The events of the past several weeks could be described as the cataclysm of Lucas's life.
'What the hell am I doing?'
After the war was over, Chris summoned all of Roman's soldiers.
At first, veterans like Lucas were a bit skeptical of Chris' training, but they chose to blindly trust the man who defeated the 3-Star Aura Swordsman, Janson. Neither Roman nor Chris were normal, and they were convinced that being taught by them would bring surefire results.
However, that day, Lucas couldn't believe what Chris said.
"From now onward, I will teach you how to detect mana and use it. This is a gift from the liege for all of you, so make sure to train with all your heart and soul."
Truly, that was an unbelievable statement. What was Mana Cultivation? It was a systematic arrangement of a unique method of handling mana. Also, it was something that could not be learned by everyone. Even if it was a low-ranked mana cultivation technique, it cost an enormous amount of gold coins, so, obviously, most didn't learn it.
And didn't Chris say that such a treasure would now be told to all of them? It was absurd. Of course, someone like Lucas had no choice but to be stunned.
'He will obviously give us some shit technique that is easy to find. Mana cultivation is something that even a father wouldn't tell his son. If such knowledge is spread around like something common, then, obviously, the rarity of it will vanish, so he has no reason to tell us something that good. No matter how loyal a soldier might be to Roman Dmitry, the time we all have spent with him is too little for him to give up such treasure.'
Nevertheless, Lucas wanted it. He couldn't challenge an A-class mercenary as he had no special abilities, so he once tried to learn to use Aura by investing all the money he had earned as a mercenary. In the end, it resulted in him losing all his fortune. Still, he had no choice but to invest it while grasping straws1, even if what he would get in the end would be the least effective technique. Thus, he felt frustrated.
When he realized that nothing was working out, he felt uneasy about his future life as a mercenary. And with all of his past experiences, he judged Roman would also mess with all of them with some cheap technique. Nevertheless, his thoughts couldn't have been more wrong.
"The name of the technique you all will learn is Asura Cultivation."
Asura—The ghost of the battlefield.
Lucas was stunned when he heard the name of the technique.
'This is insane.'
He somehow realized this technique was a treasure. Even though only the name was mentioned, he felt heat rush to his body, and as if his body turned absolutely sensitive, his skin tickled. It was different from what he had experienced till now.
Lucas had abandoned his thoughts of being an Aura Swordsman earlier, but this gave him a new hope, and that wasn't the end of it. Asura Sword Technique—A technique that, as Chris described, had 108 ways to counter the enemy and could fully utilize the Mana Cultivation.
Lucas was shocked. He was certain—Roman Dmitry was a much greater person than he initially thought.
'Just who is this Roman Dmitry? Not long ago, he took down the 4-Star Aura Swordsman, Homer, single-handedly, despite being known as the trash of the Dmitry family, and now he is giving out techniques to mere soldiers. Why? No, I cannot help but feel confused about what his intentions are. If I had such a technique, I would never even utter a word about it, even to my blood relatives.'
He was incredibly astonished. The situation in front of him was totally unexpected.
All of Roman's soldiers, including Lucas, were excited about this. Everyone was enthusiastic to the point of staying up all night to practice the sword technique going forward because they knew how fantastic any mana cultivation technique was.
Indeed, it was a life-changing moment for them. If they somehow managed to actually awaken Aura through his, a new life they never imagined would unfold in front of them.
The last few days, they were quite happy. The best event of their life yet happened and even training wholeheartedly daily made them happy.
In such a situation, when Lucas heard Roman's suggestion for him to become the leader of the information guild, he didn't even think much before he replied, "I am sorry, but I want to stay with my liege."
The order to leave and make an information guild was something he could never accept.
While envisioning the information guild, Roman pondered over the right person to manage it.
Chris—He was the key to power. Moreover, as he wasn't talented enough to control the information guild, Chris was out of the question.
Kevin—Considering that he was from the bottom level of society and had a unique passion, Kevin was quite a good fit for the future of the information guild. However, in the end, Roman couldn't make up his mind to set Kevin in charge of the information guild. Kevin was growing as a perfect power as his subordinate, and pushing him to become the head of the information guild would need years of experience, something Kevin didn't have now. Kevin was still a boy, and as he was quite inexperienced, he wasn't fully suitable to be the leader of the information guild. After much deliberation, Roman inevitably decided on Lucas.
'Lucas is a veteran merchant. Having lived with mercenaries, he has a large network and demonstrated quite a decent improvement during the test. He also has an amazing ability to respond to variables. Above all, Lucas is a person who is capable of making rational decisions. Someone like Lucas, in my opinion, should be in charge of the information guild.'
As Roman judged him to be the right person for the job, he offered it to Lucas—Arrange all of the information that Morkan discovers, and then select the most important pieces of information to report to him.
However, Lucas rejected it in an instant.
