The entire winter, under Fran and Adrian's strict supervision, Hill could only spend a lonely season within his domain.
He felt he had never longed for spring this much before.
The only major event in Hill's Domain was the gathering of Water Element and Wood Element into clans.
Initially sizing each other up, the elements quickly chose a clan leader. They felt quite aggrieved; after all, elements had virtually no concept of time. If not for external pressure, they would have given each other a long period to adapt, train hard, and finally select the most powerful Elemental Chief.
After all, a powerful Elemental Spirit could exist for millions of years. Even if their core strength was insufficient, the weakened and fading elements could still survive for tens of thousands of years.
Hill, no matter how powerful, couldn't outlive them. When Hill passed away, if his successor was not recognized by the elements, they would return to the Elemental World. Their clans were their lifetime reliance and their clan leaders, their eternal leaders.
Hill completely ignored their chattering. He was rather displeased himself!
To him, this was not good news at all. The Fire Elements within the domain were almost gone within a few days. The Gold Elements had also entirely moved near the mountains.
Ordinary people could not possibly live in such an extreme elemental environment. Hill had no choice but to give up on his last cook.
On the day he sent a few people out to settle elsewhere, Hill stood in his study, gazing out of the valley.
List comforted him: "Don't worry, Sir. Your puppets can already prepare hundreds of kinds of dishes."
Hill silently thought: "Have I been completely expelled from the human race?"
His dream domain once was Hogwarts.
Though a bit foolish, he really loved that fairy tale. Coming to this world, he had a powerful Mage grandfather and learned the world's most advanced Alchemy, giving him much confidence.
He envisioned building a Hogwarts castle, recruiting many young apprentices, and becoming the headmaster himself. He had even designed the small town around the castle.
Things rarely go as planned. Even though he had lived over thirty years in his previous life, remaining naive was normal; modifying his life plans quietly and humbly wasn't pitiable.
If he couldn't build a school, then so be it; fulfilling dreams from a middle phase wasn't a necessity.
If people around him had to leave, he sent them away on good terms. It's a common human sentiment to part ways amicably.
Even though William and the players' appearance pleased Hill, after all, Count Perast had fallen. Out of sight, out of dislike—seeing unpleasant people suffer was always satisfying.
Hill himself had also made quite a bit of money from the players!
Hill repeatedly comforted himself, but after sending off the last human from his domain, Hill still felt aggrieved.
No matter how beautiful the scenery outside or how capable List was, they couldn't console him: from now on, he was alone here.
Hill had never known he could be so sentimental; he had always considered himself a straightforward guy, rolling around construction sites.
But he couldn't help it. The desolate feeling of being left alone in the vast earth made him sigh deeply from within.
Hill silently told himself: "You are an emotional magician. This is innate. It is normal to occasionally liberate your nature as a magician."
Hill sat on the bay window, pressing his head against the glass, falling into depression.
List suddenly drifted by his side, asking in a floating tone: "Sir, are you lonely? Do you need to raise a nest of bears?"
Hundreds of alpacas ran through Hill's mind.
"List, do you want to die?"
"But my common sense tells me you need companions of the same kind. You wouldn't harm humans; bears would do, right?" List was extremely puzzled: "This environment is very suitable for Earth Bears here. They might even evolve into Earth Bears."
"Shut up, List."
"Yes, Sir."
Hill thought he had better remain calm, neither too happy nor overly sentimental. Unlike his past minor frustrations, the blow from his Tower Spirit was truly laughable and ridiculous.
Hill clutched his head and groaned. Was this self-inflicted suffering? He had designed the Tower Spirit's knowledge and personality himself; was he too reminiscent of his mother back then? This fancifully piercing tone, speaking the harshest words with the kindest voice—oh, he really didn't want to recall it.
It made him remember how his mother treated her single son in his thirties.
Never mind, he might as well boost his spirits and start training again.
Spring, come quickly!
The thunder of spring rumbled in the distant horizon as Hill's domain finally stepped into spring.
Nothing was as beautiful as spring—
Swaying grass grew taller, more beautiful, and lush;
The robin eggs, like small low skies, sang
Through the resonating woods, cleansing the ears,
Listening to its song felt like a lightning strike;
Pear blossoms and leaves glimmered and shone,
Brushing against the drooping blue sky; that blue was passionate,
So splendid; even the lambs couldn't help but frolic.
Hill lightly hummed the poem, accompanying Alice, who had trained the entire winter and finally came out to greet spring, as they walked in the valley.
