Chapter 601 Handling Miscellaneous Matters (1/2)
It was only in the next morning that Joshua left for the Squirming Forest to help Barnil and William prepare.
Why would Joshua who usually swiftly and decisively handle daily undertakings be so slow in this particular operation? There were many reasons, the most important being that the miscellaneous matters he had to handle being too many.
As one of the mysterious deans of Winter Fort Academy, Joshua's presence was a factor that attracted students from other regions and other nations to enroll there. Many students longed to meet the warrior, especially the recently established combat-classes such as warrior and knights. For that, Joshua gave them some lecture and displayed little ability as a Legendary warrior, while motivating them to stay diligent as the future would one day belong to them.
He also visited those few apprentices of his, and observe the progress of the First Party's training, as well as Seventh Prince Arlwa. It must be said—being individuals whom Joshua simultaneously took a liking during their trial in the Divine Dungeon Shroud, their abilities certainly developed quickly. In just over half a year, all of them broke through the barrier of Silver and rose to Silver-beginner, and it would not be difficult for them to touch the boundary of Gold when they mature, if luck would have it. It was also a progress that was only possible with the Great Man Time since prodigies of the pre-Mana Tide Era would still be thinking about how to breakthrough to Silver at their age. Joshua was an exception given that he was special.
The skills he had passed on to Ivan and the others were also simplified Extraordinary powers from Joshua's own body. Ivan possessed his Steel Body, Amelia attained his Steel Strength vision and senses, the dwarf Nick acquire his lifeforce circulatory system while the girl knight Karin received the shape of his Nuclear Heart Furnace. Given that there had been considerable effort placed in their own training, Joshua was prepared to give them a little surprise when they ascended into Silver-advanced.
On the other hand, Arlwa learned to fly by using electromagnetic fields and the power to assemble electric currents, thanks to Joshua's thoughts regarding anti-gravity ability and electromagnetism. He would reach the threshold of manipulating gravity when he ascends to Gold, and materialize the most basic 'Mass Weapon Steel Sword.'
Nonetheless, the speech for the college and review of his students took some time. At night, Joshua had a brief meeting with Nostradamus and Israel once again to exchange information about the ancient era and the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.
The conversation did not last long and was fleeting, since Israel was under serious pressure following the sudden disappearance of both the warrior and the mage. While spying from external forces was not an issue, it was hard to placate inner dark tides. With individual ability rapidly rising due to the Great Mana Tide, the gap between normal nobles and peasants had started to become negligible. May common folk who now had considerable power would seek revenge against all manner of nobles and affluent merchants who had oppressed them before, while the nobles who sat upon capital and power would certainly not wait for them to reach their mansions, and thereby executing pre-emptive subjugations.
Before, the peasant had no power to resist, but now, they were no longer docile after they acquired it, whereas the nobles too could not abide by their 'property' turning around and threatening their own lives. Without the war against the orcs as a target to divert the hatred, the conflict between the peasants and the nobles was virtually unappeasable in the impoverished southern reaches of the Empire.
Israel believed that there were two options to solve such an issue regarding class and special rights that was deeply rooted in the system. One was to have a civil war and let heads fly, after of which the class system would be shuffled, while the other was to find new land where the poor could relocate, allowing them to plow their own land. Still, the two were but cure for the symptoms but not the disease—it was only through a complete reformation that the real issue could be solved.
However, Nostradamus believed that forcing reformations would only cause widespread rebellion amongst the conservative nobles. Even if the three of them could snuff out any dissenting voices throughout the Empire within a day, a national system that was far and lasting could not be established. They need time to experiment and ponder, and before that, the Empire could attempt using the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds in search of a path of development.
As for Joshua, he knew that due to Israel critical sickness in the preexistence, Nostradamus had presided over the Empire's path of development. Right after the Glorious Expedition against the orcs, it was the Great Development Era launched towards all mountain ranges and dark forest, with the Northern Empire dispatching troops who ventured deep into the Central Dark Forest. Innumerable adventurers had followed the Empire's Five Great Armies to explore that mysterious and dangerous place, finding countless prehistoric treasures and ruins.
It was a brief exchange, and yet the three had determined the development policy for the next dozen years. Igor could have been looking for Joshua over similar matters just a while ago, but it was forgotten after Joshua challenged the old pontiff… or perhaps not—Igor just might have felt that such things did not matter anymore.
With personal and private affairs mostly solved, it was the next morning when Joshua finally had the time to rendezvous with the two Legendary mages and head for the Squirming Forest.