40 Edward Williams 5 (2/2)

Aureus personally asked if Wolfe was willing to take an aether core rating test administered by the Aureus army. Wolfe nodded numbly.

As Wolfe grasped the measuring orb, a scintillating light burst from the orb and shrouded the entire room in halos.

As the light died down, the magical technician in charge was gasping for breath as he choked out the result ”Ele….Eleven. A rating of Eleven, highness. With how the orb reacted, it is likely that this aether core will develop into a twelve.”

As the technician finished pronouncing the results, all eyes zeroed in on the stoic young man standing in the middle and a variety of expressions filled the faces of everyone in the room.

As everyone muttered amongst themselves, Aureus simply asked Wolfe what kind of sphere was he using. Wolfe summoned his sphere and presented it to Aureus.

Aureus took the sphere from Wolfe and examined the sphere it in depth. Barely a few minutes passed when Aureus shook his head and returned the sphere back to Wolfe. At the same time, he sent a runner to get a new set of spheres.

”It is quite impressive that you managed to achieve such battle results using such an outdated sphere,” Aureus said.

”It was what I had,” Wolfe replied.

Aureus indicated to Wolfe that will no longer be the case if he was willing to accept a gift from him. Wolfe simply nodded by way of reply.

As the runner returned with the spheres, Aureus himself personally took it and presented it to Wolfe.

This gave rise to even more mutterings as it was unprecedented for a prince of Astrea Empire to bestow a gift unto a barbarian.

As the mutterings formed a discordant symphony, Edward was struck by various thoughts.

Any who could distinguish himself in the Aureus army would have little trouble in excelling in other areas in life but there was a particular culture in the Aureus army. Fools running their mouths and giving structured and logical arguments without even touching macro perspectives or the human side of the issue found themselves cast by the wayside at record speeds.

There have been plenty of examples throughout Aureus's command that any officer of any caliber knew what is what and shut their mouths accordingly. Plenty of entitled nobles wishing to earn their house a name by attaching themselves to a prince of the empireby broadcastingtheir virtues- existing or imagined- quickly found themselves gracing the exits of the Aureus army camp.

It was worth noting that many such officers has become the butt of many jokes about noble officers trying to speak above their level but without the skills to either back themselves up or extract themselves from the mess they landed themselves in. Edward thought that bullshit existed in every realm but on the whole, he approved heartily of how Aureus has dealt with it.

Edward himself had very little tolerance for bullshit during his career as a military officer himself but recognized the necessity of it and how convenient it can be when it comes to protecting one's career from fools. Over the years, it has raised his appreciation for the silent but truly capable ones.

That said, it was not as if Aureus himself had any objections to nobles enlisting in his army. He simplymade it clear that pedigree carried little weight in his army and there was no faster way of getting the boot from his army by demonstrating that one is a fool. Of course, it has shortened Aureus's political capital to play whenever he returns to the core realm but in return, his army is a true fighting machine. On balance, he himself transferred many of the noble officers with a recommendation from his army when he received the posting to the outer realm and not a single one save Tarin decided to stay.

Edward personally felt that it there was any flaw that Aureus had- it was him being far too reliant on his inner council. Granted, he stacked the deck and ensured that his team was the cream of the crop. However, group think and the attached myopia comes along with such a setup.

Edward wondered whether the day will come whereby he has to stand his viewpoint against the entire inner council and Aureus himself. Edward truly did not relish such a thought.

”Would you be willing to take a mentor in the sphere arts?” Aureus asked. This question silenced the room.

While Wolfe had an incredulous expression for the span of a moment, he quickly nodded after.

Aureus signaled Johan to make his way over. Johan looked as surprised as the officers surrounding him but his steps were swift and sure as he approached the duo.