancing increased the further one walked the path. Two years had passed, and yet Leylin's ranking as a wizard had only risen by one. However, his speed far surpassed his peers and was a huge motivation for Ernest.

"Although I'll get an additional spell slot after I advance to rank 6, I won't be able to reach a deeper level of the Weave… What a pity. If not for that I could've gotten a rank 3 spell slot and had a greater chance of victory…" Leylin looked at his stats, his eyes full of regret.

Wizards were ranked based on their achievements with the Weave. Only rank 7 wizards could make contact with the third level, and gain the authority to cast rank 3 spells.

Similar to rank 5 wizards who had just made contact with the second level of the Weave, rank 6 wizards could only use rank 2 spells as well. The difference was that they had greater spiritual force which meant that they had more spell slots. If Leylin could advance once more and have his spiritual force access the third level of the Weave, it would be a great advancement for him. However, his time was scarce.

When he noticed the question marks behind the rank zero spell slots, Leylin finally beamed. With a complete analysis of the rank 0 Weave, Leylin would never be limited by rank 0 spell slots and wouldn't even need materials when casting spells. He wouldn't forget spells either.

It could be said that Leylin could use the Weave anytime he wanted to cast rank 0 spells, and there was no need to prepare things like spell slots.

He had substituted the inflexible spell slots with his own mana, making it the only limit on his casting of rank 0 spells. As long as he had enough mana, he could cast as many rank 0 spells as he wanted.

"Perhaps I should prepare a rank 1 or 2 spell and reserve enough spiritual force for casting rank 0 spells…" Leylin muttered to himself. Being able to flexibly use rank 0 spells was the best trump card up his sleeve. If enemies tried to evaluate him based on the ranking system of wizards in the World of Gods, they would be in for a nasty surprise.

"I'll memorise Web for a rank 2 spell, and Animate Rope and Mage Armour for rank 1. That would save me a lot of spiritual force…"

Leylin had an advantage in this aspect. Wizards prepared their spell slots a day in advance. After a night of restful meditation, most of his spiritual force would have been replenished until it was almost full. As a result, he could use more of his spiritual force. While he could only use rank 0 spells, it wasn't half bad…

Leylin was flipping through an ancient spellbook. It was made of the leather from some animal skin; there were even traces of scales on it. Powerful magic emanated from the tome. This was something Ernest had passed on to Leylin, a spellbook containing multiple low-ranked spells. Ernest himself used it quite often.

Wizards always forgot their spells. Once they stored one in a spell slot, all memories relating to it would become fuzzy, even vanish. It was necessary to relearn them again and again. Hence, a spellbook that recorded all the spells the knew became extremely important. In many situations, spellbooks were wizards' most valuable items.

This specific spellbook had been given to Leylin by Ernest, and had been made of the skin of a landwyrm. It was worth hundreds of gold coins.

The paper in the spellbook seemed rather new, and did not match with the old cover.

Ernest had clearly taken the advantage to remove the spells he had recorded in there. Wizards recorded the spells that they were proficient in inside the spellbook, and it was a very important task for them to accomplish. This was something that they could not commission others to complete for them.

"Web, Animate Rope, as well as Mage Armour…" Leylin flipped through the spellbook and quickly found the relevant information.

Leylin placed less emphasis on spellbooks than other wizard. The A.I. Chip itself was a comprehensive collection of spellbooks, and the efficiency at which it transmitted spells to his memories far exceeded that of studying from paper.

Most of the time Leylin spent on this book was just to deceive Ernest or use it to learn spells. He could then compare the spells to those from the Magus world, appreciating the difference in the power of laws within them.

With his finger stroking a looping spell rune, Leylin immersed himself in the analysis of the spells.

"Compared to the spells of the Magus World, the magical circuits and nodes here are very simple. Wizards have to go through the Weave first, and it's impossible to compare the complexity of these two types of spells. Simply put, Magus spell models require spiritual force to form an entire template for the spells, while the spell models here act more like keys…" With Leylin's powerful learning abilities and memory, there was practically no difficulty in recording spell models here.

Within minutes, the A.I. Chip's prompt sounded.

[Beep! Spells have been stored. Rank 2 spell slot: Web. Rank 1 spell slot: Mage Armour, Animate Rope!]

Leylin somehow felt like part of his spiritual force had disappeared. There were now three more nodes on the Weave, which represented the three spells he had remembered. Tomorrow, he could cast them using specific gestures or commands.

"Besides the convenience and speed, the plus point for wizards here is only that the requirements are less stringent when compared to Magi…" Once his spiritual force was completely extracted, Leylin found that the memories of the three spell models had disappeared without a trace.

'Damn it, that greedy god!' Leylin cursed inside in annoyance, but did not dare say it aloud. As a Magus, seeing how the wizards were made use of so thoroughly rendered him furious and frustrated.

In a bad mood, Leylin had no plans of studying the spellbook further. He instead sent a command out in his mind, 'A.I. Chip, prepare for transmission of spell models: Web, Mage Armour, and Animate Rope!'

[Beep! Mission established. Beginning transmission…]

The A.I. Chip loyally carried out Leylin's instructions, and soon enough Leylin found information related to these three spell models in his mind. The A.I. Chip raised his learning speed unfathomably.

"I'll probably have to endure this cycle of preparing ammunition and enduring exploitation for a long while," Leylin looked dejected, but he quickly sorted out his feelings, "Preparations of the spell slot are complete. I can try a counterattack now. Before that, I still have to take care of the matter with the god of knowledge…"

After Leylin checked the strength he possessed, he began to assess other issues.

'Bishop Tapris must have gotten information somewhere, but he might not be trying to eliminate our Faulen Family. After all, our family is made up of followers of the god of knowledge, and if they swapped another family in here, they might not be more suitable than us. However, it's obvious that he's trying to nudge us… We'll need to yield for now and gain support from the church…'

All sorts of possibilities and sudden events flowed before Leylin's eyes, the future revealing itself before him. The dim yellow light from the oil lamp stretched his shadow further and further…

Soon enough, it was the day of the celebration at the god of knowledge's church. Leylin was clad in a fitting attire with an armless leather breastplate inside. There were two spell scrolls in there as well. It was not that the Faulen Family lacked better metallic armour, but metal often interfered with the flow of magic for wizards, causing their spell casting to fail. Unless they found precious metals like mithril or adamantine, wizards would not use metal tools.

"Morning, Cousin Isabel!" Leylin found a surprising figure at the entrance to the manor.

"Morning, Cousin Leylin!" Isabel was still wearing that tight-fitting armour. Coupled with her perfect body, she emitted a sense of attractiveness and danger.

In reality, ever since their last meeting, Isabel had stayed hidden in her room. She had become very reclusive, and besides a few banquets this was the first time Leylin was truly seeing her.

"Are you going to the church of knowledge at the port?" Isabel rested against the doorframe, black sheath touching the ground, "It's rather dangerous out there now. I want to go with you!"

"That's my overbearing cousin!" It was only at this moment that Leylin felt his childhood playmate had returned.

"But!" He stepped forward slightly, causing Isabel to subconsciously grab the hilt of her sword. "I can handle these trivial matters myself!"

Seeing how she was prickly like a porcupine and was resisting the urge to draw her sword, Leylin wanted to laugh. While he would like to draw closer, it was not the time to give her more stress.

"Let's go!" Leylin jumped onto the carriage. The one driving it was the rank 6 warrior Jacob, and along with his skilled shouts and the sounds of whipping, the carriage marked with the Faulen Family's crest slowly went on its way.

"You idiot!" Behind him, Isabel was stamping her feet in annoyance, while a small blush appeared on her face.

"While my cousin has become very threatening towards strangers, she's still the same person who is warm on the inside like before. Good…" In the carriage, Leylin laughed lightly. "But there seems to be some huge issue with her, especially that evil power. If it isn't solved, I'm afraid…"

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Celebration

Lively streams of people filled the bustling pier. The air was filled with the smell of sea and rum.

As the horse carriage entered the port, Leylin watched the busy scene outside through a little window within. Sailors, farmers, soldiers, adventurers, and all sorts of people entered his sights. They were quickly classified, marking those who had decent strength and harboured malicious intent.

As he had been immersed in the study of magic, Leylin rarely came out from the manor, much less came to this area. 'It seems like the Faulen Family has managed this place extremely well; it even surpasses my expectations. It's understandable that someone might covet this place.'

Leylin glanced towards the group next to the crossroad. A wandering bard was now performing there, and he could not help but exclaim in his surprise. "Hm? There are even bards wandering around!"

Bards in the World of Gods weren't just street performers. They were usually spies that were primarily responsible for probing for intel, or they made a living out of selling information. Most importantly, they were usually very powerful.

With how much the Faulen Pier was flourishing, quite a few bards had come forth to perform or on vacation.

"Jacob, what's the name of that bard? How long has he been here for?" Leylin enquired.

"That one? I heard that he's called Xuno and comes from the faraway Northern Lands. His poems are always very pleasant to listen to and there are always interesting stories. The baron was even thinking about inviting him to perform in the manor some time ago…" Jacob answered quickly.

The commoners here quickly gave way and presented their greetings to the authority that managed the island and port. Sitting in the middle of the horse carriage, Leylin was however unperturbed by everyone's reverence and instead furrowed his brows, "There are far too many people here, and yet the frequency at which the patrol appears is too low…

"Jacob, how much strength does our family have?"

Jacob froze for a moment, surprised by Leylin's question. "Are you referring to the patrol, young master?"

However, for someone like him who had once been the commander of this place, Jacob knew the situation with the patrol very well. "We have two groups here that come up to a hundred people total. They're all great little guys with good strength."

"Great little guys? Good strength? That means there aren't any with exemplary strength, and they are only able to suppress those sailors and thieves?" Leylin grew speechless, "Out of this hundred, how many have professions? How much armour do we have? And long-range weapons such as crossbows?"

In the World of Gods, where exemplary powers were suppressed to the utmost, armour and weapons were a huge factor when it came to strength. Troops with great equipment and training would find no trouble dealing with those with professions below rank 5. If there were enough of them, even those at rank 10 and below did not dare go head to head with soldiers.

Of course, after rank 10, numbers would not be enough to make up for the lack of quality.

"Professions? Armour? Crossbow?" Jacob's surprised voice sounded in front of him.

"What? We don't have them?" Leylin sighed.

"Professions? The leaders of those two groups are retired military officials that the baron recruited. They're low ranked warriors who haven't even been certified to rank 5. As for armour, those who are vice leaders and above all have one set, and there are a total of twelve. And crossbows… Our patrol doesn't have equipment like that, though there seem to be a few stored in the manor…" Jacob looked a little flustered as he spoke.

"Too little, it's much too little! This is too weak…" Leylin seemed to be complaining.

"Young Master, why do you say so?" A look of surprise appeared on Jacob's face, "A Baron has over a hundred elite troops. Even in the kingdom, that power is equivalent to what a viscount can have… In order to bear the costs of this group, the baron throws in a large amount of his earnings…"

"Baron… this…" Leylin had a sudden realisation. The Faulen Island was a newly developed territory with no population. It was difficult to even get farmers to plow the lands here, not even considering recruiting troops.

If not for the Faulen Island being on an isolated piece of land, having to deal with numerous vicious pirates, Baron Jonas would long since have halved the number of troops here. In order to recruit enough people, there was no way but to hire them by offering large amounts of money, and he probably had to take care of their food and their families.

While the barons in the Dambrath Kingdom could have many troops, they never had so many unless it was wartime due to the great costs.

If not for the benefits from the trade, the Faulen Family would long since have gone bankrupt due to the army.

"The rise of a noble family is truly difficult…" Leylin sighed inside. The father of this body had gone through hundreds of battles, and with difficulty obtained this uninhabited island as his territory. With his hard work over half his life, Baron Jonas finally made this area a little popular, yet now his work was immediately coveted.

"If all of the hundred were to have equipment…" Leylin calculated it. Creating armour was extremely expensive in the World of Gods, and a complete set could even be a knight's treasure passed on through generations. The value was equal to even a small manor. If modified by magicians or blessed by priests, the armour's price would be even more terrifying and perhaps comparable to a city!

"It's not practical to change the armour of the patrol, but I can think of something when it comes to their weapons. At the very least, they can't use rusted metal…" Leylin sighed and clutched at his forehead.

He was no longer in his original body, where he was exceedingly wealthy. In the World of Gods, he spent only a few gold coins every month, and most of it was spent on spell materials.

'There are ways for low-ranked magicians to earn money, but that's mostly labour from copying spells or brewing low-ranked potions. There's not enough time… Sigh, in the World of Gods, the small nobles don't do that well. Only the churches are truly wealthy. The paladins of the church of the Goddess of Singing Waters all had a full set of metal armour, and some even had been blessed with divine spells…'

Leylin could not help but think back to what he had seen before as a soul seed. The wealth of the churches of the gods were renowned in the continent, especially that of the Goddess of Wealth. It was said that their headquarters had been built with gold and silver, and even the ground was paved with gold bricks. Leylin, who was going insane over his poverty, had even decided to steal everything once he made his mark on this world.

"Then… Can I use them?" Suppressing the immoral thoughts he had, Leylin asked Jacob who was outside.

"Of course! As the next-in-line of the Faulen Family, the young master's wish is our command!" Jacob answered resolutely, "Do you need me to send down the signal?"

"No, there's no need to for now. I want to go to the church of knowledge, and it shouldn't be too dangerous. Tell them…" Leylin spoke apathetically.

He added some more words on the inside, 'You're useless against priests or holy warriors. On top of that, few would be willing to fight against the church and god they believe in.'

After Leylin was done with his instructions, the carriage once more sank into silence. He did not continue speaking and only judged the terrain and buildings outside curiously.

As the carriage reached a spacious area, Jacob's voice was heard, "Young Master, we've reached the Knowledge Shrine!"

Leylin looked outside the window. The streets were clean and tidy, and the passersby were very cultured. Whether it was farmers or soldiers walking past, all would control their footsteps such that they were softer, appearing prudent and reverent. Put next to the bustle and chaos at the port, the two were practically worlds apart.

A lofty and majestic church emitted dazzling light through the carriage. The churches of the gods were always constructed splendidly, being beautiful and solemn,

"O god of knowledge…" Many voices could be heard saying their prayers.

As this was a day of celebration, many followers of the god of knowledge had congregated here. The spacious floor was crowded with people.

In order to worship the god of knowledge, Jonas had dedicated the best section of land on the port and did not accept even a copper coin. In the eyes of the priests however, this was a given.

"Seems like the 'cultured people' of the port are here!" Leylin sighed as he rubbed his face, changing his expression to a sunny one.

"Young Master Leylin!"

"Welcome, welcome!" "My, look who's here!"

Many familiar faces crowded around. They included his uncles and aunts, and he had no choice but to smile and greet them one by one.

With Anthony as his mentor, Leylin had no faults when it came to his manners. What he showed off was his most perfect image as the next-in-line of a noble family, and everyone sang his praises.

The price, however, was that after the many greetings Leylin found his facial muscles had begun to stiffen, and much time had passed.

'I know this is troublesome, but it's necessary. Nobles…' Leylin sighed as he entered the large shrine and threw a small bag of gold coins into the donation box. The pot-bellied priests beamed in reply.

Leylin looked around. The ornamentation of Oghma's church wasn't half bad. There were bookshelves and statues all around, and it was filled with a scholarly atmosphere…

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Marquis Louis

After finishing his prayers in the main hall of the church, a few maids finally led the way to bishop Tapris.

Tapris was very frank the moment he started speaking, "My child, you seem to have run into some trouble!"

"Yes, respected Bishop. I urgently need teaching and guidance from the god of knowledge." Leylin secretly grew a lot more relaxed just due to Tapris' attitude. He was indeed like what Leylin had suspected, and only intended to take this opportunity to knock his family's confidence. He didn't have any plans to actually replace the Faulens.

If this was the case, foregoing a few benefits in exchange for his help was not a difficult issue for him to discuss.

Judging by his behaviour, Bishop Tapris must have also been nodding secretly to himself. As heir to the Faulen family, Leylin's promises would have to be fulfilled even by Baron Jonas, and this was one made in a church with a deity as their witness.

'It seems like Baron Jonas has an outstanding successor!' Tapris thought slowly to himself, then looked at Leylin, "Dear little Leylin, have you heard of Viscount Tim?"

"Viscount Tim?" Leylin's voice was filled with doubt. Under Anthony's guidance, he certainly understood the upper class nobles of the Dambrath Kingdom, yet he hadn't seemed to have heard of any deeds performed by this viscount.

"Oh, look at me, getting ahead of myself! Viscount Tim was just crowned a few months ago, so it's perfectly normal for you not to have heard of him before. His father, on the other hand, is a distinguished person you must have heard of before. Marquis Louis!"

Tapris watched Leylin's expression expectantly.

"Marquis Louis? The king's brother!" Leylin exhaled lightly. Although he knew that things wouldn't be simple this time, he didn't think that the nobles involved would have a direct connection to royalty.

The nobility was never a tight knit community. The power struggle between the regional and central nobles had never ceased for even a moment, and although there was a possibility of them uniting as one in the face of divine authority, an instinctive battle for benefit would begin once the moment the pressure from the outside world was reduced.

Within the kingdom, the regional nobles and the kingdom's central nobles were the two factions that put up the fiercest fights.

"That's right. Viscount Tim is already of age. Although he's the second son, Marquis Louis adores him very much, and even wishes to obtain a piece of feudal property for him…" Tapris held his tongue, and left the rest to Leylin's imagination.

"So that's how it is!" Leylin nodded seriously. Although the king and his people ruled over the entire Dambrath Kingdom, they couldn't possibly own all the territory. Moreover, after the division of property across the generations and the emergence of other noble families, the amount of territorial land that the king now governed directly was already quite small.

