"Ahhh, man! Now that was fun! The next card I'm exchanging for is gonna have to be the lowest level lowest rarity giant bird card I can find! Maybe something like [Tornado Bird] or [Eclipse Wyvern.]" Jaden exclaimed, as he broke away from Flame Wingman.
"For now though, I need to get my mana core untangled and respooled. I want to be fully prepared to start casting spells, in case I get lucky and find a spell or a teacher in my first town."
After summoning every one of his monsters and setting them up with either permanent positions or patrols, he went inside his tent and sat down to meditate on his mana core.
About an hour and a half later he finally finished his unraveling and nearly five hours later he had all of his unraveled mana spooled back up into a neat and orderly ball of magic thread.
Having finally accomplished his breakthrough into becoming a real mage, or at least as real as a mage can be without knowing any spells, he fell into his bed completely exhausted and slept peacefully all through the night.
-----
Jaden could not be seen sitting atop a magnificent red, white, and black wyvern that was soaring high up in the clouds, because who the hell could even see that far?
Despite not being able to be seen by the little ants on the ground, he was, nevertheless, riding quite gleefully upon the back of this wyvern called [Eclipse Wyvern.] It was only a Rare rated level four monster and so didn't require so many cards for exchange.
He had originally intended to go search for a Human settlement, the first thing in the morning after his breakthrough. However, after realizing that he could simply fly wherever he wanted to go, given a large, strong, and fast enough monster, he had spent the first half of that day flying with Shining Flare Wingman back to his old base cave.
After grinding for the rest of the day, he rested up in his base cave and grinded a bit more in the morning. Once he had purchased his modified version of [Eclipse Wyvern], that he had granted special Off Duty effects, he stocked up on a few more shadow cards, summoned [Eclipse Wyvern], and headed back to his estate.
It was currently the morning after that and he had already flown quite far in all directions trying to get a lay of the land. Now that it was closing in on noon and he had confirmed that the closest town was indeed to the west, that was precisely where he was now headed. He had already stuffed a money pouch full of Golds and tied it to his waist with his golden rope belt and, as such, he was more than ready to venture into civilization.
Looking down and seeing that he was nearing the settlement in question, he ordered his [Eclipse Wyvern] to come to rest a safe distance away from there, so as not to alarm the citizens.
Once they were back on the ground the wyvern brought its claw next to its neck so that Jaden could climb on. He then lowered his claw towards the ground making the act of dismounting quite easy.
He then summoned Shining Flare Wingman, hopped on his back, and had him sprint towards the settlement, until he was about 250 meters away. At this point, he recalled Shining Flare Wingman and walked the rest of the way, with his full [Royal Armament] equipped.
He had been able to tell from the sky that this settlement wasn't all that large. It wasn't what you'd call a village but more like a small town.
Whenever he arrived at the gate, he could tell that the guards looked nervous upon seeing his arrival.
"Good day, my lord! I hope you are well. Might I ask your name and your purpose for visiting our quaint little town of Parth?" The guard quickly blurted out, not at all relishing the thought of having to follow this procedure with someone who clearly either held great power or wealth or both.
He might not have witnessed every detail of this stranger's approach but, even if he hadn't briefly seen what he could've sworn was some type of dragon or wyvern, just this man's personal attire, the staff he carried, and overall bearing made his importance obvious for all to see.
"My name is Jaden Yuki. I'm a foreigner and I've traveled far to get here. I'm currently looking for a hot meal, a warm bed, and then perhaps someone knowledgeable from whom I might glean the information I desire."
Jaden had already confirmed earlier with Sprite that she was in fact translating this world's languages into English for him and vice versa, whenever he spoke with someone. Thus, even though many people living in this world may find it difficult to communicate with some foreigners, he personally would never have to worry about running into a language barrier.
"Yes, well, I do apologize, my lord, but it's my job to ensure that any foreigners are either held at the gate for further questioning or escorted immediately to the mayor's manse. Although, you needn't worry, my lord! I wouldn't dream of trying to detain you here but, if you could simply accompany me to the mayor's manse, so he might be informed of the situation?"
"Very well! I shall do as you say but try not to dilly dally. My time is valuable and I didn't come here for pleasantries and procedures." Jaden responded in an authoritative tone, that clearly brokered no negotiation.
