Soul of Searing Steel

However, Joshua’s brisk promise made Israel uncomfortable instead.

“Do you know, Noble Radcliffe? You’re a very odd sort, very odd indeed…”

Israel withdrew his hand with a complex expression, and stared at the warrior’s face as if there was something on it. “Nobody would agree to something so huge so simply and so directly, it’ll make others feel as if it was child play. I believe you’re serious, Master Nostradamus had once said that you’re indubitably such a person, but.”

The Emperor paused, unable to see anything from Joshua’s face. He sighed, and turned towards another palace while speaking intermittently.

“I’ve thought for a thousand years and only made my resolve after ascertaining that my health has recovered.”

“You’re odd until the very last, Joshua. I was even prepared for you to delay things for years, who knew you would give an answer on the spot.”

The warrior merely shrugged. It was solely a difference in values—to the warrior, it was weirder to not enter whenever there was a new incident or storyline. It was a yes-and-no decision too, so what was there to be hesitant about?

Meanwhile, though they did not converse for long, the crowds’ cheers could be heard from outside Morlaix Palace. It was the sign that the offering ritual for the Spring Day Festival was over, but there were not many who were applauding the festival itself.

Most of them were praising the name of the third Legendary of the Empire—Nostradamus.

Three Legendary!

That’s actually three Legendary!

Considering the entire Mycroft Continent, there had just been nine Legendary that had appeared before the peoples in the last few decades.

The elves’ [Nature’s Magister Aydril Galanoud], dwarven leader of the Molten Steel Fortress [Grand-Scale Craftsman Flo Ironfinger], [Pope Igor] of the Seven Gods Church, [Vahina, Sage of the Oceans] of the Far Eastern Seas, Fourth Seat of the Skypiercing White Tower and its current leader [Barbarossa the Element Maven], the dashing Legendary pair who wanders the entire Continent [Rune Master Barnil Gaskell] and [Mind Lord William Charles], [La Motte Ternant of the Silver Oak Sword] who hails from the West Mountains Sword Saints, and Emperor [Israel, Dragon Rider of the Blue Yonder].

The nine champions mentioned were the more active of Legendary individuals. Still, there would not be just nine of them in the entire Mycroft Continent—everyone knew that there was a Legendary living in seclusion within the Far Southern Kingdom, while the Trade Federation has reared a Legendary-tier dragon-blood great whale. Not to mention the draconic races, in which the Pentashade alone have three Legendary dragons, while their rivals, the Metallic dragons who were less influential of late would certainly have a few Legendary dragon kings. Legendary monsters also rampage through the Central Dark Forest, with many champions who intend to explore that mysterious land forced out from within by endless ranks of powerful monsters. Even so, most of these Legendary undoubtedly do not have a distinct reputation and were far behind the nine.

And now, there are two more Legendary in the Empire!

The Northern Count Joshua van Radcliffe was too young, and neither did the public really understood his ability nor his feats, which was why he has yet to attain a generally acknowledged title. Even so, there were already some who privately use the title ‘Liege of Extinction’, but it had yet to receive popular recognition.

Nostradamus, on the other hand, was different. He was a Supreme mage who has made a name for himself for decades, with many estimating that he would progress into Legendary a dozen years ago. Now, it was a simple matter of everyone’s guess coming true, which was why the cheers were much more enthusiastic.

“The revolution you speak of is to establish many schools for adepts and draw in geniuses amongst the peasants, so that the innately talented would be groomed,” Joshua explained his opinion to Israel as they strolled along.

“The idea is definitely great, but the problems that need to solved are many and would also lead to much hassle, but the advantages generally outweigh the disadvantages. Understanding that just requires an instant—why would I hesitate?”

The warrior was quite familiar with the concept of everyone ascending into extraordinary which Israel spoke of. In the pre-existence, the successor of His Majesty—the Second Prince, the Iron Blood Emperor Dimore Diamond had precisely implemented the plan when the abyss invaded and the continent fell into endless war. Now, it appeared that Dimore had probably inherited the idea from Nostradamus and his father, but that concept had shaken the world at the time.

Due to the abyssal invasion, innumerable sparsely populated nobles and smaller factions were wiped out by the demons that swept through the entire continent. Though countless legacies were left behind their heirs were lost too. So that these precious inheritances would not simply vanish, and because the Empire did not have the power to reclaim fallen zone, Dimore had decreed at the time that all legacies left behind and the various cultivation practices possessed by the Imperial Family are to be spread throughout the world in its entirety. That way, the survivors would have the possibility of cultivating themselves, giving them the power of self-preservation.

