Fran said in a grave voice, "You are a Magician, and you've always attracted envy. Now the Wise Ones all realize that Elemental Crystals are even more precious. Your ability to retain elements will cause trouble if discovered. Advance quickly, and once this war is over, you must become an Archmage."
Adrian sighed, "I fear that even becoming Legendary won't be enough to protect the Elemental Ore! Fortunately, both towers here have been built."
Fran said, "If Hill doesn't become an Archmage, his tower won't be of much use!"
Hill quickly said, "Grandfather, rest assured, I'm advancing quickly. I just wanted to solidify my foundation, so I held back a bit."
Adrian said frustratedly, "So why do Mages hate Magicians? Is this what you call advancing? It's as easy as drinking water!"
Hill said as a matter of fact, "That's why Magicians must hold themselves back! Otherwise, if the foundation is not solid, even reaching Legendary would turn one into a Magical Beast."
Adrian angrily ended the call, not giving Hill or Fran a chance to say goodbye. Hill felt he was going to be scolded again.
Hill decided he would advance when Prince William triumphs. The Elemental Spirits would be a level above him; by then, he could summon them in large numbers each morning, and with a valley full of Mage-level Elemental Spirits, there should be no problem: anyone sneaking into the valley would surely die!
After arranging the people Adrian had sent, Hill went back into solitary cultivation. Unexpectedly, just half a month later, Adrian resumed communication: the Old King had suddenly died.
With a tone full of schadenfreude, he said, "Edward has ascended the throne! That fool Charles thought that just because he was a Sky Knight, the Rose Church would definitely support him! He didn't expect Edward to be so daring, his Grand Knight son Ramsden formally received baptism and joined the Church, becoming a God-blessed Sky Knight. The Church was really generous with the direct-upgrade baptism!"
"Edward was always more cunning than him, and Charles's foolish temperament had offended many. With both sides having Sky Knights, Edward was bound to win!"
"In the end, Charles might merely receive the empty title of Duke, and that's only if the Church still needs him; otherwise, he'd be dead by now, wouldn't he?"
Hill asked, "Any news from Prince William's side?"
Adrian said, "We've got news much faster; Prince William doesn't have a High-level Mage by his side. Probably he won't know anything until the Border City is sealed."
Hill asked, "Why do you always forget that he is God-blessed?"
Adrian uttered, "Oh, William's maternal grandfather is still in that Border City, right? I'll go find out what's happening with the Spencer Family."
Hearing Fran interject, Hill listened as he said, "By the time you think of that, William will be marching back to the Royal Capital."
Not daring to say more, Adrian respectfully asked, "Teacher, you're back! Did you go out?"
Fran didn't pay him any heed but directly said to Hill, "I flew to the Border City first thing in the morning after hearing the news; Spencer has already let William's men in. Now they are guarding the internal direction of the country."
Hill asked, "Any movement from the other Sky Knights in the Northern Border?"
Fran replied, "This is an internal war among the Royalty, so unless they join the Rose Faction, they will not enter the fray. After all, no matter who wins, they will still need Sky Knights to guard the borders."
"So how many in the Rose Faction right now?"
"Among the six Marquises, only one has openly declared his devotion to the Rose and Scepter. But the Earls under them might also participate; this is a war of faith, and the Great Lords wouldn't dare limit their Lords. No one would dare offend the Deities."
Hill sighed and said, "So the only thing William can do is unify the Northern Border as quickly as possible."
Fran nonchalantly said, "If Edward is smart enough, he should placate Charles first and then take down William in one swoop. But if he goes after Charles first, the outcome later might not be so favorable."
Adrian interjected, "Edward's family, though cunning and crafty in their schemes, is narrow-minded and will certainly not spare Charles."
Fran said, "That's for the best. Charles has always been an invisible Crown Prince; despite his impulsive nature, he's just someone the High-level Professionals and Great Nobility couldn't be bothered with. Over the years, many have sided with him. If it weren't for the Church stabbing him in the back, Edward might not have won."
Hill said with a smile, "Luckily, grandfather left quickly. With the Church making its move, many will surely be involved. How is Helen doing now?"
Adrian responded, "The King has suddenly died. A Sky Knight has died just like that; someone has to be held responsible, and no one in the Royal Palace can escape.
"Those mistresses living in the Royal Palace are now confined in a small palace adjacent to it. Helen is no exception."
"Edward is the King now, and he hasn't let her go?"
Fran softly said, "Someone reminded Charles that Helen, who had been the Old King's mistress for over 20 years, is Edward's wife's sister."
Hill understood the implication: Someone played that hand very cleverly.
Fran said, "During this period, I'll go to the Northern Border every few days to check on things. You two should focus on your cultivation.
