795 - 803

8 Years

"In that case, master, if a wizard can only store magic one day before using it the next, then isn't it necessary to determine which spells to use on the day before? And once the spell slots have been used up…" Leylin raised his hand and asked.

"Yes! All wizards need to prepare all the magic they will use a day prior. It's important to know which spells to prepare, and as for the issue of spell slots being used up…"

Ernest looked very stern. "Remember this well, Leylin! Once a wizard uses up all his spells and has no scrolls or magic artifacts on his body, he is no different from an ordinary person. Hence, you can never let yourself get into that situation. This is very important! I've seen many who used up all their spells and were unlucky enough to be gnawed down the core, without a scrap of flesh left on their bones!"

"I understand!" Leylin sat back down speechlessly.

'Based on what he said, wizards actually use their spiritual force as a currency to buy the authority to use magic from the Weave. While this method makes the requirements to become a wizard less stringent, this is basically a nightmare for those who are talented enough to build spell models by themselves…

'So in general, wizards are impotent and diminished versions of Magi?' Leylin felt disconcerted. 'So while it allows those without enough aptitude to use magic, this Weave is inflexible and confines true talent in magic!'

Leylin's eyes flashed, 'Perhaps this is the goal of the gods, to prevent the rise of a wizard who is too powerful. Could this be an effect from the final battle with the Magi? In that case, I should look up the history of this Weave Goddess. If my guess is correct, she must be a new god that only gained popularity after the ancient final war!'

Despite knowing this, Leylin obviously would not stick out his neck and try to change things. His goal was to remain low-profile as he grew up, and he absolutely would not do something like challenging the gods.

Before having the confidence to break through the power of laws, he had no choice but to explore the path of wizards.

"Next… I'll teach you a meditation technique, and then you can start making contact with the Weave…" Ernest continued to teach from the lectern, unaware that this pupil that looked studious on the outside was exploring many new ideas.

'Meditation here isn't too different from Magi's meditation techniques, but the effects are slightly weaker. Of course, coupled with the laws of the World of Gods, there are many areas I can learn from. As for the Weave…' Leylin's spirit began to extend outwards.

Using the method that Ernest had taught him, his spirit seemed to touch upon a powerful existence. It was a network of invisible energy shaped like a spiderweb, and it enveloped the entire World of Gods with its powerful energy.

Even the surface density of the energy pathways left Leylin's scalp prickling.

'Are those nodes spell slots? I never thought that just the surface layer of the Weave would be enough for me to feel stunned like this,' Leylin watched the Weave, his eyes full of admiration as he grew more convinced in his guesses.

'So powerful… It must have been created as a joint effort by the gods. Mystra should be one of the most powerful of peak rank 8s, which is why she was selected to manage it.' Leylin knew very little about the gods. All he knew was that there were a few stages to the most powerful of them, second to the World Will that was the Supreme God. Unlike in the Magus World, there were greater gods, the middle gods, and the lesser gods.

Mystra was definitely among the most successful of the greater gods, having tremendous divine force. Even if Leylin's main body were to fight her it was unlikely that he'd hold the upper hand.

"I've already given you the meditation method. Next up is to continue practising the use of your spiritual force and making contact with the Weave. Other students might need up to three months, but you'll be able to do it in a month!" Ernest spoke frankly.

All of a sudden, a strange undulation spread, causing his expression to change.

"Weave! You've made contact with the Weave!" Ernest charged forward, grabbing Leylin's slender arm. His eyes went read, "Leylin, is it really your first time touching upon magic?"

"Of course, master! I've rarely even left the manor since birth!" Leylin's eyes gleamed as he answered innocently.

"Then tell me! Are you the illegitimate child of the Weave Goddess?" Ernest asked extremely seriously…

...

Come fall, there were scenes of a great harvest everywhere. Grain and flour filled warehouses, and many farmers looked gleeful at the sight.

This harvest was enough for them to pay their taxes, and would even leave enough food for them to live through the winter and plant seeds at the beginning of spring. At this thought, they could not help but begin to pray, singing praises in the favour of the gods, as well as the benevolence and generosity of the lord.

With the profits from having a port and with many residents moving from the continent to the island, the Faulen family's taxes were set very low, which could be considered a very benevolent act from them.

Haystacks were piled up high in the training grounds of the manor, forming forts in varying shape. Two figures were now clashing on the ground.

"Pay attention to your centre of gravity, I'm coming!" Along with the warning, a blonde teen in white training clothes brandished a metal sword like a viper, twisting his body in an arc in mid-air, spinning around to arrive next to his opponent and thrusted his sword forward at an unexpected angle.

Leylin's opponent seemed middle aged. His face had marks of age on it, his hands were full of calluses, and he now looked as if he was battling his greatest enemy.

"Hah! It's this way!" He called in a low voice, holding the heavy sword in his hand horizontal.

*Clang!* The two swords produced a dull sound as they collided with tremendous force.

"Crap!" The man's expression changed and he slipped. Having lost his centre of gravity, his entire body was thrown off balance.

*Boom!* He felt a tremendous force slam into him, but the force turned gentle when it hit his chest, and he seemed to be sent flying away rather delicately, as if he was light as a feather.

When the middle-aged man opened his eyes once more, the blonde teen's metal sword was already at his chest, "You've lost, Jacob."

"Yes, young master Leylin, I've lost!" Jacob laughed helplessly.

"Your earlier parry was not agile enough, and you lacked instinct in your movements!" In front of him was obviously Leylin. However, Leylin was now guiding Jacob in detail as if he was the teacher instead. Jacob listened obediently, watching him in admiration.

After sending Jacob away, Leylin picked up a white towel and wiped off the sweat on his face before walking into the bathroom. The steady rise of the cloudy steam made the room look a little hazy.

Coming before a precious mercury mirror, he judged his appearance. He had curling golden hair, blue eyes, and a handsome face which inherited his parents' excellent features. While the fine hair near his lips betrayed his true age, it did nothing to conceal the mature charm he possessed.

'It's been ten years since I've started training to become a wizard!' Leylin sighed. Hr followed it up with an order, 'A.I. Chip, show me my current stats!'

[Leylin Farlier. Age: 13. Race: Human. Rank 5 Wizard. Strength: 1.5, Agility : 1, Vitality: 1.3, Spirit: 5. Condition: Healthy. Innate skills: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 2 slots (1), rank 1 slots (2), rank 0 slots (3)]

After fumbling around for many years, Leylin had developed more functions for the A.I. Chip, and even the stats were now more detailed. He turned his attention to the description of his innate skills.

[Innate Skill. Sturdy: Host has persevered through warrior training, and possesses a sturdy physique. (Strength +0.5, Vitality +0.3)] [Erudite: Plentiful experiences and great knowledge has allowed the host's willpower and spirit to expand and become more resilient. (Spirit +1)

'The stats that the A.I. Chip shows includes the bonus from my innate skills…' Leylin looked rather solemn, "In other words, besides the strengthening of my spiritual force from birth, my body is practically comparable to a regular adult?"

After the passing of so many years, Leylin found that due to the limitations by the world's laws, it was extremely difficult for humans to raise their strength.

There seemed to be some kind of bottleneck when raising any of his stats, and once they reached an average of one his progress had stalled. Only his spiritual force, which was related to him being a wizard, was still somewhat increasing, but it too seemed to have reached a bottleneck.

'When it comes to my body's stats, Jacob still surpasses me in many ways. The reason I could defeat him was technique… Is this some added bonus from being a warrior?' Leylin stroked his chin, sinking into deep thought.

While the increase of his strength would be shocking to his peers, this did not satisfy him.

"Perhaps I should find an opportunity and go on a trip outside!" Leylin inwardly made a decision as he bathed in the warm water. He naturally had ideas about how to increase his strength, but he obviously could not implement them at home. Travelling abroad now seemed to be a rather good idea.

Anthony

'A.I. Chip, how's the progress on the analysis of the Weave?' Leylin inwardly asked, closing his eyes.

[Beep! Analysis prioritises concealment of the host. Current progress: Rank 0 Weave 87.69%, Rank 1 Weave 37.61%, Rank 2 Weave 2.33%!] The A.I. Chip quickly replied.

This was one of the many reasons why Leylin was advancing so slowly as a wizard, and he was very interested in the existence of the Weave. If he was able to completely analyse the Weave without being discovered by Mystra, it would make it extremely convenient for him to cast spells.

Even with such a huge project on his hands, Leylin was still able to reach rank 5 as a wizard. This display was already enough for Ernest to rave and exclaim that he was a genius, even a monster.

Wizards in the World of Gods were ranked according to their level of contact with the Weave. Those below rank 3 could only make contact with its surface, memorising and using rank 0 spells. They would acquire a deeper understanding of it upon reaching rank 3, gaining the ability to use rank 1 spells.

