[your mana core has entered beginner middle stage]
[your mana capacity has increased]
Rein fell to his bed all drenched in sweat.
"life. ... *pant pant*.. is not fair after all, 10 hours even using a catalyst I just improved a stage not to say I had to endure the pain of my intestine squeezing... *Pant pant*... Damn, I'm tired."
His eyes slowly shut as he falls into sleep.
However, he wasn't the only one cultivating his mana core through meditation. Jon who had felt annoyed at the fact that he couldn't endure just the prince's killing intent... 'if he had released his aura i'm sure I would've passed out.'
Jon was all drenched in sweat, he started not long ago but he was sweating more than Rein. He finally gives up and falls to the floor.
"damn... I'm just a step away from entering Superior level....guess I'll continue later. I have to take my sleep and wake up early"
Mana cores had levels and each level had 3 stages the more one ascended the more it takes to ascend, crossing between stages was easy but crossing between levels which is like crossing from the end stage of a level to entry stage of another level, was 10 times the pain felt when crossing stages. Jon who was about to cross from mana core advanced end stage to superior entry stage had gone through 40 times the pain that Rein went through in 10hrs... He had gone through it in 4hrs.
He was three levels away from Rein which was nine stages away. Indeed he was a prodigy but he knew he worked harder and better than everyone else, he never had the luxury to play with friends and gave himself solely to studying magic for the sake of raising the family name. He felt he deserved more than anyone thus he's pride was hurt when he found out Prince Neza and he are on par, or the prince could even be stronger than he is.
.... ¬
With the help of Lewis, Matayoshi has been able to surpass every knight in the kingdom, he was one of the three Lewis had managed to fully utilize and was on par with the Commander, even though no one dared to speak it out. Even Matayoshi registered under a Baron's household, he still wasn't a noble, and being a knight doesn't guarantee being a noble, however, nobles that are knights can rise to the position of even the general army commander, thus the rise in Matayoshi's status ranking was limited, however, he kept growing in power by the time he was sure that by the time he had completed his second body enlightenment and finished his second class advancement quest, he would be able to surpass the knight commander.
Nevertheless, He and the Commander were good friends, and it was all Lewis plan to have him become good friends with the knight Commander for this very moment.
"uhh, Mata...
" Matayoshi "
" haha don't mind me, that's a weird name you've got. "
The muscular knight laughed, he's thick masculine voice was intimidating. "well you look very serious, what do you want me to do for you?"
"This might sound very crazy but it is for the future of this kingdom" Matayoshi said as he took a breather.
"hmm" The knights' Commander's smile disappeared, he gave Matayoshi a serious look as if telling him, 'if you pass your boundary you'll get killed'. He then said, "Okay, I'm all hears"
"I have a master, he may be small but don't see him like that. He asked me to deliver a message to you."
The knights Commander folded his arms and continued to listen,
"he said he knows how to get into Minglewitch"
The knight Commander flinched and in a second and disappeared from where he was sitting and was immediately was in front of Matayoshi,
Matayoshi's eyes widened
" concept of fl...."
he grabbed Matayoshi by his collar and threw him away, Matayoshi smashed his back against the wall, breaking it,
[you have received 7651 damage]
[your health has fallen below 50%]
[you have entered stun state]
[defense buff shield has been activated]
* 70% of attack will be defended
* have a 60% chance of ignoring target defense during counterattacks.
Matayoshi coughed up blood before he could catch his breathe The knight Commander closed in the distance quickly ran towards him, he grabbed him by the neck and raised him,
"who is this your master and how does he know about that place?!"
"ugh... d... do you m.. ean ..... minguu..."
-POW-
he received a punch on his face.
[you received 416 damage]
[damage was totally defended]
"don't say the name!!"
Clap! Clap!!Clap!!!
"as expected of the knight Commander you're strong... Very strong"
A voice came in from the door of the room he had smashed Matayoshi into, the door opened and the image of a young grey-haired boy with big round spectacles unleashed itself.
"are you his master?"
"I presume so...", Lewis smirked.
Immediately the knight drew his long sword from its scabbard and dashed towards Lewis, however...,
Matayoshi who had been down, appeared in front of Lewis and crossed the dual sword he quickly equipped in order to have a good base of speed movement. He successfully blocked the knight commander's sword, the Knight Commander bounced back.
"Are you okay Lewis-sama" Matayoshi asked while huffing bit by bit.
