117 Going for War Part 2 (2/2)
”Sixteen. Why?” Sika stared at Saleen. She did not like people asking about her age. If other people had asked her that question, she would have hit them with her cudgel long ago.
Saleen was visibly stunned. Only sixteen? But she looked older than Saleen. If Saleen had not grown taller this past year, people might have thought that Sika was his sister whenever they walked together.
”Sika, Nailisi, the spell I just cast had the defensive capabilities of Grade 3 magic.”
Nailisi did not react, but Sika’s eyes widened. Then, in shock, Sika said, ”I broke a Grade 3 spell just now?”
”It was Grade 1 magic, but it possessed the power of a Grade 3 spell. However, you are right. If you get close to a Grade 3 mage, you will be able to attack him.” Saleen recalled the witcher spider back into his hand and turned it over for an inspection. The colors of the six magic nuclei had dimmed a great deal. When Saleen took a closer look using his mental power, he realized that the spider had used up a much greater amount of energy than he had originally thought.
Because the witcher spider was a tiny puppet, only one-third of an average magic nucleus was needed to manipulate it. An average sized magic nucleus could be cut into two pieces and mosaicked into the finished puppet. As Saleen had used a Grade 3 magic nucleus, he had needed to use three nuclei in order to cut out six pieces.
The shards produced by cutting the magic nuclei had no value on their own, meaning that the witcher spider required at least four hundred and fifty gold pieces to be activated. The spider could only be used for short periods of time in combat, and on the battlefield, there would be thousands of enemies, so the effect of the witcher spider would perhaps not be that pronounced.
In order to survive on the battlefield, a mage needed to be constantly protected by warriors.
There was a way to solve the problem. The witcher spider had been constructed using Grade 4 materials so it could withstand Grade 4 magic nuclei as well. However, Grade 4 magic nuclei were very expensive. So, unless they were under special circumstances, Saleen would not activate the phantom since its activation was the primary reason for its exhaustion of the magic nuclei.
Saleen was not disappointed when he reevaluated the combat powers of the puppet. Fellett and Lanny possessed very limited resources, thus they had not been able to use better materials for the witcher spider. If the witcher spider had been refined using better materials, it would be able to hold magic nuclei of higher grades and its full combat potential could be unleashed.
Unfortunately, it was very difficult to capture witcher spiders because they lived in caves and did not appear above ground. Even if humans tried to enter such caves, it was difficult to spot them. Magic beasts like witcher spiders, which did not have magic nuclei, liked to move between the crevices of rocks. Only during their hunts for food would they stealthily jump out and deal a fatal blow to their prey.
”The two of you, the viscountess will be departing for war with the emperor and this time they will go around Hadisai City. If we approach from the northern side, we will be at risk of being attacked as well. Hence, the viscountess has agreed to allocate ten combat mages and one hundred swordsmen to me. In the future, the two of you will no longer need to charge to the front. Focus on protecting each other.”
Sika already knew that Lex had sent people to look for her village. Thus, she was not worried and simply nodded at Saleen’s instructions. But, Nailisi said worriedly, ”Master, I may be…”
”What is it?”
”I may be becoming an adult.”
When Saleen heard that, he became worried. While magic beasts were undergoing advancement or maturing into adults, they would enter a weakened state or deep sleep. If that was going to happen to Nailisi, there would be trouble. And it would be worse if she revealed her true form.
Nailisi looked at Saleen sadly. She said, ”Master, tell me. Should I become a male or female?”
Saleen was relieved. Demons were wise creatures so their process of adulthood was not so troublesome. Nailisi was only fretting about the issue of its gender.
”Be whatever you want to be,” Saleen replied. Saleen said that, but in his heart, he was afraid that Nailisi would transform into a masculine bearded male. If that became the case, then it would be extremely appalling to live with Nailisi. But what if Nailisi became a female? Would it cause Nailisi to become more fickle and get into trouble more easily?
Sika stood at the side and listened to their conversation. She thought to herself, If you become a male, I will make sure to chop off your penis. Otherwise, things will be too nasty. Nailisi was Saleen’s contracted creature. Sika did not want Saleen to be stuck with a bearded man every day for the rest of his life.
Three days flew by quickly. The security at Holy Rock City was watertight. The twelve streets that connected the northern and southern parts of the capital had been cleared, and the palace swordsmen were opening the doors from the inside. The houses that lined both sides of the streets were crowded with civilians who were jostling each other to catch this glorious moment that had not happened for hundreds of years. The owners of some of these houses even rented out their homes, managing to make a fortune quickly.
Following the roar from the cannons, fireworks filled the skies. A gigantic totem had appeared in the sky above Holy Rock City. This totem was called the six-winged flying snake, and had three pairs of wings.
This was the trademark of the Grukos family. Legend had it that the ancestors of the Qin Emperor had once owned over hundreds of these creatures, which were larger than dragons with their abnormal bodies. And, when the Qin Empire was first built, the founding emperor had possessed a six-winged flying snake beside him. Thousands of years later, these unusual surface creatures no longer appeared, and so the six-winged flying snake had become a totem in the hearts of the Qin people.
Slaves of the past were now symbols of the present. What brilliant satire on the decadence of mankind.
The magic clock in Holy Rock City emitted a sudden roar. The Qin Emperor stood on his battle carriage, wielding his saber, while the commanders of the royal swordsmen camps walked in front of the carriage one by one. The emperor tapped his saber on all of their shoulders, presenting them with the power to go to war.
This symbolic presentation of power gave the commanders the right to forge new ground and carry out killings on foreign soil. The sound from the magic clock could travel almost one hundred miles. Other than the camp in the northern town, the rest of the pioneering soldiers had officially set off for the war. These pioneering soldiers who had few logistics would be the first people to set foot on the land of Loulan Duchy.