Leylin was now a rank 5 wizard, able to make contact with the second layer to use rank 2 spells. He was doing rather well for himself. On top of that, being a wizard in itself gave him great status. If he was lucky, he could even be conferred a lordship as he was in a large noble family, and it was highly likely that he'd gain his own land with meritorious deeds, passing it down the generations.

This was the dream of commoners. It was a pity though; at this level everything was like the dirt on the ground to Leylin, filling him with disdain as he trod on it.

'Ranks 1 to 5 are considered normal in the central continent, and those from rank 6 to 10 are considered elites. From 1- to 15 are experts and those above are true powerhouses who enjoy great reputation in the continent. Even if they aren't considered Legends, they are the apex of power, and those who appear most often. Legends could care less about worldly matters, placing their ambition and hopes on obtaining divinity, perhaps igniting their godfire and obtaining a place as a deity…'

This was Leylin's current understanding of the power hierarchy in the World of Gods, obtained from the intel he had acquired as well as his own conjectures. Gods were set on a pedestal here, living in their divine eternal lands while their churches and priests raised followers for them.

The prime material plane prevented all powerful forces from entering, and even if a god were to make a material body and descend they would only have the strength of a peak Legend at most. Of course, they held another title; they were called Saints. Even if their real bodies descended they would still have the same name.

Hence, there were many situation in the prime material plane where high-ranked Legends besieged Saints and caused their fall. Sometimes they even managed to rob them of their divine force. Those gods would basically not let their real bodies descend and could only do that with their clones.

'Legends are the most powerful in the prime material plane. If I can become one quickly, I'll have enough power to protect myself. Besides, I need to do that to gain divine force.' Leylin stroked his chin. As he had gotten enough nutrients growing up, he was already rather tall for a 13-year-old, as could be seen in the mirror. Besides his face being immature, he was practically a little adult.

'Is the reason for the bottleneck in my stats that I've yet to fully develop?' Leylin pondered over his situation, 'Based on this progress, it'll probably take centuries of training to reach the rank of Legend. That's too long, and I haven't even considered what comes after…'

Leylin conjectured that the Legends of the World of Gods were quite similar to Morning Star Magi. They possessed abilities that surpassed imagination, and while one used legendary magic the other used Arcane Arts. In addition, they both met the bare requirements for entering the ancient war campaign, and after advancing, they would undergo a massive transformation.

'Compared to the rankings of Magi, the division of ranks in the World of Gods are greater in number. In addition, those high-ranked Legends have abilities comparable to rank 5 Radiant Moon Magi…' Even in the prime material plane, there were many powerful beings amongst the natives of this world. While there were high-ranked Legends, there were still many children of gods, divine beings, and even demigods.

Based on Leylin's thoughts, their abilities would not lose out to rank 6 Breaking Dawn Monarchs, or even a near rank 7 like him.

"The World of Gods is filled with danger," Leylin sighed. Not only were there churches and followers all over the continent, the gods had eyes everywhere in their children and family. The moment abnormalities were discovered, and he attracted the attention of the gods… Leylin instantly felt his scalp prickle in fear.

'Perhaps… Adventuring is not a good option. There are many ways to increase the lifespan of wizards. I can use time to train… Besides, my main body can afford to wait for me!' Leylin changed his mind.

Without external dangers, he didn't mind spending more time if that would ensure his safety.

"Young Master Leylin, your afternoon classes are starting! Don't make Master Anthony wait too long!" A gentle voice was heard from outside, and Leylin was pulled back to reality.

"Alright!" Leylin found a towel and wiped at the droplets of water on his body, and then headed to a room outside.

There were two maids with pretty faces and blushes on their cheeks. They went forward, using their tender little hands to straighten the creases on his clothes.

In a feudal family, the family head and young master's personal maids were very important. They not only had to serve their masters in their daily lives, but also take care of their master's bodily needs. If nothing went wrong, this role was usually taken on by the daughter of the housekeeper.

The Faulen Family obviously could not do away with this custom. Leylin's two personal maids were the daughters of the main housekeeper Leon. It was obvious that they had already prepared themselves mentally and were even slightly excited, but Leylin had no plans to do anything.

'I'm only thirteen. Although young masters might have become experienced in that area at this age, they can't be compared to me…' Leylin knew how to control himself.

"Claire, Clara! Has Master Anthony arrived?" Leylin watched these two sisters, and only when the flush spread down to their pale necks did he ask them teasingly.

"Ye- yes, young master!" Claire blushed as she answered, feeling slightly relieved yet also disappointed.

"I can't let my teacher wait for too long…" Leylin smiled as he left, not forgetting to tease them for a while.

"But this'll only go on for these two years…" Smelling that sophisticated aroma, Leylin mumbled to himself.

...

Rays of sunlight shone in through the window, brightening up the hall.

"Mentor Anthony!" Leylin respectfully bowed. While he'd already learnt all the knowledge that the scholar knew, Leylin did not act too rudely since manners were compulsory for nobles.

"Leylin, you did well!" Anthony was already an old man, his kind voice low and his eyes shining. It was obvious that he truly liked this student.

"I've already taught you everything in terms of etiquette and speech in the continent. Today, we shall delve into its history…" Anthony produced a thick yellow tome that looked like a dictionary and placed it on the desk.

History was a rare subject even among nobles, only a few scholars focused on it. However, Leylin differed from the rest; he was extremely interested in this subject.

"History is confusing and tasteless. Many nobles hate it. Can you tell me why you chose this?" Anthony caressed the cover of the volume, looking rather nostalgic.

"It's because knowing history makes one wise. It's like a mirror that allows us to know ourselves better. No matter how foolish or absurd a situation, it's already occurred in the past. We need to prevent such things from repeating."

"A novel idea… cough cough… that makes sense… cough cough…" Anthony's face was flushed, but he suddenly began to cough, his body bending into a stooping position.

"If you can see that, you're definitely my student… Of course, you have Ernest as your master and might not think much of this, but I hope you'll take this!" Anthony's hands trembled as he produced a white silken bundle and unwrapped it layer by layer, revealing the emblem within.

"This is the proof of my glory as a scholar, presented to me in the king's capital by the God of Knowledge. It is now yours… Cough cough…" Anthony's hands trembled as he placed the emblem in Leylin's hands, "I believe you will not tarnish its glory!"

"I swear on it!" Sensing that this old man's life force was already fading, Leylin answered seriously.

While he already had a wizard for a mentor, Leylin had not abandoned his studies of culture, and Anthony taught him very seriously. It could be said that in these 8 years, the old man had already spent a lot of effort on him.

'What a great teacher!' Leylin judged inside, but had no plans of helping him. On one hand, he wanted to avoid revealing himself, and on the other, the concepts in the World of Gods were different. In the eyes of believers, death was merely another beginning. With the guidance of a priest, their souls would rise with glory to the land of the gods, where they could live an eternal life.

Calendar of the Gods

The followers of the gods would definitely be redeemed after death. That was the basis of the teachings of the gods. For this reason, the teachings of the gods spread throughout the world, causing the rise of numerous zealots who were willing to give up their lives for their beliefs.

Any research relating to the soul was made taboo here, and was considered to profane the dead or the gods.

'How foolish they are to place their hopes on someone else…' Leylin sighed, but did not try to change this mindset. He knew very well how difficult it would be to change an ideology that had turned into a culture over tens of thousands of years.

For this reason, his master Anthony faced death in a very calm manner, and it did not interfere with his daily work.

"Perhaps some day in the future… Your name shall be carved in the church of knowledge, and if my name were to appear in the introduction, I'd have no regrets in my life…" Anthony stated his wish.

The church of knowledge had a wall of glory, where the many names of those who helped pass on knowledge and wisdom were inscribed. It was considered the greatest honour amongst scholars in the continent.

Anthony's hope was that when others saw Leylin's name there, they would find his own in the introduction, where he would be mentioned as a young Leylin's teacher.

"I will work hard, master!" Leylin was speechless, but he could only answer in a vague manner.

"Good! Let us start today's class. Flip to page…" After hearing Leylin personally agreeing, Anthony's face glowed the red of fire that had just been fed oil. The tiny bit of life force he had emitted a vigorous energy.

Leylin listened to him and turned to the page, and an ancient map appeared before him. Due to the many fingers that had touched it, the lines of the map were incredibly blurred.

The black lines of charcoal drew the outline of a broken continent, with many little islands like stars surrounding it. The edges of the ocean were full of darkness, marked out with symbols of danger and the unknown.

"The history of our prime material plane is the history of great discovery. From the beginning, where there were written accounts of the redbud flowers up till today, the continent has evolved to the state that you see right now…" Anthony spoke unhurriedly, "The rise and fall of many nations resulted in many dangers to the continent. You'll find the changes to the borders of these nations on the next page… Now, I'll need you to mark out where we are on the map!"

"This…" Leylin watched Mentor Anthony speechlessly while he kept rolling his eyes inside.

"Our Faulen Territory is in the territorial waters of the southeast part of the Dambrath Kingdom. It was a newly developing land that was found and occupied after the kingdom's third sailing expedition…" Leylin pointed to a corner in the northeast on the map, where there were the vague words of 'Dambrath'.

