March
‘Cassley… I’ll remember this!’ Leylin obviously wasn’t someone who’d take a blow lying down. Everything Cassley had done to him would be returned tenfold, even a hundredfold! Wasn’t everything possible in times of war?
……
As the cold wind whistled, a small team slowly set out from the gates of Silverymoon, radiating a solemn atmosphere. Although they know that the journey was perilous, they could not escape their orders. Such was the sorrow of enlisting in the army.
“Rafiniya, knights can’t be mounted in the Moonwood. There are too many trees and brambles…” Aulen was still telling Rafiniya about things she should take note of.
“Don’t worry! My skill is passable. I don’t need to work together with a warhorse…” Rafiniya patted her black sharkskin scabbard, looking relaxed.
Mounts were usually half the strength of many high-ranked knights, but things were different with Rafiniya. After her previous experiences, she had deliberately trained herself in this area. She still retained much of her original strength even without a mount.
She was on a completely different level when compared with those who could only become heavy-armoured fighters once they lost their horses.
“That’s good… Let me introduce you to the main forces of the troops!” Aulen exclaimed happily while introducing her to the rest of the men.
“You already know Leylin, our wizard. That is our scout captain, the thief Lanshire…” Aulen pointed towards a slender figure wearing tight-fitting clothing with half his face covered.
“Then there’s the brothers who lead our warriors, Ogg and Otto.” As the defensive forces in the team, Ogg and Otto had sturdy muscles and carried halberds, claw hammers and other heavy weapons.
Behind them were almost twenty elite warriors wearing steel armour like chainmail. They were rank 3 warriors or greater, and could be considered rather strong.
“Hello!” Ogg and Otto smiled and greeted her. Their expressions were very innocent, a stark contrast to their insanity in battle.
“And then there’s our healer and the beauty of the team, the cleric Jinx!” Aulen approached a blonde girl. She wore white cleric robes, and sat on a white horse summon.
“Sister Aulen… don’t tease me. What do you mean by beauty…” Jinx blushed slightly. With her cascading golden hair, she had a calm aura.
“We used to be a team of 50, but due to a bitter fight, tens of our men died. We haven’t had the time to replace them…” Aulen brought Rafiniya to take a look at the team, looking desolate and regretful. Even she did not dare bring in new friends when they were about to carry out a dangerous mission, not to mention that there could be spies in their midst.
“Rafiniya, you’re a knight. As usual, you will be assigned two servants and four grooms. Every month, you’ll receive an extra salary for them. Don’t hesitate to report your name,” Aulen waved her hand generously.
“I only have four servants. Sister Aulen, just do what you need to…” Rafiniya answered without care. With her background, she naturally did not think much of the allowance from the army. However, for many commoner knights, this was great wealth.
In order to get more gold coins, commoner knights did not mind reducing the number of servants and grooms while still earning the same amount. Leylin could not help but sigh— embezzling money by adding nonexistent servants to the payroll was a common situation everywhere, it seemed. It didn’t need to be specially taught.
“Alright then. We’ll treat it as two servants and two grooms…” Aulen watched Rafiniya attentively, but discovered she was not acting strangely. She could not help but shake her head, feeling ashamed of her thoughts.
“Oh look, are those goblins?” Rafiniya’s mind was obviously not on this matter, and her attention was already on something else.
There were a few green-skinned creatures in the wilderness, looking exactly the same as the goblins Leylin had seen before. They were staring at the group greedily but did not dare charge forward, seemingly timid and afraid.
“Yes. Don’t worry, they wouldn’t dare attack fully-armed human troops…” Aulen exclaimed, and then watched speechlessly as Rafiniya urged her horse to go forth. She then looked towards Leylin, who shrugged his shoulders helplessly.
“Alright, I finally understand why you had such a reluctant expression when introducing Rafiniya to me…” Aulen urged her horse to Leylin’s side and rolled her eyes.
……
Though the journey was more fun with the lady knight Rafiniya, they were now increasingly closer to the Moonwood. The atmosphere in the group grew increasingly solemn.
