Abel didn’t plan on staying at the Angstrom City for too long. He couldn’t bear the admiration coming from the other alchemists. As soon as he got the ingredients for the life-longing potion, he went back through the teleportation circle.
Still, his arrival thrilled the alchemists. He came and took five portions of ingredients. He took just five, which meant that he was confident enough to not take any more in case he failed to create the life-prolonging potion. The life-prolonging potion was a product that the Alchemist Union had stopped looking into for about a whole millennium. The fact that Abel was restarting this research was inspirational for them.
There was something that they were missing, however. Abel was going back to his own magic tower to create the potion. He was planning on creating five potions without failing, obviously, but he wasn’t letting anyone see how he was going to do that. Creating the potion wasn’t his only objective, too. By creating this legendary potion, he could gain a lot of alchemy energy to enhance his alchemist rank.
If he could make five hundred life-prolonging potions, his alchemy master rune could be filled. There was a problem with achieving that goal, however. There weren’t that many ingredients left on the Holy Continent. He could try to collect from the dark world, but without making his own herb garden, there would be no way to fulfill his demand.
Anyways, he had the five golden-quality life-prolonging potions in his hands. With Akara’s alchemy set and the world stone fragment (and his craftsmanship as a master alchemist), he managed to perfect the product at a quality that was never obtained before. By scanning with his world stone fragment’s digitalization ability, he could tell that the products had already obtained effects that far surpassed what the recipe stated.
The original recipe was for creating white-quality potions. Abel got golden-quality, which was about two ranks higher than white. By drinking the golden-quality potion, one could increase his lifespan by sixty years. Of course, it was nowhere near as good as the blood of the beastly god (said to increase by 100 years), but the blood of the beastly god was only about several drops in total. With this, Abel could increase the average lifespan of an entire community if he wanted to.
As of now, he wasn’t planning on telling anyone about the life-prolonging potion. The logic was very simple. Everyone wanted to live longer. He was going to reserve it for only his closest friends. After drinking the “full recovery potion,” Lord Marshall, Lord Bennett, and his mother Nora would have no need for the life-prolonging potion at this stage. There was still his good mentor Wizard Morton. Wizard Morton did increase his lifespan after he promoted himself, but to revitalize his bodily functions, the life-prolonging potion was the only way of achieving that.
Abel liked getting to work right away. As soon as Wizard Morton came to mind, he teleported to the Wizard Morton Magic Tower and requested permission to enter. He was a welcomed guest here. As long as it wasn’t Wizard Morton’s room, he could teleport pretty much anywhere inside the building without having to report it.
To be polite, he went to the hallroom on the base floor and waited for the tower spirit to call Wizard Morton. The first people he saw were Carlos and Camille. Their students, Peggy and Joey, were standing beside them as they enjoyed their meal.
Abel waved his hands happily, “Carlos, Camille! So good to see you here! You look like you’re about to become official wizards soon!”
Camille felt at ease to hear Abel speaking to them in the same tone as ever. Abel became a king just recently. He also became an intermediate wizard. Hearing all this news was very shocking to her, but it was good to see that he was still the same person as before.
Carlos didn’t think as much as Camille, “Hey! Hey, Abel! Hey man! Shouldn’t you do something for me after I do become an official wizard?”
Abel wasn’t stingy, “One magic tower and one top-level staff. How does that sound?”
“I’ll be selling them to the duchy of Carmel if I’m done with them, then!”
Camille kicked Carlos underneath the table, “Wipe your drool, Carlos. It’s embarrassing.”
When Carlos tried to wipe his mouth, he realized there wasn’t any drool. He looked at Camille, and he saw that she was trying to hide her laughter. As for Abel, he just went on and laughed.
“Abel! Come up!”
The voice came from Wizard Morton.
Abel smiled before he teleported, “I’ll see you two later, then.”
When he left, Camille and Carlos looked at each other for a bit. They were jealous of the fact that Abel could use the “instantaneous movement” now. At the same time, they became more determined in their path to attain their next level.
“Mentor,” Abel appeared and bowed.
Wizard Morton waved his hands, “Just take a seat there. You’ve been busy lately, haven’t you? You can say your business if you want.”
After picking up a chair, Abel took out a golden life-prolonging potion from his portal bracelet. As he passed it to Wizard Morton, Wizard Morton just looked at it in silence.
