Fire Mage

Chapter 425: New Information

Charles stayed in the old house's basement for the next few hours, read the pioneer knight's diary, and learned more about this world.

The pioneer knight's original name was Cohen, and he came from a faraway land called 'Magewind.' Although this place was still in the Faith Realm, it was far away from this group of kingdoms and was isolated from the rest of the world. Unlike the people of this place, those who lived in the Magewind believed in another existence called 'Mother Nature.' Only the high-ranked peoples like Saints and Awakens of the Light Church-affiliated kingdoms knew about that land. Alas, going to that place was still an impossible task even for the Light Church Pope!

If someone wants to go there, they have to cross the eastern forest, the lands ruled by Divine Beasts, and finally, the rifts to the Abyss. Only then would they reach the other end of this continent and see another human settlement. But there was a legend saying that whoever falls into these abyssal rifts would end up teleporting to the 436th layer of the Abyssal Realm!

Although the pioneer knight doesn't have any valid proof, the scholars of the Magewind firmly believed that theory. Those who dared to cross the Abyssal Rifts without prior preparations would disappear from the rest of the world! Even some Awakens went missing after they decided to go to the other side of this land.

As for how this pioneer knight managed to come here? He and his other friends came here with the help of an ancient map. That map had detailed explanations about how many rifts were there, their activation times, the chaotic illusion traps, and many other guidelines. Thanks to that ancient map, more than 40 people, including the pioneer knight Cohan, crossed those dangerous places and reached this place. But later, some went on their own and created an organization called 'Druid's Guild,' while the rest chose to settle in different kingdoms.

The pioneer knight also mentioned the reason why they left their homeland. In truth, they came here to search for a better future. Although Magewind city was an excellent place to live, Cohan and others wanted to be independent without having any kinds of shackles. Unlike the nations in this land, Magewind was ruled by mad religious scholars and their family members. They called themselves 'Nobles.' From the pioneer knight's knowledge, they were much more powerful than any other Awaken in this place.

Not only that, but they were even capable of moving to other worlds. Alas, those peoples were cruel, wicked, evil, and would never hesitate to experiment on any random stranger if they found something interesting. Even the pioneer knight's father died because of such experimentation done by one of the scholars' sons. They had complete control over the peoples' lives and even their properties. Those who didn't like the rules would choose to escape from the city and move towards the other side for a better future.

Before fleeing from the city, the pioneer knight Cohan actually assassinated his father's killer and stole his pocket dimension and other belongings. What's more surprising thing was that he also knew nothing about the mysterious plant. No, he hadn't even gone up to the sky and seen what was in there. Ha was a naive and honest knight. Otherwise, he wouldn't have used the precious pocket dimension for housing some demon monsters. All he wanted in his life was to create his dream nation and rule over it like a true king.

A single word came to Charles's mind as he read the diary.

'Kid!'

Yes, the pioneer knight acted more like what a naive kid would do if he got his hand on the throne. Charles even wondered how he managed to come this far.

'No wonder humans managed to poison him easily.' A trace of disappointing sigh leaked out of his mouth.

Charles also read some information about the 'Eye of Insight' stone and learned that it was also one of the stolen goods from the religious scholar's son.

Once he read the diary, he closed it and then fell into deep thoughts.

'From the information, I'm 100% sure that the mad scholars are capable of traveling to other planes. But the problem is not their evil nature but their strength. They seemed to be powerful enough to face the Legend Rank Mages.' Although he could shapeshift into another human and hide his identity, he still felt it wasn't a good idea to go there. Even if he wants to go there, he doesn't have that ancient map.

'I need to find the other druids and search for the ancient map.' He nodded inwardly and thought of his next goal. It was to recreate his elemental heart.

'I need a sacrificial material.' Although he had that Nature Leaf, he decided not to sacrifice it for the time being.

In truth, he wasn't sure whether that leaf could act as a sacrificial material or not.

'I should go to Duke Michel's territory and get the Goddess's shield.' He nodded inwardly and then stood up from the ground. But he didn't dare to enter a lion's den without any preparations.