Due to the the scale, the entire Dambrath Kingdom was just a grain in the vast ocean. While this was what Leylin said verbally, his eyes were beginning to blaze with excitement and fire.

The World of Gods was vast beyond words, and there were even kingdoms established by the beastfolk and elves. Similar to the Magus World, there were things like the underground, where many dark races resided.

On the surface of the continent were hundreds of kingdoms and dukedom, and an inexhaustible number of villages.

Humans, beastfolk, elves, dwarves, pygmies, goblins, jackalfolk, death spirits… all sorts of races and gods of varying types showed the legends that had happened on the continent.

There were hot-blooded adventures, secret conspiracies, many races, various cultures and even wars and peace between gods!

Every dimensional being, whether devils, demons or anything else, were all watching this area with lustful eyes, hoping to gain a portion of it despite the watchful eyes of the gods.

"This is… the beginning of the legends…" Leylin's heart blazed. He was already itching to begin wandering around the continent.

Of course, this desire was quickly suppressed by the cautiousness that lay in his genes.

With his might as a rank 5 wizard, he might be considered an elite in adventuring groups in this dangerous continent, but there were far too many existences that could take his life.

"Alright! Let us take a look at the Lionheart Nation at the middle of the map. On the calendar year 37628 of the holy calendar, 30 years ago, Lionheart King Charlie…" Anthony began his lessons while Leylin listened attentively.

However, Leylin's thoughts were wandering.

'The holy calendar! That's the calendar established by the gods. While on the surface, it began because of the birth of the gods, in reality, the first year is actually a year after the end of the ancient Final War!'

This dark history was obviously not written in historic records. This was information Leylin had gathered through his resources, as well as Ernest and Anthony accidentally letting this slip, and a conclusion that he had eventually come to.

'The ancient Final War practically left the World of Gods in ruins, and the continent was even split into several parts. Civilisation was destroyed in the prime material plane in an instant, and they sunk into their darkest time. Many gods fell, but there were also those who were fortunate enough to gain their divine powers and rose rapidly, igniting their godfires and becoming new gods. The Goddess of the Weave Mystra is the best example! They must have established the holy calendar after the new gods created their churches!'

Leylin's eyes were shining, "Hence, amongst the gods, given the division of the ranks of the gods, which is that between the old and new gods, the old gods must have powers that generally surpass that of the new gods…"

Evidently, if Legends in the prime material plane wanted to slaughter gods in order to obtain their divine powers, the new gods were their best choice, which also applied to Leylin.

'On top of that, in the World of Gods, it's already been 37,000 years since the ancient Final War?" Leylin stroked his chin, "Looks like time flows differently in the God of Worlds as compared to the Magus World…' After the class was over and he had sent Mentor Anthony away, Leylin returned to his room.

"Young Master! Young Master! You have received a letter from Miss Isabel!" At this moment, Claire jogged over, holding a pink letter in her hands. She was breathing raggedly, her chest was bouncing, and even her little face had flushed pink and filled with beads of sweat.

"Thanks for your trouble!" Leylin touched her hand, causing the maid to flush pink bashfully and run off.

"Hehe…" Having teased her successfully, Leylin chuckled in satisfaction as he sat back on the couch, tearing open the pink letter in his hands.

"To my beloved cousin, Leylin Faulen,

Dearest Leylin, are you doing well? Do you still need to have your diaper changed? It's been about five years since I left the Faulen Island, but I still can't get used to the darkness and dampness of this city, especially the moss on the ground that practically extends all the way to my room…"

On the letter was a little girl's immature handwriting. She began with banter, but that then turned into longing and complaints.

"Has it been five years?" Leylin sighed, recalling the time he'd been with Isabel. While she liked to bully him, she obviously felt protective of him.

However, she had her own family as well, and when Leylin was eight, they had come to get her. While leaving, Isabel had bawled. Leylin still remembered the feeling of her grabbing his hand tightly.

'Based on Father's arrangements, I will enter the Grain Goddess' church and become an apprentice priest. I've heard that rules are very strict there, and I hope I'll still get the chance to communicate with you through letters… Isabel.'

"Becoming a priest?" Leylin nodded. In noble families, besides the first son needing to take over the feudal status, the rest of the children seldom received money and were even chased out of their homes.

If the second son was intelligent, they would study management and become the housekeepers of some noble family. The rest might become knights or enter churches.

The daughters would take on the great responsibility of getting married to other families. It was very common for there to be old husbands and young wives, or old wives with young husbands.

For Isabel, being able to study as a priest meant that she would have power of her own, as well as support from the church. Even if she would need to marry someone in the future, this was not half bad.

But… At the thought of the shrewish cousin of his who would need to bemoan the state of the heavens and fate of the people, carrying the name of the gods by her lips all day long, Leylin had the urge to laugh.

After reading the letter, Leylin went to the side in his home.

There was a small-scaled smelting room. On the laboratory table with a metal surface were numerous valuable glass apparatus.

Just purchasing these items had led to the earnings of the Faulen Family diminishing for a few months.

Besides, Leylin was still starting out with the miniature versions. The real stuff was with his mentor, Ernest.

With such terrifying rates of expenditure, it was understandable that many magicians came from noble families.

Besides the lucky, only nobles would be able to bear the terrifying cost of the materials for casting spells and experiments.

Wither

A pungent herbal odour wafted through a dimly lit room, mixing with the strong smell of incense. The two scents mixed to leave one light-headed.

An old scholar lay on a bed with an exquisite brocade silk quilt draped over him, on the last leg of his life. The atmosphere was heavy, and light sniffs sounded out on occasion before they were suppressed.

Leylin was clad in black ceremonial attire as he stood amongst the guests, expressionless as he watched the old man on the bed. There was no sign of the inexperience on his face from before, and instead he seemed more mature, like a handsome young man.

It was obviously Anthony on the bed. This scholar was a normal human after all, and his life force had been diminishing for a long time. Being able to hold on to till date was already something that greatly surprised Leylin.

On top of his role as a student about to send his master off, Leylin had a more important matter to attend to.

At this moment, Anthony's body twitched and his throat moved. There was a slight flush on his face, and it was obvious that death was near.

"Priest! Get the priest!" His wife shrieked, and the children around her burst into tears.

The crowd split into two, revealing the sorrowful face on Bishop Tapris. "The gods will watch over you from the divine realm."

"Thank you! Thank you, Lord Bishop!" Anthony's wife wept. As a bishop of the god of knowledge, Tapris evidently had a high status on Faulen Island, and being able to have him attend meant Anthony was given face. While Leylin suspected this had to do with his powerful family, it was still a good thing, no?

Tapris waved his arms, showering him in holy light and stabilising Anthony's condition. Afterwards, the scholar began his last prayer. It might instead be called a narration of his memories. "My life… began at the island of Sicily…. "

"Leylin, my student, I hope to see the day you succeed. Even in the divine realm, I'll be rooting for you!"

"I understand, master!" Leylin quickly hastened forward, the A.I. Chip's detective abilities being raised to the maximum.

Tapris was moved by Anthony's mention of Leylin, something he'd done even after reciting his will. It showed how well Anthony thought of his student; his own investment hadn't been wasted.

"I… I see the glamour of the gods…" Anthony struggled for the last time, raising his palm. The light in his eyes dimmed, and his arms powerlessly fell to the side of the bed.

"Nooo…" "Anthony…" "My dearest Anthony…" Many cries began to sound in the room.

Tapris' face grew even more pious as he began Anthony's eulogy, "He was a learned scholar and a good samaritan, one who was willing to help others. As a follower of the god of knowledge, Anthony Blunton used his entire life to pass on the teachings of the gods. The gates to the divine realm shall open for him in death…"

'It's here!' A trace of emotion flickered in Leylin's eyes. Through his powerful senses, he saw huge, shining golden gates. The gates opened to a bright holy light, within which Anthony's soul rose from his body on its own. After taking another peek at the world of the living, he threw himself inside…

'The divine realm, situated in a plane above the prime material plane…' Leylin sighed inside.

'Normal followers' souls must first enter the soil and, after being evaluated by the God of Death, advance into the divine realms of the various gods. However, Anthony's soul bypassed that procedure. Is this a privilege from the bishop?' Leylin wondered.

After the souls of followers reached the divine realms, they would in theory become petitioners, henceforth breaking away from mortality. As long as the god and their divine realm were not destroyed, they would basically exist together with the god.

To a certain extent, this was a sort immortality, but they could not be bothered by external forces.

'It's rumoured that high-ranked petitioners can undergo a transition in terms of their souls, becoming something like a holy spirit… Every such one is a precious asset of the god, but their numbers are…' Based on Leylin's thoughts, these holy spirits were souls that could not die nor be extinguished, very similar to materialised souls.

This meant that, in theory, every holy spirit was comparable to the truesoul of a Breaking Dawn Magus.