"Yes I am and can you stop using those your Japanese honorifics yamamoshi"
"it's Matayoshi..."
"Mamamoshi"
"Ma... ta..."
"shut up I'll pronounce it how I want to"
"but it's my name..."
Lewis who didn't even falter a bit when the knight Commander attacked, he walked forward ignoring Matayoshi who was in despair of having his name called wrong.
'uhh... Matamoshi didn't have a sword on him.. I've heard of earthlings being able to draw their weapons from space... is this it?.. He also defended that attack just now and didn't feel the weight of its power, instead, I was pushed back.....that speed also.. . so is he as strong as I am?'
"Why don't you just calm your ass down and listen to me mister commander" Lewis said.
Lewis has been investing a lot in his dignity stat and his presence in a place was beginning to feel genuine.
The command relaxed his shoulders a bit and stood straight, putting the edge of his sword on the floor and resting his hands on the tip of the handle, his very stance showed he was not a joke and his presence was much greater than Lewis'.
"I'm all ears", The thick voice vibrated the air.
"I'll let you into Minglewitch"
"how do you know about that place?" the knight commander asked.
"I'm a sage... I also know that the reason why you want to go there is to learn the teachings of my predecessor, the teachings everyone criticized"
The commander's eyes widened for a moment and relaxed.
"so you must know who your predecessor is to me"
"I know she was your wife"
A warm smile appeared on the commander's face,
"she was killed and cast out because of her teachings and I couldn't protect her because of my duty to the kingdom... However her stories told of how great she was, how she had united people and settled wars, it was 20 years ago... However she died left all her legacies and teachings in a place called Minglewitch... I worked hard to find the place, however, my subordinate raided the place and stole a lot of her legacies to sell it, after that Minglewitch the cave of knowledge concealed its appearance from everyone...however here you are telling me you're a sage like her... "
" Wait a minute "
Lewis interrupted...
"Her legacies and teachings are still in the Minglewitch I'm talking about...."
"... What do you mean.. I saw it raided... Are there two Minglewitch."
"the Minglewitch I'm talking about was built by your very own wife."
"... What?! the Minglewitch I found was the birthplace of the first sage... What is going on?"
Just then a notification pops up in front of Lewis.
[First class advancement quest updated]
* You have found out about another Minglewitch which was the birthplace of the very first sage Meryon who was an elf, however this Minglewitch can move and will move when its location is threatened, find the location of this Minglewitch, and claim the legacies of Meryon.
* Quest reward: First class advancement class Three-eyed raven (legend rated), new skills, +4 levels.
* No time limit.
Lewis laughed out loud, finally, he was progressing with his class, he had hoped to find out something from the commander whose wife was a sage but he didn't know he'd get a class advancement quest so quick.
The commander stared at him
'I knew sages are weird but this one is crazy... Laughing during an important discussion'
"forgive me commander for laughing out this loud during an... In.. por... tant discussion"
The commander flinched
'can he read my mind....?'
Lewis smiled,
"well commander the Minglewitch I know was built by your late wife, it was also where I became a sage, however, the Minglewitch you found was another thing entirely... I'll share you the location of your late wife's Minglewitch for a favor"
"haaa... Of course, you are a sage after all, just so you know my wife's teachings were despised by the kingdom, therefore sages are despised... So what do you want?"
'of course, I know besides, I'm not planning to walk that boring part your wife walked'
"I want you to create a private meeting for me and the king." Lewis said with unfeeble confidence.
The commander pointed his sword to Lewis, "I have a duty to protect this Kingdom and its king no matter what, I'll give my life if I have to."
"all the more reason you should start preparing the meeting because... I am this Kingdom's salvation", Lewis grinned.
The Knight Commander puts his long sword back in its scabbard and smiled.
"I see you are not planning to work the same path as Letricia, follow me"
[your affinity with the knight commander Kuvur Asgersen has increased by +50]
Lewis looked at his notification emotionlessly as he and Matayoshi followed the broad huge back with fluttering blue clothing tied to the shoulder of his armor.
... ¬
The palace was extravagant but it was nothing much to the imperial meeting hall of the Forgan Empire.
"my liege!!!"
"What is it Kuvur?"
The fact that the king addressed the knight commander by his name meant that they had a very close relationship.
"Pardon me for my intrusion!!"
"does it have to do with these strangers?"
"yes, my liege?"
"first of all..."
The king that was well rested on his silver throne with golden footstool sat upright, he was old but energetic his white beard was neat was braided together like that of a Viking, it wasn't too long it reached the end of his neck.
