At this moment, Leon and Snox were secretly conversing in a room behind the Goblin shop.
"Sir, these are the crystal cores and the information you requested." Snox respectfully offered a leather pouch. Inside, it was filled with the items Leon needed. There was also a knowledge crystal within the pouch—this was the specific information Leon had asked to be collected.
Leon lifted the knowledge crystal and ced it against his forehead. The chip''s voice resonated in his mind.
"Beep, external data port detected. Awaiting host instructions. Allow data transfer?"
"Allow!"
"Beep, instruction received. Initiating data transfer..."
A blue light flickered at the bottom of Leon''s ck pupils. In mere seconds, he had recorded all the contents of the knowledge crystal into his mind. The chip took over the organization and processing of the data.
Having dealt with the knowledge crystal, Leon opened the pouch. Inside were all sorts of crystal cores of various attributes and grades. From the mostmon Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire cores to rarer attributes like Darkness, Nature, Poison, and Light, everything was there. The grades of the crystal cores ranged from Beginner to Pseudo-Mage. Nearly every type of crystal core could be found inside.
Unfortunately, the only thing missing was Mage-grade crystal cores.
Leon had expected this oue. Not surprised, he quickly counted the items before storing them in his bag.
Apprentice-level golems were no longer as useful to him as they once were, now that he had be a Mage. However, in certain special situations, these low-level golems could still prove extremely powerful. That was why Leon was gradually gathering the knowledge he needed while slowly building his golem army.
His understanding of Mages during his time as an apprentice had been overly narrow and simplistic. In his mind, pseudo-Mages were apprentice Mages whose Spirit had reached 20 points, and newly advanced Mages were simply casters with 21 points in Spirit!
But now, after that risky and perilous breakthrough, he too was a Mage. Only now did Leon grasp the stark difference between a Mage and an apprentice.
Bing a Mage was not just a simple increase in Spirit from 20 points to 21 points. It was a process ofpletely altering the nature of the spirit''s origin. Before his advancement, he had 20 points in Spirit. After the advancement, his Spirit points were drastically reduced to 0.9 points.
This did not mean his Spirit had decreased. Rather, it signified that the fundamental means of calcting status for a Mage and an apprentice were entirely different. The character and status model for an apprentice was based on the physical data of an average adult, used as aparison point for an apprentice''sbat strength. Mages, on the other hand, were pseudo-magical beings.
Magical beasts and monsters in nature would form a crystalline substance at the center of their bodies based on their innate talents. This allowed them to control the Elementium floating around them more easily. Mages, in a way, mimicked this process, albeit with some clear distinctions.
Crystal cores were physical material objects found within creatures. Once killed, these could be retrieved from their bodies. However, a Mage''s consciousness core existed in the spiritual realm. The core was akin to a virtual and abstract form of the Elementium crystal cores.
Even if someone managed to kill a Mage, they would not be able to obtain a crystal core. Yet the consciousness core was something that undeniably existed. Every Mage relied on it to control Elementium more quickly and easily.
If the Spirit standard for newly advanced Mages was 1, Leon had not yet reached it. His Spirit was only at 0.9! This was rted to the fact that he had not advanced through the usual advancement ceremony. Given enough time for his vtile spirit to settle, Leon would eventually reach the standard of 1.
During his month in Feidnan City, Leon repeatedlypared the differences between Mages and pseudo-Mages. If the Spirit limit for a pseudo-Mage was 20 points, then 1 point of a Mage''s Spirit was roughly equivalent to 100 points of a pseudo-Mage''s Spirit.
Setting aside factors like spiritual intimidation, Mage equipment, Mage knowledge, and casting techniques, this meant that a single Mage could match 5 pseudo-Mages in terms of Spirit strength. Without any limitations, an experienced Mage could easily defeat 7 to 8 pseudo-Mages.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Mages will always be Mages!
You would remain nothing more than an inferior species in the eyes of Mages until you reached the Mage grade. Most Mages would train and carefully nurture apprentices with potential, adhering to the principle of preserving the source of new Mages. But deep down, they would never see apprentices as their own kind or consider them equals!
Having obtained what he wanted, Leon didn''t linger in the shop. Instead, he returned to the Mage Tower located on the northern outskirts of the city.
The Mage Tower in Feidnan City was vastly different from the simplified tower in the swamp. This was the tower of a true Mage. The entire structure had 17 floors, each using a special method to expand its internal space. Its internal facilities wereplete and advanced. This tower was leagues ahead of the Swamp Tower in quality.
Despite the quality of the Mage Tower, few Mages resided there.
