118 The Power of a Scroll Part 1 (2/2)

The one that affected the speed of the army were the reserve troops. They usually only had war horses, and some even needed to ride on carriages. Within the Qin borders, this would not be a problem, as they had sufficient roads to choose from. In places where cities were sparse, however, the roads would be treacherous and the support troops would affect the speed of the entire army.

However, there was no other choice. When taking down a city, the support troops were at the forefront and they had a high rate of fatalities. No army would have their elite troops be in the first wave to attack a city. Additionally, the support troops were responsible for taking care of the war horses and swordsmen, allowing the elites to maintain relatively higher abilities in combat.

The armies that had come on this expedition would be able to reach the border in one month’s time. However, if they wanted to go past Loulan, they would need one additional month. In that time, more of the wealthy would answer the emperor’s call and send armies into Loulan. By that time, the entire Loulan Duchy would have almost two hundred thousand Qin elites and more than five hundred thousand support troops. If they counted the militia that were called upon in Loulan, the army would reach almost a million troops.

The emperor not only needed to consider the situation in Loulan, but he also needed to invade Cod Crace Duchy. So long as the combat affairs went smoothly, more wealthy from the Qin Empire would join them in order to snatch that land.

In the past two centuries, the number of commoners in the Qin Empire had exploded, and many members of the wealthy were looking to expand their influence. It was the same for other countries, and the seeds of instability had been planted since long ago. The chaos from the black mages had simply been a means of ignition. In lands such as Phoenix which were separated from the rest of the world, conflict did not matter that much. However, if Loulan were to break out into chaos, all of the countries would not be able to stand by and do nothing.

Saleen quickly became familiar with the other six swordsmen. Viscountess Lex had not been discreet about him bringing the green dragon’s magic nucleus to Bitter Water prefecture, and everyone had a good impression of Saleen.

Saleen described the time he fought against the Red Line bandit gang, and even Tenesee was impressed. At that time, Saleen had only been a Grade 1 mage. Against the bandit gang, there had been a high chance of him losing his life.

Following the army forward, Saleen interacted with the swordmasters in the morning and practiced magic fervently while they were resting at night. He was at the edge of Grade 3 and would soon be able to break past the barrier.

Saleen knew it was because he possessed too little experience and had too little time to practice. However, Joey had helped him modify his body, and the jump between Grade 3 and Grade 4 was minimal. There was not even what mages would call a threshold.

Hence, Saleen was not anxious. It was only a matter of time before he became a grand mage. In the meantime, he wanted to grasp more Grade 3 magic.

When mages fought, they would not always release magic of the highest possible grade. In reality, many grand mages fought using low-grade magic. If a person could use an Acid Sputtering spell to kill their enemy, why would they use an Elemental Storm spell instead? Magic chords were limited, and using the smallest amount to get the greatest effect was the way to go in magic combat.

Saleen was not stupid enough to charge to the forefront of a battle. He already had six Grade 3 spells in his demon magic book, and if he really needed to attack, that was what he was going to use. He had also researched the bronze magic book that he had found in the temple. Regrettably, he had found out that unless he became a grand mage, he would never be able to use the bronze magic book as a weapon.

This proved the value of the demon magic book. It was not limited to any grade, and so long as one could release a certain spell, they could store it in the book for future use.

As for the magic scroll that Lanny had given him, Saleen could not bear to use it. He was only a Grade 2 mage and this odd looking scroll could release magic that was two grades higher. This meant that even if he had someone successfully process this empty scroll, he would only be able to release a Grade 4 spell.

The scroll was a one-time item and Saleen had a plan. The next time he saw Joey, he would have him process a Grade 10 scroll for him. That way, when he reached Grade 8, he would be able to release a Grade 10 spell a single time.

So long as a person used it correctly, a Grade 10 spell could kill any elite under Grade 9 in the Myers Mainland. Even for a Grade 9 mage, it was unusually dangerous to encounter a Grade 10 spell.

The troops had started turning, and Viscountess Lex’s troops began separating from the expedition army, moving southwest. The emperor’s expedition army moved directly west into Loulan Duchy.

Bitter Water Prefecture had large roads on both its eastern and northern sides., however, on its western and southern sides, there were only small, treacherous paths between the mountains where the terrain was unfavorable. The Bitter Water Army went around Hadisai City. Even though it showed weakness, it saved them a lot of trouble. If the Hadisai City Army wanted to attack the Bitter Water Army, they would need to travel at least five hundred miles. Moreover, the emperor had sent away more than half of the elites from Hadisai City, so they would only be able to send out less than a thousand troops. Lex was not worried at all.

Saleen, on the other hand, was slightly worried. Had the silver grand swordmaster that had killed Earl Mokolari returned to Tanggulasi? If not, would he attempt another assassination? If he made another attempt, even though Lex had many soldiers by her side, the silver grand swordmaster would also be more cautious and would not easily fall into any traps.

The only ones who could really fight against the silver grand swordmaster were Faerun and the others. For a mage like Saleen, the most he would be able to do when it came to fighting the silver grand swordmaster was put out fires.

However, it seemed that Faerun had taken quite a few Grade 8 magic scrolls from the emperor’s storage room. Magic scrolls that could be stored for long periods of time were rare items. If the silver grand swordmaster were to face Faerun, he could not be confident that he would win.