Ian is sitting on the throne, with several holographic screens floating in front of him. In the month since the Library completed the epic update and Empire fully entered Magic Era, he has been very busy.
Not only did he perfectly integrate the two continents of the <Black Clover> world with Pangea, but he also had to properly resettle the residents who originally lived on that continent - especially those from the Eastern Continent. Fortunately, his clones helped a lot in this process. In addition, he also had to resettle the populations he plundered during the expedition and distribute them to different planets and even galaxies.
In addition, he also needs to organize Magic Knights from the West Continent. This is a group of talented elites who are loyal to him. However, they lack enough sense of belonging and loyalty to the Arcane Empire.
This is also the reason why Ian wants to connect their continent directly with the earth Fusion: because these magic knights are warriors who abide by their duties and swear to defend their homeland. As long as they are given a few months to adapt, they will definitely become the most elite legion under the Empire.
Lin An is also responsible for dividing territories for new races such as dwarves and elves. Today's empire has become a melting pot that integrates various races, cultures and bloodlines. However, he encountered some thorny problems when placing the demons and gods in the <Blessing for a Beautiful World> dimension. Demons feed on human desires and are uncontrollable dangerous factors. Naturally, they cannot be allowed to live together with ordinary citizens.
There is a high probability that they can only continue to stay in their own dimension. As for those gods, in order to avoid causing unnecessary social and political conflicts, Empire will never recognize their title of "gods" again. Therefore, they are officially collectively referred to as "Sparkfolk".
With the assistance of Kronai, Ian combined the two worlds of <Black Clover> and <KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!> with Fusion. The world of <Black Clover> was transformed into a special trial dimension. As long as you enter it, you can gain magical power.
Although the magic power obtained by each person varies greatly - some people can have huge magic power like nobles, while others have very little magic power like Chris. But it doesn't matter. With the Law of Causality system and bloodline research results in <KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World!> as a guarantee, any citizen is destined to become an Arcanist ranked Third Tier as long as he is willing to work hard. However, if you want to break through this realm, you must risk your life.
Another problem Ian is facing right now is the surge in the number of magic Awakened Ones. I think back when Battle Aura training was mandatory for all people, it caused a period of chaos when people abused their power. Fortunately, Empire learned its lesson.
Before the official announcement, Empire had greatly expanded the establishment of the Auror Department team and selected a large number of personnel in advance to enter the two trial dimensions for training. The meaning of their existence is to suppress the upcoming social unrest.
Of course, in order to prevent Auror Department from having too much power and breeding corruption, Empire has also introduced a series of new checks and balances. Another department that has been greatly expanded is Medical Department. The government must be fully prepared for the surge in magic-related casualty rates.
Just as Ian was reviewing the documents, a man walked into the room. "How is the situation?" Ian asked without raising his head.
"We have uprooted the members of the 'Underworld' organization," Grindelwald, the commander of Ghost Squad, reported. In recent years, Bleach Guznader has corrupted many Empire members and secretly supported this terrorist organization named "Underworld".
Empire has used Divination methods to uncover many lurking secrets, but they always grow again like weeds. Until recently, with the help of Ichika (Yami's sister), who is known as the "Holy Girl", Luna finally Divination revealed the identities of all the members.
They even used Tenth Tier bits of Floating City to increase Divination's capabilities to ensure that no fish slipped through the net. Then, Ghost Squad launched a Law of Thunder sweep, eliminating all those involved - from low-level businessmen and politicians to two powerful magic tower owners.
"Do you think they will come back again?" Ian asked.
"Absolutely. Guznader will not give up so easily."
"Then we can only be more proactive in the cleanup work." He has full confidence in the Empire's Divination Department - especially after joining Ichika, a wizard with prophetic talent.
"Is there anything else?" Ian asked.
"Yes. I think it's time to decentralize Ghost Squad. We need an independent branch dedicated to intelligence spying and assassination."
Ian finally looked away from the screen and looked at Grindelwald strangely. This was the first time he encountered someone actively asking to reduce the power in his hands.
"Don't look at me like that," the former first-generation Dark Lord curled his lips, "I am doing this all for the long-term consideration of the Empire." His lifelong dream is to witness the prosperity of wizards. Now that dream has come true, he will never allow anyone to destroy it. Therefore, Empire must become as powerful as possible.
"You may be right." Divination cannot solve all problems. Having an assassination team that directly obeys his orders can make many things easier; he can legitimately use many shady shadow tactics. In this way, Ghost Squad can completely focus on pure military operations.
"I will consider it." Grindelwald nodded, handed in the report, then turned and left.
