1009 Baiting the Enemy Part 1 (1/2)

Regardless of how good a piece of equipment as, a person needed to be of corresponding level before they were able to bring out the equipment's full power. Saleen appreciated the Signet of Silence for a bit before putting it away, crafting his next piece of equipment.

Even though Saleen knew that capability was more important than gear, the problem was that he was not only a mage, but a king as well. That meant that he needed to be responsible for the equipment his followers and subordinates used.

Saleen felt, for the first time after becoming a sorcerer, like a coolie. The help that Truman was able to be to him was limited. It was fortunate that Saleen had massive mental power reserves, which enabled him to craft equipment while giving Truman lessons.

That was the first time Truman had learned so patiently since he started following Saleen. He ate and drank almost nothing while staying by Saleen's side to help his master craft equipment. The magic chords in his body grew without his knowledge.

His talents were far better than Saleen's, yet he did not have Saleen's luck. He was drowned by all the talent around him back in Sreeger Island and no sorcerer bothered taking him in. He became rather dejected for a while.

But, when he arrived at Metatrin City, Saleen let him manage the miniaturized magic cannon, and Truman felt he was being appreciated, and it changed his mood immensely. When Saleen actually took Truman in as his student, Truman's resentment and resistance towards magic had all disappeared, and he dedicated himself to the learning of magic.

The feeling of knowing that there was a bright future ahead was irreplaceable. Truman's speed of advancement was frightening, and it was only then that he caught Jason's notice. The effect of rising levels of power throughout the entire plane was most apparent in the cases of mages with high potential like Truman. He was now a level five grand mage after spending several days working with Saleen continuously.

What troubled him were matters related to comprehension of things. His magic chords grew several times faster than Saleen's had. Saleen's water element also made it very difficult for him to advance.

Saleen had not expected Truman to advance to the next level so quickly. He had planned to let Truman go about developing an understanding of things on his own for several years, before teaching him the ways to advance to the ranks of sorcerers. However, with the state of things as they were then, it seemed that Truman would do fine staying by his side and learning instead.

The sorcerers from Metatrin City arrived at Royal Harbor within those six days. It was not considered fast, but considering that the sorcerers had to take a group of warriors with them as well as many other grand mages, resulting them having to use three warships, the speed at which they had arrived was frightening.

Metatrin City also brought Lex a great deal of supplies, mostly construction materials. Lex did not have many magic nuclei to spare. The ones that Saleen gave her were inadequate to lay down shoreline defenses. It was fortunate that the Ancient and the doubles of the Mechanical Soul were there to share Lex's load.

The 12 sorcerers remained at Royal Harbor for half a day, helping Lex install massive amounts of magic arrays before departing for Ceylon City.

At the border of Ceylon City, less than a hundred miles away from Yaoyang City, 50,000 troops stood by. Saleen had all the vagrants and refugees conscripted to the army and assigned there. His demon army took 2,000 elites and loitered outside Yaoyang City.

The demon army served far better as deterrents than as actual combatants. Their over-five-meter-tall stature struck fear into the hearts of Yaoyang City's troops. Such enemies made the troops feel hopeless.

Yaoyang City was not a major city and as such, had fewer than a thousand elite troops, which were mostly filled with common troops and low level mercenaries.

Sufonso knew well that if things were to go on like that, it was only a matter of time before the troops suffered a breakdown. His city was doomed before the enemy struck. However, it was unthinkable for him to run. Yaoyang City was his family's estate and all of his relatives were in the city. If he were to run, all the lesser nobles and citizens would revolt against him.

A greater noble who was incapable of keeping their lands was to suffer grave consequences.

The imperial city sent word when things were still looking grim for the city. His Majesty Danny gathered 12 mercenary groups and 10,000 royal cavalry to aid Yaoyang City. The 12 mercenary groups were capable of pulling their own weight as they were all level six and above, with the total number reaching above a million. The 12 mercenary groups fielded 100,000 troops to serve as reinforcements, together with the royal cavalry and personal guards of over 30 local nobles. The total number of reinforcements sent to Yaoyang City was 150,000 individuals.

His Majesty Danny had spent a lot to hire the mercenaries. He was unable to sit around doing next to nothing. If things were to be allowed to continue, all the nobles would have revolted and sided with Saleen. Danny knew that Saleen would not destroy his cities unprovoked, as it would cause mass panic.

There were fewer than 10 cities throughout the entire Myers Mainland capable of withstanding an assault by the metal flyers.

The metal flyers were not powerful, but their targets were both common troops and civilians. There was hardly any city capable of dealing with such attacks.

Other than the troops, all of the surviving mages from Ironwall City went to Yaoyang City with the reinforcement. They intended to fix their cowardly actions. When the Magical Element Tower showed up at their door, all of them chose to cower. There might have been more who would have been able to escape if they had chosen to retaliate.

Danny had also sent three palace mages, which were level nine sorcerers. They were a force to be reckoned with in the Sikeqinya Empire. Danny had also deployed mercenaries to keep Lex in check. If Lex were to divide her troops and sent aid to Saleen, the troops would assault her to take back Royal Harbor.