(Third update, please recommend!!)
After advancing to Black Iron Mage, Donald now had the authority of a lv1 Spirit level. He could bear the mental strain of summoning up to a hundred level-three creatures at once, or fewer than ten level-four creatures and two level-five creatures. For the time being, he couldn't summon anything above level five, because he had no Magic Cores above that level, and his spiritual power hadn't reached the required standard.
Apart from special species, level-one creatures were only slightly stronger than ordinary people at the early Black Iron stage. They were of little use in this world's dangerous environment. With their numerical advantage, however, level-two and level-three summons were more than capable of dealing with most low-level monsters. And since they were summons, there was no need to worry about injuries. They could fight without holding back, bringing even more of their strength to bear.
What's more, he had level-four and level-five creatures to back him up. Even if a level-six monster at the peak of Bronze came along, he could still escape if he couldn't beat it.
"To improve my own strength, I can't rely on the Book of Truth alone. I also need to study more advanced mage training books and get other essential mage equipment. For now, I have everything I need: the advancement gifts from those mages at the Association, as well as the books in the Mage Association's library. At the very least, I won't lack the relevant equipment or knowledge before reaching the upper Black Iron ranks."
"But if I keep coming to Giant Stone City every so often to study for a while, it'll probably slow my progress considerably. And aside from training, I have that whole mess of estate business to deal with. I can't live in Giant Stone City for long periods. Looks like I'll have to find a way to save time!"
As his mage rank rose, so would his spiritual power, granting him access to more of the Book of Truth's authority and allowing him to master his abilities more fully. That way, even if the Book of Truth suddenly disappeared one day, he'd still have enough strength to protect himself and make a living.
So Donald came up with a plan: he would copy all the books in the Association's library, allowing him to study them at home whenever he wanted.
Two days later, Donald returned to the Mage Association in Giant Stone City.
This time, he brought no unusual products and spoke with none of the mages. He spent a little while in his own lounge, then left the room and headed to the Association's library to browse its books.
But no one noticed that, before leaving his lounge, Donald had used a level-two Crystal Core to summon a level-two Orc unit: a Spirit Walker.
After ordering the White Minotaur to cast Spirit Link on him, connecting their souls, Donald left it in the lounge and headed straight for the library.
Every mage's lounge was off-limits to outsiders, so the mage could rest and meditate undisturbed.
As Donald quickly browsed the books in the library, a miserable White Minotaur in his lounge was bent over the desk, scribbling away. It was a wonder that it could write so diligently with those clumsy, degenerated hooves, unused to holding a pen!
That had been Donald's plan all along: to use the Spirit Walker's unique ability to transmit thoughts and copy the books in the Association's library.
Aside from books of spells, it was generally forbidden to copy anything in a mage's library. The library at the Giant Stone City Association was an important place, but it was surrounded by mages and protected by those who lived there. As a result, it had only simple defensive spells outside, along with minor spells to keep the books in good condition. There were no powerful protective spells.
Besides, the Spirit Walker's abilities went far beyond what ordinary mages could deal with. Generally, only mages of the Silver rank or higher could truly access knowledge of the soul. The same was more or less true for other Professionals, and Warriors needed to reach an even higher rank.
After browsing the library for most of the day, Donald stretched contentedly and returned to his lounge.
Seeing the seven mage books the White Minotaur had copied on the desk, Donald was delighted. He gave it a few words of praise, then recalled it into the Book of Truth.
Summoned creatures spoke the language of this world. The Book of Truth granted them this ability using the knowledge stored in Donald's soul. Donald opened the books and saw that the writing was clear and, as far as he could tell, error-free. They were almost as good as if he'd copied them himself.
Donald couldn't help but let his imagination run wild. "I can copy seven or eight books like this in one go—enough to study for ten days or half a month. Then I can come back next time and copy for half a day. No one will ever find out! If I keep this up for a year or two, won't I be able to build a magic library in my estate? Ha ha!"
While Donald was secretly copying books from the Mage Association's library, shocking news came from the western border of the Kingdom.
The Orcs were coming!
The Orcs had always been the Kingdom of Selt's greatest threat from beyond its borders. Selt and the Northwest Wasteland both lay in the northern part of the continent. Though the Rocky Ridge mountains stood between them, a stretch of their southern territories shared a direct border.
The area around North Shire could be considered safe. The distant, sprawling Rocky Ridge range and Bloodstone Fortress blocked the Orcs' route into the region from the Northwest Plateau. Over the years, only small bands of Orcs had crossed the rugged, vast Rocky Ridge to reach the Kingdom of Selt's North Shire. But faced with the narrow entrance of Rocky Gorge and a fortress built from solid stone, even the strongest Orcs had been forced to stop.
It was said that, long ago, an Orc tribe had underestimated the treacherous terrain of Rocky Gorge and the strength of Bloodstone Fortress. In their carelessness, their entire raiding party—made up of the tribe's able-bodied adults—had been wiped out in Rocky Gorge, beneath Bloodstone Fortress.
The Orcs' blood had stained the stone walls of the fortress red. That was how Bloodstone Fortress got its name. To the surviving members of that tribe, the name remained a source of pain.
Even if the Orcs tried to skirt Rocky Ridge to the north, they would have to cross the Cloud-Rising Mountains and the vast Green Cloak Forest before they could enter North Shire through the Baron of Red Maple's territory. The journey would expose them to countless monsters. And the northern side of the Cloud-Rising Mountains lay close to the Snow Mountain Icefield at the continent's northernmost edge. The mountains blocked most of the bitter winds, but anyone daring to cross their freezing northern reaches would likely have few left by the time they reached the southern slopes, even if they weren't attacked by monsters and were as strong as Orcs.
So Bloodstone Fortress was the only place in the Kingdom of Selt's North Shire that had to face the Orcs. It was also the safest place to do so.
By comparison, Marquis Ansel Territory, on the Kingdom's far western edge, faced the greatest threat from the Orcs.
Though Marquis Ansel Territory was as large as an entire province, its border didn't directly meet the Northwest Plateau. Mountains and hills still offered some protection. But compared with the natural barrier of the Rocky Ridge mountains, the hills and mountains along the northwestern border could easily be crossed by the strong Orcs. As a result, whenever the Orcs invaded the nations of the continent, some of them always managed to reach Selt's borders, causing considerable damage to villages and towns along the way.
This was especially true during years of famine. The wasteland's soil was unsuitable for farming, and the Orcs had poor agricultural resources, so the number of invaders would surge. In past years, the Orcs had generally invaded human territory around the autumn harvest. But perhaps they already expected this year's harvest to be poor, which was why small bands of Orcs had come early to raid human lands.
Scouts from the border garrison of the Kingdom of Selt, where Donald was currently staying, had spotted the Orc vanguard. It seemed war was inevitable.
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