The Manor

The knights drew their longswords and stood on guard. The goblins' sharp, shrill cries rang unnaturally piercing through the forest!

Even the trained horses grew restless, pawing the ground with their iron-shod hooves and snorting.

Borne frowned. He could smell the foul stench from far away.

The Hobgoblin roared, spitting out a string of words Borne couldn't understand. The goblins around it grew even more frenzied.

Borne couldn't understand them, but from the Hobgoblin's savage expression, he guessed they weren't saying anything pleasant.

Goblins were intelligent enough to learn Common, but Borne figured no one would be willing to teach them.

Perhaps goblins had their own civilization, but these creatures wore rags and carried clubs. Even the Hobgoblin only had a battered knife. They were clearly a wild tribe.

The Count glanced at Borne and gave a subtle nod. Calmness and composure were basic qualities for a spellcaster, and the standards for an Arcanist were clearly even higher.

Compared with the knights' longswords, the goblins' clubs and wooden spears were laughable. But their numerical advantage gave them great courage, especially with a towering Hobgoblin standing behind them, clutching an enormous bone club of unknown origin.

The Hobgoblin roared at the caravan, swinging its bone club until it swept through a tree as thick as a man's thigh and snapped it in two.

The incredible destructive force made the horses grow restless, and even the knight commander furrowed his brow.

Borne was secretly astonished, too. That immense strength far surpassed that of an ordinary professional.

As more and more goblins appeared around them, the knights formed a ring around the carriage carrying the Count and Borne. The Hobgoblin continued roaring at the caravan.

"These goblins are pretty smart. They even know how to demand our surrender!" Borne wasn't worried at all. If anything, he was excited. In all the time since arriving in this world, this was his first time seeing an alien creature.

Creatures like these had only appeared in novels and movies in his previous life. To see one with his own eyes now was... exhilarating!

The Count watched the scene ahead with an impassive expression, but in truth, he was keeping an eye on Borne. A new recruit's first battle was important, especially for a spellcaster. Plenty died in their first fight, and some were even left with lasting trauma, eventually becoming scholars who focused purely on research and never fought.

Borne had already mastered magic, which meant he could be considered half a professional. The Count thought it would be good for him to experience the atmosphere of a battlefield in advance. Given Borne's age, he was fairly satisfied with how he was handling things. (No need to think that's outrageous—Spartan education was even more outrageous.)

As the number of goblins grew, the knights cut down the occasional one or two that seized an opportunity to attack. Their companions' deaths only stirred the goblins' bloodlust. The Hobgoblin seemed to be growing impatient, too. It strode toward the caravan with huge steps.

The goblins stank, and their blood seemed to reek just as badly. Borne's face darkened as he covered his mouth, his stomach churning.

As the Hobgoblin rushed closer, the Count finally made a move. He raised his hand slightly and lightly tapped the air with one finger!

A brilliant magical light spread out from the carriage.

Every goblin froze in place!

Before, Borne would have felt nothing. But after undergoing Enlightenment and gaining magic, he could now sense the magic that permeated the world!

The magical fluctuations occasionally radiating from his grandfather, Count Ioulaum, were astonishing. He felt like an enormous furnace of magic, so overwhelming that Borne's jaw nearly dropped. Could a 'person' really hold that much magic?

Borne felt like the whole world had turned upside down. Was this the difference between magic 'grams' and magic 'tons'?

If Borne's current reserves of magic were a lighter, then Count Ioulaum was a rocket engine!

And this was only a high-level Mage. How terrifying would a legendary spellcaster be?

And what about the gods above them?

This was the first time Borne had seen the Count cast a spell since gaining magic. To Borne's senses, he couldn't detect the Weave shifting at all. It was as though the magic had come naturally. He hadn't learned any spells, but the Count had explained the names and effects of quite a few.

"Was that Hold Monster or Dominate Person?" Borne exclaimed.

Though their bodies were frozen, their facial muscles were not. The goblins, who had looked so ferocious moments ago, all changed expression, their faces filled with fear.

The Hobgoblin, so menacing just moments earlier, had already lost its imposing air. Its bone club had slipped to the ground, and its huge body trembled violently, whether from fear or because it couldn't control itself.

The Count's eyes flicked upward. He raised his hand and gave a light snap of his fingers.

The smaller goblins rushed toward the Hobgoblin against their will, tearing and biting at it. Amid its screams, the Hobgoblin slowly died. Then the other goblins raised their weapons, but this time, they turned on the companions beside them.

A terrifying slaughter began. It continued until the last goblin killed another, then drew its dagger and plunged it into its own chest.

When the last goblin died, the surroundings fell silent. Even the birds and insects in the forest had stopped making noise. All that remained were hundreds of goblin corpses and the pungent smell of blood!

The Count cast a glance at Borne's deathly pale face, then said calmly,

"Let's go!"

At the Count's words, the others in the caravan finally came back to their senses. The driver swallowed and, with trembling hands, guided the horses onward toward their destination.

After their encounter with the goblins, the caravan ran into no further trouble. They didn't even see a single wild animal.

The caravan grew subdued after that. Everyone went about their own duties in silence, and once they left the forest and reached the main road, they picked up speed.