"But of course, my Lord! If you would simply follow me, I'll get you there as fast as possible. Dorel," he yelled at one of the other men. "I'll be borrowing yours and Derrik's horses. This is urgent!"
'What the hell is some big shot foreigner even doing way out here in the sticks? And me of all people has to deal with his royal tight-assness. Geez, I just hope he doesn't cause any trouble. The last thing our town needs is to be the site of some international incident. Hopefully, he'll do whatever he came here to do and leave sooner rather than later.' The guard thought, as he helped the foreigner onto a spare carriage near the gate, quickly hitched up the horses, and sped away as quickly as he could without endangering any civilians.
Arriving at the Mayor's Manse, he swiftly dismounted, opened the door for the foreigner and led him to the front door. After updating the guard standing at the door and waiting for him to return with the Mayor's response, they eventually saw the front door open to reveal that the Mayor himself had come to the door to greet the foreigner.
"Ahhh, Lord Yuki, I presume! I am Mayor Joseph. A pleasure to make your acquaintance and welcome to our humble town of Parth!" Mayor Joseph greeted him with a perfunctory bow.
'What the hell is this person? Never in my life have I seen someone dressed like this man! Even some of the B-Ranked Adventurers that I've known have never had gear like this! Literally, each individual thing he's wearing looks like it would cost a small fortune to acquire! What the hell could someone like this even want in a small town like ours?
'God, I feel like this could be either extremely good for us or extremely bad! I need to make sure I handle this correctly or else… I don't even want to think about the alternative. Focus, Joseph! Just help this guy with whatever he came here for and hopefully he'll be on his way.' Mayor Joseph couldn't help but think these thoughts, even if he remained calm on the outside.
"Yes, I am he. And it's likewise a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mayor Joseph. However, I was told that this is some sort of procedure or another. I do hope it won't take long. I do have other matters that need attending, after all."
"Ahhh, yes, Lord Yuki, I simply need to ask a few questions. I'm told you are looking for a hot meal. Worry not, our hospitality is not lacking. I'll have the servants bring you whatever you desire and you can dine after we converse."
"Hmmm, I suppose that is acceptable. Very well, lead the way." Jaden easily responded, sounding every bit the part he was playing.
The Mayor brought him into a spacious room with a large table and offered him a prominent seat. Once they were seated, the servants arrived and made note of their requests.
As soon as the servants departed in order to prepare the meal, the Mayor addressed him, "So, Lord Yuki, might I ask from where you hail?"
"You may ask but you may not have an answer. I have no connection or other relation with my country of origin, other than it simply being the place where I happened to be born. My country of origin is of no consequence to me and as such should be of no consequence to anyone else. I do hope your hospitality isn't lacking, in regards to my desire for privacy."
"Uhhh, well, no, of course, it isn't. Umm, I also heard tell that you were here to seek information. Being the Mayor, I am obviously a knowledgeable man. I dare say more than most in this town, so perhaps I can assist in this matter."
"Yes, this had occurred to me as well and, although I had certainly considered it, I hadn't decided. However, since you're offering, then I won't hold back.
"Currently, I'm in need of geographical and political information. Don't get me wrong, you see, I'm a mage and my unique class requires that I fight in many battles in order to grow. If you have any nearby bandits or what have you, I could start with this but, ultimately, I wish to move on to larger cities in hopes of finding a battlefield, where I might test my limits and increase my power. Also, I seek to advance my knowledge of magic and so any locations of institutes of magical learning or research would be useful."
"Truly? I must say, I never would have taken you for an adventurer or a mercenary. A mage, that I suspected but, well, I don't suppose it truly matters. If this is all the information you require, then I should be able to help. Do you truly have no connections with your country of origin? If not, then you might consider becoming a citizen of our great nation of Relania. We could certainly use a powerful and curious mage such as yourself and our king is just and fair. What do you think?"
"Hmmm, no, being tied down to any individual or organization, no matter how just or fair, is oftentimes tedious and trying. I have my own path to walk and hindrances like political affiliations and family feuds would only slow me down. If I ever decide to build an organization of my own, then I'll worry about those things at that time."