To date, all the territories in the kingdom had been divided until there was practically nothing left. Even if one was a prince or princess, if they were not particularly favoured by the king, they would not even receive any hereditary titles. The highest ranked titles they could receive was that of an Count Palantine 1, or a Marquis, and they would only possess a few manors.

As a brother to the king of this generation, Marquis Louis was still able to fish up a decent amount of benefits. The Baltic archipelago was his fief, and the total area of the whole stretch of islands far exceeded that of the Faulens. He even owned several decent deepwater ports.

To put it bluntly, even the Faulens had to rely on a tremendous volume of trade in the Baltic Archipelago and play second fiddle in order to toil for money.

However, Louis still had to consider his first son. It would be very foolish of him to divide his territory, and hence he had set his sights somewhere else. Perhaps he had now turned his gaze towards the Faulen's territory

Stripping another noble family of their inherited territory for no reason would definitely send huge waves rippling through the circle of nobility. But if this family was extinguished with no successor and Marquis Louis had Tim carry on their family name, then things would be a lot easier. His influence as a marquis would also minimise the consequences of this incident.

"Many thanks for being straightforward, respected bishop. From now on, the church of knowledge will be fully accepted by the Faulen territory. Additionally, we will portion out another plot of territorial land in the eastern part of the island to offer as tribute to the church," Leylin rose and gave his thanks.

Although this was only an intelligence report, he felt like the possibility of it being true was extremely high.

Firstly, the territory under the Faulen family actually did thin out Marquis Louis' profits. Even though it was only by a little, it was enough to upset him. Secondly, the Faulens were a newly rising noble family, and they didn't have complicated relationships with other nobles that would have been difficult to deal with. There were only minimal consequences associated with making his move on them.

'Could it be that this is also a contest between the regional and central parties?' Leylin had experienced much more trickery than this, and had depth in his foresight.

'The Faulen Family started out with military service, and were the king's imperial bodyguards from the beginning. Thus, they could be regarded as part of the central party. But ever since they obtained their feudal property and arrived here, the family was actually already inclined towards the regional party. That was also how my father the baron handled it. However, what was awkward was that the people of the Faulen island had very little contact with the people from the mainland, as it was a lonely island situated far away. Hence, they haven't been accepted by the regional nobles yet… Which is the reason why this family is now in an awkward situation in which we cannot rely on either side…'

After thinking thoroughly about this, Leylin was suddenly struck by a huge realisation, 'No wonder. If I saw this situation, even I wouldn't be able to resist taking action. There are plenty of advantages, yet the risks are very minor. Perhaps Viscount Tim is also pitifully begging for this opportunity…'

In fact, Leylin's second guess was much closer to the truth than his first guess, but there were a few minor differences.

Although his opponent was just a viscount and seemed relatively less capable, he was backed by the marquis and was even the king's nephew. If one took their eyes off him for even a second, he would easily trigger chaos.

However, it was fortunate that he was just a favoured second son. Even Marquis Louis wouldn't spend much energy on him, much less alert the king. As long as he didn't kill his opponent, there probably wouldn't be much of a counterattack.

After all, when it came to issues like schemes to seize the territory of smaller families, because most of the bigger nobles did it on the sly, these rumours were restricted only to their thoughts, and could not be spoken of in polite company.

Tapris personally sent Leylin out of the shrine. Just as Leylin was about to board his carriage, Tapris muttered softly in a deep voice next to his ear, "It seems that a surge of pirates have escaped to the vicinity recently. I hope you'll take care! May the god of knowledge bless you."

"Got it!" There was a glint in Leylin's eyes, and he gave Tapris a profound look before boarding the carriage.

The body of the carriage kept rising and falling as the wheels rolled on. Leylin sat in the carriage with his eyes shut, yet his thoughts kept moving.

'That cunning Bishop Tapris. Is he preparing to lay his bet on both parties?' As a matter of fact, Leylin really did want to get assistance from the church this time. If he could personally exert pressure on the marquis with the power of the church of knowledge, the marquis would surely give up on making such moves.

But this was evidently impossible. Even Bishop Tapris did not own some labour headquarters for him to exert his authority. If they dispatched warriors and priests from the shrine, they would be deemed to be in favour of the Faulen family. Tapris had also clearly rejected doing so.

Now it seemed that although Tapris had only given a bit of the intel, he had managed to immediately gain a heap of profits. Even if Baron Jonas was here, he wouldn't dare to go back on his word. If Viscount Tim succeeded, he wouldn't forget to rope in Tapris as well. If placing his bets on both parties would guarantee him profits, why wouldn't he?

Of course, it wasn't that there was no other way to obtain assistance from the church, but that would require dedicating all his territory to them. However, both sides would suffer and be destroyed indiscriminately if he used this method. Additionally, they would be boycotted by all the nobles from the mainland, and be seen as traitors by the nobles!

After weighing the matter, Leylin reached the conclusion that things hadn't escalated to such a nasty stage, and he didn't have the courage to abandon his social class. There was no doubt that he would use 'that' method.

"Pirates?" The look in Leylin's pupils seemed distant. Since the other party was also a noble family that controlled overseas trade and had numerous harbours, they evidently had a formidable maritime force.

Even the pirates nearby might be secretly under their control. It was highly possible for them to send out a group of men to cause a commotion in the Faulen Island and use this to create pressure, or even attack the manor directly and silence the Faulens. They did it once long ago anyway.

"Relying on the hundred man patrol to get rid of this wave of pirates is rather challenging…" Leylin stroked his chin. He had never underestimated his opponent's strength. With a marquis backing him, that viscount could easily dispatch tens of professionals.

"Someone above rank 15 is absolutely impossible, but there might be one who is above rank 10, and a few elite professionals above rank 5… It won't be easy to defeat them…" Leylin quickly evaluated his opponent's strength, just at the most basic level.

Of course, the Faulens didn't only have the harbour patrol, but the real masters were definitely travelling with Baron Jonas. Only the the wizard Ernest had stayed behind to take care of things, but this source of help had also been dispatched by Leylin himself.

"The other party will obviously focus their main strength on the baron. The force they have sent over here should only be a small portion of their main force. It's not like we can't fight them with everything we have!" Leylin had a distant look in his eyes.

In fact, he had also considered cowering and hiding in some corner of the mainland, avoiding the situation at hand. He would then slowly accumulate skills and become a great wizard, maybe even a strong Legend. But putting aside the affection from the baron and his wife, even if he could heartlessly abandon everything he had, he was unable to give up on the benefits that the Faulen Family brought him.

A sea of resources was needed for a wizard to advance. Be it expensive materials for him to perform sorcery, or all kinds of magic books and such, a great amount of gold coins was required to purchase them. Without an influential power to gather wealth for him, Leylin would simply be incapable of meeting his needs alone.

1. Non-hereditary title of high rank

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Assassin

A great wizard could not rise without the support of an extremely influential power. It was a pipe dream to achieve such success alone. Were he to try to build up his power and wealth through underhanded means, he would obviously provoke many people.

In comparison, the Faulens had only met with a small inconvenience. Even if Leylin broke away from the family, he would still run into the same problem when trying to make a name for himself.

It was needless to say that his identity as a nobleman was rather decent. At least it allowed Leylin to travel unimpeded in any place where human civilization gathered. He couldn't bear to give that up.

With the speed at which his strength was improving, the Faulens would one day be unable to meet his demands, thus he had to expand the interests of the family.

If he ate more, others would have less to eat. Leylin had long predicted that the Baltic archipelago and the numerous natural ports owned by Louis' family would become stumbling blocks in his family's rise in society.

Even without this incident, the Faulens would one day become enemies with Marquis Louis. After growing aware of this, Leylin's gaze turned as cold as ice. 'If that's the case, I'll move those blocks away!'

"Compared to the rich and imposing maquis, the Faulen Family is simply not prepared as of now. Even if we emerge victorious in this incident, we are destined to keep a low profile. It would be best… Huh?"

Leylin's eyes suddenly widened, 'This energy undulation… A.I. Chip!'

[Beep! Task established, initializing scan… Suspicious person discovered in the vicinity! Gathering of high energy detected! Person is determined to be in possession of powerful explosives.]

The carriage seemed to have turned translucent in the A.I. Chip's display, revealing the streets and people in the form of numerous lines. A few passersby were sneakily drawing closer to it, and they were marked out by the A.I. Chip.

"Are they assassins? Jacob…" Jacob was currently rushing the carriage along, but hearing Leylin's voice stunned him for a moment.

"Don't stop! Don't show any signs of suspicion or panic. Let's change direction!" Leylin's command was transmitted to Jacob, yet it seemed like no else heard it.

Jacob stopped for a moment. He had already viewed voice transmission as an ability unique to a wizard. Being experienced, he immediately knew what the young master had discovered.

Crack!* The crisp sound of the horsewhip sounded. The carriage, which had been going forth, suddenly made a sharp turn, and entered another junction.

"They're still following us? Hah… Did they vow not to give up until they achieved their goal?" Leylin could see the route that the assassins were taking through the A.I. Chip, and he couldn't help but force a smile.

"Jacob, follow the route I'm about to give you." As the young leader of the Faulen Pier, Leylin couldn't allow its prosperous image to be damaged, come what may. If word got out about a heir to a noble family getting attacked in a ruckus at the port, it could be a huge blow to the port's prestige. Many of the less influential merchants would be afraid of getting into trouble, and would rather take a detour than come back again to replenish their supplies. Hence, although Leylin had already discovered the assassins, he couldn't take action in the middle of the city centre.

Jacob clearly knew this as well, and firmly followed the route that Leylin gave.

Under Leylin's directions, the carriage swiftly drove out of the market as smoothly as a loach. They arrived at a small road in the countryside, and the assassins hurriedly surrounded them one by one.

"Are you ready? Jacob, break through their line of defense right away, and send a signal to gather the patrolling team!" Leylin appeared very confident.

"But young master, your safety!" Jacob was rather hesitant.

"That's not an issue. Don't forget that I'm a wizard, and someone stronger than you at that." Leylin said without a trace of politeness.

Jacob's face flushed red, as though he had recalled the few experiences when he had suffered defeat under Leylin's hands, "Your wish is my command, young master!"

At this moment, a few shadows that appeared to be highly bewildered pounced on them. They had evidently realised that they had been fooled by Leylin earlier on at the port. Their fury even led to them drawing out their murder weapons immediately.

"Are these the bombs of a goblin alchemist?" Leylin shook his head in disapproval as he saw a few jet black objects launched towards the carriage.

If they were attacked by these prohibited items with such immense power in the port, even if Leylin himself wouldn't suffer the slightest damage, Jacob would definitely sustain injuries or even die, much less the civilians involved.

But now they were in the wilderness. With a widened field of view and Leylin's prior warning, even Jacob would be able to avoid it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The violent explosion even caused the entire carriage to disintegrate into pieces, and numerous splinters shot all over the place.

But before this happened, two figures had jumped out of the carriage.

"One, two, three, four. There's still one more!" Leylin said to himself as he noticed the four figures surrounding him.

He had detected five people through the A.I. Chip, but now it seemed that there was another fellow hiding in the darkness, who was evidently their leader.

"Quick, leave!" Leylin turned around at yelled at Jacob, who had a few traces of blood on his body. He was clearly affected by the explosion just now."The power of the alchemical bombs are not bad, but unfortunately they are prohibited items. Even if there was a channel to smuggle them, the quantity from before should be their limit."

"Young master, take care!" Jacob shouted loudly. His muscles were bulging, a sign that his fighting spirit had been aroused. With his hands clenched tight around a decapitator, he rushed swiftly in the direction of the port.

"One of you, follow him! Don't let him get away!" The four figures seemed to still be immersed in how it was a pity that the alchemical bombs earlier weren't effective. Seeing how Jacob actually abandoned his master and escaped, their eyes were filled with disbelief. However, as compared to the leader of the imperial bodyguards, Leylin was clearly more important. They made a decision after a few moments of a daze.

A black snake-like figure chased after Jacob, while the other three assassins surrounded Leylin in a triangular formation.

"Heh heh… A noble young master with such thin skin and tender meat!" One of the assassins licked the dagger in his hand, as green light shot out from his eyes like a wolf.

"Act quickly, this is still his territory after all. Someone will come soon!" The explosion earlier on obviously couldn't be hidden. The three assassins kept drawing closer, their eyes fixated on Leylin's heart, throat and other vital points. They evidently weren't planning to let him live for long.

"He's a wizard, be careful of his tricks!" The moment the voice stopped, a few figures started to encircle Leylin as fast as the wind, and they didn't even give him the chance to speak.

Three daggers that resembled viper fangs surrounded Leylin. The sharp breeze even sliced at Leylin's skin.

"They're well trained." Leylin quickly made a gesture at the speed of lightning, and he suddenly spat out a single syllable.

BOOM!* A deafening explosion sounded out, louder than the earlier boms. It deafened the three assassins, and was followed by a ball of fiery white light bursting out from Leylin's finger. It caused them to involuntarily close their eyes.

These were the rank 0 spells Rank 0 spells Flare and Sonic Snap! Given the situations, instantaneous spells like them were the most appropriate to use. Moreover, Leylin could also adjust and select the spell to his liking, basing it on the circumstances he would encounter. This was much better than those inflexible wizards.

Although they suffered a double blow which caused them to go blind and become giddy, the daggers of the three assassins still sluggishly headed for Leylin. Yet at this instant, Leylin suddenly made his move.

His hand stretched out as quick as lightning, and the dagger of the assassin in the middle came to a stop. An acupoint on his arm seemed to have been hit, and it fell limp and feeble like a dead snake.

'No…Oh no!' Before the assassin could even finish this thought, the dagger in his hand had changed ownership and was now in Leylin's possession.

Thump! Thump!* Two figures flew backwards. The assassin in the centre, however, was not as fortunate. He knelt on the floor with his hands held behind his back, while the dagger that was previously in his hand was pressed against his neck.

The sensation of the sharp blade made every single strand of hair on his neck stand on end.

"Did you think that I was just a wizard?" Leylin laughed coldly.

Wizards were all relatively solitary. Leylin had moved out long ago by himself, thus practically no one knew about about his wizard rank apart from Ernest. Even his expertise in martial arts was concealed by Jacob under the Baron's orders.

"I wanted to ask who sent you guys, but it seems like you won't say…" Leylin's deep voice sounded like the muttering of a demon to the assassin who was kneeling on the floor.

Moments later, the dagger in Leylin's hand suddenly cut straight through the assassin's throat. Great quantities of fresh blood started gushing out of his throat as he gasped greedily for air. The radiance in his eyes slowly dimmed, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Seeing how Leylin killed as if it meant nothing and how he did not even seem to have an uncomfortable reaction to it, the other two surviving assassins stole a glance at each other, both intending to flee.

They never knew that the target they were up against would be this difficult to handle. Not only did he possess rather good magic abilities, he was also proficient in combat. His exquisite control over the battlefield and his merciless killing style were not things that a young nobleman who was inexperienced in life would be capable of.

Now, they practically suspected that some sort of devil resided in this young nobleman's body, or perhaps this was someone else impersonating him.

'But we still have hope!' Determination flashed in both of the assassins' eyes, and they suddenly started to make their escape.

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Counterattack

"Trying to leave?" Leylin sneered as the dagger flew out of his hand. With a violent scream, it dove straight into the assassin's back. This was the rank 0 spell, Launch Bolt. With Leylin's own powers, the dagger he threw was out comparable to a crossbow bolt.

Miserable gasps sounded out briefly before the assassin fell to the floor. Provoked by the death of his companion, the other one ran even faster.

Leylin chased after him as well, not seeming to have noticed the dark figure that was constantly closer. These two assassins were bait, and the real surekill strike would come from the leader who was hiding in secret.

Smack! Smack!* Leylin chased up to the fleeing assassin in a flash. The fellow had long been scared out of his wits, and was already down on the floor after being beaten up a few times. Leylin unhinged his jaw and broke all of his limbs.

At this moment, he showed joy on his face. This was the reaction that a powerful juvenile ought to have after obtaining the first victory in his life.

The young man stood in front of the assassin who had collapsed. Although he had tried his best to conceal it, he still radiated the aura of someone high and mighty, "Speak! Who sent you?"

"I… I'll speak…." The assassin's voice was gentle. He played the role of attracting Leylin's attention very well, and coordinated with his leader's attack.

His lips kept opening and closing, yet the sounds he made were exceptionally indistinct, which made Leylin irritable, "Speak clearly! I can't hear you!"

Leylin was half-squatting beside the assassin, and almost all the crucial points of his back were completely exposed.

'Now!' The assassin who was lurking in the dark widened his eyes. An arrow with a blue tip pierced through the air, and came close to Leylin's back in an instant.

"Huh?!" Leylin opened his eyes wide, and a trace of panic finally appeared on his face.

"Mage Armour!" A transparent protective force field appeared, and the number of rank 1 spells that Leylin had prepared fell by one.

Poof!* The arrow collided with the invisible force field, producing a sharp whistle. Yet it eventually deviated from its original course, and brushed past Leylin's face.

The tremendous force from the contact made Leylin take a few steps back in succession, and he fell to the floor.

"Awoo!" "Awoo!" Numerous green eyes emerged from the darkness. A few strong and healthy figures pounced forth, their canine teeth covered with saliva as they tried to bite Leylin's neck.

"A rank 1 Monster Summoning spell?!" Leylin cried out in alarm, but the expression on his face was quickly replaced with unwavering determination. He swiftly recited a few phrases, and pointed towards the wild wolves. A gigantic white web materialized out of thin air, trapping the three wild wolves in it. The white web seemed extremely sticky, rendering the wolves immobile.