'While the formation of holy spirits relies entirely on external forces, there is the benefit of living a stress-free immortal life while depending on the gods. Over time, the defences of the gods' divine realms must have grown extremely terrifying…'

With a limitless number of believers, holy spirits, and the power of being the authority in that realm, gods were basically invincible in their own divine realms. Even the more powerful deities couldn't easily dispose of the weaker ones if they were in their own realms, and they would have to pay a terrible price.

As for those Magi who had accidentally intruded into a divine realm… the result was obvious.

'Evidently, master Anthony's soul has a ways to go to meet the requirements to become a holy spirit. The mighty god of knowledge, Oghma, would obviously not make an exception for him… But with the bishop paving the path for him, he'd probably be in a better situation than many petitioners.'

After the divine lights retracted and the guiding force disappeared, Leylin's tense body relaxed. Bishop Tapris approached him then as well, having completed the ceremony, "Leylin!"

"Lord Bishop!" Leylin bowed to him respectfully. After all, he was a follower of the god of knowledge even if in name.

"Anthony was a pious follower. He will definitely be treated well in His kingdom, there's no need to worry…" Tapris consoled him, and seemed to have more to say.

Leylin and Tapris left the room, heading to a garden. Those people around had voluntarily left this area to them. "If I don't remember wrong, you've already held your coming of age ceremony. You're now a true man!" Bishop Tapris shifted the topic to Leylin.

"Yes, it was conducted last month…" Leylin answered modestly. Based on the customs of this world, boys would be considered adults once they hit 15, and could marry and have children.

"I was by your side when you were born… At that time, you were a little guy, still in your infancy. You've gotten so big in the blink of an eye…" Bishop Tapris laughed gently, as if reminiscing. As a rank 10 priest, the years did not leave marks on his face. In reality, he was much older than Anthony.

"But… I rarely see you attending celebrations at the church. Baron Jonas might be busy with work, but Lady Sarah is a very devout follower…" Tapris' voice showed a hint of disapproval.

"My apologies, lord bishop! I often conduct experiments with master Ernest and I must lose track of time…" Leylin quickly apologised.

A look of helplessness appeared on Bishop Tapris' face. Wizards in general had the least piety in them. Many of them were just general followers, and he'd long since expected this. In reality, while the entire Faulen family might be followers of the god of knowledge, they had never completely lost themselves in the teachings of the god.

In many areas on the continent, the worldly authority that nobles had were perpetually in conflict with gods' authority. Even Baron Jonas had brought in a new god, Ilmater the Crying God, while the church of knowledge already existed. He planned to build a church of wealth, allowing other gods to spread faith in them amongst the followers.

This was the instinct of a noble, but Tapris obviously couldn't accept it. His plan was to pull in the next generation head of the Faulen Family.

It was a pity that wizard Leylin was just like his father. While he never forgot to donate and make sacrifices to the church, he rarely took part in zealous religious ceremonies. On top of that, he was a wizard and had help from his mentor… Tapris' expression grew darker.

"My apologies for my rude actions, Bishop Tapris! Please allow me to donate ten gold coins to the church to repent for my sins. On top of that, please inform me the next time there are celebrations and gatherings!" When it came to matters of faith, Leylin had long since planned to treat them with less importance. However, since Tapris had brought it up, he had no choice but to do this.

Anyway, he already had plans to go to the church's celebrations every once in a while, pretending to be a follower.

"Good! There will be a holy baptism seven days later. It is a day in remembrance of the god of knowledge's feat in reforming the demon, Angmar. The church will hold a grand celebration, so I hope to see you there…"

"It would be my honour to. I'll definitely go!" Since this was a personal invite from Tapris, Leylin agreed straightforwardly.

"Good!" Tapris nodded, and was then asked away by someone who had been waiting for him beside them. Besides Anthony's funeral, there were many matters he had to attend to.

After the Lord Bishop left, Leylin remained in the garden, watching the white rose behind the wooden railing while deep in thought. 'He wants me to go there personally? What is that supposed to be? A warning?'

In reality, with his status as a noble the power of the church was not as immense as one would expect it to be. If Tapris dared overstep his boundaries, he would definitely be jointly resisted by the entirety of the nobility in the Dambrath Kingdom.

Sudden Change

The battle for authority between gods and royalty had always been a problem. As the next leader of a low-grade noble family, Leylin was considered royalty. Tapris could not do anything to him, at least not out in the open, else the royalty would declare war on him. Even the pope of the god of knowledge would only choose to sacrifice Tapris and pacify the royals.

'Besides… it's not like Oghma is the only god on the continent. There are still many new churches that are crying out, trying to gain more followers. Of course, this is only what might happen in the worst-case scenario. Things probably won't get that bad…' Since he could now predict Tapris' future actions and the worst consequences, Leylin felt at ease as he returned to the manor.

He first met with his master Ernest, and mentioned Tapris' demand. He thought nothing of it and answered with a grunt, and then sent Leylin out. It seemed as if he was preparing to immerse himself in a very important experiment, and his mind was wandering while he was speaking to Leylin.

'Perhaps I'm motiving master to work harder as well. A few days ago, he was saying he was about to reach the fifth level of the Weave or something like that…' Leylin's rapid progress must have been a huge motivation for Ernest, who had been stuck at rank 9 for a while now.

In reality, he was actually far from truly reaching the fifth level of the Weave. Leylin cleverly hid a portion of his own strength as well, else Ernest would probably want to commit suicide from the humiliation.

Half-reclining on the sofa in the room, Leylin waved his arms and got Claire to come over and massage his head while he communicated with the A.I. Chip.

'A.I. Chip, what's the recent progress on the analysis of the Weave?' he commanded with his eyes shut.

[Beep! Progress on analysis on the Weave: Rank 0 Weave 100%. Rank 1 Weave 41.22%. Rank 2 Weave 2.3%.]

After seeing these numbers, Leylin sighed noiselessly.

'Two years have already passed, but there hasn't been progress in the two layers after rank 0. The analysis of rank 2 has completely halted…' Though Leylin knew that this was due to his command to maintain stealth, he still gre dejected by it.

'But analysis of the rank 0 Weave has finally reached 100%! What kind of surprises will it give me?' Thinking this, Leylin instructed, 'Give me the information on the rank 0 Weave.'

In that instant, Leylin felt like his line of sight was drowned out by words of laws. All of them held the power of laws, and Leylin felt like he was losing himself within.

[Beep! Analysis of rank 0 Weave complete. Obtained all rank 0 spell models!] The A.I. Chip intoned loyally while opening up a subdirectory. Within it were rank 0 spells of varying types, all arranged in an orderly fashion.

Resistance, Acid Splash, Caltrops, Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Daze, Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Electric Jolt, Sonic Snap, Ghost Sound, Silent Portal, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation…

A whole array of rank 0 spell models of varying types that included spells Ernest may or may not have taught him before were displayed on the A.I. Chip.

"Based on what master said, wizards can be separated into varying factions. There is abjuration, conjuration, enchantment, transmutation, divination, evocation and necromancy, which comes up to a total of eight schools. There are also spells which everyone can use… A wizard can choose to train in two to three spell schools before one's energy is completely exhausted. Master Ernest, for instance, is versed in evocation and transmutation spells, and he can't even use the spells of other schools at all…" Leylin muttered, "But now, I've grasped control of all the rank 0 spells of the eight great schools as well as those that can be used by all wizards…"

[Beep! Host has obtained all rank 0 spell models. Removing restriction on rank 0 spells. Host has obtained authority to cast all rank 0 spells without any restriction! Exempted from effects of forgetting spells!]

Having conquered one layer of the Weave, the benefits that Leylin obtained were terrifying. While he could not match up to the controller of the Weave, Mystra, having these benefits made it simple and very convenient for him.

This means that besides being proficient in all rank 0 spells, I won't need to prepare rank 0 spells the day before and can use them on the day itself…" Leylin was rather excited. The flexibility this allowed was enough for many wizards' eyes to go green in envy.

"Furthermore, not needing materials when casting spells and not forgetting spells…" Leylin's eyes brightened. Many rank 0 spells required magic materials to cast, something that wizards usually spent the most of their money on. Forgetting spells was also what had many wizards fuming with rage. After casting a spell, wizards would completely forget the original spell model and would have to relearn and memorise it.

From Leylin's point of view, the controller of the Weave had drawn all their spirit and soul strength and slowly exploit them. The gods who were at the top of the Weave were practically vampires.

However, with these effects, Leylin could now do away with the limitations of the rank 0 spells.

"Since I've only analysed the first layer of the Weave, this only works for rank 0 spells… But wizards have always been wise about what spells to cast. Even a rank 0 spell can turn the tables if used correctly…" While he would only have these effects when it came to rank 0 spells, that was already enough for Leylin to be elated.

After completely analysing the rank 0 Weave, Leylin could even steal other wizards' spell slots and get them to cast the spell in their memories for him. It was a pity that Leylin was not the Goddess of the Weave. While he could make things convenient for himself, it was best not to go too far.