Alice was extremely happy, reciting each line after Hill. She was finally at the same level as Hill.
For the Spirit of Nature, it was easy to elevate oneself, but sadly, Alice was a playful and lazy cat.
However, it was precisely because Alice was like this that she easily trusted humans. Her friends had stayed nearby for half a year, always hiding behind trees, watching Hill.
Hill didn't mind as long as they made the natural vows.
He understood why these little animals feared him. His two farms kept livestock for meat. Every few days, puppets would go to slaughter.
Hill didn't intend to give up his love for eating meat.
He only required that if any livestock awakened magic power, they were to be expelled from the farms: he could not eat animals that had gained sentience.
So far, besides one big-horned cow, only two pigs had awakened.
Hill preferred not to see them. While he could tolerate the cow, those two pigs would sneak near the Magic Tower every now and then, and Hill sometimes really wanted to throw them out of the domain.
"Hill, what's different in the Archmage stage for a magician?" Alice suddenly asked.
"No significant changes. In the first two stages of a magician, the number of spells one awakens doesn't change. Only the spell intensity doubles."
"Do magicians never chant spells? Sometimes I see you chant."
"I grew up with proper magister education, learning some spell usage. If you only rely on awakened spells, the outcome would be horrible, Alice."
"Alright, diligent Hill."
"Alright, lazy Alice. I have to go back."
"Goodbye, I'm going to see Merkel, I'm on the same level as him."
"Goodbye. Be careful not to get hit."
Alice rolled her eyes gracefully and scampered up a tree.
Hill returned to his study, waiting for Fran's contact.
Today was the Goddess of Agriculture's birthday, and celebrations were held across Saral.
And William was also announcing his big news today.
When Fran appeared, he was nearly in a panic.
"The Space-Time Cathedral has teleportation arrays! All of them!"
"Ah!"
"Saral citizens can use them for a fee!" Fran tried to stay calm. "But at least they would need to be Mage Apprentices or Knight Squires. Otherwise, their bodies would be damaged by spatial turbulence."
"Since it has come to this, Grandpa, don't worry. After all, we have long suspected they would have a method for rapid action, haven't we?"
"What do I have to be anxious about?" Fran's tone stabilized. "The nobles are the ones who should be going crazy. William announced a national census.
He had previously mentioned liberating all slaves! There had been no further news, so people thought he had given up on it.
Who would have thought he was waiting for the teleportation arrays to open? The newly arrived million-strong Undead Tribe had been in various cities for over a month.
Who knows how much evidence William had gathered.
Anyway, William believed that since he had announced the liberation of slaves so long ago, Saral should be full of civilians by now.
He required all citizens over sixteen to register their households and receive household registers. Children under sixteen also had to be registered in their parents' registers.
The Space-Time Cathedral allowed all children under sixteen to go there to study, as long as they were Saral citizens.
A month later, William would send people to inspect the nation, and nobles with large numbers of unregistered civilians in their domains would be charged with treason."
Fran spoke incessantly, sighing at William's ruthless approach: "Half of the people here suddenly left to work for William.
Now only those truly seeking to build their own Mage Towers still stay here. They were using my place as a transitional rest stop anyway, so things have calmed down again."
Hill asked: "Uncle Adrian?"
"Organizing the commercial street. The Undead Tribe will likely arrive soon."
Hill found it amusing: When it came to the Undead Tribe, Fran was even more attentive than him.
"Don't laugh; for an alchemist, the attributeless crystals held by the Undead Tribe are highly useful, you know? You should make good use of them too!"
"I have placed most of them in the elements' residences. They have formed families and need a fixed residence."
"Then you should also stock up on goods in the shops in the outer village. They will likely visit there too."
"Yes, Grandpa."
Adrian's voice came through: "No need to wait, someone has already arrived."
"The Undead Tribe? So soon?"
"That one called Chattering, after all, is a magister and flies fast. He brought a group. They headed straight to the potion shop and cleared out all the high-level potions."
"Are they here to sweep up goods?"
"They said there's a group of Knight Swordsmen running behind. They came to buy potions and send them back before returning, urging me to restock swiftly.
Chattering stayed though; he wants to systematically learn Alchemy. I had Boen take him to study from the beginning."
Fran made a quick decision: "Alright, no more talking. I'll check the inventory and prepare more potions. Hill, you make your preparations too."
"Yes, Grandpa. Goodbye, Uncle Adrian."
"Goodbye, little Hill. Work hard and make money!"
Hill sat upright and exhaled heavily: the beta test was over; the official launch had begun.