Badge in Azure

Saleen smiled and swiped his finger across the table to open the magic array and displayed the magic images.

“This is the dragon skeleton combat vessel and this is the skeletal warship. If you use them to go on a long expedition, the dragon skeleton combat vessel can ensure your safety. Even if you encounter a grade-9 beast, you will not need to care about protecting the vessels. You will only need to focus on attacking the beast.”

The two grade-9 sorcerers were speechless when they saw the dragon skeleton combat vessel.

Both of them would have an easy time if they traveled on this vessel. They would probably only need two percent of their powers. With such a vessel, even if they did not come along, Saleen’s hunting should not be too dangerous. Billions of gold coins would not have been able to buy such a vessel. The amount of wealth this Saleen had was astounding!

The wealthier Saleen was, the more loyal the two sorcerers would be towards him. Mages were not bandits so their mindset was that as long as they were able to fulfil the tasks given to them by Saleen, they would have plenty of time and resources to train in peace. Even battles were counted as training as long as they did not leave the magic tower.

Saleen was satisfied and he decided that the magic tower would be in western town to make it even harder to be taken down. One must pass through western town in order to attack Metatrin City, but the army in that town would be able to contain a large army.

Without the magic tower, the enemy would surely remove western town from the picture first before advancing towards Metatrin City. The importance of the two grade-9 sorcerers could not be understated.

The two grade-9 sorcerers would definitely be no match for a one-hundred-thousand strong army but as long as they did not leave the magic tower, they would still be able to contain them. The enemy would have to activate many of their strong warriors in order to control the magic tower and the other soldiers.

To have both of them settle down in Metatrin City would not be an issue. The red tiger mercenary group of Laiyin Duchy have been removed and had temporarily lost the right to be a grade-9 mercenary group. Saleen’s men could go forth and try to poach them. Those two silver grand swordmasters were difficult personalities too.

The two sorcerers were satisfied and Saleen was even more so. Now that the grade-9 sorcerers would be participating in the hunt, Saleen would be able to target grade-9 beasts and would definitely be rewarded. Without the grade-9 sorcerers, the dragon skeleton combat vessel would only target beasts that were grade-8 and below. The drop in number of magic nuclei would be significant.

This was not about Saleen being strict. Even Alchemy City did not have equipment like dragon skeleton combat vessel to hunt for beasts. Saleen did not have much, but such a superior equipment was one of a kind.

The hunt would be simple. If they encountered grade-9 beasts, the sorcerers would kill it. They would be exhausted after the kill so they would return to the combat vessel to recuperate. This combat vessel was resilient and sturdy, there was no way other beasts would be able to attack it.

Safety was priority. If the beasts were so easy to kill, high-level magic nuclei would not be selling at such premium prices.

“Finally, I have a personal request,” Saleen saw that the two sorcerers were satisfied and finally decided to state his request.

“Lord Saleen, please go ahead.”

“There are quite a number of noble families that have sought refuge in my city, but there are four that I wish to establish good relations with. I am thinking of inviting them over for you to meet each other. In the future, hopefully you can be generous with them and not kill any of their men for no reason,” Saleen said very courteously.

“No problem,” the sorcerers promised easily. Such things were common in Holy Rock City too. There would always be a few noble families that would be given a more generous treatment from the palace mages. They did not know that Saleen was actually using them to show off his power. Once the Tiffany and Rolande families saw that even the sorcerers had followed Saleen they would not dare to be overly ambitious anymore.

Even Dukes might not be able to recruit two grade-9 sorcerers!

Everyone around Saleen knew what he was up to but none of them gave anything away. Nailisi was impressed and thought to herself, “Master is simply too cunning. On the surface, it seems like he was asking the sorcerers to look out for the noble families under him, but actually he was using the sorcerers as a means to control the noble families.”

The Fellets would also keep quiet. Their son’s prospects depended on whether Saleen would be able to build a solid foundation after all.

Just like that, the two grade-9 sorcerers settled down in the temple and Saleen arranged for a magic tower to be built. He had more than enough resources. The amount of magic tower materials that Jason had given to Saleen could build forty magic towers. That was the wealth accumulated by Sregl Island for a few thousand years.

Saleen invited Aini and the rest to the temple as guests and introduced the two grade-9 sorcerers to them.

As Saleen expected, Tiffany family’s Renee, Rolande family’s Guya, Williams family’s Irene, and Clyde family’s Aini all agreed to become Saleen’s noble families upon seeing the grade-9 sorcerers.

With Aini facilitating from within, the other three families agreed to Saleen’s terms and conditions very quickly.

These four young men and women had pledged their allegiances to Saleen with all their wealth. Saleen would become King and they would be given the titles of Dukes and the lands that they had been given for now were all within the vicinity of Metatrin City.