If he did so, the wizards who noticed something was off would definitely investigate and report it to the gods. It was much too easy to be discovered, which was why Leylin dared not do this.

"At the last part, once the A.I. Chip completely analyses the Weave, I might be able to challenge the Goddess of the Weave herself…" Leylin's eyes flashed.Meanwhile, white rays of light flickered at his fingertips.

"Ah…" Claire, who was massaging Leylin, let out a shriek.

"What, have you never seen the power of spells before?" Leylin watched her teasingly. Before the coming of age ceremony, his two personal maids had fully committed themselves to their duties and helped their young master become a true man. Of course, this was only in terms of his body.

"N- No…" Claire's eyes were filled with envy. The power of magic obviously left her intoxicated. Due to the harshness of the Weave of this world, wizards cherished their spell slots like they did their eyes, planning their spells everyday. Nobody would be like a spendthrift like Leylin, playing with magic even if it was only rank 0 magic.

"There's something more fun!" Leylin watched Claire, a teasing look on his face, "Mage Hand!"

The sounds of girl's screams and coquettish laughter transmitted from the room, causing the maids who passed by to turn red…

Sudden, hurried footsteps destroyed this beautiful scene.

"Young master, young master, something's happened!" Clara, the other sister, ran in. She'd even forgotten the courtesy of knocking. She was met with the sight of her sister all flushed, and her young master, who was in a state of undress.

Though it wasn't as if she'd never seen this, Clara still turned red. "My- My apologies…"

"There's no need to bow. Tell me what happened!" Leylin stood up leisurely. He knew that for Clara to become so frantic, it must be something very serious. In comparison, his entertainment obviously came second, and Claire focused on not herself, but arranging Leylin's clothes.

"Miss Isabel has already reached the manor. Madam Sarah has requested you to go over quickly!" Clara calmed her ragged breathing and finally managed to present the information in its entirety.

"Cousin Isabel?" Leylin was confused, "Wasn't she apprenticing as a priestess for the Goddess of Agriculture? She can't leave for three years, so why's she suddenly here at the Faulen lands? She's obviously not here on a vacation…"

Hurriedly pulling on a coat, Leylin went to the other side of the manor. For safety during their training and experiments, he and Ernest stayed far away from the couple.He headed to outside the drawing room and saw his housekeeper, Leon, standing outside resolutely while looking sorrowful and strong.

This housekeeper was also Claire and Clara's father.

"What happened? Is this about Isabel's family?" Leylin approached him and asked.

"Miss Isabel is inside. Please persuade her! I'll let Madam tell you what happened." Housekeeper Leon bowed low.

'What is this? I have a bad feeling…' Leylin had an ominous feeling that there was trouble incoming, but he still walked into the drawing room while bracing himself.

"Mother! And… Cousin Isabel!"

After greeting his mother, Leylin glanced towards the other person in the room. However, she had changed so much that he could not believe his own eyes.

Request and Preparation

Isabel stood in the drawing room, and she still had the long golden hair and blue eyes that Leylin was familiar with. However, her pretty face was stern and icy, and her sharp gaze held an aura of danger.

She wore tight-fitting soft leather armour and had a black scabbard for a longsword at her waist, her slender legs forming a beautiful arc. Leylin sensed an iciness and despair in her temperament, as well as the flames of revenge hidden deep within. There was also evil.

"Long time no see, cousin Leylin! I'm so glad you're still doing well!" Isabel drawled in a hoarse voice. Her icy gaze seemed to melt a little while watching Leylin, becoming more welcoming.

"Aunt, I'll be off now!" Isabel bade Sarah farewell, while the rims of Sara's eyes turned red.

"What happened?" After Isabel left, Leylin's expression turned dark.

"Ahh… my pitiful little sister…" Madam Sarah began to weep, and Leylin could only stay by her side.

Through the inarticulate descriptions from his mother, Leylin somewhat guessed the situation. Cousin Isabel's family had been struck by a disaster months ago. Her family had been massacred in cold blood, and there were traces of demons and devils left behind at the scene, which meant it might have something to do with an evil deity's ceremony.

Practically no one survived other than Isabel, and that was because she'd been at the church of the Goddess of Agriculture.

While Isabel's father was not a true noble, he did have a temporary status as a baron. While this status would only last for his life, these actions immediately resulted in anger from the church and royalty, and the town hall even announced that they would find the murderer.

There was another issue. Her family had always been a liaison between the Faulen Family and the Dambrath Kingdom on the continent. The consequences of this act was that the Faulen Family would lose all means of contact and news from the continent. Needless to say, there were also many troublesome matters which needed settling. Whatever it was, having a devil involved made things complicated. Leylin's father in this world had already set sail after he had gotten this information, planning to go to the continent and solve the problems.

"You have to console your cousin Isabel properly. She only has us left, and I heard that she even had to deal with an attempted assassination just recently! Oh, my poor child…" Madam Sarah wept, while Leylin nodded seriously.

Cousin Isabel just now obviously lacked the temperament that a priest should have. Evidently, the revenge she wanted to exact, or perhaps the series of shocks she had endured after the incident had caused her to walk the path of blood and vengeance. Who knew, she might even be involved in some ceremony or sacrifice to the gods.

"Hm? This timing… does it mean Bishop Tapris already knows about this?" Leylin came to a sudden realisation. With the communication between churches, it was very possible that he had received the news before Leylin had, which made his recent invitation very interesting.

"A storm is coming…" Leylin walked out of the drawing room. As he watched the overcast skies, his expression became as gloomy as the weather.

'Something seems off…' Leylin touched his chin, 'Her family can almost be seen a branch of our Faulen family in the Dambrath Kingdom. This act against them seems to be aimed at us…'

'Are the up-and-coming Faulen lands now being coveted by the nobles? Or is this an effect from us eliminating a few pirate crews sometime ago?' A multitude of possibilities arose in front of Leylin. When he regained his senses, he was already standing in front of Ernest's room.

"Is it Leylin? I still have important experiments to finish…" Ernest's annoyed voice could be heard from within the room.

"I'm sorry, master, but I feel like we need to have a serious talk," Leylin's smile had no effect on him.

"Fine, but only for half an hour!" The door was pulled open, revealing Ernest's haggard face. His hair was messy, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

One could see filthy clothes and all sorts of junk everywhere upon entering the room. There was practically no place that was clean save for the laboratory.

Leylin flung a grey shirt that had been tossed onto the sofa away and sat down. Ernest seemed to think of something at this point and wiped his face, watching his prodigious student.

"Leylin! You seem to be have met with some trouble… does it have to do with the church of knowledge you mentioned in the morning? It shouldn't trouble you this much; is it something else?" Ernest was rather concerned when it came to this student of his, someone who had a bright future ahead of him.

"Yes. It's a huge problem…" Leylin laughed bitterly and began to narrate the situation.

"So you want me to act and maintain the safety of the manor?" Ernest's brows fluttered, as if he had seen through Leylin's plans. It had to be said that this was perhaps the best choice.

"No, no! I actually want to ask master…" Leylin shook his head instead and requested something else, causing Ernest to watch his student in wide-eyed shock.

A moment later, a gigantic flying bird soared from the manor, with was a figure seated atop it.

"My student really knows how to order his teacher about…" This figure was evidently Ernest, though he was now hastening his journey and cursing along the way.

"The strength of Father's guards and a rank 9 magician should be enough to take care of the dangers and challenges…" Leylin muttered as he stood by the window, watching the bird shrink into a tiny black dot as it flew away.

If he was the one who had orchestrated the elimination of Isabel's family, causing Baron Faulen to lose his connection to the mainland, it would only be the first step. Next he would create traps and hinder the baron who was heading towards the continent,

The Faulen family was a noble family that was new and still developing. Once Baron Jonas died, there would only be a widowed mother and an orphaned son left behind. He didn't have any support either, and was the easiest to deal with.

Hence, protecting the baron and his men was the key in this situation. And the only high-ranked power the Faulen Family could rely on right now was the rank 9 wizard Ernest.

"The meagre benefits of our island and port are far from being sufficient for those great nobles. The power that the other party holds shouldn't be too powerful. Hopefully, with master Ernest's strength coupled with that of the family, we should be able to successfully take care of this matter…" Leylin's eyes flashed.

Of course, while he focused mostly on Baron Jonas, it wasn't as if he prepared nothing for the Faulen Family. Initially, he had planned to get Ernest to handle everything. In the worst case scenario, Leylin and his mother themselves would be safe. Perhaps this was something Baron Jonas realised as well, which would be the reason he hadn't invited that old friend of his on the journey. However, Leylin had spoiled his plans.

"With master Ernest, there's no need to worry about the baron, but the defences of the manor are diminished by a great degree…" Leylin sighed, "I'll have to make up for it myself…"

Leylin had always been training his abilities as a wizard on the sly, but he'd never had the chance to use them in real battles. Of course, with his experience prior to this reincarnation, this wasn't a huge issue. He rather anticipated practicing on a few dumb bandits and the like.