“I don’t know what this is, but if my senses aren’t wrong, this is a master level potion. The whole Holy Continent will go insane because of this. As your former supervisor, I would highly suggest not to give it away to someone you don’t trust.”
Wizard Morton didn’t know everything about Abel. Actually, he wasn’t interested in knowing everything. Every wizard had their own secrets, and he respected that. All he could do was to implore him to learn to protect himself.
Abel smiled gratefully, “This is a life-prolonging potion, Mentor.”
“A life-prolonging potion, hmmm,” Wizard Morton gave the bottle back, “I knew it was a master-level potion. You can have it back. I’m confident enough that I can promote myself on my own.”
Abel pushed the bottle back, “No, no no, Mentor. It’s not useful to me. Just take it. Please.”
Wizard Morton was a bit hesitant at first, but he eventually nodded his head after thinking for a bit.
“Alright, fine.” Wizard Morton said, “I’ll accept it and give it to my mentor. He’s about to reach his limit. Would make more sense if I give it to him.”
Abel shook his head and smiled, “How about this, then? Here, I have another bottle. Take one for yourself, Mentor.”
Whether it was the bond between Wizard Dunn and Wizard Morton, or the bond between Wizard Morton and Abel, they were equal in terms of their significance. Abel left his family a long time ago. Words could not express how close Wizard Morton was to him.
Wizard Morton didn’t decline this time, “Fine, I’ll take this one for myself, but the one you gave me before, it’s probably better if you give it to Wizard Dunn yourself.”
Abel knew what Wizard Morton was trying to do by saying this. He wanted Wizard Dunn to be closer to him. This was a good opportunity for both of them. While it was easier for wizards to visit each other, building connections wasn’t so easy without the right status and reasons.
This time, Abel got an easy pass. After sending a request to teleport to the Dunn Magic Tower, he was permitted access very quickly. Better yet, when he arrived via the teleportation circle, he could see the Wizard Dunn was waiting for him.
Abel performed a wizard’s bow, “It’s been so long, Wizard Dunn.”
“You can come anytime you want, Grandmaster Abel,” Wizard Dunn returned the favor, “Wait, are you already an intermediate wizard?”
Abel nodded in response, “Yes, just recently.”
Wizard Dunn said in awe, “It has been one year. I’ve got to say; you’re the most talented wizard by far that I’ve ever seen.”
Wizard Dunn wasn’t just talking about what he saw on the Holy Continent. He had been traveling to countless places during his long career, and to say that Abel’s the most talented wizard he’s ever seen… That statement was simply not something to overlook.
When Abel relaxed his power of the Will, he received a message from Wizard Dunn’s power of the Will. It was meant to show him where they should teleport to. As soon as he got it, they both used the “instantaneous movement” and went to the guest room on the eighteenth floor.
Like most magic towers, there was one guest room at the bottom and one at the top. The one at the bottom was for, well, guests, whereas the top level one was reserved for guests that held more importance. Friends, important figures. Whichever it was, Abel earned his right to get respect from Wizard Dunn.
The guest room had a very simple interior. Most wizards lived a very simple life. For example, in this room, the only furniture in place was one short table and four chairs. Abel didn’t see any ornaments, and to be fair, there wasn’t much need for them.
When Wizard Dunn and Abel took their seats, an apprentice quickly came in and poured water for both of them.
Abel took out the potion after the apprentice left, “I’ve come bearing a gift today, Wizard Dunn.”
Wizard Dunn was a bit shocked, “This… Is this the life-prolonging potion, Abel?”
“Yes,” Abel nodded. He didn’t say it out loud, but he was impressed that Wizard Dunn got the name right.
Wizard Dunn couldn’t help but ask, “Is this from Master Bennett?”
It was the only explanation that made sense. Abel could just follow through, but he wasn’t sure if that was right.
Wizard Dunn scratched his head apologetically, “Don’t worry, Grandmaster Master, I’m not going to ask further. Sorry for bothering you with a question like that.”
To be honest, Wizard Dunn was a lot more unstable than he appeared to be. He had less than 150 years left. Despite having successfully attained rank 18, he planned on avoiding any sort of fighting during this time. His goal was to attain rank 19, but he wasn’t even sure if he could manage to get close to that. That being said, anything that could prolong his life was desperately needed.