"Who exactly is it?" The young man got up, evidently flustered and exasperated, but his expression was even more so filled with a faint hint of dread. At this very moment, the air behind him distorted and a silhouette emerged. The emerald dagger was heading straight towards Leylin's heart, about to stab in.

"Shadow Step?! A rank 7 assassin?!" The young man made a startled cry and a rope flew out from his embrace.

"Animate Rope!" Under the influence of the spell, the rope seemed to have a life of its own, and threw itself towards the silhouette, curling around it tightly like a python.

Thump!* The silhouette had his hands and legs tied, and collapsed onto the ground. Yet he had turned into a puppet.

"A substitute!" The expression on Leylin's face was now that of horror. Soon after, he saw a blade of icy light appearing out of thin air, thrusting right into his throat.

Clear-cut! Quick! An a lethal attack in one strike! This was the style of a high-level assassin. Moreover, he had clearly found out about Leylin's wizard rank through certain means, and had been patiently waiting until he'd thought that Leylin had exhausted all his spells before taking action. This one move didn't leave Leylin any chance at all.

Within such a short distance, there wouldn't be enough time even if he used any magical items. After all, those magic scrolls couldn't take effect instantly.

From his opponent's graceful glance, Leylin saw a deathly stillness. It was as though he wasn't about to assassinate a human, but a pig or dog, or some other animal. His profound gaze, however, held a trace of agitation. It was obvious that getting rid of this magic genius would bring him a particular sense of accomplishment.

However, when the assassin saw the look in Leylin's eyes, his expression changed. At this moment, Leylin's face was not filled with any panic or fear of death whatsoever, but just a smile of a person who had gotten his way.

'I finally caught you!' were the words he could infer from Leylin's smile.

'What does that mean? Caught me?' The assassin felt dizzy, but then saw the glaring radiance of a spell shine in front of him.

A blue ray shot straight into the palm with which he was holding the dagger. A layer of ice immediately spread until his entire palm was completely covered, and it even extended along his arm towards his body.

Shortly after, there was an excruciating pain from his thigh, along with the ear-piercing sound of bones breaking.

'He broke my legs!' The assassin's heart sunk. He immediately lost his center of gravity and collapsed onto the floor.

Leylin didn't let him go. A fist as hard as steel landed heavily on his face, making him spit out a few teeth covered in blood, and a small ball which contained highly poisonous toxins.

'That wasn't easy! If a rank 7 assassin wishes to escape, I might not be able to catch him!' Leylin said, sighing after he finished with the formalities.

Everything had gone almost flawlessly in the battle earlier. These few assassins could only act according to the script that Leylin had written, and on the stage he had put in place. They had ultimately ended up being completely wiped out.

"You… Why do you still have a spell left? You… Aren't you a rank 5 wizard?"

The chief assassin sputtered a few undecipherable words, along with a large amount of bloody foam.

"It seems that a spy has appeared in my family? Also… Who told you that I'm just a rank 5 wizard?" Leylin shot a glance at the assassin, and appeared extremely disdainful.

"Heh heh… So… So you already advanced to rank 6 a long time ago!" The chief assassin seemed to be convinced, "As expected, you're worthy of being the legendary magic genius. But what a pity… In the face of our power, you will be unable to avoid your ultimate downfall…"

"Stop spouting so much rubbish!" With a stroke of Leylin's blade, the assassin fainted.

This assassin leader had a very high status and a decent amount of strength. He definitely knew a lot, and this was why Leylin was bent on plotting to capture him alive.

"He even knew that I've already advanced to a rank 5 wizard. Although this information is from several years ago, I'm afraid that it's necessary to purge the family once through…" Leylin looked over at the chief assassin, who had already fainted. The list of traitors would certainly have to be fished out from the assassin's own mouth, but no matter; he could be said to be an expert when it came to interrogation and psychological probing.

Perhaps the assassin in his hands would feel better off dying right away.

"Young master! Young master!" At this moment, there was a commotion at the port in the distance. Jacob had finally brought the patrol team over.

"This is– Ah…." An anxious Jacob immediately exhaled deeply after scanning the place.

The assassins at the scene had all collapsed on the ground, and there was even an additional person. Jacob understood the strength of these assassins very well. Each one of them had strength close to at least a rank 5 elite in their profession, and the one lurking in the dark was stronger.

If he was in Leylin's shoes, Jacob would not have be able to avoid such attacks no matter how he tried, and it was very likely that he would have died there and then. However, his young master had rounded all of them up in one clean sweep, and didn't even sustain any injuries.

This knowledge immediately gained Leylin Jacob's respect, and this was even more true for the rest of the patrol team members.

"What happened to the person who was chasing after you?" Leylin looked at Jacob. Seeing the new wounds on his body, Leylin had already made a guess.

"We killed him, but his last counterattack in the face of death also took away the lives of two of our team members…" Jacob appeared rather embarrassed, especially after seeing the two people that Leylin had taken captive.

"You can bring that guy with you, and interrogate him in detail! Leave the other one to me!" Leylin threw the more average assassin to the patrol team, and left with the chief assassin.

The other fellow was evidently cannon fodder, and wouldn't know much. Compared to him, Leylin was more interested in the chief assassin. A rank 7 Professional wouldn't be attracted to someone so easily.

Moreover, he was 80% sure that the chief assassin still controlled the hidden spy in Leylin's manor, and he was even the source of intel for the pirates that had come ashore. Leylin absolutely would not hand him over to the useless patrol team before digging out everything in his brain. If not, he suspected that he would hear news about this chap committing suicide the next day.

"Jacob, take him with you. Don't let him leave my line of sight!" Under Leylin's commands, Jacob lifted the unconscious chief assassin onto his shoulders and followed behind Leylin.

The patrol team members looked at each other in dismay, and could only bring the remaining survivor back with them. They clearly wanted to vent all of their fury on him. Of course, they were also in charge of things like cleaning the battlefield. They had to bury the corpses to prevent an epidemic.

After they were all done, the area had barely regained its tranquil state. Only the ditches in ground and numerous blood stains spoke of the danger during the earlier battle.

"Who would've thought that my younger cousin has gotten so strong. Seems like I was worried for nothing…" A black figure flashed, revealing Isabel's sturdy black attire. As she gazed in the direction Leylin had left in, her eyes turned gentle for a moment.

The softness was quickly replaced by a frigid gaze.

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Gathering

The cold floor and the endless pain all over his body forced Mahnke awake.

He seemed to be in a cold and damp cellar. Ice-cold droplets of water dripped down his skin, and Mahnke could not help but sneeze, his eyes quickly beginning to grow clear.

"Right, the ambush failed. I'm a captive now… A captive. What a joke…" He could feel a sharp pain in his thighs and arms. The lack of his teeth left a sense of emptiness in the cavity that was his mouth.

By the dim light, Mahnke could see the noble who had achieved victory over him. The man looked exceptionally calm with not the slightest hint of joy in his expression, which only made him feel more fearful.

"You're awake?"

"You– you're dead meat! Dead meat!" Mahnke shivered as he exclaimed in a strange voice. The sounds he produced were distorted by the air leaking out of his mouth.

"Oh, is that so? And you're going to do that?" Leylin's expression was full of ridicule, "Or perhaps it's him?"

The clothing on Mahnke's arms slowly ripped apart, revealing a church emblem branded into his skin. This was a strange rune made up of a head and fresh blood.

Leylin's impression of the God of Murder, Cyric, was that of someone powerful who liked provoking deaths and conspiracies. He found joy in causing civil wars in regions, and was one of those gods who liked to stir up shit. Even so, a real god's church would pose tremendous trouble for Leylin as he was right now.

"Stop bullshitting. You're just a follower of the God of Murder, and the mighty god would not shift his attention to a mere mortal, not to mention a piece of trash who is also a failure." There were always followers of gods dying on the continent, and unless they were saints or high-ranked priests, the gods would not place much focus on them. Regular followers and the like were obviously neglected.

Unless Leylin used techniques to profane the soul of a believer, that god would not be angered into giving him divine punishment.

This deep understanding caused Mahnke to freeze, with a lifeless expression on his face.

"Tell me! How many mad dogs are there like you under Tim, that useless son of Marquis Louis?"Seeing that he had successfully shattered his defences, Leylin tossed out a huge bomb.

"You knew?" Mahnke exclaimed in surprised, which confirmed Leylin's suspicions.

'So the information that Tapris had was real. Marquis Louis has been the one behind all of this!'

"Since you know, you should understand that you can't win…" Mahnke cackled, "Even if your talent as a wizard is startling, you're nothing in the eyes of the real royalty even if you're a rank 6 wizard…" It was obvious that his loss at Leylin's hands was still fresh in his mind.

All that talk about him being rank 6? Leylin happily watched Mahnke guess wrong, and did not have any plans to correct him. After all, the fact that he was hiding his wizard rank and wasn't restricted as much by the Weave was more believable than him being able to use rank 0 spells without limit, and he was less likely to be exposed because of it.

"Alright, I don't have much time to chat with you. Now I need to know how many men there are under Tim. Where they are, when the pirates plan to come ashore, as well as the plans of the continent… Whatever it is, you must tell me all you know."Leylin's expression turned cold, his eyes flickering.

"Keke… I'll say nothing. Aren't you just going to torture me? Bring it on!" Mahnke, however, began to sound like a scoundrel.

Pirates and assassins naturally went through some training, and possessed great endurance against torture.

"Seems like you're very confident in your endurance?" Leylin glanced at Mahnke, his eyes holding within them a sense of… pity?

"You'll soon know how much happiness there is in death. All that you've experienced before is nothing…" Leylin cracked his knuckles loudly. There were few in the World of Gods with as much experience as him in torturing the body and soul.

His astonishing surgical skills and knowledge of potions allowed him to claim someone's life with ease, and on top of that, he also had the spells that could affect their minds. Leylin's eyes flickered with an evil glint. Soon enough, the other party would find how blissful it was to be able to choose death.

Mahnke gave in very quickly. Three hours later, he was weeping and sniffling as he revealed everything to Leylin, only begging for death. Leylin hadn't used even a hundredth of his abilities.

Once he had gained all the information that Mahnke knew and confirmed the truth of his words, Leylin did not kill him or torture the poor child any longer. Instead, he threw him in jail. Such a high-ranked guinea pig with a profession was very difficult to obtain.

After gaining the intel, Leylin first personally purged the manor. With his experience and the detection abilities of the A.I. Chip, the hidden spies grew completely obvious. Soon enough, numerous little rats were seized, including a kitchen lady, two stable lads, and a few servants.

At crucial moments, Leylin never cared about not involving others when it came to crimes. He took control over their families, and such ruthless methods caused all those serving in the manor to tremble in fear. Even Claire and Clara grew afraid of him. Of course, with what had happened as a pretext, his absolute domination of them extended further.

'How many people can I gather?" Leylin asked Jacob from behind the baron's desk. His arms were crossed.

"Reporting to young master," Jacob was wearing leather armour, and was cloaked in a powerful aura. His respectful attitude pleased Leylin greatly. "We'll do our best at the port. We can transfer fifty men from the guard, and with the guards of the manor, there will be eighty men!"

"Eighty men?" Leylin muttered to himself. It was true that there were very few people that he could use, and at the very most those that he could were farmers with a few days of training, comparable just to militia.

The real elites were obviously by Baron Jonas' side.

'Things should be easier on their side with my warning.' Leylin had obviously sent Baron Jacob the information he'd obtained, and it was sure to be useful for him. At the very least, they weren't going in completely blind and knew who the enemy was.

"Gather them and prepare to annihilate the pirates with me!"The group or pirates who could come ashore at any moment was the most urgent threat to Leylin, and he wasn't going to watch them wreak havoc on his territory. Taking the initiative to make the first move thus became the most necessary choice.

"Understood! We shall become the sharpest blades in young master's hands!" Jacob guaranteed.

"I look forward to it!"They were Leylin's only hope. Though these militia could do little against those with professions, they would still be of some use to regular pirates.

With his current strength, it was impossible for him to eliminate so many pirates. It was important to have help from subordinates.

"'Mm… This should be enough power to deal with the regular pirates, but based on the information from Mahnke there's a rank 10 leader amongst them, and we don't have enough high-ranked powers…" Leylin stroked his chin, muttering to himself irresolutely.

'If we talk about high-ranked power, Cousin Isabel should be alright, but it's better that she protect Madam Sarah.' At the thought of her, Leylin immediately asked, "What's that cousin of mine, Isabel, been up to?"

After hearing this question, Jacob looked hesitant.

"Tell me!" Leylin's expression went cold.

"Does young master still remember the spies that were captured?" Jacob gritted his teeth.

"Didn't I tell you to take care of them?" Leylin's brows furrowed.

"Out of all of the captives, she picked two servants and took them away and there hasn't been word on her location. Ever since she entered her room, it's like she has completely disappeared from the world. Based on what the patrolling guards said, miserable cries have been heard from her room…"

Jacob's expression was filled with unspeakable horror. After all, people of this world easily related these happenings to 'devils', 'demonic rituals' and the like. Isabel's actions were of a similar vein.

"Alright…" Leylin rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on, "Anything else?"

"The miss seems to have some interest in the family members of the spies, but I persuaded her…" Jacob said.

'I almost forgot that's a problem. Things would get troublesome if the people from the church were to find out…' Leylin sighed, "I'll take care of Isabel's matter personally. Don't tell anyone about this. Demote the families of these criminals to slaves and don't lock them up in the manor for some more time. Get them to the pier and put them in hard labour, or just sell them…"

It was important to set the norms at this point, whether they be positive or negative. Whatever it was, the people had to see the serious consequences of betrayal if he wanted to intimidate them effectively.

"Alright!" Jacob did not have any objections and carried out his orders, leaving Leylin alone.

Leylin watched the tranquil night sky outside, and suddenly sighed.

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Secret Laboratory

Leylin wandered through the door and over to Isabel's room. Isabel had grown very reclusive since their meeting, and had even chased out the original maids.

Knock! Knock!* Leylin knocked the door politely.

"Who is it? Didn't I say I was not to be disturbed?" Isabel's voice seemed rather angry.

"It's me," Leylin said calmly. The door pulled open to reveal Isabel's face. However, there was an unnatural flush on her cheeks, as if she had been going through some rigorous exercise, or perhaps a ceremony.

"What's the matter? I'm preparing to get some rest!" After seeing Leylin, Isabel appeared flustered for an instant.

"Are you not going to invite me in?" Leylin smiled.

"It's not gentlemanly to enter a lady's chamber at this time of night, you know! Or perhaps you've become a degenerate, my dear cousin?" Isabel's eyes glinted and she rested languidly against the door, speaking coquettishly.

Leylin secretly had the urge to laugh in reaction to her pretentious pose. When it came to experience, the amount he had under his belt far exceeded hers.

"Have I turned into a degenerate? Would you like to find out?" Leylin closed in with a naughty smile on his face and ruthlessly sniffed her fair neck, inhaling the scent of a girl's body mixed with a particular smell.

"What are you doing?" The girl dodged him as she turned red, and Leylin took the chance to enter the room.

There wasn't much of a change in the arrangements here, but there seemed to be a vague bloody scent permeating the air. Though she had cleaned up and made an attempt to conceal it, Leylin's brows still furrowed.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me about?"Leylin sat on the sofa and tried to sound as genuine as he could, "You're my cousin after all, and I don't want you to bear this burden all alone."

"It's nothing… That's all over…" Isabel froze, and then spoke as if she did not care.

Leylin sighed in answer to her attempt to appear strong. Of course, he knew that there was no benefit to revealing the truth. Though there were traces of negative energy polluting the room, her own actions were as pure as those of a little white rabbit when compared to the experiments he conducted.

Leylin changed his mind. He had originally believed that letting her stay behind would be a good decision, but by the looks of it, leaving her in the manor would only attract more attention and trouble. "Fine! I'm here to ask for help!"

"What is it about?" Isabel's eyes flashed with a chilly glint.

"Well…" Leylin scratched his head and then revealed the news about Marquis Louis and Viscount Tim, and also the imminent attack of the pirates.

"In that case… They were responsible for the annihilation of my family?" Isabel's hand twitched, and a portion of a black ironwood chair was broken off. Wood shavings scattered from between her fingers.

'Such physical strength?' Leylin's pupils shrank, 'She exceeds a rank 5 professional, and is close to rank 10… Those devils and demons are really quite generous, though the price is the soul of the sacrificer…'

Leylin had heard about the continous offers of blood required to gain demonic energy. Followers of demons were rounded up and annihilated on the continent. If news of the Faulen Family protecting her went out, there would be troubles even more pressing than Marquis Louis.

"But I don't know for sure yet. That's only a possibility…" Leylin stroked his chin and did not lie about this.

"Fine, I'll verify it for myself. Those pirates even dare trespass and offend our Faulen Family's territory! We must have them pay the price in blood and have their souls repent in hell!" Isabel's pretty eyes narrowed, filling with a murderous thirst.

"Thank you so much, cousin!" Leylin silently cursed to himself inside, but in the meanwhile the smile on his face was dazzling.

"Don't worry, we're cousins after all. I'll take care of you!" Isabel promised, looking steadfast and resolute.

After thanking her again, Leylin withdrew, though the smile on his face had dissipated. His eyes flickered, obviously deep in thought. 'The open sea is vast and filled with all sorts of trash and scum from the continent. Sailors from this era can't be considered good, and faithless people and followers are mixed in with them. There shouldn't have any trouble if she hides amongst them…'

As the follower of a demon, Isabel obviously could not stay in the family; It would cause him an endless amount of trouble. After all, the power of the churches were at its peak in the prime material plane, and once it was discovered that the Faulen Family housed a demon follower the consequences would be extremely dire.

Thus, the vast open seas would be the best place for her to hide.