"Well, if you are certain then I suppose nothing can be done but you should know that, as a foreigner, the amount of assistance that you will be able to receive in larger cities will most likely be much less than that of a citizen. While you may avoid a lot of trouble based solely on your status, you'll no doubt find more than most that are at your level normally would. Are you certain you won't reconsider?"
"Yes, I'm certain. I hear your concerns and they are well taken and appreciated, yet my will to maintain my own path remains firm. Thank you, for your advice!"
"I see. Well, in that case, allow me to retrieve the information you require. The food should be out shortly so rest easy until then." The Mayor gave a short bow, before leaving him alone in the dining room.
'Well, that went quite spectacularly, if I do say so myself! Hopefully, this food will be equally spectacular. After eating nothing but brutalized grilled beast meat for over half a year, I'm as ready as I've ever been for a real home cooked meal.
'One thing I know for sure, using my loot from those bandits to create the [Royal Armament] Spell Card was definitely the right move!'
The meal presented to him he found to be quite scrumptious and satisfied him greatly. After eating, he felt more physically satisfied than he had in many months. Of course, thinking about physical satisfaction got him wondering if this town offered another type of physical satisfaction.
It was about this time that the Mayor returned with the information that he had requested.
"I decided to let you eat peacefully
rather than disturb your meal. Now that you're finished, I've gathered this parchment here which is a general basic map of the Relania nation. This book contains a short history of our nation and its rulers and this parchment is a local map designating areas in the vicinity where bandit hideouts are suspected to be located. As for sites of magical learning, you'll most likely need to head to the Capitol. There do exist others in Relania but they're much further away.
"The book and local map you can take as a measure of goodwill, the region map, however, is six Golds, if you wish to take it away."
"Ahh, I must thank you, Mayor Joseph!" He said as he casually pulled six Golds from his pouch, handed them over, and placed his hand on Mayor Joseph's shoulder. "You've been most helpful. Other than Golds, I haven't much to offer in return. However, you can consider every one of these bandit gangs as good as dead, now that I'm on the job. You have a wonderful day, good sir, and thank you again for your hospitality!" Jaden finished, as he began moving towards the door.
"You're very welcome, Lord Yuki! Perhaps you'll come and visit us again sometime?"
"Perhaps."
'Whew, thank God that's over! It seems this may turn out to be quite fortuitous for our little hamlet after all. If he really can exterminate all of those bandits, our little town should be much safer, at least for a time.' Mayor Joseph considered, while watching Jaden exit his Manse.
Jaden strolled casually out of the Mayor's Manse, as if he had belonged there all along, and began making his way towards the inn that the Mayor had recommended to him.
He didn't really have much planned for the rest of the day and so he just strolled around town window shopping and familiarizing himself with the town's layout.
After making an early retirement for the night, he settled in with his maps and book and began expanding his knowledge of this world for a couple of hours before turning in.
The next day, he spent almost all his time doing nothing else besides reading the material given to him by the Mayor and practicing his Mana Manipulation.
On the following morning, he felt as though he finally had a decent understanding of his current environment and so decided to start clearing out these bandit camps.
This nation of Relania was actually quite small compared to other nations but it wasn't the only small nation. Many of the weaker nations' total land mass paled in comparison to the size of the strongest nations.
The reason these weaker nations didn't end up subsumed under the authority of larger nations was simply due to the power scaling of this world. With so little space between the lower levels of power and with lower ranked materials, and even people, being almost worthless in the eyes of stronger individuals, the stronger nations simply didn't put the weaker nations in their eyes.
These smaller nations acted almost exclusively as isolated areas where the various higher rank nations could draw additional citizens from, whenever someone ascended past C-Rank.
Every Rank from G-C was considered as Tier 1, whereas the five Ranks above that were Tier 2, and the five above that were Tier 3. Jaden had already encountered this Tier designation with his system. Although, it didn't have much effect on his current deck, since he didn't have any level ten monsters.
According to the system, if he wanted to summon Tier 2 monsters, he needed to have already summoned at least one Tier 1 monster and, in the case of Tier 3 monsters, he needed to have already summoned a Tier 2 monster.
Due to his lack of level ten or above monsters, his deck currently functioned more or less like a normal fusion deck.
The kingdoms in this world seemed to, likewise, be separated according to this Tier system. Thus, leaving very few, if any, higher Tier individuals in the kingdoms whose Tier was below those individuals's Tier.