it is kind of annoying, staying in this place. most people think of some kind of a grand hideout with a multiple floor dungeon or something fancy like that. it is a plain area, with a table and a place to store our weapons. the place has an annoying musty smell. the third emperor is many things, but a good builder is not one of them.
the only reason that he built these bases was to have a place to hide. to be honest, it is an open secret that the third emperor has hidden bases near the capital. nobody knows where though. it is not like they can search every nook and cranny of these places. just the surface in such a mountainous terrain is enough to take a lot of time and nobody has even touched the cave systems that exist in these places. some caves definitely have not seen humans for many millennia. it is a dangerous place, where, kicking the wrong rock could lead to disastrous effects in such a place.
that is another reason that the earth bullet is such a dangerous magic. it could have many side effects if used near the capital. having the capital sunk into the ground is not a very fun idea. heads will roll for such an offence and magic is something that is more common among the nobles. so there is that prejudice. they won't find the base of their own leader. anyway, I am waiting for the emperor's seal to collapse. inside is what I need. it is customised to my mana, so it will open, though it is taking time. it is a seal made by an ex-emperor, it is a powerful one and won't break in an instant. it leaves me wondering what exactly does the emperor have that he placed a seal and all. it is a bit extreme for that man, he is the most over confident of them all.
there is simply no chance that this place could be invaded. there are hundreds of such bases and each is hidden in a safe location. on top of that, this place is jam-packed with formations. any hostile move in this place and this place will be destroyed, with whoever inside it.
the seal will break in about ten more minutes, finally revealing the contents within. the kid is resting in the room above. if that kid was here, he would be killed. I rather have him as far from the third emperor as possible. the bloody mage, while powerful is more importantly someone with the power to rally the nobles.
the nobles are a relatively divided group. if they were united, I would rather not imagine the results. the nobles have the wealth and the knowledge, then the throne has its discipline and a common enemy to fight. the nobles with discipline if scary indeed.
(about ten minutes later)
I have finally opened the seal and seen what is inside. all I can say is that the third emperor has gone all out for this thing. I did tell you before that my bones have been made into weapons before. right in front of me are weapons, all shining white, with lines of blood passing through the weapons. I recognize these weapons and I am surprised that he is willing to give these weapons to me. it is after all the greatest shame to the nobles.
I still remember the one that created these weapons. it was a noble family by the name of ernikson and they dabbled in dark arts such as necromancy, totemic magic, sacrificial magic. those guys were particularly good at making weapons out of corpses. it was one of the major defeats I have faced in my life and the one that left me with healthy fear for the empire. there is a reason that I entered the phantom city. as I have said before, being sent to phantom city is considered to be a punishment.
anyway, these weapons had been made from my bones and flesh. thank god that I have regeneration or I would have really died. then again, without my body, there would be no interest in trying to use it to make weapons.
there are daggers, swords, an axe, and most importantly a bow.
each has a bloodline sealed in it. it will allow me to use some pretty interesting things to do with it. well, I can say that this is more useful than the book and the dagger that I used to use before. in terms of raw power, the dagger is better, but these weapons in front of me are more versatile and more importantly safer to use. they are made of my own flesh and blood.
(after some time of calming down. weapon made from my body, are quite useful and it was one of the more embarrassing secrets of the empire. I had expected them all to be destroyed already. )
I can't really stop myself from adoring these weapons. I can feel a very comfortable feeling just by looking at them. I don't know how they did it but I can feel that this flesh is not truly dead. one of the more practical effects will be that the weapons will regenerate, not being very easy to break.
anyway, I finally look at the remaining items sealed by the emperor here. I have a letter and a summoning seal. it is a magical form of the rune that could attract the third emperor. activating it will lead to me going to the emperor, which is going to be pretty annoying.