"If I take on the position of the leader of the information guild, I will have to leave the side of my liege. In order to find out all the information on the continent, I will inevitably have to move from place to place until a proper system is built. Thus, I cannot do it. I want to stay by your side. I was truly moved when I saw you slaughter the people of Barco. I thought that it was worthy to give up my life for someone like you, so please don't send me to another place, my liege."
It was a desperate request. Lucas explained why he had rejected it.
Nevertheless, Roman smiled inside while thinking, 'He is good at lying.' He already knew what was going on in Lucas' mind. Loyalty? There was none of such nonsense. Lucas was so obsessed with the Asura Cultivation and Sword Technique that he didn't want to even consider taking over that position.
Aura was every swordsman's dream. And Lucas knew that in order to achieve it, he would have to stay by the side of Roman. That was why he had rejected his offer instantly.
"I will ask you one thing, Lucas. Why do you think the Asura Cultivation and Sword Technique are being taught to you?"
"I do not know."
He didn't know yet why such a treasure was being taught to all of his soldiers, so he kept silent to hear the truth from Roman himself.
"That is simply a present for your loyalty. And not many people in the world give such things as gifts. Lucas, what do you think of me? Do you think a man named Roman Dmitry would give out all his treasures to his soldiers in the name of their loyalty?"
"You mean…"
Lucas understood what Roman meant right away.
Roman was saying that the Asura Cultivation and Sword Technique, a great treasure to them, was almost nothing major to Roman.
"I do not expect any unreasonable loyalty from you. The cultivation and sword technique are just gifts I have given to those who followed me into the battlefield and risked their lives. So what do you think I would give to someone worth more than a soldier?"
Roman had taught Chris the Lightning Sword Technique. On the other hand, he taught the Ghost Illusion Demonic Martial Arts to Kevin. And now, Roman further shared his knowledge with his soldiers. The resulting variables didn't concern him. In fact, those who had experienced the Great Sea didn't care about such things. Those who liked the reward or were in awe of Roman wouldn't leave his side for numerous reasons. Now they were in a pit from which they couldn't escape. They were too scared of having Roman, the man who possessed the power to change everything he wanted to, as an enemy to them.
Such was the person known as Baek Joong-hyuk, and now as Roman Dmitry.
Roman's words were too shocking for Lucas, whose life had significantly changed even though Roman had shared only a little bit of his knowledge.
At that moment, Lucas instantly understood how he needed to respond.
"According to my liege's command, I will create the best intelligence guild to ever exist on the entire Salamander Continent."
He was convinced. Lucas was ready to do anything if Roman gave him something even greater than the Asura Cultivation and Sword Technique.
After the reasonable deal was made, things were pretty much cleared up. Now it was only a matter of time to prove the efficiency of Roman's work of safety in the mine, and with the budget that came in, Roman's information guild would, slowly but surely, form an enormous information network. Just like the Lower District Sect of Murim, Roman would create a network of tens of thousands of people. Although weak in the initial stages, Roman believed that the method he had chosen would turn out right in the end.
Roman headed to the mine the next day. He didn't stop just because he got what he wanted from there. He determined that it was necessary to observe future developments by himself and planned to continue working there for another week.
However, as soon as Roman came into their vision, all the workers expressed themselves fiercely.
"Young Master Roman!"
"Young master!"
"Thank you so much!"
Numerous people rushed in to greet him. They all seemed to have heard the news that not only did Roman save the wounded, but he also managed to bring in the safety equipment consisting of magic artifacts by personally talking with Baron Romero. Even though it all happened in just one day, everyone in Dmitry knew about it.
In the crowd, even those who didn't like Roman initially could now be seen praising him, and among them was also the father of the man who was wounded previously, whom Roman had saved.
"Young master. Thanks to you, my son was saved. He is my only child. I don't know how to repay this gratitude. Thank you very much. If the young master needs me in the future, please tell me so I can somehow pay back the kindness I have received from you."
He was an ordinary man. His face was tanned, and his eyes were wrinkled. He was just one of the many people living in Dmitry. Nevertheless, a person who had nothing to do with Roman was now greeting and thanking him.
Roman looked at him and smiled without saying anything. He was once the Heavenly Demon—A demon who had dyed the entirety of Murim crimson red with the blood of his enemies. However, still, he was human. He had to reign to survive, and thus, he accepted the fate of being the son of Heavenly Demon and accomplished the incredible achievement of subjugating the entire Murim. Obviously, it was also thanks to the people who followed him and supported him all the time.
Ignoring those who calculated their profits before meeting him, Baek Joong-hyuk realized his decision wasn't wrong when people with pure faces, like in the current moment, thanked him.
"Thank you." Now somehow, he wanted to say that.
From that day onward, Dmitry's people's attention turned to Roman.
Naturally, such a situation put Baron Romero into serious trouble.
Grasp straws: to be willing to try anything to improve a difficult or unsatisfactory situation, even if it has little chance of success.