'I need to gather mana and refill my spell models first. Then, I'll form a plan and attack the castle.'

Muttering inwardly, he walked out of the basement, left the old house, and soon started walking towards his mansion.

Even though the morning sun rose from the east side, the street road appeared vacant and gloomy. Only a few women were doing chore works outside, while the rest had already moved to their agricultural lands or workshops to do their regular work.

Charles even saw a few kids doing some work outside their houses and shook his head.

The loss of thousands of men had caused heavy blows to every family.

After a few minutes of walking, he reached the mansion and walked in after opening the compound gate. Soon, he arrived in front of the building entrance, opened the door, and entered the living room.

As he walked in, a middle-aged woman came from the kitchen room and bowed her head politely. She had long grey hair, a wrinkled face, and she wore a black dress with white trim, a full skirt, and an apron.

"Good morning, young master!" She greeted him, raised her head, and then asked him with a confused look on her face.

"I heard that you went to Crack Plains along with those knights of Dukedom, My Lord? Did something happen?" Her voice contained a trace of anxiousness.

In the meantime, Charles showed a surprised look on his face and asked instead of responding.

"Oh? How did you know?"

"One of the Dukedom Knights is staying in my house for rent, My Lord. He told me about it." The housekeeper said with a stiff smile.

In the meantime, Charles nodded his head in understanding and spoke while waving his hand.

"Nothing. I came back to do some personal work. As for the Dukedom Knights, they'll return in a day or two-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, the housekeeper suddenly remembered something and asked in the same anxious voice.

"W-Where is Lady Willow, My Lord?"

Although it was rude to interrupt his talking, Charles didn't put much thought into it and gave a short answer.

"My mom is still staying in Elder Rhett's house."

Before she could ask any more questions, he took a step forward and walked toward the right-side spiral staircase. He then moved to the second floor, walked on the tiled corridor, and soon arrived at a wooden double door.

After that, he opened it using his invisible string, walked inside, and looked around.

A large double bed at the center, two tables on the sides, and a wardrobe appeared inside the room. Charles even saw a cabinet full of books next to the wooden door and was surprised a little.

'A talented kid, huh.' He sighed. If someone wants to reach the peak-level rank, one's talent plays a crucial role in everything. But that wouldn't be enough to reach the top. Along with talent, one also needs enough wisdom, cautiousness, cunningness, and Luck.

Yes, Luck also plays a crucial role in every being's life.

But it was easy to manipulate.

If not for the Holem's Crown's luck boost, even Charles might've died more than dozens of times in the past.

'With my current strength, I'm capable of seeing the normal people's fate strings. But I still have no clue about how this luck power works.' A frown appeared on his face.

'For now, I should focus on return to the Edhen World and then think of a way to increase my Fire Affinity.' But he was also concerned about his newly added affinities other than darkness.

'Time, Wisdom, and Trickster affinities... It seems my unique and sub-class skills also need upgraded affinities to rank up further. Currently, all three of these newly added affinities are at the average level. To improve them to peak, I need sacrifices. But where can I find precious materials like God's Blood?' Charles also knew that he needed to sacrifice Divine's blood or body materials to upgrade these affinities.

'I'll think about these things later.'

He went towards the nearby cabinet, put the pioneer knight's diary on it, and then took out the greenish pendant from his neck.

Then, he opened the drawer, placed the pendant and the [Eye of Insight] stone inside, and closed it.

After that, he moved towards the nearby bed, sat on it in a cross-legged position, and closed his eyes.

The next instant, he released his wisdom power, covered the whole town, and started drawing the surrounding fire-elemental energies into his Inner World.

For the next three weeks, he stayed in his room and focused his full attention on refilling the spell models. During that time, Irzoch also returned from her mission and helped him with all the miscellaneous tasks like gathering intelligence about Duke Michel's territory, his strength, army power, castle map, trump cards, etc.,

Twenty-two days later, Charles finally managed to refill his spell models and walked out of his room.