At the same time, to make up for the huge losses in adepts, Dimore also commanded that every child above six years of age in areas still under imperial control to enter the militarized adept academies for a three-year education. Afterward, each student who graduated must be sent to a training camp that corresponds to their innate talent for varying periods of training and live combat. The end product was a spellcaster or combat-class who could narrowly enter the battlefield and handle demonic minions. It was also thanks to the post-Great Mana Tide environment that lower-level adepts training could progress quickly, or the civilization in the Mycroft continent would not be able to hand the speed of their blood loss.

Nevertheless, Dimore had implemented it in a wartime period. It was a time where seething nobles and mages—the latter of whom viewed that inherited knowledge was equivalent to their very life—must hand out their practices to defeat the Abyss and share them with the peasants whom they utterly discriminate. It was a temporary aloofness on their part, abandoning their identity because of the threat of extinction.

On the other hand, what Israel intended to do now was build adept academies open to peasants in a widespread manner in peacetime—a period where the nobles still held power and territories, even as the academies firmly grooming peasant geniuses and broke the monopoly the nobles had over the power of champions. To put it at best, it was destroying their livelihood. To put it at worst, it was destroying nobility itself—even the foundations of Israel’s own rule, and absolutely irreconcilable grudge as if killing one’s parents.

To be frank, it was the first time Joshua had seen an Emperor saying that he desires revolution.

Jokes aside, it sounded rather like suicide.

“The issues are indubitably many,” Israel said slowly, perfectly aware but unconcerned that there were many things to be solved in regards to his belief. “During wartime, I often met many soldiers or knights who clearly had extraordinary talent but could not fully utilize it due to their issues with legacy. Their will, constitution, and innate gifts would not lose out to those commanders under me, but it was the single issue of cultivation that stalled their stairway to development, allowing them to pause at Silver—even Steel tier.”

The Emperor’s voice grew regretful. “Meanwhile, the orcs had successfully spread their own legacy far and wide amongst their own race. Compared to common orcs, the orc rulers only had the benefit of special bloodline cultivation and legacy—every other aspect about them were the same otherwise. Exactly because of that, the orcs could wrestle against the entire Empire with the power of several tribes. Although there is certainly the matter of Imperial nobles holding us back, this was much more important.

“I thought—at the time—if those knights who could not use their gifts held corresponding legacies, would the Empire even worry about not wiping out the orcs and waste huge amount of national force to play the same to-and-fro tussle year after year with those orcs? It was too much of a waste, and a genuine pity.”

Then, shifting the topic at hand, Israel started to judge his own idea and mercilessly pointed out its flaw. “Of course, while Winter Fort Academy my mentor founded in the North proved that peasant students would not lose out to noble students following their education with some showing extraordinary inborn talents, it does not mean that it could be established nationwide. Funds being the most important issue, the second being magical resources. Building a school and drilling an adept requires a huge amount of funding and any related resources. If they are to learn how to fight they would require more live combat drills. Moreover, even if propagating culture instead of propagating the path of the extraordinary was the goal, it’s a grand project that would take a hundred years and endless funding to dispel illiteracy in an entire Empire, not to mention that our objective is far greater.”

Joshua nodded in return. It seems that Israel was not about to spread the path of extraordinary out of a whim.

He definitely had thought about it.

In truth, without the Great Mana Tide, the Mycroft Continent does not have the conditions for widespread extraordinary forces. The first was the lack of funds, the next being the issue of mana concentration.

Before the Great Mana Tide, if Joshua seriously inhaled to absorb the energies around him, the entire energy concentration around Moldavia would plummet over three tiers in seconds. Apart from him, all adepts below Supreme tier could only experience conditions of a final dynasty. Despite that, being a Legendary was not a good example. So, to take a thousand-men army composed entirely of Silver or Gold adepts as a case study, they would directly dry their surroundings of energy if they absorbed at the same time. And without those energies, the power of many spells would take a nosedive.

It was the same for an adept academy too. If it was before the Great Mana time, it would allow the growth of just a few dozen students—any more, the mana concentration within the campus would no longer rise to the requirements for guidance and training. Moreover, only the post-Great Mana Tide world could support large-scale extraordinary powered combat and more training for the students.