'On top of that, the demon might have given her a lot of strength, but there's definitely a price to pay. That might even be her soul…' Leylin looked grim, 'A few useless sailors disappearing from the open sea shouldn't count for much. That can temporarily satisfy the demon and gain her more time…'

In this time, Leylin would obviously become stronger. As long as he was powerful enough, whether it was Marquis Louis closing in on them or the demon contract that his cousin had, he was confident he could eliminate all of those problems, problems that a rank 6 wizard could not solve.

'Plans constantly change… And right now, I urgently need strength. It might be alright to take a risk…' Leylin secretly made up his mind.

This attack would evidently expose part of his power. From the very beginning, Viscount Tim had already sent out an assassination squad with a rank 7 leader, which meant that the pirates had to be even stronger. Help from his cousin and the subordinates wouldn't be enough, he needed to increase his chances.

After returning to his room, Leylin headed straight for his laboratory.By his command, even Claire and Clara could not enter, and there were also a few warning spell patterns set up that were hard at work.

On the glossy laboratory table were many test tubes and glass tools neatly stacked together. There was also various alchemical equipment that was enough for poorer wizard students to go green with envy.

It was a pity that, in Leylin's eyes, it was all a mere cover.

Crack!* *Crack!* After Leylin pulled at a handle under the laboratory table, the sounds of gears grinding against each other rang out. Along with the gentle sound, the entire table moved to the left, revealing a pathway that led downwards.

'While wizards have great trust in magic, there are too many items and techniques in the world which can detect spell undulations. On the contrary, simple mechanisms like these can conceal even more secrets…' Leylin carried an oil lamp as he went down the staircase. After going about ten metres in, he arrived in front of a large rock.

The large granite gave the feeling that it was indestructible as it stood tall inside, blocking the road completely as if this was a dead end.

"Arcane Mark, activate!" A spell rune flashed in Leylin's hands, and amongst the light the surface of the granite began to soften as it revealed a shining channel. Leylin did not hesitate at all as he walked in, hanging his oil lamp on the wall.

What appeared behind the large rock was a small-scale laboratory. He had used mechanisms to prevent magic probes here, and created a trap at the bottom. That was enough to show how highly Leylin valued this laboratory.

As this was deep underground, the laboratory had an area of only several square meters. A large, ancient wooden table had already taken up most of the area, and there was little space left for one to stand. The ceiling was also very low and the entire room felt very stifling.

The smell of tar grew obvious on the floor and corners, indicating an even more terrifying self-combustion mechanism. If Leylin suspected anything, just a small spark would be enough to char this whole place and hide everything here.

The reason for this was because Leylin's experiments were far too shocking. If ever discovered, they would be deemed heresy!

"It seems like it's almost complete…" Leylin observed the giant solution in the petri dish. Large amounts of boiling, fresh red liquid gave people an ominous feeling that this was blood.

"And then… this!" At the corner of the table was a wooden statue. It had a pair of demonic wings, multiple compound eyes and six fingers that formed a demon, emitting an evil aura.

This was a statue that Leylin had constructed of Beelzebub based on his memories. The possession of such a statue would have one burnt to death if they were caught by the churches, and even a king wouldn't be spared this treatment.

Of course, these taboos meant nothing to Leylin. His courage was enough to stupefy many gods.

"Looks like Beelzebub has really sunk into a deep sleep. He doesn't react at all to prayers or sacrifices…" Leylin's hands caressed the devil's statue with an unspeakable expression in his eyes.

Come to think of it, he was the main culprit behind this. If he had not stolen so much of Beelzebub's laws and even destroyed most of his truesoul, the Sovereign King of Gluttony would not be so seriously injured that he had to sleep it off.

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Devilblood Dagger

"Of course, according to this world, my main body deprived Beelzebub of most of his divinity and divine force. This greatly damaged his divine soul and he hence fell into a deep sleep, now he can't even answer the prayers of his worshippers…"

Devils were always extremely sensitive towards sacrifices and prayers from the prime material plane. Through his many probes, Leylin was absolutely sure that this great master devil had already fallen deep asleep, completely unresponsive to the outside world's stimulation.

This sent Beelzebub's followers in the prime material plane into chaos. Had Beelzebub not hidden his main body well, Leylin might even have received news of his death.

"Regardless of whether one is a god or a devil, once you lose the ability to respond to prayers and the power to grant wishes, you will not be far from death…" Leylin sighed. There were cases where gods had died not to external factors, but to decreasing power of worship. This was truly pathetic.

'Gods rely on believers for their existence. Despite having great powers and abilities, they are restrained by the very same power of faith. Except for someone who's merged with the world origin force and become an existence that has comprehended an extraordinary divine force…' He let out a deep breath, 'Such an existence would be equal to a rank 8 Magus who's found their own path. There are few such beings even in the World of Gods.'

He gathered his thoughts and turned his attention back to the statue, "Since Beelzebub is in a deep sleep, then I don't have to be so cautious of using his name anymore…"

Truth be told, with his possession of a majority of Beelzebub's memories, Leylin was like a real devil king. He could even steal Beelzebub's believers and usurp his position. However, doing so required great power, and Leylin was only a rank 6 Magus.

Needless to say, he also had to acquire the power to grant his believers' wishes. To usurp a god's position he first had to acquire divinity.

"The laws of gluttony and devouring are great, but they're already considered fiendish in the World of Gods. If I use such power here…" Leylin shook his head regretfully. If he wished to survive in the prime material plane, he could not rely entirely on divinity as his foundation. He hadn't carried these abilities over his reincarnation, but even if he had they would've been useless, wiped out by the world origin.

"It's best to take it step by step. Thankfully it takes a while for faith to erode. The worshipers of the Sovereign King of Gluttony will not vanish so quickly…

"Moreover, even if they do disappear, it's just one less convenient path and reduced income for me. It's not really not worth the risk, so it's better for me to stick to the original plan and be steady…" Leylin's eyes brightened, and he suddenly tightened his grip.

Crack! Crack!* Turing the statue of the Sovereign King of Gluttony into ashes, dropping it to the floor bit by bit.

"I must admit though, the devil got many useful things." Leylin stuck his hand into the petri dish, and soon fished out a knife covered in blood. The pocket-sized knife had a beautiful curve to it, and it looked like a very fine work of art.

A fierce demon skull tipped its handle, numerous eyes on it giving off a savage glare. Two devilish wings made up the hand guard, and complicated patterns that looked like veins covered the entire handle. Its demonic looks were only enhanced by the faint crimson glow and the blood dripping from its tip.

"So the Devilblood Dagger's done!" Leylin's eyes flashed with joy, and the A.I. Chip followed up with data on the Devilblood Dagger.

[Devilblood Dagger. Weight: 9182g, Length: 9in, Ingredients: Cockatrice bones, fresh blood, weeping spirits. Effects: Possesses the power of a devil, able to absorb a target's flesh and blood to increase one's own power. Description: An extremely vicious weapon that even gods fear, the Devilblood Dagger represents ominous death. Creator: Leylin Faulen.]

"It's rather good!" Leylin fiddled with the dagger, causing it to glow with a dark light. There were many, many items like this in Beelzebub's memory; he'd used their easy power to lure people from the prime material plane to his side.

This Devilblood Dagger was a very good weapon from Beelzebub's memories. If a believer wanted to be bestowed this dagger, they would have to sacrifice a rank 15 or greater priest from a hostile god, or even slaughter a small city to even think of getting it.

'The devils are the best way to increase my power in a short amount of time currently. They treat both the young and the old honestly, but the price one has to pay in the end is usually even more frightening…' Leylin heaved a sigh.

His cousin Isabel had clearly been seduced by a demon after giving into despair. She had succumbed to it in the end, and had now gotten herself in tons of trouble.

Unlike her, Leylin didn't become a collector for demonic sacrifices. He'd done something much more vicious, nearing becoming a devil king. All the flesh and blood devoured by the Devilblood Dagger would go to feeding his own power!

'Even if I've crafted it, I still need to perform some experiments on this dagger, especially the problem with contamination.' Leyin furrowed his brows, the main reason why he had taken so long to make the dagger was because he was working on changing its properties. He wanted to avoid some of the side effects of its use.

After all, Beelzebub was no kind soul. His treasures were used to lure followers into depravity, and the Devilblood Dagger was no exception. It slowly corrupted one's mind and soul with use, turning them into a devil.

Being one himself, Beelzebub had no problems with using the dagger, but Leylin was different. He needed to remain human, as he would come into contact with churches and high-ranked priests in the future; turning half-devil would impose great restrictions on what he could do.

'Although The A.I. Chip already solved the corruption problem, there's still the issue of its radiance. It screams depravity and evil, I'm not sure I could get away with it…' Leylin walked straight into the manor while he was still thinking.

"Young master!" A trained guard saluted. The man wore leather armour, and the longsword in his hand sparkled— Obviously the manor's security system had greatly been upgraded after the attack on Leylin.

It was obvious at a glance that this fellow was merely a trained farmer, just a little stronger than a regular human. "Howard, right? Follow me!" Leylin said.

"Roger that!" Howard could not disobey the young master. He followed right after Leylin to the dungeon. Once the rest were cleared out, only Leylin and Howard were left there. Of course, there were also the two unfortunate assassins who were lying on the ground.

"Can I trust you, Howard?" Leylin's voice was soft, but it had a special tone in it.

Such a special tone gave Howard an ominous premonition, but loyalty occupied his mind and soon he replied with a straight back, "I would risk my life for you, young master!"

"Great! Now, look into my eyes!" Leylin ordered Howard to raise his head, it felt as if there was a mysterious spiral in those pupils of his.

"Rank 1 spell— Charm Person!" Under Leylin's spell, Howard's pupils soon lost their focus, turning him into a zombie.

"This rank 1 spell…" Leylin mumbled, "It can only charm the mind… It'll work perfectly on regular people, but it'll be weak against professionals. It would probably on render Jacob a little dizzy for a few seconds…"

"Take this, chop off one of his fingers!" Leylin ordered, passing the dagger to Howard.

"Ugh…. Ughh!" The strange situation gave Mahnke the feeling that something catastrophic was about to happen. However, his limbs had all been broken earlier, and his body was thoroughly tied up. He could only struggle in vain and had no other method to resist.

Howard carried out Leylin's order with the Devilblood Dagger in hand, a soulless expression on his face. His other hand pinned Mahnke's down to the floor, and he chopped off a finger without hesitation.

Schlick!* The dull sound of blade slamming against flesh could be heard, together with Mahnke's sorrowful sounds. A bloody pinky was chopped off, and it twitched on the floor like a worm.

Keke…Ughhhh…* At the same time, the dagger emitted a radiant light, and the demonic skull at the hilt let out a sinister laugh. The numerous eyes shot out a demonic lustre.

Layer upon layer of veins began to squirm on the handle, swallowing the blood on its surface. Many tiny blood-coloured strings penetrated into Howard's body, and the pinky on the floor gradually shrunk before their eyes. It soon turned into a dried out piece of charcoal. Looking like firewood.

"How do you feel now?" Leylin asked.

"The dagger is very hot, and the heat is spreading to me!"

"A. I. Chip, examine his stats!" Leylin's eyes began to glow.

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Devour Breakthrough

[Beep! Mission established, beginning scan!] The A.I. Chip carried out Leylin's commands loyally.

Soon enough, the latest results were transmitted. [Compared to previous data, target's vitality has risen by 0.01, strength by 0.02, spiritual force by 0.005. No obvious adverse reaction.]

"The flesh of high-ranked professionals does indeed provide a great boost for regular humans…" Leylin nodded. He understood that these numbers were exaggerated, and if it were himself the amplification to his stats wouldn't reach even 0.00001. This was the difference created by the varying base stats.

"Ah… you devil! You're a devil worshipper!" At this moment, Mahnke, who was still on the ground, shrieked. Though Cyric the God of Murder had always possessed a bad reputation, he was still a good samaritan when compared to demons and devils.

Knowing that the wizard keeping him captive was a follower of a devil, Mahnke completely lost all hope. As a member of the dark realm, he naturally knew that the followers of devils liked to sacrifice flesh, blood, as well as the souls of the followers of gods in order to obtain rewards from the devils.

"Kill me! Kill me quickly! Don't profane my soul, else the gods won't let you off!" Mahnke yelled hysterically, but paired with his dry throat his voice was like a broken bellow and it couldn't travel out of the jail.

"Shut up!" Leylin's brows furrowed as he kicked outwards, causing Mahnke to faint.

"Now, here's the most important part. Detect Alignment!" A bundle of white light in Leylin's hands covered Howard.

Soon enough, glee appeared on his face, 'The alignment is still neutral! It seems like as long as it doesn't profane the soul all the terrible consequences will be taken up by Beelzebub. The ability to grow in strength by devouring flesh and blood is rather valuable…'

Of course, Leylin knew very well that the part with the greatest energy was the soul. The energy he would acquire from a person's flesh and blood alone wouldn't even be half the total that the body had.

However, profaning the soul was labelled chaotic and evil. Leylin could only resign himself to part with that desire of his. Leylin nodded and retrieved the Devilblood Dagger, giving Howard an instruction, "Alright, you may go! After you leave this jail, you will forget everything you've just done!"

"Understood!" Howard staggered out, leaving Leylin alone in the jail, deep in thought.

'It takes a lot of energy to turn the power of flesh and blood into spiritual force. On top of that, I'll need to ensure that I wipe out the memories of the soul in its final moments…' Numerous possibilities streaked through Leylin's mind, allowing him to make more plans regarding the Devilblood Dagger.

He'd originally planned on travelling outside to use the Devilblood Dagger, hunting to quickly increase his strength. But due to the need to keep a low profile, he had no choice but to exercise patience.

But now? The situation was now very different. Leylin had been bullied in his home territory, and he urgently needed great power. Otherwise, the Faulen Family could very well be wiped out just like Isabel's!

Of course, there were slight differences in their circumstances. Isabel needed to pray for strength from devils and demons, while Leylin only needed to rely on himself.

"After a little modification, I will be done here! Mister Mahnke… It's now your time to shine…" Blood red radiance flickered on the surface of the Devilblood Dagger, reflecting Leylin's expressionless face. He glanced at Mahnke on the floor the way he would at a dead man, or perhaps a swine before slaughter.

The devouring power from the dagger was intoxicating, but with his own grasp of the law of devouring Leylin could control it skillfully.An unceasing stream of heat gathered in the dagger in his right hand, extending to his entire body.

A sense of comfort stimulated a great breakthrough in his spiritual force, sending it spurring towards a deeper level of the Weave. At this moment, the A.I. Chip's robotic voice sounded by Leylin's ear. [Beep! Detected change in stats to host body. Vitality increased by 0.2, spiritual force increased by 0.05.]

Countless prompts refreshed, allowing Leylin to see his stats increase. His spiritual force, which had long since reached the peak of rank 6, finally broke through with this burst of strength.

Crack!* A slight sound could be felt directly from his soul, and Leylin felt his spiritual force making contact with an even more terrifying level of the Weave.

He understood what had happened, "The third level of the Weave! I've contacted the third level of the Weave and officially become a rank 7 wizard!"

At this moment, the A.I. Chip's voice was transmitted.

[Beep! Host's spiritual force has contacted level 3 of the Weave. Advanced to rank 7 wizard (spiritual force 0.5)] [Host has advanced to rank 7 as a wizard. New additions: Rank 3 spell slot (1), rank 2 spell slot (1), rank 1 spell slot (1)!] [Detected drastic changes to host's stats. Recalculating…] The A.I. Chip refreshed the screen with more information. In just a moment, Leylin's stats were renewed.

[Leylin Farlier. Age: 15. Race: Human, Rank 7 Wizard. Strength: 2.5. Agility: 2. Vitality: 3.7. Spiritual force: 7. Status: Healthy. Innate talent: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell slots possessed: Rank 3 spell slot (1), rank 2 spell slot (3), rank 1 spell slot (4), rank 0 spell slot (???)]

'Forget the spiritual force, I'd long since reached its limit. But the increase to my other stats… It's practically the sum of my fifteen years of growth…' Leylin's eyes flickered, 'Could it be that now that I've reached fifteen and become an adult, my body's stats have all reached the average standard, and more importantly, my growth is now complete? This way, I'll be able to advance and accept more strength?'

Leylin looked at the spell slots, "As expected. I got a rank 3 spell slot after advancing to rank 7, it looks like this Goddess of the Weave is impartial to all wizards…"

The increase in spell slot numbers followed unfathomable rules. Some enchanted tools could increase the number of spell slots, and it was rumoured that those the goddess favoured could have more spell slots after advancing. However, there were two ironclad rules: One, one could have no more than 9 slots for a rank. Two, Only after reaching a certain level could wizards gain spell slots of certain ranks.

In other words, Leylin was now a rank 7 wizard, and he could at most only have rank 3 spell slots. It was impossible for him to have rank 4 spell slots, and even if he were to find a bunch of enchanted rings that could increase the number of spell slots, there would still be a limit of 9. It was impossible to have more than that, even for rank 0.

Furthermore, this iron rule was for all wizards. Even legendary wizards and those related to gods were treated the same way, with no change. Seeing the limitations that the gods put on wizards, Leylin's lips curved.

'Seems like the Magi left a very deep impression on the gods during the ancient war, to the point that they felt fear. They didn't hesitate to shackle the spell-casting professions. Is that to prevent a repeat occurrence of the Magi?

'If there comes a day that the shackles of the Weave are destroyed, what sort of interesting things are going to happen?' Leylin chuckled, beginning to feel a little anticipation.

'And then there's the power from devouring flesh and blood…' Leylin stood up, staring at the skeleton on the floor. He put the Devilblood Dagger away, and his brows began to furrow.

He felt that his body was swelling like an obese person who had eaten far too much, to the point that even his soul could not take it.