The kingdom was named Metatrin and Saleen was named Saleen the First. The laws and regulations mainly followed the fourth dynasty, but with minor adjustments and these were all prepared by Saleen. The four of them were declared Dukes and could build their mansions within the city. Since they had yet to perform any meritorious services, they were only third-grade Dukes. These titles were hereditary which meant that as long as the Metatrin family lived on their future generations would always inherit the honor and glory of Dukes.

Now, the gains and benefits of these four young men and women would be closely tied with Saleen.

Now that Saleen had reached that stage, he had no choice but to consider Joey’s suggestion. Joey had given him a letter that could convince an entire Duke’s family to pledge allegiance to him. As long as Saleen brought along the letter to the Duke, the Duke would definitely swear fealty to Saleen with his entire family.

To show respect, Saleen sent Jola to deliver this letter personally along with three skeletal warships to Lianyun City. It was faster to travel by the sea than on a road.

News of Saleen declaring four Dukes spread very quickly within Metatrin City. At the same time, Saleen had no intentions of concealing the fact that two grade-9 sorcerers had also came onboard to lend their support to him. Many noble families were tempted.

Saleen also designated a location as the King’s mansion, but he did not live there. The King’s mansion would be a place where administrative duties would be settled. Metatrin City would still need a Lord of the City, the duties of this position had been managed by Daniel so far.

Daniel did not have any other intentions. He knew that the city would ultimately be controlled by Sregl Island. Saleen’s teacher would bring along many sorcerers, whoever was the Lord of the city would still have to defer to these over thirty sorcerers.

The fourth dynasty did not have a House of Commons, only the Senate. Saleen had no intentions of installing the Senate because he did not have any offsprings yet. He was the only person in the family so it was meaningless for the Senate to be set up. Saleen was putting in place an administration that was similar to Cloudflow, where the status of noble families in the palace would not be hereditary.

Most of the pirates that had followed Saleen steadfastly had enlisted in the army except for Gurney and a few others who has taken up important positions. Saleen’s main bodyguards would still be the mages from Sregl Island. Now that the governing of the city involved the four members of the newly designated Duke families, the city became livelier.

On the first Monday of May, Saleen arranged for a meeting in the temple. Those that were present at the meeting were the four Dukes and the twelve Earls that had pledged their allegiances to Saleen. These twelve Earls represented the twelve families that had also thrown their support behind Saleen. They had now been rewarded for their decision then.

The meeting room contained a long table that was twelve yards long. Saleen sat at one end while Nailisi stood behind him. On his left were Sika, Daniel, Aini, Irene, Renee, and Guya. On his right were the twelve Earls.

The guards were made up of barbarians while the servants were two demons and a few skeletons. There were no outsiders in the room and there was no possibility of any spies, everyone spoke freely. No outsider would be powerful enough to disguise themself as a skeleton.

“Your Highness…”

Renee of the Tiffany family began to speak. Saleen quickly waved his hand and said, “I am a mage. I don’t want this salutation.”

Renee was a young lady of around seventeen to eighteen years of age. Upon hearing what Saleen said, she said shyly, “Then do I call you Master?”

“I am not a sorcerer yet… the four of you can call me by name while the Earls can call me ‘My Lord'”.

Guya smiled and said, “You are the King. We can’t afford to be so casual.”

“According to the rules of the fourth dynasty, you are the first to be declared as Dukes so you can call me by name.” Saleen recalled what Narnia had taught him and quickly filled up the loophole.

“Alright then, Saleen…,” Renee was blushing as she faced Saleen and said, “I have a question, which I believe is what the twelve Earls wish to know too. There are plenty of lands around Metatrin City that are valuable but not being utilized. Can we buy them over?”

Metatrin City looked very different from how it was designed initially. The city contained more lands and they were just open spaces since they were not being utilized. A city did not need so many open spaces, especially when they were no buildings or statues in them.

Saleen smiled. These lands would serve as the locations for the Sregl Island mages’ thirty-six magic towers.

“Everyone, these lands have been left empty by me.”

“Saleen, this would not be making the best use of them,” Guya thought that Saleen had wanted to keep these lands now in order to sell them for good prices in future. Metatrin City was developing very well now. Once the ice at the port melts, many merchant boats would come along. Once these lands had been developed then sold to merchants, the amount of taxes they would receive daily would be huge.

“Guya, these lands are left behind for my teacher. Within two years, my teacher will be settling down in Metatrin City. He will also be bringing along thirty-six sorcerers,” Saleen smiled and replied.

What Saleen said stunned everyone.

The two grade-9 sorcerers might have pledged their allegiances to Saleen because they had been offered attractive terms and conditions, but Saleen was also a great mage himself and supporting behind him were another thirty-six sorcerers! These thirty-six sorcerers were all more powerful than Saleen!

These members of noble families felt a tinge of fear and respect towards mages. At the same time, they also felt pleased that there was such a powerful force on their side. Saleen’s plan to expand his territories was not just empty talk. When the noble families brought everything that they could from their homes to Metatrin City, never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that they could one day reclaim the honor of their families.