Night came, and tens of tents were erected in the army camp. Heaps of bonfires were ignited in an orderly manner, with simple army rations cooking above them. Leylin had opened a can and poured solid fish floss into the boiling soup.
“It’s fish floss! I often ate this while travelling in the south!” Rafiniya, who was seated beside Leylin, twitched her nose.
“Is that so?” Leylin smiled slightly, not revealing that he was the master of the supply chain. Due to the location and matured supply chain, the church of wealth hadn’t left the Faulen Family alone in its work. They’d invested in them to gain most of the ownership rights to the fish floss.
With the support from their tremendous wealth and network, sales of fish floss had extended to the north in a few years. It had even become the required army rations in Silverymoon, which made him feel rather honoured.
While imitations had begun to appear in the market, the quantity, scale and techniques could not compare with the shrine of wealth. Hence, the profits would be maintained for a long time. Leylin received these updates as the family sent him money every year.
Although he was improving himself, Leylin hadn’t relinquished control of his family and other organisations. Becoming a Legend, or even a high-ranked wizard would be enough for him to do as he pleased in the World of Gods, but his goal wasn’t just personal improvement.
He wanted to become a god, and personal strength wasn’t enough for that. Even the great gods who were high above needed support from followers.
‘Actually, the rules to become a god in the World of Gods aren’t that strict…’ With Leylin’s foresight, he could obviously see through many things, ‘If I become a new god, it will be easier to get support from the world origin force. A thousand pious believers are enough to support the birth of a new god. It’s the old ones facing more trouble. They need to expand about tenfold, and can easily become enemies to other gods with similar roles…’
Leylin’s eyes glinted, ‘Of course, there’s an easier way to become a god; through luck! If I I manage to obtain divine power crystals as well as the godhood of a fallen god, it would be easy to become one… But even after becoming one that way, I would still be a mortal. Resurrecting as a god will not be a certainty…’
Leylin actually thought little of these gods that had gotten lucky. Comprehension of the powers of laws could not be completed in a day. Even high-ranked Legends may not be able to fully comprehend the power of laws, much less those who had once been regular people.
It was like using a child’s strength to brandish a huge hammer. The result would be obvious.
Of course, Leylin was different. His main body had the experiences of a near rank 7 Magus and assistance from the A.I. Chip. If he ascended to godhood with weak divine power, it was still possible for him to embrace and support it.
‘It’s a pity… Something as good the heavens granting divinity no longer exists… The gods will never be forgotten. Even if they die from unnatural causes, godhoods and divine weapons will still land in the hands of the gods that killed them. It can’t be given to others…
‘Comprehension of another law like this will only pollute my path…’ Leylin looked incomparably grim. He was still a Warlock at heart, and followed the path of Magi. Rank 7 Magi needed to completely grasp the power of one law, and rank 8 Magi needed to comprehend multiple laws.
Only by finding their own path and smelting the power of laws into oneself would a person find themselves at the peak of rank 8, peering into the realm of rank 9. With a rough idea of the path, Leylin wasn’t willing to mix in more laws.
‘Unless it’s a law of divinity that I need, even should a godhood with powerful divine power dangle before my eyes, I won’t pay it any mind,’ Leylin gave a deep sigh.
“Heh… what are you thinking about?” His expression naturally aroused the interest of Rafiniya beside him.
“I’m wondering when this fish soup will be done.” Leylin shook his head. If he were to tell the female knight beside him that he was considering becoming a god, she would definitely think he was a lunatic. Someone who wasn’t even a rank 15 high-ranked wizard dared say that he wanted to become a god? Even those Legends did not have the guts to do so!
“Mm, almost there.” Rafiniya breathed in deeply. She obviously had more experience from before, and seemed to have some culinary skills.
“My apologies for bothering the two of you!” Jinx came over at this moment, her pure white robes gliding across the grass. She radiated a sense of exceptional beauty.
“Captain Aulen told me to notify all officers who are squadron leaders or higher to come to the central tent immediately…”