Perhaps because he was unfazed, or for some other reason, Borne soon recovered his spirits. He closed his eyes and meditated, using the method he had just learned to try to communicate with the magical elements in the air!

He also discovered that whenever his grandfather meditated, meditating beside him made it much faster to gather magic, and his reserves grew more quickly!

"This is an elemental field!"

"A field?"

"Right. You should be able to feel it. High-level professionals are already different from ordinary living beings. It's not just that their life force is stronger; their very form of life has evolved!"

Borne drew a deep breath. He had suspected as much, but hearing it from a high-level spellcaster still shook him!

"Because of the difference in their level of life, individuals affect one another. High-level life forms affect lower-level ones, and this even applies between different species. Take dragonkin, for example. Most dragonkin aren't descendants of dragons; they're mutated beasts altered by radiation."

"Radiation? Mutated?"

Borne understood those terms.

"From the moment they're born, dragons have the highest level of life. If they have enough food, they can even advance straight to legend. Elves, Dwarves, and other intelligent species have to hone their skills and raise their ranks to elevate their level of life."

As his grandfather explained, Borne gradually came to understand what ranks meant to professionals!

A spellcaster's time was precious, especially when the person beside him was a high-level Arcanist who had lived for more than a century. His grandfather was teaching him by example all along the way. Even a prince wouldn't receive this kind of treatment!

Villages and magnificent castles gradually appeared on both sides of the road. Plenty of peddlers and travelers heading for the royal city joined the road alongside the caravan.

When Seventon came into view in the distance, Borne's heart surged with excitement. Netheril might have only been around for a little over four hundred years, but in the millennia to come, it would become the center of the world!

Four hundred years ago, this had been a tiny fishing village. Now it was a magnificent royal city.

Seventon, built on the peninsula's mountain, was now a huge metropolis with a population of hundreds of thousands. The city followed the shape of the peninsula. The northwestern peak was the highest point, and from a distance, Borne could see a magnificent cluster of buildings climbing around the mountain and descending southward in tiers, with orderly houses arranged in a pleasing pattern.

He could see sections of walls protecting the city at regular intervals. From afar, it was clear that the city had expanded outward over the years!

The closer a building was to the mountain's peak, the more imposing and splendid it became. Beside a palace-like building stood a huge white tower.

"That's the Wizard Tower of Dean Giles Borne Concinnio, the only Wizard Tower in the Kingdom of Netheril!"

His grandfather pointed ahead and explained to Borne.

Borne nodded to show he understood. He could feel the blazing passion in his grandfather's heart.

Ordinary Mages could build a Wizard Tower once they reached high level, but only a tower belonging to a true legendary spellcaster would be recognized. Only then could a Wizard Tower truly function as a complete whole!

Beyond the city lay the vast Standing Stone Plains. The yellowing wheat fields and the sea meeting the sky behind the city formed a breathtaking panorama.

It wasn't until Borne reached Seventon's gates that he realized just how enormous the city was!

Even the walls were colossal, built from huge blocks of fitted blue-gray stone. Looking out from the gate, Borne could hardly see where they ended. History had left plenty of marks on the walls, proof that the city had endured countless wars.

Numerous travelers, caravans, and other visitors queued at the enormous gates to enter or leave. The Ioulaum House insignia carried great weight even in the royal city. A sharp-eyed guard spotted the emblem on the carriage and the Count inside from far away, then immediately organized his men to clear a path for the caravan.

As the last carriage entered, a knight at the rear tossed a pouch to the guards. Its clink drew plenty of curious looks.

The guard caught it and immediately tucked it into his clothes, his smile growing even brighter. He even waved as the entire caravan passed inside.

Borne saw all of this.

There was no ridiculous drama like in the novels. Anyone stupid enough to cause trouble would have been killed long ago. Anyone serving as a city guard here had to be good at reading people and handling situations.

"Looks like the family has quite a lot of influence in the royal city!"

That brief glimpse was enough to show how high the family's standing was—not ordinary at all!

The caravan followed the main road toward the mountainside. Borne already knew that the closer one was to the summit, the higher one's status and the more illustrious one's family.

Quite a few merchants stepped out of their shops by the roadside, removed their hats, and bowed their heads in greeting. Borne saw the Ioulaum House insignia on the signs behind them.

"Looks like the family isn't just powerful, it's rich, too. But then again, it's no surprise. Grandfather's a high-level Arcanist. He couldn't possibly be short on money."

Even though he had been used to big-city scenery in his previous life, Borne had to admit that Seventon was prosperous. He also couldn't help admiring his cheap father for giving all this up and taking his mother to live in some backwater village.

When Borne stood before the Ioulaum House manor, he was still deeply shaken. The noble castles in Europe that had stood for centuries in his previous life couldn't hold a candle to it...

This wasn't a place to live—it was a paradise of art!

White columns towered majestically, jade stone curled into snowy swirls, and the ebony doors and windows were all exquisitely carved. Framed by trees, the whole estate looked even more grand and beautiful, a testament to the artisans' wisdom and the pinnacle of their craft. A round fountain stood before the house. Even though it wasn't flower season, the entire manor seemed to be immersed in a picturesque dream!

More than thirty beautiful maids stood in two lines by the entrance to welcome them. In an instant, Borne felt he had achieved something he'd never dared to dream of in his previous life!

Borne thought this was great...