Abel decided to switch the topic by a bit, “Mentor said you needed the life-prolonging potion, so I’ve brought this bottle here.”
Wizard Dunn frowned at that statement, “Well, Morton doesn’t have a lot of years left. You can save this bottle for him.”
Abel smiled in response, “I’ve got one for him too, actually.”
“You have my utmost gratitude, Grandmaster Abel. I do need this,” Wizard Dunn said, then continued in a confused tone when he scanned with his power of the Will, “Why is this potion different from the ones I’ve seen before.”
Abel didn’t bother with too much explanation, “This one can increase your lifespan by sixty years.”
“Sixty? Is this an ancient potion?” Wizard Dunn cried out. The potion suddenly felt a lot heavier in his hands.
Abel had enough of talking about this potion, “Before that, Wizard Dunn, there is something I need to explain first.”
“Very well,” Wizard Dunn nodded his head.
“Why didn’t the Wizard Union interfere when the duchy of Keyen was invaded?”
Wizard Dunn sighed, “I’m sorry, Grandmaster Abel, but all I can say is that when you become an advanced wizard yourself, there will be people that’ll come and explain the strange changes happening lately. The climate is becoming drastically stranger. Another continent has been strange, and there is a very concerning food crisis on the Holy Continent. The Wizard Union’s got their hands full now. For some things, we have no choice but to let nature take its course.”
Abel pushed for an answer, “So wizards don’t interfere with conflicts between nations?”
Wizard Dunn said with certainty, “Not advanced wizards. If you’re talking about those that are below, only the ones that receive tributes are allowed.”
Wizard Dunn was the most respected wizard in the Kingdom of St. Ellis. There would be no inaccuracy in what he was saying, but his response raised more questions in Abel’s mind. Basically, there were things that could only be known once he became an advanced wizard himself.
Wizard Dunn went in and whispered, “You ought to be more careful yourself, Grandmaster Abel. Our intelligence agency has detected many spies that are targeting the duchy of Carme. Be prepared with what you must.”
This was already over the line for Wizard Dunn. Advanced wizard was supposed to not interfere with any worldly affairs in any fashion, but after receiving such a gift from Abel, this was what he thought he should do.
“Thank you. I’ll be careful.”
Despite saying such words, cold light emitted from Abel’s eyes. He was thinking about the quarantined area at Harvest City. It appeared that many duchies and empires were interested in that place. Of course, he didn’t mind if they tried to come.
When he went back to Harry Castle, the first thing he did was call for the four sphinx head knight commanders. They were no longer death warriors now. He gave them names and titles, and while they still didn’t have their own lands, there were high hopes that they could gain more rewards in their future battles. Also, they were already very grateful for earning their own names. They’ve all sworn their loyalty to Abel, and they became the most important guards here other than the wizards.
Apart from guardian Harry Castle, they also had ten sphinx knights that they were ordered to supervise. After training for two years, they could now fight in midair as basic squads. Obviously, Abel wasn’t going to let anyone he didn’t trust to touch the sphinxes. If one wished to become a sphinx knight, they must first become members of either the Bennett Family or the Marshall Family. After that, they had to sign magical contracts that would put more grant on their loyalty to Abel’s cause.
Sphinx Knight 24 bowed obediently, “We’ve come because you called us, your Majesty.”
The name was still 24. The whole name was 24 Harry. The other three also didn’t want to change their names. According to them, it was their way of remembering the one who saved them from their lives as slaves.
Abel said in a serious tone, “According to intel I just received, neighboring states have been inspecting Harvest City way more than before. As things would have it, I don’t think it’d be long before they find out what’s going on there. I need to sphinx squad to increase their patrols. If anyone crosses the territory illegally, the command will be to shoot them down on sight.”
As big as Harvest City was, only two of its sides were connected to the inner parts of the duchy of Carmel. The sphinx knights could try to patrol the area all they wanted to, but it wouldn’t be enough to make every spot guarded. The most Abel could do was stall until the duchy became stronger. He wasn’t afraid of waging wars, but the size of his army was simply too small.
“Yes, your Majesty!”