'It seems like this ability can't be used too often, especially before the body has digested all the energy. If that happens, the berserk life energy could become the most fatal toxin!'Leylin shook his head, knowing that this Devilblood Dagger should not be used lightly.

'In addition, no one can know of this, or else I'll be confirmed to be a devil worshipper. It'll be game over for me then…' At this thought, Leylin immediately began to clear up the skeletal remains on the ground.

Things that made it evident that they had been used for evil rites and the like and could not be left lying around. They were best removed by burning.

As for the souls the Devilblood Dagger absorbed, Leylin had modified its effects on them. They went through unimaginable suffering before their death that served to completely fragment their memories, leaving no traces at all.

'With the Devilblood Dagger, all my accumulations can allow me to pass through the many ranks of wizards quickly…' Leylin's eyes flashed with a glint of light, 'This means it's necessary to find something to hide all this…'

This advancement was unnatural, and if just one person found something was off, Leylin knew that he would probably need to move away alone and hide himself in the name of training in seclusion.

After gaining enough strength, he would immediately travel in order to hide his unusual growth. And the many battles with Viscount TIm's pirates would clearly be a great source for such a thing. Viscount Tim, and even Marquis Louis, would very soon find out that in a bid to obtain more profits, they had chosen a very terrifying enemy!

The devil was thirsting for his enemy's blood to grow, and would soon take over the World of Gods.

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Mobilisation

With the Faulen Family's prestige and reputation in the island, it wasn't difficult to cobble up a patrol. However, on the field where grain was drying, Leylin frowned at the sight of his subordinates.

"Getting fifty from the port and another thirty from the manor… Is this our limit?" A sparse crowd stood at the field, awaiting Leylin's inspection. While they had done all they could to rub their leather armour and weapons till they were sparkling clean and tried their best to stick their chests out, Leylin still felt they looked like nothing but a bunch of rowdy people.

'It's alright if you get them to patrol and maintain order, but once you bring them to a bloody battlefield…' Leylin shook his head inwardly, though the expression on his face showed excitement.

"Residents of the Faulen Island! There are a group of horrible, evil pirates about to reach the coast. They will slaughter your parents, steal your copper and bread, and humiliate your wives and daughters. Those low-lives are capable of anything!" Leylin did his best to sound agitated to stir up the masses.

Was there a need to announce what the pirates would do to them? The troops began to get restless and immediately knew that Leylin spoke the truth. It might even be an understatement.

"Well then… tell me! Are you willing to let this happen?" Leylin's sharp voice resounded in the field.

"No!" "No!" Though many of them were mercenaries who only worked when money was involved, most of them were farmers who had enlisted. Their families were here, and even the mercenaries had settled down here. At the very least, when it came to protecting one's family and wealth, these people were rather enthusiastic and hot-blooded.

Hence after being provoked, all of them were flush with anger as they roared with all the strength they had.

"Good! As the master of this territory, I call on you to pick up your weapons and prepare to fight bravely to protect your home!" Leylin spoke so loudly that his voice could be heard from every corner of the field.

In such a feverish atmosphere, there could be one or two who remained timid or rational, but they would soon be drowned out by the crowd, dragged along with the flow.

"Our Faulen Family will not treat any of you unfairly!" Leylin clapped his hands, and two bodyguards went up on stage with numerous boxes.

The large copper locks were opened, revealing brand new armour within. There was even some chainmail that was made of metal rings. Not only did this metal armour provide a greater defence than leather armour, it was more flexible to boot. It was practical, but there were high requirements on its forging so these items had no market.

Beside the armour were even greater quantities of shining weapons. Vorpal swords, curved blades, hammers, lances… there was anything one could need.

On top of that, these weapons were in good shape and they had a layer of oil on the surface. There were no signs of rust or corrosion, and they radiated a lustre from their sharp edges.

"All those who take part in this operation can choose a weapon of their own! Vice captains and those ranked above can all choose a set of armour!" Leylin's scanned the crowd. Evidently, these excellent weapons were attractive to the point that people would risk their lives for them. Leylin found a few fellows whose eyes were shining.

'Of course…' For this reason, he raised his voice intentionally, "If you can contribute in this battle, there is no reason why we can't reward you with these weapons and armour!"

With this promise, there was a huge uproar in the crowd below. In this age, metallic weapons and armour had a very high value and could even be said to be treasures passed down generations of knights. Many of them didn't dare to believe Leylin's promise.

"There's no need to doubt me, I vow in the name of the Faulen Family!" Leylin looked especially solemn, making this guarantee with his name as a noble. Though this meant nothing to him, with the values of the World of Gods the promise of a noble still held quite some value.

Hence, many soldiers could not help but begin to cheer.

Leylin cleared his throat and urged for the last time, "In addition… If there are injuries or even deaths in battle, I will offer compensation. If you die in battle, your rewards will be given to your family!"

"Faulen!" "Faulen!" The soldiers below began to cheer in their excitement. Injuries and death were the worst fates for veterans in a feudal age. Leylin was even willing to compensate them for it, which was something even churches didn't do!

'This should be able to somewhat boost their morale, right? Though… it's just this once!' Leylin stared at the soldiers whose moral was at the peak while laughing bitterly inside.

With his actions, he would suffer losses even if they won the battle. It was the entire reason why lords seldom did things like this. Those weapons and armour alone were the accumulations of the Faulen Family over the year, and a large part of the family's wealth.

However, this was a special circumstance, and Leylin had no choice but to do this. After all, if the Faulen Family were to cease existing, these items would be useless.

The soldiers outside began preparations for battle, while a small meeting was being held in the manor.

"We'll leave the manor to you, Uncle Leon," Leylin spoke to the housekeeper on his right, "I've already sent down the order that you'll be in charge of everything in the manor."

"I will definitely protect everything for you!" Leon's placed his right hand on his chest as he promised.

Leylin nodded, feeling assured. His mother, Claire, and Clara had all been sent to the church of knowledge at the port in secret.

With how shrewd Bishop Tapris was, it would probably be the best place for them on the island if he and his father met danger.

Based on what Mahnke said, the assassins he had captured were the only ones that the enemy had sent, but Leylin considered the fact that Viscount Tim might be driven to desperation.

After Leon left, only Isabel, Jacob and a few leaders with professions remained. They were the strongest, and Leylin had nothing to hide from them.

"Based on the information I've received, there are over a hundred people amongst the pirates, and the leader is a rank 10 Professional!" At this point, Leylin looked grim, and everyone except Isabel gasped.

"A hundred men, and a rank 10 Professional? This kind of strength isn't second to the power of a famous pirate crew! Why would they come here?" Jacob gasped.

In reality, the truly strong would not do something as beneath themselves and dangerous as become pirates. With their strength and reputation, they could become public security officers in any large city, and could even become nobles.

It was illogical for someone like them to attack the Faulen Family.

Leylin nodded as he sneered. "Hehe… This is a famous pirate group. Have you heard of the Black Tiger?"

"Black Tiger Pirates?" The shock in Jacob's eyes grew even more profound, "They… they operate in the seas of the Baltic archipelago, and they shouldn't have any grudges against our Faulen Family…"

"Sometimes, there needn't be grudges to start a fight for benefits. What aren't those greedy pigs capable of?" Isabel stood out, unsheathing the black longsword in her hands.

Swish!* A flash of black light passed, splintering the table in front of them and splitting it apart.

"Or… are you scared?" There was a murderous glint in Isabel's eyes, as if she would kill if anyone dared say no.

"Ah, I forgot to tell all of you. My cousin is a rank 9 and will act with us!" Leylin cleared his throat.

'This strength… It's clearly above rank 5. I just don't know if she's a warrior or knight-errant…' Though Isabel looked like a little girl, these team leaders here did not dare belittle her. A rank 9 was enough to crush them.

Jacob nodded, a hint of glee flashing in his eyes.Since she was a rank 9, with a young master who was a wizard, taking care of a rank 10 was not entirely impossible.

If Jacob could see that, the old foxes were obviously aware of that too. Hence, they immediately knelt on one knee to express their loyalty to Leylin, "We are willing to be young master's blades and obey all your instructions!"

'These people…' Leylin shook his head instead, feeling a little fed up with the situation. However, he had no choice but to continue pretending.

"Good, we leave now! We have to strive to catch them off their guard!" With a traitor like Mahnke, Leylin knew the strength of the Black Tiger pirates and what they could be hiding like the back of his hand.

"It's too foolish to wait for them to reach the coast. I don't want the battles to affect this territory…" Leylin looked around, spreading out a yellowed map. It showed the detailed topology of the area surrounding Faulen Island, and even contained information about the ocean currents and wind directions.

Just this map alone had a value of over ten gold coins, and it was something the Faulen Family had gained over decades of hardship and exploration. It definitely was not to be sold outside.

"The Black Tiger pirates are now here." Leylin tapped at the map. This was an uninhabited island not far from the Faulan Island, and there wasn't any shipping route nearby. Even with their opponents on alert, it was still possible to hide for a period of time.

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Sneak Attack

Whoosh!* The night sea winds had a fishy, chilly smell that made Jacob shrink back.

As a member of the Faulen Family, he might have long since gotten used to these winds and waves, but the deck that was creaking up and down, as well as the billowing sails above, made him as if he was in a dream. This feeling reached its peak when he saw Leylin, standing proudly at the head of the ship.

They were in a typical double mast sailboat. They weren't squeezed together even with over 80 people there.

But it wasn't difficult at all to acquire such a thing with the Faulen Family's status. No, what shocked Jacob was Young Master Leylin's behaviour!

'No… Actually everyone is shocked…' Jacob looked at the leaders beside him who were scared out of their wits, yet at the same time had a fire burning in their eyes, and chuckled wryly.

Just before they had left, Leylin had cast Nondetection in front of everyone. By Oghma! This was a rank 3 spell, and the young master had not used any items or scrolls at all!

That he could cast a rank 3 spell by himself meant Leylin was rank 7. Without any warning, their young master had become a rank 7 wizard!

'Gods… Isn't advancing as a wizard supposed to be the most challenging? Young master's advancement to rank 5 just two years ago was already enough to have mouths fall agape… And now…' Jacob sighed. His abundant experiences as an adventurer left him clear on what exactly a fifteen year old rank 7 wizard meant.

If nothing were to happen, he could possibly become a great rank 15 wizard in a few centuries of training! There were few great wizards in the Dambrath Kingdom, and a few of them hired by the royalty had great statuses. His majesty the King had generously given them positions as Earls and territory to rope them in.

However, no great wizard cared for such things that drove others crazy with envy. At their level, the only thing in their sights was the realm of Legends.

And now, a great wizard was about to appear in the Faulen Family? Jacob suddenly felt giddy.

"Cousin Leylin, you've worked hard in deceiving me…" Beside Leylin, Isabel didn't have as many thoughts. While she seemed to be complaining, it was obvious that she was delighted by Leylin's achievements.

"I never thought my cousin was a genius as a wizard!" Isabel's eyes twinkled like there were countless stars in them.

"Hehe… everyone has their secrets, just as you do!" Leylin got closer, causing her to look panicked, "I anticipate the day where you will tell me…"

"What kind of joke is this?" Isabel turned her head and left, while Leylin sank deep into thought.

'There's no other choice but to do this…' Leylin sighed. The reason he had shown his strength right before the battle was to strengthen his men's confidence and will to resist.

Otherwise, the moment they knew that they could be against the personal guard of a Marquis of the Kingdom, even if moral did not immediately crumble, it would be greatly diminished.

Now, with such a young wizard, some would think it was worth it to risk their lives. Even if those regular soldiers did not know what being a 15 year old rank 7 wizard implied, others would gladly warn or tell them.

'Furthermore, our target this time is only a notorious group of pirates. Even if someone intentionally leaks this out, many would not believe it…' Leylin sighed once more. He had already done all that he could to the best of his abilities, and all that was left was their luck.

"My lord, we're here!" A sailor with triangular eyes and a gaze as sharp as a poisonous snake came before Leylin, reporting quietly. There was a thirst in his eyes for blood, as well as a fervour for destruction.

If this was a gaze seen in the manor, Leylin would send down the order for this person to be hung, but now?

'This is the right attitude if you want to kill someone!' Leylin was confident that with his methods, even if this person was a poisonous snake, he'd be able to tame him.

"Your name is Robin Hood? You're a great first mate and navigator! Are you in charge of this ship as well?" Leylin observed the man. He could sense a bloody aura that came from frequent killings, which made it obvious that this person had a very 'exciting' life in private.

"Yes, young master Faulen!" Evidently, Robin Hood was surprised that Leylin had been able to remember his name.

"Good!" Leylin had his hands behind his back as he watched the faint image of the islet from the fog. He quickly commanded, "Send down the order. Everyone is to remain hidden. Try not to make any sounds."

In order to take precautions against the detection and divination spells, Leylin had especially boosted himself with Nondetection before leaving, and had been exceptionally cautious and nimble along the way. It could be said that the chances of being discovered were very low.

Besides, even if they were discovered, nothing much changed except for the scale of the losses that would be incurred.

When the first wave sneakily swam up to the shore and began to mount a secret attack on the opponents' anchored ships, Leylin knew that the general conclusion had been decided.

Watching the bloody battles, Leylin suddenly laughed. "Seems like the pirates aren't as strong as I imagined them to be…"

Initially, he had thought that they had the support of the nobles and might have superb equipment and even maybe a magic weapon, but from the looks of it… These pirates wore shabby clothing, and there were even some people of other races and mixed blood in their midst. There weren't really powerful people in there, and it felt like they were just cannon fodder and not the real deal.

'Even if we manage to subdue these pirates, they would just be treated as replaceable?' Leylin stroked his chin as he thought of something.

In such a situation, where his side had been prepared and launched a secret attack with equipment of superior quality to theirs, there was no possibility of failure if their numbers were about equal.

'Of course, this is a world of exemplaries. The situation might change if a few powerful people show up,' Leylin stared at a corner of the camp on the barren island. He could sense powerful energy undulations from there.

"Is that leader of the Black Tiger pirates a rank 10 Professional?" Leylin sneered, "Jacob, take over the command. Pay attention to their ships and don't let anyone get away!"

"Understood, young master!" Jacob answered loudly. He already wanted to prostrate himself when he looked at Leylin's skills as a commander. Leadership came naturally to the young master, and such a thing was something he had never been able to learn himself.

'This potential… Does that mean there really is a darling child of the gods in this world?' Jacob had no time to be bothered by the shock to his worldview, and did all he could to constrain the formation of the troops and surround the camp.

"Isabel, come with me. Let us see to that leader, Steve!" Leylin rapidly moved towards the frontlines of the battle, with Isabel following closely behind.

……

As the infamous leader of the Black Tigers, Steve had the boorish and villainous face unique to pirates. He had long since lost an eye and an ear, the price he paid when his first mate mutinied against him.

Of course, this fellow who dared betrayed him had soon gotten his limbs cut off, and was tossed into the sea. The man could only repent with the sea god.

After being recruited by Marquis Louis, it had been made clear that if he were to be successful in this operation, he would become a knight with land of his own, and he might even become a real lord!

'I'll become a lord in the future!' Every time he thought of this, Steve could not help but gaze at his right hand. He had lost it, among many other things, in ten years of bloody fights and struggles. Still, he felt like the sacrifice was worth it. As he was right now, he was a rank 10 fighter, and the Black Tigers that he led had made a name for themselves in these waters.

'The target this time is only the manor of a baron that has lost most of its elites. How powerful can they be?' Steve thought indifferently. If not for him restraining them with all his might, all his underlings would have gone out to have fun long ago.

Up to this point, everything was going well without a hitch. But all of a sudden, yells and shouts could be heard that immediately woke Steve up from his reverie.

"What's going on?" Steve tossed the bottle of rum in his hand away, and his right hand opened up a huge tear in the tent. He arrived at the camp.

"It's an enemy invasion! There are too many of them, and they have excellent equipment!" His second mate, a tiger-headed merman, came before him, expression unable to hide his panic.

After noticing the situation, Steve's face twitched. This crafty captain immediately felt that this was not going well, "Where did they come from? Why did the detection spells and alarm points not react? More importantly, who are they?"

Even now Steve didn't think these people were sent by his target. With Leylin's Nondetection spell, the detection magic artifacts he had bought at exorbitant prices lost their effects. The alarm points had all been discovered and removed by Leylin.

Steve grabbed the collar of the second mate and shouted, "Get the men and charge to the ship!"

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Siege

The ambush was a huge blow to the Black Tigers' morale. Still, Steve retained some confidence in his men. Though they were nothing more than scumbags and trash, they possessed many skills. They would be able to stay alive despite the bad situation they currently found themselves in.

For what it was worth, they were pirates after all. Land fights were never their forte. Their true expertise lay in bombing, boarding, and fighting with ships. If he could only retreat to the ship, it would be perfectly easy for him to mount both offence and defence. It could even be possible for him to turn the tables.

'When the moment comes, I must absolutely wring this daring bastard's head off!' Steve thought to himself viciously.

With their captain's signal, the crew began to draw closer to the ship. However, a wave of burning heat suddenly approached them, causing the colour to drain from Steve's face. "Shit! Dodge, quickly!"

Boom!* The enemy's fireball landed less than five metres away from him, and the resulting sea of flames engulfed almost everything in its vicinity. Steve managed to escape, but the rest weren't half as lucky. Even his trusty second mate, the one with the head of a tiger shark, was burnt to a crisp.

"Fireball! They have a wizard!" This sudden news was like a slap across Steve's face. Not only was his opponent sufficiently equipped, they even had a strategic resource like a wizard.

Just then, he caught an eye of the said wizard. It was a young lad, his curly golden hair matching his deep blue eyes. He was barely an adult.

