In the small tent, Ash stood up and appeared out of thin air. His body was covered in dust and his clothes were so dirty. But the gaze that Ash showed, looked so sharp. In an instant, he looked around and greeted the person standing in the middle.
"I greet the Lord of Batavia. Sorry for my appearance so dirty and inappropriate." Ash was about to bow but was held back by Miftah.
The first words he heard when he was here were Miftah holding him back. "Don't bow as if your body will fall to the ground like that. Please, don't do this because it will not only be dangerous for my friend, but it will bring trouble if all soldiers have to be like this."
Hanif nodded when he heard it and Alam did not say anything. Alam was quite happy when he heard about the data from the person he recruited being in the Sea of Mana realm. After listening to Hanif's explanation, both of them understood the realm of power in this world.
Surprisingly, Felyn was actually quite strong and very talented. Although she never showed the skills she had, Hanif said that Felyn was at the top level when reading the data.
And Ash who was also at the Sea of Mana stage, this made the Batavia region even safer.
"Welcome to the territory we control. Come, let me take you to clean yourself first." Alam greeted Ash who was taller than him. Even so, he didn't care and took Ash to the river where the three of them cleaned themselves.
Hanif said that he had business to do. So only Miftah came with him while looking at Ash who was interested.
In the river, a small cabin that became a simple bathing and toilet was built. It was quite far from the water source but when passing the tree bridge, the journey was quite fast. Inside, Alam and Miftah taught him how to use the soap and toiletries he bought from the system. There were also hair clippers and tools for cleaning the face.
"You clean yourself first. After that, I will cut your hair and tidy up your messy face. Honestly, you look so handsome if I look at it closer"
Ash just nodded and followed Alam's words. He washed himself with cold water and used something called soap and shampoo. There was also a fragrance that gave off the scent of Lavender flowers. After he finished bathing, Ash's body felt fresher and emitted a very fragrant smell.
"This is better. Sure enough, he is much more handsome than you, Miftah." Alam laughed while comparing his friend's face with the face of the newest recruit. Although his clothes were still the same as before, they had been washed and cleaned.
"Now, let me do the final touches."
On the other hand...
"Ugh... today's task was really tiring. Luckily, I was able to avoid taking a break under the pretext of writing a request from one of the Lords." Felyn sat in one of the Outposts near the house of the Lords of Batavia.
An interesting fact that she found was that the three leaders in this area were peers. Forget about being humans in the Elf territory, who knows what they did in this place, but there were many oddities that they brought.
Especially the person who was called the Lord of Batavia, Alam. I don't know what kind of magic he has, but being able to summon troops from who knows where is really strange. The soldiers with the title of No.578 infantry themselves with their faceless features and wearing strange uniforms have never been seen even on the human continent.
Interestingly, they don't have any traces of magical energy in their bodies at all. That's what made Felyn even more confused when she saw them who could work non-stop and not feel the slightest bit tired.
"Damn! I haven't even taken a bath for the past few days."
Felyn really wanted to scream but covered her mouth when she saw Hanif walking while reading the thick paper she handed over yesterday. "Hmph... what is that guy trying to do?"
While hiding herself with magic, Felyn hid in one of the outposts that were built and strengthened her hearing and vision.
Let me see, what are you trying to do with that information.
Hanif frowned, flipping the entire stack of papers and reading the beginning. "Ring formation. The moment when Magic Energy gathers in the body and flows to form in the heart. As long as the ring is formed, then a person has begun to enter a realm that distinguishes them from ordinary humans."
"The problem is, what is magic energy? Is it like oxygen that is invisible but necessary for life? Or like sunlight that shines and we can feel? If we start discussing the issue of energy, don't humans themselves produce energy? Then why is it written that not all humans can use magic energy?" Hanif pondered this while walking back and forth. A faceless soldier accompanied Hanif and did not comment on this matter.