Morgana's voice then sounded, "Master, I think we have found the reason why Chris became 'Fate Node'."
"Oh? Let me see." Ian read the proposal submitted by Chris, and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Go and invite him to dinner."
Ian was waiting for the guests to arrive at a small dining table. He did not use the large round table used for family dinners, nor the luxurious long table used to receive foreign guests, but a small table that allowed two people to talk face to face.
"Welcome," Ian said with a smile when he saw Chris walking into the room.
"Your Majesty the Grand Consul," Chris was about to salute, but was stopped by Ian who raised his hand.
"No need to be formal, just relax," Ian said with relief. The two of them immediately sat down and chatted while eating.
"You seem confused, even a little nervous," Ian said.
"Indeed."
"What are you thinking about? But it doesn't hurt to ask, I will answer it."
"It's about my proposal. I don't think it deserves such grand treatment," Chris said with some embarrassment as he looked at the luxurious furnishings around him. With his current state, he could clearly sense that every brick and stone in this palace exudes extremely powerful magic fluctuations.
"Your creativity is much more valuable than you think," Ian commented. "For a long time, there has been an insurmountable gap between the combat type Arcanist and the scholar type Arcanist. Without academics Supported by research, experimentation and innovation, it is hundreds of times more difficult for combat-type Arcanist to increase soul strength and enter a higher level. It is difficult for them to expand Magic Core to accommodate more magic power, and it is also difficult for them to compress the magic power into a liquid or solid state.
"But on average, the willpower of combat-type Arcanist is often higher than that of scholars. Your research provides a way for them to use willpower to make up for the gap in qualifications. From now on, the starting line between the two will be completely leveled."
Chris didn't think about his research that far at all. His original intention was just to make up for his lack of talent: to use his willpower to accomplish things that the soul could not do.
"And I can tell you that this is not the only benefit brought by your research," Ian added. "I recently discovered that willpower is crucial to Arcane Path: it is it that will make us qualified to be on par with the gods or even surpass them."
Chris trembled all over after hearing this. He finally realized what a grand plan he was involved in. However, he still tried his best to control his emotions.
"Currently, Empire, there is no universal willpower training system. I hope you can create such a method."
Chris recalled his awakening test and how the tester was shocked by his willpower of 2 points. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"I think you overestimate my abilities."
"You underestimated your own value," Ian retorted, and then explained to him in detail the existence of "Fate Node" and the involvement behind it. Chris was shocked again. He never dreamed that he, an ordinary person, could have such a special place.
"Wait a minute, this is why Cruz suddenly contacted me fifteen years ago?!" Chris suddenly realized.
"That's right. A terrorist organization suspects that you are Fate Node of the Empire, and is trying to secretly tamper with your destiny." Ian did not tell him that in the past few months, that organization even sent people to assassinate him several times, and it was only thanks to Ghost Squad's secret protection that he survived until now.
"What should we do now?" Chris asked after digesting the explosive information.
"I will provide you with all the resources you need for your research."
"Including Dragon Potion?" He blurted out and asked very simply.
"Of course, Potions of Fifth Tier is necessary. If you can succeed, I can even grant you Potions of Sixth Tier."
"And there is Sixth Tier bit?"
"This is an open secret. Sixth Tier's Potions is made from the heart of the Dragon King."
Chris sat there blankly, at a loss for a moment. Then, hot tears poured out of his eyes uncontrollably, making him feel very embarrassed.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty the Grand Archon," Chris said while wiping away tears. "I have struggled for decades to save money to buy a bottle of Third Tier's Potions, just hoping to change my destiny and realize my dream. But now, a perfect gift that far exceeds my expectations is placed in front of me. In the past month, my life has undergone earth-shaking changes, which makes me feel a little overwhelmed."
Ian sighed and reached out to pat him on the shoulder, "One of the flaws of the meritocracy is that it overly values talent, to the extent that it harms the interests of ordinary people. I have always tried to make the rules fair and give everyone a chance. But even I can't create an absolutely perfect system."
"I don't mean to blame you; absolutely not." Chris understands this truth very well. In the Arcane Empire, if you are talented, countless opportunities will open the door for you. But if you are born mediocre, the only way to change your destiny is to work hard and fight for decades. It is precisely because he deeply understands this cruel reality that he is willing to scrimp and live frugally for so many years for that bottle of Potions.
The two chatted happily, and after a few hours, Chris said goodbye and left. He still had a lot of things to do, and the most urgent thing was to return to school for further studies. After all, his current level of magic knowledge was, at best, about the same as that of a fourth-year student Hogwarts; there was still a long way to go before him.