(activating the seal)
third emperor - so you have finally come here, have you kid. you have completely ruined my plans this time.
we are in a special place, I am in the third emperors palace. I am physically present in this place, which means that spell that the emperor used is a teleportation seal.
third emperor - it is not teleportation, little kid. you and your space magicians, always literal. what you are in is a very realistic illusion.
me - emperor, why have you brought me here. it is not like you to involve yourself so personally in these matters.
third emperor - I have my reasons, now stop wasting time and do your job. I have given you targets at a level you can handle.
me - but, emperor, why have you given back my weapons. I didn't even know I had them.
third emperor - little one, you are too weak. I can't have the monster die too early and I don't have the time to look for a replacement. now, now, it will be better if you leave now. I don't have anything else to say. just remember that the fate of the empire depends on you.
saying so, the emperor just disappeared. to those not used to the emperor it might feel rude but the third emperor never really talks to his soldiers. at most communication is done through letters. anyway, I have a lot to look at in this matter.
the list is detailed, as could be expected of the third emperor. he is a genius at what he does. I have nine targets to capture. while it might not seem particularly hard, each of those targets will be annoying. we have characters such as the pseudo princes. the name is given to the strongest person of an academy, who would become generals, honour guard members, and even future emperors. you could say they will be the future of the throne. at the same time, we have the young masters of the nobles. they are the strongest members of a noble family, at least in the younger generation.
you can understand just how protected they are going to be. leave it be, I don't have the time or the energy to explain something, that really can't be understood.
for now, I have a lot of other things to do. keep the kid in a place where he won't be able to cause any trouble.
speaking of the kid, it is another problem. I can't bring him with me on this journey of mine. he will be too obvious. I won't trust him with the third emperor or any of the emperors for that matter.
that leave me with only one place to send him, a place where he can hide somewhat safely and be under the watchful eyes of rock. I plan to send him to the husk of the dungeon that we brought to this side of our path. right now, nobody still remember it's existence. most assumed that we had collapsed it.
even I only kept it because of the weapons that place had. it would enough to equip as a small army and due to its hidden nature, I could modify it into my own base.
anyway, rock is the best person to teach self-control to this brat. he is the one with the most self-control I have seen in any person.
now, my only problem is how to send the brat to the dungeon. it is quite far away and the path between is full of warring soldiers. well, I could ask the nature alliance, but even that would be quite risky. the nature alliance hate the brat, his powers are too destructive. if I spin it the right way, I could have them help.
those guys are a practical bunch after all.
(after a couple of hours)
me - I thank you, representative, for allowing me to meet me again. I am not exactly in a presentable shape for now.
representative - I don't understand the magic of your kind. I won't ask how you achieved this, but you really should not be asking any favors from us. what evil have you brewed up in that city of yours?
me - not any evil, it is nothing but god mana from multiple gods. the enemy was too deep in our territory and I had to take the risk. I can't have another failure after returning from the phantom city. the throne is not as forgiving as you and I don't want to be on their bad side.
representative - well, we should have expected it when you made us make the wall. how did you even get god mana in this place? why are you asking us for more favours?
me - well, this is more important. I need you to deliver the one that wields the book of the bloody mage and send it to this location.
representative - you dare to ask such a thing out of us. my people are getting ready to kill him. I am supp....
me - I have a counter offer. what about this, I shall make a contract with you restricting the bloody mage from entering your lands, for five years. that sounds about right.
representative - he can enter our lands, but he must not use abilities beyond the sixth-page of the book in our lands.
me - why will he do that for the sake of a single safe trip. you will be able to exploit him too much then, can't you?
representative - then what about an alliance. we won't harm him as long as he does not use abilities beyond the sixth page. his abilities will be quite useful to our people. they hold the ability to heal as well.
me - that actually sounds reasonable. well, I will agree to it in place of the brat.
representative - well, I will have to leave then. this kind of decision is something that I will not be able to make. I will need to discuss this with the council.
saying that he left so quickly that it seemed as if somebody had set fire to his buttocks. this kind of agreement is something the previous bloody mages have done some times. the nature alliance is a simple force, they don't really have too much ambition and as long as they can guard their territory and themselves, they don't particularly mind helping their enemy and themselves. the nature alliance would try and make such kind of a deal in the future, they would find it many times harder to do so. at least the kid will be safe for some time.