1396 The Elemental Hands Brutality Part 1 (1/2)

Safilos felt insulted, but his army was all in Holy Rock City. There were only over 3000 elite troops in his territory. Over 1000 of them were cavalry and the remaining 2000 being infantry. That was a rather poor number of troops for a prince to command.

There were 16 generals who followed him. All 16 of them possessed formidable combat prowess and they were all versed in large scale battles, excelling in commanding the troops. All of them possessed the ability to effectively command legions consisting of tens of thousands of troops.

There were even two of them who were on par with Safilos in regards to abilities as tacticians, but only paled in comparison at personal combat prowess.

There were so many capable people following him and yet, he remained incapable of fending off against the Cloudflow fleet. His port was practically useless as he dared not even command his navy to venture out to sea.

Saleen requested for two naval fleets to be stationed at his city in order to help him train his naval forces. That thought alone caused Safilos' blood to boil. His face reddened with frustration.

”Your highness Safilos, I'm sure you've met my troops. If you have need for it, I shall provide you with armors as well, and they were armors possessed by Grand Duke Iron Blood as well.

Saleen said as he waved his hand, summoning a Bug Angel unit flying through the sky. That unit landed and laid prostrate on the ground. The compound eyes on the helmet observed Safilos. The wings at its back rattled slightly. Tiny Wind Blades were generated between the wings and then disappeared.

It was a skill that Saleen had it put on display. The Bug Angel unit's legs were capable of stabbing into the stone floor, causing cracking noises that frustrated those within earshot.

”The armor is worn by an imp at about level six. With ample magic nuclei embedded after wearing the armor, the imp's combat prowess eclipses that of a level eight warrior's, but lower than that of a level nine golden grand swordmaster.” Saleen began to do introductions.

That Bug Angel Armor would have served well when Saleen was still incapable of replicating the Tainted Blood Armors, but at present, Saleen's liking for them had worn out. But still, there were large number of molds left in Metatrin City nonetheless, and destroying them would have incurred huge losses.

As such, Saleen introduced the armor to his allies whenever the opportunity presented itself.

That set of armor was not all that expensive to craft en masse. If one were to measure their worth by their effects, they would have still been a bargain even if Saleen were to sell them at a price higher than what they were at the moment.

”How much for a set?” Safilos' interest was piqued. If a soldier were to gain that much enhancement in terms of combat capacity when wearing such an armor, it would have worth burning magic nuclei with. Since Saleen bothered showcasing them, it was without doubt something he was able to afford.

”I usually conduct my businesses by bartering. But this time, I'd sell the armors to you at 5000 gold coins per set. Magic nuclei not included.”

Safilos' heart sank. 5000 gold coins per set meant that it would have cost five million gold coins to armed 1000 people. Since Safilos had never taken bribes, he only had tens of millions of gold coins to spare. While five million gold coins were not much, but he still his naval fleet to consider, as well as the cost in magic nuclei upkeep.

In regards to his naval fleet, there had hardly been warships lower than 100 thousand gold coins each.

A fleet needed more than 12 ships at the very least. Saleen would have probably sold them at a price of millions of gold coins. There were still the matter of fuel cost, maintenance, and the training of his naval personnel to consider. The total cost measured over several years would have enabled him to buy another set of warships.

Despite having never commanded the navy, it did not mean that Safilos did not know what market rates concerning the navy were like.

Saleen looked at Safilos' troubled expression and persuaded him, ”Your highness, I'm selling you the armors at cost, not earning even a single silver coin from you. I might even have to lose money selling them at such prices. The army of my own nation was lacking in numbers. I have lots of equipment lying around and yet I have no troops to use them. If I were to sell the armors outside, I presume that there would still be buyers even if I were to sell them at 50000 gold coins per set. Furthermore, despite costing magic nuclei to use, the armor is capable of self-repair...”

”Self-repair!”

”If the damage was not to grievous, the magic nuclei cost using the self-repair feature would have been half of that of getting mages to fix them.”

”I'll take 1000 sets.”

Saleen smiled. He had finally gotten Safilos on a leash. If Saleen were to become a supplier of military equipment to Safilos, then there would have also been services that he would have been able to offer Safilos in the future, securing the connection with him.

The Bug Angel Armors and warships would have been little more than scrap metal, if Saleen's mages were not around to tend to them.

Saleen felt rather awkward that Safilos asked for 1000 sets right off the bat. While the armors were indeed worth 5000 gold coins per set, but he nonetheless was not there to rob Safilos, so he was compelled to throw in further benefits for the prince.

Safilos was held in very high regard by the Qin nobles after all. Despite having lost the Battle of Holy Rock City, his status remained almost on par with that of Lex nonetheless. The reason why Safilos returned to his nation was because he was unable to get over his failures.

If he were to actually stay in Holy Rock City, the people of Golden Plains might not have been able to throw their weight around the place with Lex.

Safilos was still able to identify friends from foes nonetheless. He would have never acted against Lex when the time called for him to do otherwise. At present, protecting the imperial bloodline was of utmost importance.

”Sigh...” Saleen sighed. It was the first time that he actually went on to sell his goods at a loss, and furthermore, the client was none other than Safilos. Fate was something fickle. Several years ago, Saleen would have done all he could to get rid of Safilos, and yet, at that moment, he wanted to secure Safilos' help instead.

It would have taken quite a while before mages became capable of ruling the world. For the time being, control over Myers Mainland rested with the nobles. That was what Saleen found exasperating. If he were to simply begin controlling the world right there and then, he would have earned the nobles' ire.

If he were to simply push his way through using sheer brute force, there was no telling that if he would have been able to root all of his enemies out throughout the Qin Empire.

Saleen took out a piece of divine crystal and said to Safilos, ”I did not get this divine crystal from the Goddess of Nature. It is something materialized by believers of other gods. This thing here would be able to replace most of the materials in the potion formulas you have given me. If you're willing, I shall make them for you personally. If you think you couldn't trust me, then have that mage with a beard at your side to do it for you. His proficiency at alchemy is suitable for crafting pharmaceuticals.”