"Alright, now to see what master left for me…" Leylin returned to his room and fiddled with a few artifacts on the table. Ernest was no fool, and he'd obviously made preparations for his student's safety by leaving behind a few protective artifacts.

"Hm, let me see…" Leylin's eyes were filled with curiosity as he tidied up the artifacts on the table. Ernest had only left three artifacts behind. There was a black ring and two unknown scrolls with some magic patterns on them, emitting a mysterious luster.

"Appraisal!" Leylin tapped on them, and several streaks of white light burst out, returning with information about them.

"A magic ring with a protective shield that displaces attacks, as well as two rank 4 spell scrolls. Mm… One's a Stone Skin spell while the other is an offensive Blizzard spell…"

Given the types of the spells, Ernest had evidently made them himself. They were the best quality artifacts he could make given his rank, and on top of that there was the additional costs from the high rate of failure.

Leylin put on the ring and played around with the scrolls in his hands. In many cases, rank 4 magic scrolls could even turn the tides of battle from defeat to victory, and Leylin was very aware of what they were worth. Though many of the materials to make the scrolls had been supplied by the Faulen Family, Leylin still felt his heart warm.

"These things give me some more security… I might need to modify the plan…" Leylin muttered to himself as he returned to his room, sending the sisters away.

"A.I. Chip, show me my current stats!" Leylin commanded.

[Leylin Farlier. Age: 15. Race: Human, Rank 6 Wizard. Strength: 1.6. Agility: 1. Vitality: 1.5. Spirit: 6. Condition: Healthy. Innate Talents: Sturdy, Erudite. Spell Slots: Rank 2 Spell slot (2), Rank 1 Spell slot (3), Rank 0 Spell slot (???)] The A.I. Chip loyally intoned.

Spellbook

A wizard's advancement required large amounts of time and energy, and the difficulty of advancing increased the further one walked the path. Two years had passed, and yet Leylin's ranking as a wizard had only risen by one. However, his speed far surpassed his peers and was a huge motivation for Ernest.

"Although I'll get an additional spell slot after I advance to rank 6, I won't be able to reach a deeper level of the Weave… What a pity. If not for that I could've gotten a rank 3 spell slot and had a greater chance of victory…" Leylin looked at his stats, his eyes full of regret.

Wizards were ranked based on their achievements with the Weave. Only rank 7 wizards could make contact with the third level, and gain the authority to cast rank 3 spells.

Similar to rank 5 wizards who had just made contact with the second level of the Weave, rank 6 wizards could only use rank 2 spells as well. The difference was that they had greater spiritual force which meant that they had more spell slots. If Leylin could advance once more and have his spiritual force access the third level of the Weave, it would be a great advancement for him. However, his time was scarce.

When he noticed the question marks behind the rank zero spell slots, Leylin finally beamed. With a complete analysis of the rank 0 Weave, Leylin would never be limited by rank 0 spell slots and wouldn't even need materials when casting spells. He wouldn't forget spells either.

It could be said that Leylin could use the Weave anytime he wanted to cast rank 0 spells, and there was no need to prepare things like spell slots.

He had substituted the inflexible spell slots with his own mana, making it the only limit on his casting of rank 0 spells. As long as he had enough mana, he could cast as many rank 0 spells as he wanted.

"Perhaps I should prepare a rank 1 or 2 spell and reserve enough spiritual force for casting rank 0 spells…" Leylin muttered to himself. Being able to flexibly use rank 0 spells was the best trump card up his sleeve. If enemies tried to evaluate him based on the ranking system of wizards in the World of Gods, they would be in for a nasty surprise.

"I'll memorise Web for a rank 2 spell, and Animate Rope and Mage Armour for rank 1. That would save me a lot of spiritual force…"

Leylin had an advantage in this aspect. Wizards prepared their spell slots a day in advance. After a night of restful meditation, most of his spiritual force would have been replenished until it was almost full. As a result, he could use more of his spiritual force. While he could only use rank 0 spells, it wasn't half bad…

Leylin was flipping through an ancient spellbook. It was made of the leather from some animal skin; there were even traces of scales on it. Powerful magic emanated from the tome. This was something Ernest had passed on to Leylin, a spellbook containing multiple low-ranked spells. Ernest himself used it quite often.

Wizards always forgot their spells. Once they stored one in a spell slot, all memories relating to it would become fuzzy, even vanish. It was necessary to relearn them again and again. Hence, a spellbook that recorded all the spells the knew became extremely important. In many situations, spellbooks were wizards' most valuable items.

This specific spellbook had been given to Leylin by Ernest, and had been made of the skin of a landwyrm. It was worth hundreds of gold coins.

The paper in the spellbook seemed rather new, and did not match with the old cover.

Ernest had clearly taken the advantage to remove the spells he had recorded in there. Wizards recorded the spells that they were proficient in inside the spellbook, and it was a very important task for them to accomplish. This was something that they could not commission others to complete for them.

"Web, Animate Rope, as well as Mage Armour…" Leylin flipped through the spellbook and quickly found the relevant information.

Leylin placed less emphasis on spellbooks than other wizard. The A.I. Chip itself was a comprehensive collection of spellbooks, and the efficiency at which it transmitted spells to his memories far exceeded that of studying from paper.

Most of the time Leylin spent on this book was just to deceive Ernest or use it to learn spells. He could then compare the spells to those from the Magus world, appreciating the difference in the power of laws within them.

With his finger stroking a looping spell rune, Leylin immersed himself in the analysis of the spells.

"Compared to the spells of the Magus World, the magical circuits and nodes here are very simple. Wizards have to go through the Weave first, and it's impossible to compare the complexity of these two types of spells. Simply put, Magus spell models require spiritual force to form an entire template for the spells, while the spell models here act more like keys…" With Leylin's powerful learning abilities and memory, there was practically no difficulty in recording spell models here.

Within minutes, the A.I. Chip's prompt sounded.

[Beep! Spells have been stored. Rank 2 spell slot: Web. Rank 1 spell slot: Mage Armour, Animate Rope!]

Leylin somehow felt like part of his spiritual force had disappeared. There were now three more nodes on the Weave, which represented the three spells he had remembered. Tomorrow, he could cast them using specific gestures or commands.

"Besides the convenience and speed, the plus point for wizards here is only that the requirements are less stringent when compared to Magi…" Once his spiritual force was completely extracted, Leylin found that the memories of the three spell models had disappeared without a trace.

'Damn it, that greedy god!' Leylin cursed inside in annoyance, but did not dare say it aloud. As a Magus, seeing how the wizards were made use of so thoroughly rendered him furious and frustrated.

In a bad mood, Leylin had no plans of studying the spellbook further. He instead sent a command out in his mind, 'A.I. Chip, prepare for transmission of spell models: Web, Mage Armour, and Animate Rope!'

[Beep! Mission established. Beginning transmission…]

The A.I. Chip loyally carried out Leylin's instructions, and soon enough Leylin found information related to these three spell models in his mind. The A.I. Chip raised his learning speed unfathomably.

"I'll probably have to endure this cycle of preparing ammunition and enduring exploitation for a long while," Leylin looked dejected, but he quickly sorted out his feelings, "Preparations of the spell slot are complete. I can try a counterattack now. Before that, I still have to take care of the matter with the god of knowledge…"

After Leylin checked the strength he possessed, he began to assess other issues.

'Bishop Tapris must have gotten information somewhere, but he might not be trying to eliminate our Faulen Family. After all, our family is made up of followers of the god of knowledge, and if they swapped another family in here, they might not be more suitable than us. However, it's obvious that he's trying to nudge us… We'll need to yield for now and gain support from the church…'

All sorts of possibilities and sudden events flowed before Leylin's eyes, the future revealing itself before him. The dim yellow light from the oil lamp stretched his shadow further and further…

Soon enough, it was the day of the celebration at the god of knowledge's church. Leylin was clad in a fitting attire with an armless leather breastplate inside. There were two spell scrolls in there as well. It was not that the Faulen Family lacked better metallic armour, but metal often interfered with the flow of magic for wizards, causing their spell casting to fail. Unless they found precious metals like mithril or adamantine, wizards would not use metal tools.

"Morning, Cousin Isabel!" Leylin found a surprising figure at the entrance to the manor.

"Morning, Cousin Leylin!" Isabel was still wearing that tight-fitting armour. Coupled with her perfect body, she emitted a sense of attractiveness and danger.

In reality, ever since their last meeting, Isabel had stayed hidden in her room. She had become very reclusive, and besides a few banquets this was the first time Leylin was truly seeing her.

"Are you going to the church of knowledge at the port?" Isabel rested against the doorframe, black sheath touching the ground, "It's rather dangerous out there now. I want to go with you!"

"That's my overbearing cousin!" It was only at this moment that Leylin felt his childhood playmate had returned.