24 said with a resolute voice. He was pretty infuriated, actually. He didn’t want anyone to take away the good life that he was just starting to have. If need be, he would use his Harry Bow to destroy all the sphinx squads in the Kingdom of St. Ellis. There were only fourteen sphinx knights under his command, but with the Harry Bow, they could just snipe all their enemies while standing out of range of a counterattack.
And no, they didn’t even need the Harry Bow. These elite fighters had their elemental combat qi and power of the Will. They also had portal bags to supply them with infinite amounts of ammunition. They were pretty much invincible in aerial combat, despite how few the members were.
Next up, Head Commander Bodley was deployed to Harry Castle. He was ordered to train a team that consisted of three hundred knights. The number was supposed to be five hundred, but since he was told to do it fast without affecting too much of how things were supposed to run, three hundred was about the maximum number he could do.
Back to the dark world. Instead of entering the real tomb of Ta Rasha, Abel decided to clear up the other six fake ones first. There were a lot of hell creatures in these fake tombs, and he didn’t want to waste the souls that he could make the soul potions with. Also, he’s already made the Canyon of the Magi into a garden for growing the ingredients for the life-prolonging potion. If some hell creatures happened to find their way there, he would be very sorry about it.
The days continued to pass. Soon, it was about to be a new year. The winter wasn’t as chaotic as Abel expected. Five of the seven duchies that belonged to the Kingdom of St. Ellis remained very stable. The duchy of Keyen was at its last stage of barely surviving the invasion, whereas the duchy of Carmel continued to remain in its neutral state. As calm as things were, there was something odd about how calm it was.
The duchy of Carmel had been collecting information everywhere. Abel wasn’t the one reading the reports. He had been leaving most of the affairs to Lord Bennett and Lord Brook, the head of the Harry Family over at Bakong City. Instead of focusing on internal affairs, he was more interested in how the human world as a whole would become.
The Kingdom of St. Ellis was the first one to start the war, but it didn’t continue what it started. Things became way too calm after. On the other hand, the other two empires had been going at each other very frequently. It wasn’t like they didn’t want to end it quickly, but due to the ongoing food crisis, they couldn’t afford to resort to methods that were too drastic. They couldn’t send out the wizards, and even the head knight commanders had to be reserved.
After sending countless regular knights to participate in the conflict, the supply of rations had been expended quickly. Even if there were back-up reserves, the two empires would just not use them. It was pretty much a stalemate at the moment. Both sides wouldn’t give up, and they had no choice but to keep putting bids on something that was guaranteed to give nothing in return.
Abel wasn’t worried about a possible invasion. He had plenty of powerful war machines at his disposal, with Johnson being one of them. No matter how many knights came towards it, it would suffer no damage due to its fine steel body. The advanced wizards could try to hurt it, but they’d have to be at least rank eighteen from calculations. Anyone below that would have a lot of trouble going against its 75% magic resistance ability.
Johnson was scary because it had no clear weakness. Still, its damage output was pretty limited. It could only use physical attacks by mowing everything in its sight like a bulldozer.
Abel also had Flying Flame, but Flying Flame was a real dragon. He didn’t want dragonkind to think of him as a threat. He couldn’t bring it out to fight in the human world. There was a similar issue with White Snow. As powerful as advanced spiritual beasts were, they weren’t invisible against a knight squad of about several thousand in numbers. If it was in their range, then there was a chance that it would be shot down by their collective combat qi.
In terms of efficiency at killing, Abel’s strongest weapon would be the battle command spirit. It could command all puppets within a ten-mile radius. The battle at the orc battlefield was enough to show how terrifying that really was. The dwarves might be the best at making war puppets, but they had no access to a spirit like the one Abel had. This meant that they had no ways of utilizing the war puppets as efficiently as he could.
Despite having a whole list of overpowered summon creatures and weapons, Abel still thought that they weren’t enough from a strategic perspective. In fact, he thought that the duchy of Carmel shouldn’t rely too much on them because if he was out of the duchy of Carmel, these things would go with them, leaving nothing left to defend his base. He wanted a new war machine, something that could always stay inside the duchy of Carmel, something that could be used by family members that were well trusted.
When the new year approached, the duchy of Carmel was clearly much happier than its neighboring states. Its citizens celebrated the fact that they had a powerful, competent knight to guide them. They were all grateful for the fact that there wasn’t a food crisis, unlike every other state on the Holy Continent.
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