Seeing Hanif confused, Felyn formed a smile on his face. "Hmph… whoever you are, do you think it will be that easy to become a Magician in this world? Even I myself need tens to hundreds of days before I can start to feel Mana and start forming my first ring."
Hundreds of days, that might be a long time for some people. But among the Magicians of this world, hundreds of days is a very short time to feel Mana and start forming the first ring.
Furthermore, it was done in an environment where Magic Energy was flowing in large quantities. In a silent forest with almost no Magic Energy left, it was impossible to form a ring under these conditions.
Hanif stopped and looked at the tree in front of him. "What is the difference between Magic Energy and other energies? Is it different from the fusion energy found in nuclear reactors? Is it much different from how plants perform photosynthesis? Is it different from how cells in the body produce ATP and ADP?
It was written in the report that Felyn wrote, that there were indeed plants that could absorb Magic Energy especially when the surrounding environment was so dense in Magic Energy. Especially in the elf and spirit regions where this continent was still pure, is there a relationship between the thickness of the forest ecology and the amount of Magic Energy?
Hanif thought for a while as he continued walking aimlessly. Ever since Felyn gave that first report, he had been thinking about this and trying to understand what Magic Energy was. His head never stopped thinking and was forced to think all the time.
This was the reason why even when his mind became faster and his memory became better than before, Hanif still had trouble remembering Felyn's name. Seeing Alam trying to organize and see what needed to be done to complete the side quest, Hanif couldn't just sit still.
"Magic... if I look at it from the other side, isn't it the same as how a machine works?" Hanif thought like this and when he thought about it, something that seemed reasonable came into his head but he didn't know what it was.
He sat down without doing anything else and started to take out a pen and book from inside the simple house and started writing.
Felyn who saw it could only sigh softly and go back to doing what she had to do. Even so, in her heart, she felt a sense of superiority over the humans who were called the Lords of this place.
"Just an ordinary human without any magical energy. They do have strange and inexplicable powers, but what... they are just ordinary humans." Felyn smiled.
After today was over and night slowly fell, the Lord of Batavia came to the place where the soldiers' activities were going on non-stop. Behind him, Ash with a new look and more decent clothes arrived at the construction site.
"Greetings to the Supreme Commander!"
The soldiers immediately saluted and Alam nodded. All activities stopped and even Felyn had to stop.
"Let me introduce you, this is a new soldier who will be joining you. He is new so teach him everything we need to complete in this one month. With this, I hope we can finish all of this ahead of schedule." Alam stepped aside and introduced Ash.
"My name is Ash Thirteen. Everyone, I ask for your help for the next 100 years" Ash introduced himself and the faceless soldier nodded.
There was no strange reaction from the soldiers and they did not know who Ash Thirteen was, but, Felyn, her body was shocked when she heard the name.
"Ash… Thirteen. T-The Fallen hero?" Silently, her mind almost bowed weakly.
What is this person doing here? Did he also receive an invitation from the Lord of Batavia?
Felyn remembered how she received the invitation from the golden screen that suddenly appeared before her. Ash Thirteen must have received the same invitation too.
"You can start following the instructions of the Infantry soldiers no. 578 for now. After all this is done, we will start exploring the Batavia region and beyond to look for resources." Alam gave instructions casually and left the location.
When the figure of the Lord of Batavia had disappeared, one of the soldiers shouted loudly and firmly. "Did you hear what the Lord said? We must finish all of this earlier than usual! We have accepted this new friend and we can finish everything earlier!"
"Soldiers, pick up the shovels you have and cut down the trees that are disturbing the eyes of the Lords of Batavia! For The Lord of Batavia!"
"For The Lord of Batavia!" All the soldiers shouted and started cutting down the trees faster than usual. Even Felyn also shouted along with them and immediately joined them in cutting down the disturbing trees.
"What just happened?" Ash could only look on with a confused look. Even so, he took out his sword and started cutting down the trees based on the instructions of the eyeless soldiers.