"If William unifies the Northern Border and Edward still hasn't moved his troops, Hill, you go ahead and advance!"
Hill quickly replied, "Don't worry, Grandfather."
Adrian interjected, "Hill, there are a few Mages coming to join from your teacher's side. Your Boen is lucky, he's preparing to advance just at this time. I've already let him pick a room inside the Mage Tower; after he advances, he'll officially take over the apprentices. He can't keep living outside the tower with the apprentices anymore."
Hill knew it in his heart and said with great gratitude, "Thank you, Uncle Adrian, for your help!"
Fran cut off their conversation and directly warned Hill, "You don't need to worry about this person anymore, just mind your own business. Even if he doesn't get promoted, I will let him manage the library.
If he proves himself, he can stay inside the tower and I will not mistreat him."
Hill stood up and said, "Thank you, Grandfather, he's already a Mage, I definitely won't interfere anymore."
Fran abruptly ended the communication.
Hill understood that from now on, he really could no longer inquire about Boen's affairs.
The Elemental Spirits summoned by Hill were becoming more numerous, filling the entire valley with elements of three systems. Apprentice Boen, who couldn't understand things before, always came to understand them after becoming a Mage.
Adrian would surely keep Boen very busy, leaving him no time to venture out to Hill.
Fran would not allow this person, who knew too many of Hill's secrets, to leave the Mage Tower casually.
Now, Boen only knew the secret that Hill was a Magician, which needed to be kept confidential. However, even if this secret were disclosed, it wouldn't be worth it for anyone to bother confronting Hill at the risk of offending Fran.
Hill wasn't actually worried, after all, the scattered Elemental Spirits, even if they stayed forever in Hill's Domain, would not cause the elements to converge and form ore veins.
And in the short term, the turmoil in Saral was enough to attract everyone's attention, as long as no one knew he could permanently summon an Earth Elemental tribe, he was quite safe.
Moreover, while Fran and the others believed that the God War would end in Saral, Hill did not agree.
This God of Time and Space could so easily summon 100,000 people, the World Will must have given him a backdoor.
If the World Will truly wanted to drive the power of the deities out of the continent, then this entire continent, not just the humans, but perhaps the elves and Magical Beasts too, would be drawn into the fire of war.
Hill did not understand what had happened that made the World Will prefer to reduce its own quantity of elements in order to drive out the power of the deities. However, he believed he would always be able to see the outcome, and by then, he would know the reason.
Hill walked outside the Magic Tower. Alice was indeed still playing with the Wood Elf.
Hill waved his hand to call her over.
Alice asked him, "What happened? It isn't mealtime yet, and it's rare for you to come looking for me."
Hill said directly, "The God War is about to erupt, don't go out recently. Tell Merkel, don't leave the domain at all costs. Don't give my grandfather a chance to silence you."
Alice asked, "Is it about keeping the Elemental Ore secret? I know Merkel's ore is special, but it's not large, does a Magister really need to keep it secret?"
"My dear Alice, great changes are coming to the world. You need to listen more to the voices of nature, not just focus on playing."
Alice said dejectedly, "Okay, okay, I'm just a cat, why do I have to worry about so many things?"
Hill smiled and patted her head, "If you don't want to attract trouble, for the coming years you must honestly stay within the domain, but you should hasten your training. Perhaps a hundred years from now, advancing will not be as easy as it is now."
Alice looked puzzled at Hill, but Hill could no longer say more. Nature would also tell these elves that time was pressing.
It's just that Alice, really just a cat. Besides matters of life and death, playing was most important. She might even choose to ignore the urging voices of nature.
In the end, Hill told Alice, "Tell Merkel to stash his ore well, and absolutely do not take it out of the domain."
Alice nodded silently.
Seeing that the little cat was already feeling a sense of urgency, Hill said no more.
He, who originally wanted to suppress the Archmage for a few more years, also had to hasten his elevation.
Advancing so quickly, he would have to stay longer at this level.
Before becoming a Magister, Hill must refine all the basics thoroughly, for he certainly did not want to have the chance to become Legendary, only to turn into a bear.
The continuous inquiries by Fran turned out just as they had thought.
Edward indeed made the first move against Charles. Even though the Noble Church and the Royal Church desperately mediated, Edward still wanted to drive out everyone in the Royal Capital who listened to Charles.
An enraged Charles took matters into his own hands from Helen.
He personally guarded the small palace where Helen's mistresses were held, vowing to extract evidence of Edward's patricide from their mouths.
During this time, William personally led men to arrest all members of the Noble Church in the Northern Border. Except for the Marquis Sky Knight who escaped with his family, all others were made prisoners underneath the steps.