Apart from Second Grade Mage Fugen, there were three other First Grade Mages from the n. During Leon''s one-month stay, he could count on one hand the number of times he had encountered another Mage due to how few they were.
All these Mages had stubborn and entric personalities. If they weren''t hidden away in theirboratories conducting dangerous experiments, they were out gathering the knowledge and resources they needed. It was rare to see them casually wandering about. Furthermore, the Sarubo n was preparing for an internar war in six months. Even seasoned Mages risked death if they failed to make adequate preparations.
Thus, every Mage in the n was exceptionally busy!
Leon had grown familiar with the concept of internar wars during this period of adjustment and umtion. From what he had learned, these wars were an inevitable choice for any Mage n.
How does a Mage n rapidly expand? Internar wars!
How does a Mage n face rapid destruction? Internar wars!
These wars were both a path to glory and wealth for Mages and a nightmare that could drag ns into the depths of ruin.
A correct target and a sessful invasion of another world—when done right, the mountains of rare resources and precious arcane knowledge from another ne could allow a weak Mage n to rise swiftly to prominence. The n could easily use the resources and knowledge brought back to train and cultivate more and better Mages.
The new Mages produced from the resources of an internar war would then provide the opportunity and capability tounch a war in an even greater ne. Only through this cycle could a Mage n initiate a beneficial and enviable growth cycle, gradually strengthening and expanding.
But just as sess lies in these wars, so does failure.
If a Mage n became bogged down in an internar war, withrge numbers of Mages dying for little to no gain, it would deal a severe blow even to the mightiest ns. Falling into a cycle of slow development would be the least of their concerns. If an opposing or opportunistic n seized the moment to invade, the entire Mage n could faceplete annihtion.
Hundreds of Mage ns were scattered across the Zhentarim Association''s territory in the central region of the Mage Continent. Through means like marriages, alliances, and mergers, these ns formed various forces, both small andrge, creating aplex politicalndscape.
Each n, academy, school, or Mage alliance possessed exclusive lower nes.
The so-called lower nes were, in truth, small- to medium-sized nes still in the process of development. While their resources and overall strength couldn''tpare to a massive ne like the Mage World, they were still material nes withplete world structures and their own power hierarchies.
It wasn''t out of the question for these nes to be new massive nes if given enough time to develop. However, they would turn intombs for ughter if their nar world was discovered by Mages in the depths of the gxies. There would be no escaping their fate of being invaded.
The overall strength of the Mage World was at the pinnacle of material nes, as one of the rare giant nes in the infinite gxies. Mages would meticulously assess the overall strength of another material ne whenever they discovered one during their travels through the depths of the gxies. If there were any benefits to be gained, they would return to the Mage World to assemble an invasion force.
Giant nes rarely waged war against one another. The difficulty of invasion was exceedingly high, and the resources invested would not yield returns for a very long time. Thus, medium- and small-sized nes became the mostmon targets for invasions.
Strong medium-sized nes required the might of major forces like the Zhentarim Association, the Northern Witches, the Mages'' Association, or the Silver Union to stand a chance of a sessful invasion. However, amon Mage n was sufficient to conquer ordinary medium- and small-sized nes.
As a result, an important indicator of a Mage n''s strength was the number of nes they had invaded and how many resources they could extract from those nes annually. The coordinates of each enved ne were the most valuable assets of any n. They were guarded as the most critical secrets, never to be revealed to their enemies.
It was said that the Sarubo n possessed two small lower nes. However, both nes operated under the less profitable regional cooperation model. The returns were much lower than what full envement could provide.
The regional cooperation model was a system devised by Mage ns thatcked the strength to suppress internal rebellions within the invaded nes. To avoid further losses, the invading n signed agreements with the ne''s natives to trade with each other under the guise of regional cooperation and joint development.
Although the invading n had to use currency recognized by both parties to purchase resources, once those resources were resold in the Mage World, they still yielded very lucrative returns. The risk of war was significantly reduced by this approach, although it was not as efficient or profitable as outright domination and envement of the ne.
The Sarubo n was ranked in the middle of all the ns within the Zhentarim Association precisely because of these two small lower nes. The uing internar war was clearly aimed at bringing a third lower ne under the n''s control.
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Power Stones Campaign!
- 100 Power Stones = 2 chapters
- 500 Power Stones = 5 chapters
- 1000 Power Stones = 8 chapters
- 3000 Power Stones = 10 chapters
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Gift campaign!
- 20 Golden Tickets = 1 chapter
- Magic Castle = 5 chapters.
- Spacecraft = 15 chapters.
- Gachapon = 20 chapters.