"But!" He stepped forward slightly, causing Isabel to subconsciously grab the hilt of her sword. "I can handle these trivial matters myself!"

Seeing how she was prickly like a porcupine and was resisting the urge to draw her sword, Leylin wanted to laugh. While he would like to draw closer, it was not the time to give her more stress.

"Let's go!" Leylin jumped onto the carriage. The one driving it was the rank 6 warrior Jacob, and along with his skilled shouts and the sounds of whipping, the carriage marked with the Faulen Family's crest slowly went on its way.

"You idiot!" Behind him, Isabel was stamping her feet in annoyance, while a small blush appeared on her face.

"While my cousin has become very threatening towards strangers, she's still the same person who is warm on the inside like before. Good…" In the carriage, Leylin laughed lightly. "But there seems to be some huge issue with her, especially that evil power. If it isn't solved, I'm afraid…"

Celebration

Lively streams of people filled the bustling pier. The air was filled with the smell of sea and rum.

As the horse carriage entered the port, Leylin watched the busy scene outside through a little window within. Sailors, farmers, soldiers, adventurers, and all sorts of people entered his sights. They were quickly classified, marking those who had decent strength and harboured malicious intent.

As he had been immersed in the study of magic, Leylin rarely came out from the manor, much less came to this area. 'It seems like the Faulen Family has managed this place extremely well; it even surpasses my expectations. It's understandable that someone might covet this place.'

Leylin glanced towards the group next to the crossroad. A wandering bard was now performing there, and he could not help but exclaim in his surprise. "Hm? There are even bards wandering around!"

Bards in the World of Gods weren't just street performers. They were usually spies that were primarily responsible for probing for intel, or they made a living out of selling information. Most importantly, they were usually very powerful.

With how much the Faulen Pier was flourishing, quite a few bards had come forth to perform or on vacation.

"Jacob, what's the name of that bard? How long has he been here for?" Leylin enquired.

"That one? I heard that he's called Xuno and comes from the faraway Northern Lands. His poems are always very pleasant to listen to and there are always interesting stories. The baron was even thinking about inviting him to perform in the manor some time ago…" Jacob answered quickly.

The commoners here quickly gave way and presented their greetings to the authority that managed the island and port. Sitting in the middle of the horse carriage, Leylin was however unperturbed by everyone's reverence and instead furrowed his brows, "There are far too many people here, and yet the frequency at which the patrol appears is too low…

"Jacob, how much strength does our family have?"

Jacob froze for a moment, surprised by Leylin's question. "Are you referring to the patrol, young master?"

However, for someone like him who had once been the commander of this place, Jacob knew the situation with the patrol very well. "We have two groups here that come up to a hundred people total. They're all great little guys with good strength."

"Great little guys? Good strength? That means there aren't any with exemplary strength, and they are only able to suppress those sailors and thieves?" Leylin grew speechless, "Out of this hundred, how many have professions? How much armour do we have? And long-range weapons such as crossbows?"

In the World of Gods, where exemplary powers were suppressed to the utmost, armour and weapons were a huge factor when it came to strength. Troops with great equipment and training would find no trouble dealing with those with professions below rank 5. If there were enough of them, even those at rank 10 and below did not dare go head to head with soldiers.

Of course, after rank 10, numbers would not be enough to make up for the lack of quality.

"Professions? Armour? Crossbow?" Jacob's surprised voice sounded in front of him.

"What? We don't have them?" Leylin sighed.

"Professions? The leaders of those two groups are retired military officials that the baron recruited. They're low ranked warriors who haven't even been certified to rank 5. As for armour, those who are vice leaders and above all have one set, and there are a total of twelve. And crossbows… Our patrol doesn't have equipment like that, though there seem to be a few stored in the manor…" Jacob looked a little flustered as he spoke.

"Too little, it's much too little! This is too weak…" Leylin seemed to be complaining.

"Young Master, why do you say so?" A look of surprise appeared on Jacob's face, "A Baron has over a hundred elite troops. Even in the kingdom, that power is equivalent to what a viscount can have… In order to bear the costs of this group, the baron throws in a large amount of his earnings…"

"Baron… this…" Leylin had a sudden realisation. The Faulen Island was a newly developed territory with no population. It was difficult to even get farmers to plow the lands here, not even considering recruiting troops.

If not for the Faulen Island being on an isolated piece of land, having to deal with numerous vicious pirates, Baron Jonas would long since have halved the number of troops here. In order to recruit enough people, there was no way but to hire them by offering large amounts of money, and he probably had to take care of their food and their families.

While the barons in the Dambrath Kingdom could have many troops, they never had so many unless it was wartime due to the great costs.

If not for the benefits from the trade, the Faulen Family would long since have gone bankrupt due to the army.

"The rise of a noble family is truly difficult…" Leylin sighed inside. The father of this body had gone through hundreds of battles, and with difficulty obtained this uninhabited island as his territory. With his hard work over half his life, Baron Jonas finally made this area a little popular, yet now his work was immediately coveted.

"If all of the hundred were to have equipment…" Leylin calculated it. Creating armour was extremely expensive in the World of Gods, and a complete set could even be a knight's treasure passed on through generations. The value was equal to even a small manor. If modified by magicians or blessed by priests, the armour's price would be even more terrifying and perhaps comparable to a city!

"It's not practical to change the armour of the patrol, but I can think of something when it comes to their weapons. At the very least, they can't use rusted metal…" Leylin sighed and clutched at his forehead.

He was no longer in his original body, where he was exceedingly wealthy. In the World of Gods, he spent only a few gold coins every month, and most of it was spent on spell materials.

'There are ways for low-ranked magicians to earn money, but that's mostly labour from copying spells or brewing low-ranked potions. There's not enough time… Sigh, in the World of Gods, the small nobles don't do that well. Only the churches are truly wealthy. The paladins of the church of the Goddess of Singing Waters all had a full set of metal armour, and some even had been blessed with divine spells…'

Leylin could not help but think back to what he had seen before as a soul seed. The wealth of the churches of the gods were renowned in the continent, especially that of the Goddess of Wealth. It was said that their headquarters had been built with gold and silver, and even the ground was paved with gold bricks. Leylin, who was going insane over his poverty, had even decided to steal everything once he made his mark on this world.

"Then… Can I use them?" Suppressing the immoral thoughts he had, Leylin asked Jacob who was outside.

"Of course! As the next-in-line of the Faulen Family, the young master's wish is our command!" Jacob answered resolutely, "Do you need me to send down the signal?"

"No, there's no need to for now. I want to go to the church of knowledge, and it shouldn't be too dangerous. Tell them…" Leylin spoke apathetically.

He added some more words on the inside, 'You're useless against priests or holy warriors. On top of that, few would be willing to fight against the church and god they believe in.'

After Leylin was done with his instructions, the carriage once more sank into silence. He did not continue speaking and only judged the terrain and buildings outside curiously.

As the carriage reached a spacious area, Jacob's voice was heard, "Young Master, we've reached the Knowledge Shrine!"

Leylin looked outside the window. The streets were clean and tidy, and the passersby were very cultured. Whether it was farmers or soldiers walking past, all would control their footsteps such that they were softer, appearing prudent and reverent. Put next to the bustle and chaos at the port, the two were practically worlds apart.

A lofty and majestic church emitted dazzling light through the carriage. The churches of the gods were always constructed splendidly, being beautiful and solemn,

"O god of knowledge…" Many voices could be heard saying their prayers.

As this was a day of celebration, many followers of the god of knowledge had congregated here. The spacious floor was crowded with people.

In order to worship the god of knowledge, Jonas had dedicated the best section of land on the port and did not accept even a copper coin. In the eyes of the priests however, this was a given.

"Seems like the 'cultured people' of the port are here!" Leylin sighed as he rubbed his face, changing his expression to a sunny one.

"Young Master Leylin!"

"Welcome, welcome!" "My, look who's here!"

Many familiar faces crowded around. They included his uncles and aunts, and he had no choice but to smile and greet them one by one.

With Anthony as his mentor, Leylin had no faults when it came to his manners. What he showed off was his most perfect image as the next-in-line of a noble family, and everyone sang his praises.

The price, however, was that after the many greetings Leylin found his facial muscles had begun to stiffen, and much time had passed.

'I know this is troublesome, but it's necessary. Nobles…' Leylin sighed as he entered the large shrine and threw a small bag of gold coins into the donation box. The pot-bellied priests beamed in reply.

Leylin looked around. The ornamentation of Oghma's church wasn't half bad. There were bookshelves and statues all around, and it was filled with a scholarly atmosphere…

Marquis Louis

After finishing his prayers in the main hall of the church, a few maids finally led the way to bishop Tapris.

Tapris was very frank the moment he started speaking, "My child, you seem to have run into some trouble!"