“That’s why I intend to conduct some trials in the Imperial Capital while also diverting some resources into the eastern provinces and the Southern Fortresses. Of course, I would provide the Northern Winter Fort Academy with funds from the Imperial Royal Family myself. We’re Legendary champions—we have enough time tow slowly wait, slowly experiment and slowly ascertain that our idea is not flawed.”

At the moment, Israel seemed optimistic. “There would of course be resistance from some nobles or some small factions,” he said leisurely, “but it would prove harmless, and I have other solutions to handle them. We have all the time we need after all, and could afford to slowly perfect the plan.”

Joshua could not help but shake his head inwardly. The Emperor has the right notion, but he did not know that the abyss would be invading this world in twenty years—he simply had no time to slowly wait and experiment.

But to Israel—unaware about the schemes of the abyss and its demons—his proposal was definitely fine. He had just vanquished the orcs, the draconic plague was also over, the Great Mana Tide arrived—bringing much more possibilities and magical power to this world while he had recovered from his internal injuries without any chance of recurrence. After the war, the Empire was at a rapid and steady period of development and the Emperor himself could outlive those stubborn old nobles. Israel could undoubtedly be confident given how perfect the plan was.

And yet, the warrior thought.

With the Mycroft Continent having regained the Initial Flame, would those demons still invade in accordance to their original plan? He had changed too much of the fated path of this world, and if the World Lines had skewed or at least been surpassed, those abominations of Chaos might even choose another target as a result.

Joshua, unaware that an old demon friend had forced its way in through a West Mountain summoning circle outside of the seal on the Abyss, and had since gathering intelligence while planning a trip to the North, did not even have the time to consider the question when he heard Israel suddenly speaking with a lowered voice.

The Emperor had stopped walking.

“Noble Radcliffe.”

At the moment, the pair stood by the door to the Great Hall. With the festivities over, there were not many people here.

“What do you think about my children?” he asked with an unusually serious voice.

“What? They’re alright, most of them are above average.”

Instinctively evaluating with his own thoughts, Joshua found himself impartial. Apart from Second Prince Dimore and the youngest Seventh Prince being rather special, the other princes and the princess had fine innate gifts but were nothing too remarkable. Still, through their behavior, their temperament and intelligence count as excellent—the Imperial Family’s education was absolutely impressive that even the Fourth Prince who appeared most ordinary had tact.

“Then, who would you choose if you have to choose one as an apprentice?” he asked, seemingly indifferent. “Of course, I’m just asking.”

However, even a fool could tell what he was thinking. And yet here he was, forcibly probing.

So, this was what awaits me after such a long conversation.

Joshua smiled, shaking his head. Even so, he could understand the Emperor’s thinking—it was not unusual for him to have that thought.

“I won’t take in an apprentice directly for your face,” Joshua said thus, “they must go through my inspection—their knowledge standard must pass the test.”

The warrior thought about the students of Winter Fort Academy who were furiously cramming in knowledge, and could not help smiling as he remembered that even those little fellows have not really been initiated.

Whatever the case may be, he was a man from the era and civilization of a grand universe. His basic knowledge was definitively above the locals on Mycroft. The Titan Hexa-elemental Kokyu-ho requires the harmonization of the six great elements—meaning that it needs an incredible knowledge in the aspect of energy harmonization as well as basic knowledge of sub-atomic planes. The Adamantium Body Refinement sounds simple but in truth needs detailed understanding of the essence of metal, demanding depth in physics and certain biological knowledge. The True Path of Fusion Conflagration even needs proficiency of nuclear fission and magnetic fields—utterly not a plaything for the mundane man, not to mention the Multiverse Ripple Vision that involves wave-particle duality, relativity, and even quantum mechanics. If Amelia did not have that corresponding instinctive talent for it, he would not have taught her.

Wanting to become his apprentice? Hahahaha. At least study hard on a related subject for a year or two! His power is filled with wisdom!

However, Israel waved it off confidently despite not knowing the fact, and simply took the warrior’s words as agreement.

“Let’s leave the trivial things aside,” His Majesty smiled. “Noble Radcliffe, when Nostradamus returns later, I have a great discovery to tell you about.”

“You’ll never guess what my mentor and I had actually found through the observation circles in the Void Star-Observatory these days.”