"How have you been doing these days... With war lurking around I might need your great skills again, yet I feel so guilty that I am the reason you live your life alone without Letricia." the king said.
"You need not blame yourself my liege it was my decision not to follow her"
"haa... She was a great woman filled with endless knowledge... Well, enough reminiscing... How may I help you?"
Lewis stepped forward and went on his knee.
"your majesty, first I'll say to you today three things, you might want to write them down as these are the things that will change the future of our kingdom."
The king respected people's opinions, King Marsdon Mendenhall VIII was not like many others, he wasn't a powerful skilled king but he was a wise and humble king, he knew how to make the best decisions for the kingdom.
He signaled his hand to The Knight Commander.
"he looks serious, if you don't mind can you write down whatever he'll say"
The knight commander ran to the far edge of the left side of the king's throne to pick a paper and ink pen. It was thrilling for Matayoshi to see his great Knight commander run around like a clerk.
Lewis continued, "First I'll say..... The Euphoria Kingdom will not be joining the coming war."
The king smiled, "young man I like that you are working hard for the kingdom..."
"I am not through my lord."
The Knight commander glared at Lewis, he was about to draw his sword when the king signaled his hand to him, he then stopped. What Lewis had just done was a great disrespect to the king and anyone could've been beheaded for it, but the fact was that even Lewis hated being interrupted when he was explaining something.
Matayoshi smiled and blushed as he saw his cool master's dignity as he lashed out at the king indirectly for interrupting him.
"Second, the Euphoria Kingdom will be leaving the Azure Empire alliance and will also be claiming the mineral cave."
Everyone glared but no one talked, indeed Lewis was a sage skilled in controlling the atmosphere around him... He then said the last thing which dropped the mouth of everyone, even Matayoshi thought his master is crazy.
"Euphoria kingdom shall become Euphoria Empire and the youngest Prince Maximillion Mendenhall shall become the First Emperor"
The king burst out laughter, the Knight commander looked at Lewis with the face of 'I'm amazed of how stupid you can be'
"How are you going to do all this? And what do you want?"
"As for how I'm going to do it let's start with how I'm going to stop us from going into the Forgan-Azure Empire war...I'm sure you too have found out... and as for what I want, that is a story for another day"
"ooooh... You really are something?... How did you know about that?"
"I just did a little thinking that's all"
The knight commander who was one of the many that thought the alliance would be fighting the Culin Empire was lost in the conversation.
".... A little thinking huh..." the king smiled.
The knight commander moved near the king.
"he's a sage like Letricia....but I think the path Letricia has refused to walk in the path he wants to walk."
The king's eyes widened with joy.
"Finally... I'm being blessed by the gods... But note sage if your plan puts us in trouble even your life will not be enough to pay."
"I understand your majesty"
The king stood up and took the royal sword that rested beside the throne. The knight commander's eye widened.
"is he about to besto...."
"...are you still writing Kuvur?"
"yes my liege"
The knight commander quickly regained himself and waited to write what the king was about to say and do.
The king stood in front of Lewis who immediately went on one knee, he drew the royal sword, Matayoshi got in stance to use quick movement if the king would land the sword on Lewis's neck. But he was signaled by the knight commander to step back.
The king placed the sword softly on Lewis right shoulder,
"I Marsdon Mendenhall, eighth King of Euphoria Kingdom bestow upon you the office of prime minister and chief strategist, and I promote you from the status of baron to the status of a count''
He then placed the sword on Lewis left soldier, then put it back in its scabbard. Everyone was shocked at what just happened, the King majestically worked back to his throne and said softly
"I'm expecting a lot from you"
Lewis face turned grim as he saw the king back going to the throne
'greedy old man... He wants to use me to the very brim'
His notifications popped up.
[you have gained the title Prime Minister]
[you have gained the title Chief strategist]
[you have gained the title of a count]
[your nobility stat has increased by +200]
[you have opened courage stat]
[you have opened constitution stat]
[you have opened political power stat]
[you are the first earthling to hold two political titles in the real world, you have been rewarded by the god of politics]
[you have received a new RRR rating skill from the god of politics]
[the god of wisdom is amazed at your wiseness]
[you have gained +100 wisdom stat point and +50 intelligence stat point from the god of wisdom]
[the god of despair scoffed at you]
Unlike Rein who would've cursed, immediately at the ones he hated and blush at the ones he loved, Lewis scoffed and looked away.