"Yes, respected Bishop. I urgently need teaching and guidance from the god of knowledge." Leylin secretly grew a lot more relaxed just due to Tapris' attitude. He was indeed like what Leylin had suspected, and only intended to take this opportunity to knock his family's confidence. He didn't have any plans to actually replace the Faulens.

If this was the case, foregoing a few benefits in exchange for his help was not a difficult issue for him to discuss.

Judging by his behaviour, Bishop Tapris must have also been nodding secretly to himself. As heir to the Faulen family, Leylin's promises would have to be fulfilled even by Baron Jonas, and this was one made in a church with a deity as their witness.

'It seems like Baron Jonas has an outstanding successor!' Tapris thought slowly to himself, then looked at Leylin, "Dear little Leylin, have you heard of Viscount Tim?"

"Viscount Tim?" Leylin's voice was filled with doubt. Under Anthony's guidance, he certainly understood the upper class nobles of the Dambrath Kingdom, yet he hadn't seemed to have heard of any deeds performed by this viscount.

"Oh, look at me, getting ahead of myself! Viscount Tim was just crowned a few months ago, so it's perfectly normal for you not to have heard of him before. His father, on the other hand, is a distinguished person you must have heard of before. Marquis Louis!"

Tapris watched Leylin's expression expectantly.

"Marquis Louis? The king's brother!" Leylin exhaled lightly. Although he knew that things wouldn't be simple this time, he didn't think that the nobles involved would have a direct connection to royalty.

The nobility was never a tight knit community. The power struggle between the regional and central nobles had never ceased for even a moment, and although there was a possibility of them uniting as one in the face of divine authority, an instinctive battle for benefit would begin once the moment the pressure from the outside world was reduced.

Within the kingdom, the regional nobles and the kingdom's central nobles were the two factions that put up the fiercest fights.

"That's right. Viscount Tim is already of age. Although he's the second son, Marquis Louis adores him very much, and even wishes to obtain a piece of feudal property for him…" Tapris held his tongue, and left the rest to Leylin's imagination.

"So that's how it is!" Leylin nodded seriously. Although the king and his people ruled over the entire Dambrath Kingdom, they couldn't possibly own all the territory. Moreover, after the division of property across the generations and the emergence of other noble families, the amount of territorial land that the king now governed directly was already quite small.

To date, all the territories in the kingdom had been divided until there was practically nothing left. Even if one was a prince or princess, if they were not particularly favoured by the king, they would not even receive any hereditary titles. The highest ranked titles they could receive was that of an Count Palantine 1, or a Marquis, and they would only possess a few manors.

As a brother to the king of this generation, Marquis Louis was still able to fish up a decent amount of benefits. The Baltic archipelago was his fief, and the total area of the whole stretch of islands far exceeded that of the Faulens. He even owned several decent deepwater ports.

To put it bluntly, even the Faulens had to rely on a tremendous volume of trade in the Baltic Archipelago and play second fiddle in order to toil for money.

However, Louis still had to consider his first son. It would be very foolish of him to divide his territory, and hence he had set his sights somewhere else. Perhaps he had now turned his gaze towards the Faulen's territory

Stripping another noble family of their inherited territory for no reason would definitely send huge waves rippling through the circle of nobility. But if this family was extinguished with no successor and Marquis Louis had Tim carry on their family name, then things would be a lot easier. His influence as a marquis would also minimise the consequences of this incident.

"Many thanks for being straightforward, respected bishop. From now on, the church of knowledge will be fully accepted by the Faulen territory. Additionally, we will portion out another plot of territorial land in the eastern part of the island to offer as tribute to the church," Leylin rose and gave his thanks.

Although this was only an intelligence report, he felt like the possibility of it being true was extremely high.

Firstly, the territory under the Faulen family actually did thin out Marquis Louis' profits. Even though it was only by a little, it was enough to upset him. Secondly, the Faulens were a newly rising noble family, and they didn't have complicated relationships with other nobles that would have been difficult to deal with. There were only minimal consequences associated with making his move on them.

'Could it be that this is also a contest between the regional and central parties?' Leylin had experienced much more trickery than this, and had depth in his foresight.

'The Faulen Family started out with military service, and were the king's imperial bodyguards from the beginning. Thus, they could be regarded as part of the central party. But ever since they obtained their feudal property and arrived here, the family was actually already inclined towards the regional party. That was also how my father the baron handled it. However, what was awkward was that the people of the Faulen island had very little contact with the people from the mainland, as it was a lonely island situated far away. Hence, they haven't been accepted by the regional nobles yet… Which is the reason why this family is now in an awkward situation in which we cannot rely on either side…'

After thinking thoroughly about this, Leylin was suddenly struck by a huge realisation, 'No wonder. If I saw this situation, even I wouldn't be able to resist taking action. There are plenty of advantages, yet the risks are very minor. Perhaps Viscount Tim is also pitifully begging for this opportunity…'

In fact, Leylin's second guess was much closer to the truth than his first guess, but there were a few minor differences.

Although his opponent was just a viscount and seemed relatively less capable, he was backed by the marquis and was even the king's nephew. If one took their eyes off him for even a second, he would easily trigger chaos.

However, it was fortunate that he was just a favoured second son. Even Marquis Louis wouldn't spend much energy on him, much less alert the king. As long as he didn't kill his opponent, there probably wouldn't be much of a counterattack.

After all, when it came to issues like schemes to seize the territory of smaller families, because most of the bigger nobles did it on the sly, these rumours were restricted only to their thoughts, and could not be spoken of in polite company.

Tapris personally sent Leylin out of the shrine. Just as Leylin was about to board his carriage, Tapris muttered softly in a deep voice next to his ear, "It seems that a surge of pirates have escaped to the vicinity recently. I hope you'll take care! May the god of knowledge bless you."

"Got it!" There was a glint in Leylin's eyes, and he gave Tapris a profound look before boarding the carriage.

The body of the carriage kept rising and falling as the wheels rolled on. Leylin sat in the carriage with his eyes shut, yet his thoughts kept moving.

'That cunning Bishop Tapris. Is he preparing to lay his bet on both parties?' As a matter of fact, Leylin really did want to get assistance from the church this time. If he could personally exert pressure on the marquis with the power of the church of knowledge, the marquis would surely give up on making such moves.

But this was evidently impossible. Even Bishop Tapris did not own some labour headquarters for him to exert his authority. If they dispatched warriors and priests from the shrine, they would be deemed to be in favour of the Faulen family. Tapris had also clearly rejected doing so.

Now it seemed that although Tapris had only given a bit of the intel, he had managed to immediately gain a heap of profits. Even if Baron Jonas was here, he wouldn't dare to go back on his word. If Viscount Tim succeeded, he wouldn't forget to rope in Tapris as well. If placing his bets on both parties would guarantee him profits, why wouldn't he?

Of course, it wasn't that there was no other way to obtain assistance from the church, but that would require dedicating all his territory to them. However, both sides would suffer and be destroyed indiscriminately if he used this method. Additionally, they would be boycotted by all the nobles from the mainland, and be seen as traitors by the nobles!

After weighing the matter, Leylin reached the conclusion that things hadn't escalated to such a nasty stage, and he didn't have the courage to abandon his social class. There was no doubt that he would use 'that' method.

"Pirates?" The look in Leylin's pupils seemed distant. Since the other party was also a noble family that controlled overseas trade and had numerous harbours, they evidently had a formidable maritime force.

Even the pirates nearby might be secretly under their control. It was highly possible for them to send out a group of men to cause a commotion in the Faulen Island and use this to create pressure, or even attack the manor directly and silence the Faulens. They did it once long ago anyway.

"Relying on the hundred man patrol to get rid of this wave of pirates is rather challenging…" Leylin stroked his chin. He had never underestimated his opponent's strength. With a marquis backing him, that viscount could easily dispatch tens of professionals.

"Someone above rank 15 is absolutely impossible, but there might be one who is above rank 10, and a few elite professionals above rank 5… It won't be easy to defeat them…" Leylin quickly evaluated his opponent's strength, just at the most basic level.

Of course, the Faulens didn't only have the harbour patrol, but the real masters were definitely travelling with Baron Jonas. Only the the wizard Ernest had stayed behind to take care of things, but this source of help had also been dispatched by Leylin himself.

"The other party will obviously focus their main strength on the baron. The force they have sent over here should only be a small portion of their main force. It's not like we can't fight them with everything we have!" Leylin had a distant look in his eyes.

In fact, he had also considered cowering and hiding in some corner of the mainland, avoiding the situation at hand. He would then slowly accumulate skills and become a great wizard, maybe even a strong Legend. But putting aside the affection from the baron and his wife, even if he could heartlessly abandon everything he had, he was unable to give up on the benefits that the Faulen Family brought him.

A sea of resources was needed for a wizard to advance. Be it expensive materials for him to perform sorcery, or all kinds of magic books and such, a great amount of gold coins was required to purchase them. Without an influential power to gather wealth for him, Leylin would simply be incapable of meeting his needs alone.

1. Non-hereditary title of high rank