A wizard of this age? Steve furrowed his brows as he realised that the young lad looked faintly familiar.

"Hold up, he was one of the target of this mission! That's the Faulens' young master!" Steve was immediately reminded of him, and he had the urge to curse at his informant, "Wasn't he supposed to be rank 5 at most? It doesn't seem like it…"

"I want his head!" Steve was rid of any other choices at this stage of the game, and he could only roar orders as his muscles constricted.

Leylin spotted Steve at the same time. The extraordinary vibes he gave off showed that he was their leader, and he shouted as well, "He's the head of the pirates. 50 gold coins for anyone who can finish him off, and on top of that you don't have to pay tax anymore!"

"50 gold coins? And you get to not pay taxes? Charge!" Many of the guards went into a frenzy. This price alone was enough for ten lives; the guards charged up front without any second thoughts.

Of course, Leylin didn't stand and watch idly. Two powerful buffing spells descended upon his men, increasing their drive and strength. "Bear's Endurance, Bull's Strength!"

'The wizards of this world are supported by the Weave, allowing them to use magical attacks and buffs extremely quickly…' Leylin knew better than to neglect the importance of the Weave. The fact that it was able to continue to exist for so long meant it had to have some advantages.

And during the battle, Leylin realised that his men usually fared better if he enhanced their abilities using his power. Moreover, the Fireball from earlier was like a missile. Common people would not be able to escape its destructive powers.

'With the support of the Weave, won't a wizard with enough spell slots be a walking cannon?' Leylin smiled, if the power of this world was how he imagined it to be, the status of wizards would probably be even higher.

At the same time, Steve showed what it meant to be a rank 10 warrior. "AH! Rapid Charge!" His entire body was enveloped in a hazy light. After triggering his distinctive warrior skill, it was as if he had turned into an armoured steel tank as he charged towards the guards.

Thump! Thump! Thump!* With his great energy, he knocked down many of the guards. They were sent flying, as if they'd been hit by a high-speed train, and every now and then the sound of bones cracking rang out.

But the damage went both ways. Steve was injured by many of their spears and swords, and many bloody wounds appeared on his body.This degree of injury posed no hindrance to him, but the blood continuously leaking from his wounds would cause a bit of trouble. This was especially true as the pirates were surrounded, about to be wiped out by the oncoming soldiers.

"Surrender now, and in my name as a noble I'll treat you right as a captive." Leylin said. As long as he could capture Steve alive, maybe even have him become an eye witness, he would've gained incredible advantages for the Faulen Family.

"Surrender? To a brat like you?" Steve mocked back. It was like he'd seen something ridiculous.

"Or should I say… Do you think I'm limited to just this ability?" A sinister smile slipped onto Steve's face as a sacred light engulfed him wholly.

'Is this… Divine force?' Leylin stepped back. He had little experiences with this sort of power, but the impression it left was engraved deeply in his mind.

"Bless, Cure Light Wounds, Nightshield!" In the blink of an eye, Steve cast three rank 1 spells on his body. Leylin's brows wrinkled as he watched Steve's wounds recover quickly under the brilliant light of divine force.

'Divine force is indeed troublesome! Instant spells like these can be restored through daily prayers, so even with the usage limitations it's still unfair…'

Steve was back to his prime condition after the buffs, and his injuries had healed.

"Kill!" He charged towards Leylin with great power, and a clandestine glow covered the sword in his hand.

"Eldritch Blast!" The qi of a rank 10 fighter concentrated in his hand to become a shining blade which blasted out.

Schlick!* The soldiers in front of Leylin were hacked into two halves, and blood and gore splattered in all directions.

'Well, this is troublesome…' Leylin sighed, massaging his temples.

[Data collection completed! Creating target entry.] The A.I. Chip reported, quickly projecting Steve's details in front of him.

[Name: Steve. Gender: Male. Estimated stats, Strength: 10, Agility: 7, Vitality: 6. Spirit: 4. Professions: Rank 10 Fighter, Rank 3 Cleric! Evaluation: Undecipherable undulations in his right hand, target is extremely dangerous!]

'Right hand?' Leylin looked at the iron hook in Steve's right hand. The originally dull blade was now drenched in blood, with strips of flesh hanging off it. It looked exceptionally macabre.

"I'll go up to block him! You wait for an opening to try and cast spells!" Isabel drew her black sword out as she saw Steve nearing Leylin, becoming a human shield.

"Where did this wench come from? Piss off!" Steve's eyes were bloodshot. The sword in his left hand slashed down mercilessly, violent like a gust of evil wind. It had none of the protective care one normally held for a lady.

Clang!* The machete was blocked by a black sword, and the collision created a profound noise.

"My revenge starts with you!" Isabel's expression was ice-cold.

"There's so many incompetent idiots I've killed, who knows which ones you're from?" Even with such a reply, Steve had already grown wary of Isabel. Considering that she could hold off a rank 10 fighter who was going all out, she was no easy opponent.

Thump!* The iron hook in Steve's left hand shot out like a venomous snake, but it too was blocked by Isabel's sword. Sparks flew everywhere.

The impending battle between the two caused many pirates, and even her own soldiers, back away subconsciously. They didn't dare to get caught in the fight.

'Looks like I still don't have enough manpower to kill a rank 10 fighter.' Leylin thought in worry as he watch the gruesome exchange between the two.

'According to the data, I'll need at least 200 fully armed elites to kill Steve, and even they will have to be willing to give up their lives and pay a painful cost. Of course, if we have more Professionals the injuries would be halved, but all in all I don't have enough manpower right now…

'And although Isabel had enhanced her own strength through demonic sacrifices, she still isn't enough to be an opponent…' Progress in one's profession wasn't as just incremental. And anyway, Leylin didn't believe that those demons wanted nothing from Isabel anyway.

"Ugh…" Suddenly, a groan sounded from the battlefield. It was Isabel's.

One of her arms had been fractured, and she was forced to hold it in her sleeve. And yet, she remained as stoic as ever. Things like that which could have caused ordinary girls to weep and scream did not disturb Isabel at all.

"I'm afraid this cannot go on, I'll have to unseal it! But…" Isabel throw a glance at the onlookers and hesitated.

"Isabel! I think it's time to withdraw!" Just as Isabel was about to give it her all and charge at Steve, Leylin's voice came through. Out of her confidence in Leylin, she abandoned her original plan and start backing away.

"Thinking of leaving?" The expression on Steve's face was sinister as ever, but that changed when an arrow was shot.

Shoo!* The arrow was like a venomous snake. Its angle was tricky, leaving Steve with no choice but to retreat.

Splat!* The arrow shot into the ground behind him, its feathered end still quivering, making it look like a small snake trying to burrow into the ground.

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Post-battle Review

'That was close!' Steve could feel some cold sweat on his palm. Only he knew how dangerous that had been.

Once he regained his senses, he glanced at Leylin. The youth now had a crossbow in his hands, and there was a merciless expression on his face. Isabel had pushed her way to stand beside him, and aside from her Jacob and a few other soldiers had rushed over in a hurry as well.

With Isabel delaying them, Leylin had enough time to defeat the enemy and even seize the pirate ship. Now, Jacob brought the rest of the soldiers and the many crossbows in the Faulen Family's collection and surrounded the area.

The Faulen soldiers had gained the upper hand in all the other zones, and more and more soldiers gathered together. Under the light of the flames, Steve's face turned pale as a corpse. He knew very well that after the battle was over, the Black Tigers might just be erased from history.

'What's going on? Why did things turn out this way?' Steve was completely dazed.

However, his fox-like cunning that had been honed over the years told him that this was the time to escape. As long as there were some people left alive, he would be able to pull the Black Tigers back together, and bring about their rise once more. When the time came, he would exact extreme vengeance on this young wizard!

"Shoot!" But how could Leylin give him the chance to do so? With his command, the countless crossbows that Jacob directed on his own produced terrifying sounds. Numerous arrows blocked all the escape routes that Steve had.

"Damn it!" Steve cursed, his figure twisting at a strange angle in midair. A dark shield appeared, crashing into a sharp arrow.

The dark-coloured shield shattered to pieces, but the power of the arrow was greatly reduced. It could only leave a shallow cut on Steve's body.

Boom!* Steve's body fell freely to the ground. He glared at Leylin venomously, and then rushed out of the camp. Once he got outside, he would definitely be able to leave with ease. He was still a rank 10 fighter after all.

At this moment, things suddenly changed! A huge white spiderweb opened up from the ground, shrouding him in darkness.

'But when did he–?' Steve's expression filled with fear as he recognised this web, 'Rank 2 spell, Web. Once it twines around me, I'll be caught…'

He looked fierce as he raised the sword in his left hand. However, Leylin had long since set this trap. How could he give Steve the chance to escape?

"Ray of Enfeeblement! Sleep! Restrict!"

A few rank 1 spells flashed over Steve's head. With the drain from the huge battle just prior, Steve was unable to dodge them in time. Immediately after, he felt a sense of confusion, as his body suddenly weakened.

Clang!* His machete fell to the ground, and immediately after Steve was caught up in the web. It was extremely sticky, and even a reckless bull would not be able to escape from it.

"Take aim. Prepare to shoot! The opponent is a rank 10 warrior, so be careful!" At this moment, the soldiers holding crossbows aimed at Steve calmly. Only morons would miss an immobile target like this.

"You're still thinking of running because you have a trump card up your sleeve, don't you?" Leylin approached the spiderweb, watching Steve from above, eyes full of mockery.

"Don't think you can hide the Lifesteal effect on your right hand. I'm a wizard!" When Leylin said this, he could see that Steve's eyes were first filled with fear and despair, followed by a desperate struggle.

Leylin snickered, quickly retreating and dodging the bloody rays shooting from his hand.

"Be careful. The hook on his right hand has the Lifesteal effect. Don't let it touch you, or your life force will be absorbed…"

Leylin smirked at Steve, causing him to pale even further The terror from being completely seen through caused the pirate to feel muddle-headed. "You're a devil. A devil!"

"Knock him unconscious," Leylin's eyebrows furrowed, "And then get rid of his arms and legs!" Without the assistance of a powerful cleric, such terrifying injuries would end up crippling him.

As for how to deal with this person, Leylin did not have plans yet. As he had been at the forefront in hindering the Faulen Family, he should have made contact with Viscount Tim before, which made him a pretty good witness. But who would believe the words of a pirate? At the most, it would cause some slight trouble for the Viscount.

"His true value is in keeping him from Tim…" Leylin watched the amputated Steve who was now unconscious, his eyes profound. In his view, the pirate only had two functions. One was as bait, attracting more assassins and experts over from the other party so he could ambush them. However, things could easily go wrong that way. If an existence that Leylin could not deal with arrived, that was just shooting himself in the foot.

On the other hand, he could use Steve to negotiate with Tim, forcing the Viscount to back off. After all, the Faulen Family wasn't the only one with land in the seas. Once his side showed their power and sent Steve back, saying that they had no plans to go to war, he could be able to achieve a period of harmony.

Of course, Leylin never counted on the benevolence and hesitation of his enemies for his own safety. However, giving himself more time was a good method. After all, his strength was still increasing by the day, and on top of that with the complete wipe-out of the probing on the Faulen Family, perhaps they would pause for a bit anyway?

Leylin stroked his chin, "Be quick about it. Bring all the slaves. Kill those who resist."

""Understood!"" Numerous soldiers yelled together. After seeing that their leader, Steve, had been taken captive, most of the pirates had lost their morale, and with the suppression by Isabel and the crossbowmen they were utterly defeated. Even those futilely thinking of swimming across the sea were killed by the sailors on the ship, not letting any leave. Soon, a whole region of the sea was dyed red.

In this situation, even the fiercest pirate would involuntarily have thoughts of surrender. Soon enough, the sounds of weaponry being tossed to the ground sounded. The soldiers hurried to tie these people up and sent them to the ship.

"Set fire to this place before we leave," Leylin commanded.

Following that, he returned to the double mast ship he had arrived in. At the moment, the seized pirate ship had been tied up behind theirs. It was the spoils of their battle.

Seeing the sea of red, Leylin listened as Jacob reported, "Nine soldiers are dead, fifteen critically injured. The rest have some form of light injuries…"

This was even though this was a surprise attack and they had the advantage in equipment. Jacob could not help but feel embarrassed at the results. He'd gotten a better understanding of the ferociousness of pirates today. If the Black Tigers had managed to set foot on Faulen Island, the consequences would've been dire.

"Mm. What have we captured?" Leylin looked calm, not minding such a tiny issue.

"We have killed 37 pirates and taken 52 prisoner. There are a few with unknown whereabouts. We have taken Steve, and the Black Tigers can be said to be completely wiped out." At this point, Jacob began to look excited, "It's a pity that there aren't any spoils. There's only some rum and jerky. We haven't found any letters or anything…"

Leylin shook his head and laughed involuntarily, "Pirates are poor anyway. What more do you want?"

These low-ranked pirates did not have much money on them anyway, and if they were lucky enough to get a large amount, that would quickly be wasted on the bad alcohol in the harbour, barbequed meat and gambling dens. When, on the next day, they had not a single copper in their pockets, they would follow their captain to sea like wolves, roaring as they attacked other ships.

'Even if you add up the wealth of all the prisoners, that would still be nothing compared to Steve's own private hoard!' Leylin chuckled.

'I really need to interrogate Steve well. Though it's unlikely that he has a letter from nobility, I need to know about his stash and things like that…'

If he could find evidence of a connection with Viscount Tim, Leylin would not have to be vexed. However, this was impossible.The other side would not be so foolish as to leave letters and the like behind. Hence, Leylin could only give this a try without placing too much hope in it.

As for money… that was just a consolation prize. At the very least, these soldiers would need to be rewarded amply for the deaths, else nobody would be willing to work under him.

Having taken care of everything, Leylin walked to the hold of the ship. As there were many more captives to return with, the concealed hold was very squeezy and somewhat chaotic. Leylin naturally would not imprison the group on the pirate ship behind them, that would only be creating trouble for himself.

Even in this situation, Isabel had a room of her own. This was a privilege reserved for the nobility and the strong.

"Can I come in?" Leylin asked after walking up to her door.

"Please!"

Opening the door, Leylin entered the room and cast a silencing spell. This immediately resulted in a serious look on Isabel's face.

Leylin twitched his nose. There was a herbal smell in the air, and Isabel's clothing was slightly in disarray. Evidently, in her hurry, she had not had everything arranged properly.

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Thoughts

"You won't be able to do things like that easily on your own, you know." Leylin chuckled as he sat beside Isabel, pulling at her arm.

"Don't…" Isabel began to struggle.

"Sit properly!" Leylin's thunderous expression made Isabel's momentum to flag. Even the strength she possessed seemed to weaken greatly.

Leylin rolled Isabel's sleeves up. What he saw was not the pale and exquisite skin belonging to a young girl, but a strange arm filled with scales. On the upper arm, there was a curved injury that had been caused by Steve.

"Demonification? And it seems to be a rather high-level conversion ritual…" Leylin raised his shoulders, and then skilfully used magic energy to heal her wounds. He then bound them.

"It's ugly, isn't it…" At some point, Isabel turned away, her voice choked with sobs.

"No, in fact it's still alright," Leylin answered seriously. He didn't look much better when he transformed as a Warlock, and became an existence which had practically abandoned its human form.

"One more thing…" Leylin appeared to be focused on healing her, and he spoke softly, "I want to set up a private fleet. I hope for your help."

"Become a pirate? Why?" Isabel was dazed for a moment. A private fleet was only a dressed up way to refer to a pirate crew.

Leylin smirked at the question. "They've come and bullied us, it's only fitting that we repay the favour."

"As for the people to be used… I was planning to use my status as the master of the territory here to hang the Black Tiger pirates. Let's just consider it recycling our trash!"

"In addition, I've found a pretty good first mate for you. Robin Hood performed well today, and more importantly, he is used to the ways of pirates. With our people as the backbone and the pirates at our foundation level, we can use the pirate ship we seized and Steve's wealth to quickly assemble a crew. I'll need you to control them tightly…"

Leylin swiftly bound her wounds in gauze, and Isabel wiped away the tears on her face, regaining her robust and healthy image. However, Leylin felt that the crying girl from before more suited the memory of his young cousin.

"Why do you think I will agree?" Isabel looked at Leylin.

"Because it's a request from your dear cousin!" Leylin chuckled, resulting in a flush on Isabel's face.

"I'll consider this matter. Go out first!" Evidently, Isabel was feeling cramped in the narrow hull alone in a room with Leylin.

"I quietly await your favourable response!" Leylin headed out, closing the door politely. In reality, he knew that she would agree; this was also good for her.

'A high ranked demon? Goodness…' Leylin stroked his chin, his eyes twinkling.

Controlling a pirate crew may seem slightly immoral on the surface; after all, it was dishonourable for a noble to do something so sinful. However, Leylin knew that under the cover of glory, sophistication and grandeur, the nobles of this world all concealed some sort of evil within them. Every gold coin they used was stained with the blood and tears of innocents.

Even his father, Baron Jonas, had always wanted to obtain support from some pirates, or create a raiding fleet to attack others himself. He had been working hard on this, but he had been a noble for far too short a time. It was difficult enough to just get his own territory organised, so he had yet to fulfill his wishes.

As for offending pirates? Heh, no noble was going to care about that!

'This outer sea was discovered recently, so there aren't a lot of great powers operating here. It's still a piece of blank paper. How could Marquis Louis alone get all the benefits on the sea?' Leylin snickered. Whether it was purchasing high-grade spell materials or creating a wizard tower, everything required a huge amount of resources and gold coins. How could he surrender the profits he could get on the outer sea?

