1466 Advancement Part 2 (1/2)

The very reason why Rafel worked on the Inferno Spear was so to put her past behind her. However, she was still unwilling to become Saleen's follower. She had no problem tagging along him, but she did not want to be bogged down by anything.

Saleen did not mind at all, as it was only a matter of signing a contract after all. If it had been in the past, he could have taken her unwillingness to be stemming from her, thinking Saleen to be beneath her. However, things were different at present. Rafel's powers were no longer even on par with Saleen anymore.

Other than ball lightning, which was a lightning spell that he created on his own, there was yet another level 13, two level 14, and four level 15 lightning magic added to his arsenal.

No. Five level 15 ones. Dance of the Lightning Snakes was something that would not have cost Saleen any lightning magic chords to pull after all.

Despite the immense power of lightning magic, Saleen did not slack on training elemental ones. The reason for doing so was simple—lightning magic was about six times more costly, in terms of power of the soul, to use, when compared to elemental ones.

In most battles, there would have been no need for him to bring the massive damage potential of lightning magic to bear. The Thunder Dragon Blaster would have been sufficient to handle those situations. Furthermore, effects of elemental magic was not something he could have afforded to ignore, especially during special situations where elemental magic would have worked better as control skills, than lightning magic would have.

At the very last, low level spells like Frozen was not something he could have replaced with lightning magic.

Saleen spent about 40 days in the Hall of Gods that time, trading for 1200 years worth of time with a single piece of divine persona. The price was indeed rather steep, but if it had not been for large scale equipment like the Hall of Gods, there was no way Saleen would have been able to change the rate of passage of time anywhere, even if he were to do so using 100 divine persona.

1200 years were more than enough to get Jola and Sul to advance, even if they had been talentless idiots. However, the two of them had not simply blitzed through the processes. They trained methodically and properly grounded their foundations instead.

Truman was pretty much the only genius among them. Saleen had only been able to advance a single level, despite having been through so many mystical encounters and having so many equipment benefiting his advancement. Truman went on to advance to level 14 without much problems.

1200 years were not enough time for conventional mages to advance simply by training as time passed.

Saleen was very surprised and pleased with Truman's advancement, as he was Saleen's student. All of Saleen's experiences and thoughts in magic were made into the most detailed of notes he was capable of making, and he let Truman memorized them all using magic.

Truman's success would have enabled those precious knowledge to be passed down the generations.

Mages did not exist so as to take from others. Making clear of the relationship between the elements and the world, and how to see through the very fundamental nature of the world, were the ultimate goals of mages.

Saleen hoped that he could have been such a mage someday. However, he knew well that beyond their level 18 crystal wall systems, there were crystal wall systems that were of even higher levels. He may not have been able to eventually make clear of the world's true nature, so the possibility of the endeavor being accomplished lied with mages of subsequent generations continuing to research.

Having the truth of the world be revealed through the power of humankind, was indeed a very lofty goal.

Saleen found it a pity that he was unable to bring his teacher there. Jason would have probably been able to advance to level 15 in more than 1000 years after all.

Those thoughts ran in Saleen's mind and before he realized it, he had returned to the Cemetery of Heroes.

He sealed his powers at level 13, in order to prevent the general from finding out his secret—he hid a piece of divine persona from the general. No good would have come to him if the general was to find that out.

Saleen returned the badge while the general did not bother to probe Saleen's level. He said to Saleen instead, ”I have one more thing that I need to ask of you, Saleen.”

Saleen felt that to be rather weird and said, ”General, you're the most powerful of powerful beings in this world. You could have at least traded if you needed anything. If you're asking for my help, I'm afraid that I'd fall short of your expectations.”

Saleen was being polite, but he was also speaking the truth. If it had not been for the general needing his services, one thought from the general would have probably been all it would have taken, to break his soul completely and thoroughly wipe him out of existence.

”Here's how it goes. You're a mage, and you know that planes with gods on them would degenerate very quickly, unless the plane become a divine kingdom. However, a divine kingdom is filled completely with believers, and there would be no one capable of stopping their god. It would be quite a sad thing for humans.”

”I assume you're talking about Myers then?” Saleen went straight to the point.

”Indeed I am. I won't be asking you to take her down. You're still not powerful enough to do that. But...”

”You wish to obtain greater power of the gods?”

”Indeed. Myers could only be killed, if I were to do so personally.”

Saleen shook his head and added, ”I don't have that kind of power. Myers has amassed over 20 million believers now, she...”

”It isn't the problem with believers. The problem is with her being able to access the Source of the plane to gain power. She could easily be restored to her prime in terms of combat prowess, in less than 20 years at most. Even someone at level 16 would have trouble dealing with her by then.”

Saleen did not say anything. He was wondering if extracting power of the Source of the plane would have accelerated a plane's decay.

”I did say that I won't need you to take on Myers. You lack the powers to do so. I'd only hope that you bring some of the heroic spirits with you.”

”Sign a contract? But my power of the soul...”

”I'd help you enhance your power of the soul, enabling you to have ample powers to sign such a contract,” the general said with great reluctance.