On top of that, he wasn't one to take beatings without retaliating. He would definitely ruthlessly pay the Marquis back for his 'favour'. He was just someone with control over the Baltic archipelago, a trade fleet, and a few pirate groups, so was he that amazing? If not for having apprehensions about the families on Faulen Island, Leylin alone could take him on in a war, and give him a huge headache.

'After establishing a pirate group, cousin will have a place to take shelter. After all, the gods don't focus much on a place like the outer sea where crooks mingle with honest folk. The occasional sacrifice can be hidden as much as possible…'

Whether Isabel could understand the reasons behind Leylin's painstaking efforts was another matter. Leylin was sure that as long as he was the one making the request, she would not reject him.

The waves kept crashing into the body of the ship, shaking it slightly. A few seagull-like birds were soaring in the sky, producing cries from the distance.

"This isn't too far from Faulen Island. It's a short journey, so this shouldn't be a problem…" Leylin held onto the railing, watching the dark sea below him. The sea was never a peaceful place. Tsunamis, storms or even numerous deep-sea creatures could destroy a whole fleet in an instant.

Hence, for sailors on the outer sea, it was like treading on thin ice every single day with the possibility of entering the embrace of death at any moment.

'There seem to be countless gods with dominion over the sea, like the Storm Goddess that Steve worships.' Leylin began to look serious.

Steve surprisingly had some abilities as a cleric. While he could only cast low-ranked divine spells, that was enough for Leylin to be on his guard.

Fortunately, the Storm Goddess was known for being temperamental. She regularly caused tsunamis and storms, destroying numerous ships and fishing boats. Her faith stemmed from the terror she induced.

As a result, Steve must have made the Storm Goddess feel delighted during a certain ceremony or while praying, which was why she had made an exception and bestowed some divine force to him. If not, no matter how Leylin looked at it, he could not link Steve to a clergy.

Even so, that was still very troublesome. No matter how much of a bastard Steve was, he was a cleric, and Leylin could not get rid of him easily.

If he was alone outside, he could eliminate him easily. As long as news did not get out, all was fine. However, there were too many people here and so many prisoners. There were also the escapees. There was no way to dispute the fact that Steve was in his hands. If he were to die, things would be difficult to handle.

Leylin did not want to attract even attention of the church of a real god, much less hostility.

'What a pity. He's a rank 10 warrior, and a cleric at that…' A hint of red light appeared in Leylin's hands. The Devilblood Dagger flew between his fingers, rippling with a dangerous luster that quickly died down.

While he could now transform the flesh devoured into spiritual energy and hasten his advancement as a wizard, it wasn't without any requirements.

He needed to completely digest the energy he absorbed between successive devourings. In addition, this sudden increase in power would be a great test in his control as a wizard.

If a rank 1 wizard rapidly became a Legend, he would first be destroyed by the berserk, uncontrollable magic in his own body. Thankfully, Leylin had a huge advantage in this area. His main body was already half god, and his control of energy was exquisite. Magic was similar both here and in the Magus World, and his strength as a wizard was only equivalent to that of a rank 1 or 2 Warlock.

This set of worries was why Steve had been lucky enough to survive this far. Otherwise, Leylin would have long since reduced him to a pile of bones.

Leylin had specific requirements when it came to flesh now. Only Professionals or powerful demonic beasts met his requirements for life force. As for those pirates? They were nothing to Leylin, and even if he were to devour all of them, they could not be compared to Steve. This was even ignoring the impurities in their energy.

"The ranking of energy in this world is very strictly regulated…" Leylin took a look at his stats. As he had not used the Devilblood Dagger, they stats were the same as before.

"For an adult, 1, 10 and 20 are all thresholds!" Leylin had a greater understanding of these numbers.

It was difficult for a normal human to break past the value of 1 in any stat, becoming a Professional. And these difficulties compounded in the future the stronger one became.

10 points was a huge threshold to break through. Leylin's own greatest stat was his spirit at 7. Based on his calculations, it was only after he became a rank 10 wizard that he could break through this barrier.

'Wizards above rank 10 are considered experts in the World of Gods… So is this the boundary line that divides us? Just one stat breaking past 10 makes one an expert…' Leylin had a feeling that increasing his stat points in this world would be very hard, increasing in difficulty the further he got. Once his spirit reached 10, and especially after he became a great wizard, perhaps even the Devilblood Dagger could only give him light support.

'A stringent world that suppresses power that is out of the ordinary. Even the gods have to abide by the rules of the world…' Leylin's eyes burned with fervour, eager to give this a try.

At this moment, he heard cheers elsewhere, "We're here! I see the lighthouse at the harbour!"

Leylin raised his eyes and looked into the distance. As expected, there was a yellow light seen from within the fog. It represented the warmth of the Faulen Harbour, and Leylin could not help but reveal a smile.

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Return and Secret Plans

The moment he got off the ship, Leylin saw someone unexpected. The housekeeper of the manor, Leon, had come before him. It was evident that he had been waiting for a long time, and there were even water droplets on his clothes formed from the mist. "Young master, young master! The master is back, and he's said that you are to notify him once you're on shore!"

"Father has returned? Good, I'll see him right away. Take care of the things here, as well as the spoils of war and the captives…" Compared to sneaking around during the last attack, Leylin was now strutting about boldly. He was even hoping to intimidate those who were harbouring unlawful thoughts with this victory.

However, the only ship entering the harbour was Leylin's own warship. The Black Tiger itself had disappeared with his cousin Isabel, accompanied by a portion of the pirates.

Only a few unlucky pirates were here besides the few spoils of war. Of course, there was also the ex-captain, Steve.

"Understood, young master!" Leon bowed low. Just the injuries from the soldiers behind Leylin alone made it clear that this battle had been very intense.

"Mm. Jacob, get Steve. Let us be off!" Leylin got on the carriage by himself, followed by Jacob with their prisoner. Steve had a black sack over his head, as Leylin did not trust such a high-ranking captive to his subordinates. If he did, there was a chance of something going wrong.

"Father…" The moment the carriage got to the manor, Leylin saw his current parents, Baron Jonas and Lady Sarah. They stood in wait at the door of the manor, eyes full of worry.

Leylin immediately got off the carriage and was pulled into Mistress Sarah's arms, "Oh, my poor child…" It was obvious that even though she somewhat had an idea of what Leylin had done, Mistress Sarah was still worried.

"It's good that you're alright!" Baron Jonas maintained his poise as a noble, though there was a hint of joy in his eyes.

Leylin looked past his father, and then at his mentor Ernest. The wizard gave him an encouraging look of approval, and dragged his wizard robe closer around himself, hiding with the crowd. Wizards weren't that good at expressing themselves.

At this moment, Leylin saw numerous elite troops behind Baron Jonas, all wearing armour. Their cold gazes made him feel a sense of danger.

"Rank 5 warriors! And there are so many at that. Father, where did you get them from?" Leylin could see respect in the eyes of the fighters, especially from their leader, but there wasn't the reliance and concern that their own men had. These troops were evidently reinforcements from an external source.

However, this was a trivial matter.

"Child, don't get so reckless in the future. It's unbecoming of a noble to rashly lead troops alone…" Jonas admonished Leylin. If his only successor were to die in this battle, he would not be able to handle it.

"By the way, Father, please allow me to show off my spoils as well as the captives…" Leylin clapped his hands, and Jacob himself brought Steve up.

Though his limbs had already been cut off, and he was basically a cripple without the help of high-level divine spells, he still needed to be watched.

"Oh?" Baron Jonas' eyebrows lifted, not reacting at all to the captives and junk blades that Leylin showed.

In his opinion, Leylin had merely eliminated a small wave of pirates, maybe less than 20 in total. They were probably fishermen who had lost to their desire for wealth, which was why he didn't pay much attention to them.

But then Leylin lifted the black sack over Steve's head, exposing the malicious face to the daylight. Due to the blood loss, his face had paled, which did nothing to reduce the fear caused from looking at his face. Even Mistress Sarah shrieked, taking a few steps back in her shock and disgust.

"Leylin, you frightened your mother. You shouldn't dirty the eyes of a noblewoman with such a lowly captive…" Baron Jonas had been born as a noble of a military family, and he did not feel uncomfortable when met with this situation. But even his brows furrowed slightly.

Jonas could not understand why Leylin had brought a disgusting captive with sweat, blood and grievous wounds in front of him. What he did not see was that the elite warriors behind him now had a different look in their eyes.

Although Steve was crippled, the thick calluses on his body and the firm muscles mixed with the powerful aura of a high-ranked fighter that had yet to dissipate. They had an inkling about what this was.

"This is Steve, leader of the Black Tigers." Leylin said simply, but that caused Baron Jonas' eyes to widen.

"Gods!" Baron Jonas no longer cared about the filth on Steve's body as he approached him, pushing aside the messy hair at his forehead to size him up carefully.

"Indeed it's him. This is the leader of the Black Tigers, rank 10 fighter Steve! Numerous large chambers of commerce have jointly set up a bounty of 500 gold coins for his capture! One of the bounty postings is even at our port, I couldn't get it wrong…"

A long while later, the baron sighed and stared at his son with a complicated expression. This child seemed to always surprise him. His expedition might even have resulted in him being killed by assassins had Leylin not requested Ernest to come help out.

Still, he asked with disbelief, "Since Steve is here, where's the Black Tigers?"

"They've been wiped out," Leylin answered lightly. Jacob and the soldiers behind puffed up their chests in pride, staring hard at the elite warriors behind the Baron.

"Good! Seems like we need to have a serious talk." Baron Jonas had a complicated expression on his face.

After Leylin came back, laughter and merriness returned to the manor once more. Even the housekeeper Leon, who always looked gloomy, revealed a rare smile as he directed Clara and Claire to prepare the banquet.

During this period of preparation, the baron stayed in his study room, having chased the maids out to leave only Leylin and Ernest behind other than himself.

"The information Leylin provided was very helpful. Even though I had to pay a huge price, I'll take care of the issues with the church of knowledge…" Baron Jonas' voice was hoarse and low. Leylin astutely noticed his bloodshot eyes and thebits of white hair near his ears.

It was obvious that being oppressed by a person of high status like Marquis Louis left the baron stressed and vexed. Though they could now act a bit more freely, the trauma from the Marquis' actions had yet to dissipate.

"It's only my duty. After all, I'm part of the Faulen Family!" Leylin appeared to be very humble.

This attitude had Baron Jonas nodding inside, "Since we know who our opponent is, things will be easier. Though I met with a few assassination attempts during the trip to the continent, I'm thankfully unharmed. I even got to see Earl Griffith!"

"Earl Griffith, the warlord of that place?" Leylin's eyes twinkled, immediately remembering him. It seemed that Baron Jonas had paid a price, yielding a share of profits to acquire some support from the regional nobility.

"They've dispatched a group of horsemen with numerous rank 5 fighters. The leader is a rank 9, which will be enough to ensure the safety of our manor…" Baron Jonas watched Leylin with a sorry look in his eyes.

He believed that the assassination attempt on his son was because he had taken most of the elites. If not for that, he wouldn't have been forced to struggle against a terrible group of pirates.

He had tried to leave behind Ernest and Jacob who were both Professionals to protect the port. However, relying on the protection of others was not a long-term solution. Leylin frowned slightly.

Baron Jonas saw all this, and it caused him to nod even more. 'This child already has enough wisdom to lead our family.'

"Well then, how do you think Steve should be dealt with? After all, he is your prisoner…" Baron Jonas chuckled, wanting to see how Leylin would act.

"Dispatch a messenger to make negotiations and then return him to Marquis Louis. In exchange we can set up a peace treaty. How about that? Our family is quite weak after all…" Leylin did not hold back as he spoke.

"Good!" Baron Jonas was on the verge of applauding his child. He definitely had not been so rational at such an age; he would have complained about his vengeance after the humiliation.

Seeing this ability to give up and maintain a low profile, Baron Jonas would hand the family over to Leylin even if he was useless in other areas.

"Who do you think is the most suitable?"

"Bishop Tapris of the church of knowledge. He's a friend to both sides, so he would make a suitable messenger." Leylin emphasised that he was a 'friend', and Baron Jonas obviously could tell what Leylin was implying.

He muttered to himself, "He is a good choice…"

With his status as a bishop of the church of knowledge, Tapris was the most suitable mediator. He could even increase the prestige of the god of knowledge this way, so he probably wouldn't reject them.

After everything was settled, Leylin mumbled, "Father, I still have some things to tell Master Ernest…"

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Trade

Leylin's solemn tone immediately had Jonas on his guard. He glanced towards Ernest, and the man immediately flicked his fingers. He'd cast Nondetection and Sound Isolation.

With all the preparation done, Leylin spoke quietly, "I've already become a rank 7 wizard…"

"What? …. Wha– what?" Ernest's eyes grew as round as saucers. He'd been completely thrown off his lack of reaction.

"Hasn't it been less than a year since you broke through to rank 6?" Ernest's expression was comical, as if he wanted to both cry and burst out in laughter.

"Oh Goddess, do you speak the truth?" Ernest's face was on the verge of pressing into Leylin's nose.

"In the name of the Goddess of the Weave, Mystra, I swear that all I say is true!" Leylin looked serious as he swore on the name of the goddess that numerous wizards held faith in.

The price of offending the Goddess of the Weave was that one could possibly be permanently restricted from using the Weave, rendering them a piece of trash. Leylin's pledge was very serious, and Ernest believed him immediately.

"Heavens, what are you? A bastard son of Mystra?" This rate of advancement immediately depressed Ernest. He was still a mid-rank 9 wizard, so by the looks of it Leylin would probably catch up to him in a year or two.

It was normal to be overtaken by one's student, but to be surpassed by a punk who wasn't even twenty yet? Ernest grew very dispirited, almost on the verge of hiding away into a corner and drawing circles on the ground.

Meanwhile, Baron Jonas turned awkward, not getting it at all. He truly knew little about wizards, so he immediately suppressed his awkwardness to ask, "Ernest, my friend, what does this mean? Why the reaction?"

"Oh, my apologies, my friend!" Ernest flushed, and then replaced that with more fervour, "Leylin is a fifteen year old rank 7 wizard! From what I know this talent puts him among the top hundred talents of the past 300 years!"

At this point, he turned serious, "Don't underestimate this ranking. Many of them became great wizards in the future, with some even becoming Legends…"

"…Cough cough… So…" This instantly shocked Baron Jonas. He watched his son, eyes full of disbelief.

"While I don't have any acknowledgment from the wizard guild, it's no problem to cast rank 3 spells…" Leylin looked towards his mentor, "If news of this gets out during negotiations, do you think Marquis Louis will back off?"

The great chances of Leylin becoming a great wizard was enough to inspire fear. After all, few high-ranked wizards in the Dambrath Kingdom obeyed the royal family. If they found out that the Faulen Family had a genius wizard, the possibility of the other side conceading was high.

Of course, the other possibility was that they would be driven into a corner, sparing no expense to eliminate Leylin so as to avoid any repercussions. This way, they would not be harmed.Of course, they might be driven to a corner and spared no expense to kill Leylin in order to take care of whatever repercussions there might be. This way, they would not be at harm.

"Well, that's very possible, but there are also other options. After all, growth and talent don't represent power…" Ernest warned.

"No, no! This news absolutely cannot get out. I will send down an order for everyone to keep their lips sealed!" Baron Jonas immediately understood. Even if there was a mere 0.0001% possibility, he was unwilling to risk Leylin dying.

After all, with Leylin's talent, it would only be a matter of time before he became a high-ranked wizard if nurtured well. He even had hope to become a Legend! Compared to that, the losses now meant nothing.

Seeing his father and master so resolute, Leylin could only laugh wryly and toss this thought away.

"Alright! However, Father, please allow me to train my magic in secret outside the manor in the future…"

"Training in secret…" Ernest could not understand it. Wizards weren't the kind to practice hard like that; was there a need to abandon a life of luxury in order to train one's will?

But watching this student of his, a 15 year old who had become a rank 7, Ernest wisely chose to shut his mouth. Leylin's achievements would represent everything. Who knew, this method could allow him to make rapid progress.

Ernest touched his chin, feeling that he might should probably start training like this.

"Since your mentor isn't against it, I have no opinions. Remember that you're the future of our family, always prioritise your safety! Even if I were to lose the Faulen Island, I can't lose you. Do you understand?" Baron Jonas warned.

"Yes!" Leylin nodded then followed up, "There's something else, and it regards the management of the family."

"Oh! Seems like you're giving me a lot of surprises today!" Baron Jonas was actually extremely fatigued now, but he still rubbed at the area between his eyebrows, looking like he was listening closely.

"I think we should alter our system of giving rewards based on the services rendered at our family port."

Leylin's first words were already astonishing, "I noticed that this occurred because we're too weak to protect our own territory. It's likely that we'll have a lot of enemies coveting our land. We need to recruit even more soldiers and Professionals to expand out power, which means we need more sources of revenue."

"That's easy to say, but most of the trade on these seas is taken up by Marquis Louis' Baltic archipelago. What can we offer?" Baron Jonas smiled wryly. No noble would reject opportunities to expand their strength and wealth. He'd also explored this before, but had not gotten any gains.

"Leylin must've mentioned this because he has a proposal. Let's consider it first." Ernest was aware that this student of his always made plans before acting, and would never say anything without thinking it through beforehand. This aroused his interest.

"I've checked, and there are only three things that make great profits with a foundation in sea trade: slaves, sea salt and sugar," Leylin's eyes glinted, "The slave trade has a bad reputation and it's been controlled by Marquis Louis. We can't interfere with that, so I'd choose sea salt and sugar!"

"Sea salt and… sugar?" Baron Jonas scratched his hair in confusion, "But our island isn't anything like those in the south with spices and cane sugar. Those plants can't survive here…"

"No! I plan to buy coarse sugar, and then refine it into high-grade white sugar for sale. As for the sea salt, I'm planning to use fish floss!"

"Fish floss?!"

"Yes! Mash the flesh of the fish and dry it in the sun, and then use techniques to preserve it for a long time. Because there's salt and meat, I'm sure it will be welcomed by the commoners and adventurers on the continent!"

Leylin was someone who'd travelled over from another world. He'd be foolish if he didn't use the knowledge he gained from his previous world to gain some benefits.

Though there were differences in the physical laws of the two worlds, there were still some similarities. Concerned about the family's strength, Leylin was trying to expand their revenue to help himself in the future. He'd long since thought this through.

While he only somewhat remembered the methods to refine sugar and create fish floss by drying them in the sun, that was alright. He was a noble! As long as he supplied them with a general idea, his underlings would make it a reality.

Though Leylin remembered a lot more as well, he'd run tests through the years and he realised that he could only build an industry around these two items, they complemented the laws of the World of Gods.

As for other techniques, it wasn't that they could not be used, but they would destabilize the situation now. Paper would definitely be valued highly by the church of knowledge, so he could easily gain the favour of Oghma. However, he would attract the ire of the other gods, and Leylin was afraid of that.

Refined sugar and fish floss were two things that wouldn't have as great an effect.

After Leylin explained his thoughts on this industry, Baron Jonas sank into deep thought. While he did not know about this, Leylin's words seemed to be plausible. At the very least, Ernest beside him had eyes that were twinkling as if he had seen sudden huge profits.

"In that case, you can try that!" At the end, Baron Jonas agreed. After all, Leylin had proven with his battle achievements that he was not just a braggart. What was the harm of letting him try? At worst, it could be considered business training.

As a successor of a noble family, one might not need to know how to manage businesses, but they couldn't afford to be cheated by businessmen.

"However, be cautious!" Jonas warned after thinking it over once more. He was still worried.

"I understand. Many thanks, Father!" Leylin stood and bowed.

In reality, he just needed to have the approval of the Baron in name. As for the people and money? Steve would probably be more than 'willing' to provide that.

"The banquet's almost prepared, let's go together. By the way, where's your cousin Isabel?" Jonas asked suddenly at the end.

"Oh… I let her leave…" Leylin's eyes flashed with his unhesitating answer. He still didn't want to divulge the fact that he was establishing a pirate crew.

"Is she gone? That's good too!" Baron Jonas nodded and did not ask more, leaving with his hands behind his back.

It was evident that he'd long since had his own conjectures on Isabel's change. However, the situation had been urgent then, and he'd felt bad about abandoning a diligent branch member of the Faulen Family. That was why he'd said nothing then, and now that she'd left, there would now be no awkwardness between them.

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Tim

'Looks like Father already knew about it long ago…' Leylin immediately arrived at his own conclusion after listening to the baron's words. Had he not promptly made the decision to send Isabel away, the baron would perhaps have dealt with her upon his return.

After that, terrible rumours might have spread, and his cousin might even have 'died of illness'. After all, the churches in this world did not even slightly tolerate the followers of devils and demons, and even their friends and family would be implicated.

With a tacit mutual understanding, the father and son went to the banquet, as if they had completely forgotten about Isabel.

The banquet was bustling with noise and excitement. Xuno, that wandering bard who had been seen at the port lately, had come to perform. His voice was as sweet as a skylark's, and the few short poems he recited earned cheers from the whole hall.

However, when it was over, Leylin saw that Xuno was invited to his father's study room. It seemed like the Baron had not invited him purely for the performance.

However, that meant nothing to Leylin. He was planning to move out after the banquet, giving the pirates their orders and settling matters regarding the trade.

Of course, he had to ease the tension in his family's relationship with Viscount Tim, handing over the prisoner and signing an agreement.

……

Thump!* A crisp slap landed on a young man's face, making his fair skin swell into a bruise.

"Gods, how could I have gotten such a stupid child like you!"

A furious middle-aged man dressed in exquisite noble attire stood in front of the youth. Complex designs were sewn in with golden thread on the fringe of his clothing, fully in the elven style. Exotic rings laden with precious gems lined all ten of his fingers in varying colours, and a few of them emitted powerful magical light.

This was the person controlling the Baltic archipelago, the younger blood brother of the Dambrath King. It was Marquis Louis.

The king obviously was not stingy when it came to titles, bestowing a dukedom upon him, but Louis evidently thirsted for power. Hereditary land was something even the children of the King might not be able to obtain.

Marquis Louis was very satisfied with the kingdom's offshore development and the growing trade profits. The only thing that made him frown was that in this vast open sea, there was some land that belonged to small noble families, as well as a bunch of disobedient and barbaric pirates that were a thorn in his side. Hence, when his useless son begged for some territory, Marquis Louis had agreed.

However, looking at Viscount Tim in front of him now, he couldn't help but feel resent for failing to meet his expectations. "You're a disgrace! You do things without following any kind of rules. Not only do you try to assassinate someone on the continent, you can't even take care of the sea! You even lost the Black Tigers…"

At this point, Marquis Louis felt a little sorry. While the deaths of those filthy despicable pirates didn't faze him regardless of numbers, a rank 10 fighter like Steve was still a capable underling. On top of that, his own group of bandit assassins had been lost.

"Also!" Marquis Louis' chest kept heaving up and down as he flung a letter at Tim's face. "Look. This came specially for us from Griffith. Not only did you gain no advantages at all, you even pushed the Faulen Family towards those hicks!"

Tim let the letter smack on his face, feeling the unceasing stinging pain that caused his eyes to be filled with fiery fury.

Viscount Tim looked extremely similar to Marquis Louis, though he was much younger and had a pair of long and narrow eyes. He was now bowing respectfully, "Father, please give me another chance! As long as you assign Boruj to me, I can definitely…"

"Scram!" What answered him was only a hysterical yell from the Marquis.

The door slammed shut, and Tim gently caressed his swollen face. The stinging pain doubled the fury in his heart.

The surrounding maids and the like naturally did not dare provoke Tim, who was in this state. All of them fervently wanted to be ostriches so they could bury their heads in the carpet. However, another noble youth strolled in with a mocking expression.

"Haha… my beloved little brother, you seem to have met with some trouble!"

"Big brother!" Tim clutched his face, feeling dazed and awkward when looking at the new arrival. This was the marquis' first son, born of his primary wife. Hee would one day take over the Baltic archipelago. Given that his mother was a noble as well, his status was much higher than that of Tim, who could only rely on the whims of the marquis.

"Oh my, are you injured? Quick, get a priest!" The young man shouted at the servant behind him, as if he was an elder brother caring for his younger brother. However, Tim could see the mockery deep inside his eyes…

"Damn it. Damn it!" Only when he'd walked out of the mansion did Tim's expression darken. "I'll never let the people who've humiliated me off. I swear on it!"

"And then there's the Faulen Island, and that little noble called Leylin. I'll definitely force you all to hell and have you repent there!" Tim's expression was sinister, like a savage beast that was letting out howls of pain.

……

Leylin naturally knew nothing of this, but he could somewhat guess what was happening. However, his attention was now focused on other matters.

The place that Leylin had chosen to hide away in was at the other end of the Faulen Island. Since they hadn't occupied this place for a long while, they didn't have as many farmers and slaves as they'd need to occupy the whole island. Leylin chose this area because there were few people, and also because he favoured the low-lying shoal nearby. Such a level terrain was very rare on the Faulen Island, and enough for Leylin to do a great many things.

Up till now, Leylin had only built a few wooden plank houses nearby, as if preparing to go into training. He was kept updated on his family through Jacob.

"The prisoner was handed over, but Tim refused to sign an agreement?" Leylin stared at the coastline in the distance, his eyes flashing.

"Yes, young master!" Jacob stood behind Leylin, looking humble and respectful. After the few battles before, he was completely subservient to Leylin, and his loyalty could even be comprable to Baron Jonas'.

Staring at the blue surface of the sea for a long while, Leylin suddenly laughed and spoke slowly, "Seems like he's unreconciled to this."

"That's for sure. However, he hinted that there would be no attacks against our family for now. The Baron has also agreed."

"It's just temporary peace. His plans were disrupted, so he needs to reorganise everything. We need to amass some strength here." Leylin could already tell what this was. It was no peace, just a temporary armistice. Once they reorganised, they would definitely attack the family once again.

Of course, Leylin did not mind this, what he needed right now was time.

"How's the preparations on the slaves we need, the coarse sugar and the fishing boats?" Leylin enquired. This was the preparation for the sugar and fish floss trade that he had brought up with the baron earlier.

"I've already found a merchant in the port, and he's willing to give us a channel for the slaves and sugar. As for the fishermen and fishing boats, an announcement has been pasted on the territory; commoners who come willingly will get a discount from taxes…" Jacob reported deferentially.

"Good. Don't worry about the finances. Steve's little treasury should somewhat be enough for the initial investment. Father has already to let me use everything…" Before handing the slave over, Leylin had naturally squeezed out all the value that Steve had left and obtained his precious wealth.

He'd also learned of the locations that had treasured buried in them. Pirates usually used gold which was a stable currency, and the habit of hiding it on barren islands.

It all added up to around a thousand gold coins, which was enough early money. There would be more money required near the end, but Leylin had already prepared Isabel and the pirates for that.

"Slave trade? I'll need slaves that are proficient at carpentry and masonry. I don't mind if they're pricy…" The Dambrath Kingdom was expanding into the seas, and numerous barren archipelagos were found.

There were many natives, tropical forests, minerals, primordial creatures on the islands. Of course, there were also many diseases and death. As the commoners of the continent rarely agreed to follow their master and find new land, slaves were essential if one wanted to completely develop an island.

Marquis Louis of the Baltic archipelago was the one with the most profits from the trade. He had a tremendous supply chain that had deals with pirates and its own slave hunting outfit.

Untrained slaves were naturally the lowest class, and could only be used in wrestling rings or as sacrifices to gods. Once they were tamed, natives would be worth twice as much, and if they could plow land or had skills with carpentry and masonry, the price would keep going up.

However, they were still the lowest of the low. High-grade slaves were actually Professionals, or gorgeous women who had gone through special training. Every one of them could be sold in the continent for an astronomical price!

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Pirates

"Slave trade, hehe…" Leylin snickered. While Marquis Louis' business was focused on the slave trade, Leylin wouldn't believe that the Baltic archipelago wasn't involved in the sugar trade and the like. At the most, they would be side businesses is all.

He knew very well that if he was successful in forming a supply chain with this, his profits would be massive! It would bring about a lot of envy and hatred, causing conflict with Marquis Louis.

However, even if he didn't delve into these two very profitable businesses, the Faulen Island wasn't going to be ignored anyway. What was the point of trying to get along with them?

As he was speaking to Jacob, a group of slaves were rushed along to the beach by his soldiers, accompanied by carriages of food and the like.

"Jacob, let's go and take a look as well." Leylin brought Jacob to the front of the group.

"Young master!" The soldiers bowed, and the slaves lowered their heads, peeking at their future master with humble eyes.

"Are these… the natives of the outer sea islands?" Leylin knew that most of the slaves traded in the outer seas were natives. In fact, the higher grade ones were picked out and sent back to the mainland. Transporting slaves from the mainland to the outer seas was expensive, and slave traders would be satisfied if they didn't make a loss with such a thing.

The natives here were very short, coming up to Leylin's shoulder at the tallest. Most did not have any clothing, revealing their thin limbs and tanned skin. It reminded Leylin of chimps.

"Young master, there are a total of twenty slaves. With three of them being carpenters and another two stonemasons, it comes up to a total of 321 gold coins…" In reality, the price of these stonemasons and carpenters probably took up more than half of the total price.

"Mm…" Leylin nodded. Even this slight amount had caused him to spend a portion of his recent profits. Relying on slaves in order to build up the business he was thinking of was a pipe dream, Leylin wouldn't put his hopes on it.

"Your mission is to build a camp for me here. Of course, fences are necessary as well." Leylin naturally did not understand the language of the natives, but that was no issue for wizards. Comprehend Languages could solve that. While these low-ranked spells could not analyse the languages of demons, the heavens, and all sorts of highly ranked languages of law, it would be more than enough for these natives.

After hearing Leylin's words, the group of slaves began to get restless.

"Quiet!" Leylin flicked his finger, and a ray of lightning shot out.

Pila!* As if something huge had happened, many of the natives crouched down or even knelt after the violent streak of lightning passed.

Rank 0 spell: Lightning Lure!

"As you can see, I am a wizard that possesses immense strength. These fully equipped soldiers will continue to monitor you, so don't even think about escaping or you'll all be hanged. On the other hand, if you're hardworking and complete your task in time, I'll give you a reward, and even dismiss you from slavery." Leylin's hands glinted with sparks, making him look like a god in the eyes of the slaves.

In reality, wizards had always been rare existences in the World of Gods; there likely weren't many even serving under Marquis Louis. This abnormal strength was the best way to terrorise these natives, having them believe he was a spirit of the elements or worship him like a god.

At this moment, there was a disturbance amongst the slaves. One of them who looked rather old crawled to Leylin's feet, kissing the ground. "Powerful being who grasps the power of lightning, Nunooker is willing to listen to your teachings and obey your commands!"

"Very good! Nunooker, you shall lead these slaves from now." They'd already been tamed by the trader's leather whips, so Leylin could understand this situation. Whatever it was, the first ones to surrender their loyalty to him would be rewarded.

Nunooker was elated and he kowtowed again and again, "Esteemed master, Nunooker will definitely manage your assets well."

"Mm… Tell them that those who are diligent will have enough black bread and fish soup." After taking care of these matters, Leylin retreated to his own room. He just had to give the slaves a general idea, they would do the rest. The remaining bit would be left to Jacob to handle.

The first thing the frenzied slaves built were a few simple and crude houses. These would be their temporary residences as they built to the plans that were created by Leylin, making good use of every inch of land here.

Night fell. Having stuffed themselves with black bread, mushy fish meat and seaweed soup, the slaves slumbered deeply. In their eyes, someone like Leylin who possessed extraordinary strength yet was benevolent enough to let them eat well was a good master that was hard to come by.

A few soldiers patrolled next to the slaves' accommodations, swapping out from time to time. While it wasn't likely that the slaves would escape, Jacob had still arranged this.

In the deep, quiet night, the soldiers huddled around a bonfire. They looked listless, their eyelids about to fall shut at any moment. None of them noticed that their young master had left.

Fly! Leylin's body soared into the air, flying at a speed of 60 feet a second. He quickly left the vicinity of the camp.

"I can finally fly, but it's so slow!" Having grasped rank 3 spells, Leylin now had the ability to fly again, but the speed was not enough to please him.

In reality, wizards that could fly not only possessed the ability to quickly leave the battlefield in dire situations, but also to turn into death gods in the skies. Since most troops lacked the ability to fend off aerial strikes, wizards could hover in the air and cast spells from above like a nightmare!

Under the bright white moonlight, the surface of the sea was clear and gleaming, having a cold aura. The deep sea was filled with dangers, and numerous sea monsters began foraging for food in the night.

A black pirate ship was still, anchored on the surface of the sea. A swordswoman with a black longsword was standing on the deck, clad in skintight armour as if in wait for something.

Whoosh!* A dark shadow slowly appeared by the horizon, and then turned into a human figure.

"Cousin Isabel, Robin Hood!" Leylin landed on the deck and acknowledged the two.

"Kid, why are you only just getting here!" Isabel whined, though there was no trace of discontent in her expression.

"Young master!" Compared to her, Robin Hood was more respectful. After all, a wizard that could fly had immense destructive power when above the sea. Robin Hood knew this very well.

Most of the times, such wizards could send their opponents on their way before the ships could even line up with each other for battle.

"Call all sailors to deck!" Leylin commanded. Followed by a disturbance, numerous sailors gathered together. Amongst them were guards originally from the Faulen Family, although most of them were Black Tigers.

Now, however, all that was left in their eyes was fear, and their numbers seemed to have lessened. Leylin scanned the area, and Isabel lowered her head with burning cheeks. Robin Hood stood out, "Young master, in order to tame the pirates, we had no choice but to kill a few people to set a precedent…"

'That's probably not all…' Leylin glanced at Isabel but did not pursue this further. All he needed was for these pirates to be obedient anyway.

Leylin's eyes scanned the crowd. He then announced, "I have gathered you now because I'm planning to establish a private raiding fleet!"

It seemed like these people had already had their suspicions. They accepted the truth calmly, and the eyes of Robin Hood and a few others even flushed red with desire.

There were few truly good men who accompanied Baron Jonas to the barren island as he developed the territory. His companions had likely done all sorts of things in their free time, including playing at piracy. They might even have had the baron's tacit approval and support/

Leylin made plans for the family of those who had been guards to move to his camp. This would allow him to care for them, and control the spread of the news. While it was impossible to hide this for long from the baron, things would have all been done by then and he could do very little to interfere.

As for the pirate slaves, loyalty, justice and things like that didn't compare to money for them. As long as Leylin achieved victory after victory as he led them to gain wealth, they wouldn't mind even if their leader was a demon!

Of course, his subordinates now were a standard mob, and Leylin urgently needed a victory to stimulate them.

'On top of that, I need to maintain my reputation, and I'll need to disguise this Black Tiger ship. At the very least, I'll need some remodeling…' Leylin stamped the deck under his feet.

"Don't call me young master in the future. Call me Captain or Sire, is that understood?" he commanded. While it sounded dreadful for a noble to partake in piracy himself, it was nothing new. However, he still needed to maintain a reputation. He couldn't do such things openly.

If Leylin were to be killed during a raid, the baron could not take revenge openly, and at most, do something in private.

"Yes, Captain!" Robin Hood quickly reacted.

"Good! Weigh the anchor! Set the sail! Let us plunder everything!"

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