"If you become the official Arcanist, you will have the right to save one million of your people and ensure that Stirex will not become extinct," Jean-Claude continued calmly. However, his words made Kroll's eyes tremble violently, because there were countless meanings behind them.
"Moreover, since I am more inclined to be lawful, I am willing to sell you the rights to this plane once you are able to exchange it for items of equal value."
"Are you willing?" Kroll asked.
"That's right," Claude nodded. "I can even write it down on paper." By the time Kroll was able to buy back this plane, it was no longer useful to Claude, because he had already used that knowledge to elevate his career to a new level.
He doesn't attach much importance to things like minerals, because Empire is rapidly entering a new era. Except for a few rare minerals, most magic minerals can be easily manufactured artificially.
The only valuable thing left is the laws of this plane, but Claude is still in the process of improving his willpower, and it will take some time to reach the requirements. By then, he will have enough planes to help him.
"I'm happy to accept it," Kroll said immediately. He didn't know whether what this man said was true or false, but he had no choice but to believe him.
"No problem." Claude typed the Snap, summoning a contract written in the language of Kroll. He did not tamper with it, it was a standard Soul Contract guaranteed by the Empire.
"You understand that all these benefits are based on you passing the test and becoming Arcanist, right?"
"I understand."
"Very good," Claude nodded, and then handed the contract to him. Kroll read it carefully from beginning to end, making sure not to miss any letter or punctuation mark. Finally, he decided to sign.
"How do I sign it? With my blood?"
"No, just write your name," Klaue said, conjuring a pen.
"My lord, if you don't want to kill him, you'd better stop," the witch said suddenly. Kroll immediately became alert, while Claude frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Have you forgotten how fragile his Soul Dimension is? One serving of Soul Contract can have devastating effects, so I recommend using Bloodline Contract."
"I swear by Arcane Emperor's beard, I really forgot about this," Claude said awkwardly. He was just thinking about the prospect of becoming a tower master in the future and the other benefits that Kroll might bring to him, but he actually forgot about this.
"Let's change the contract." A new contract with a light red pattern appeared on the table. "For this contract, you really need to shed blood." A red light flashed on the contract, and then exploded into two rays of light, which entered the bodies of Claude and Kroll respectively.
"Are you satisfied?" Claude asked, Kroll could only nod. "What do you do now?"
"According to the law, I can't teach you any of our magic yet, but I can teach you our language, culture and history." Claude handed him a small Crystal ball only the size of a tennis ball. "Put it on your forehead and you will start to receive messages."
Kroll played with it for a while, and then did it. After closing his eyes, he experienced a series of complex emotions, mainly shock, awe, and longing for the future. Claude shook his head, thinking that transmitting information in the past would usually cause severe headaches.
Kroll woke up after a while, and Claude immediately asked him what he thought.
"Is Arcane Emperor real?"
Claude laughed when he heard this question, "His rise does sound like a story written by a third-rate writer, doesn't it? But he is real."
Kroll was silent for a moment. "What kind of person is he? I mean, I want to know your true personal thoughts."
"This is an interesting question," Claude said, taking a moment to think about it. "Although history books paint him in a glorious light, he was not perfect. This man was basically a dictator, he was lustful, and paranoid to the extreme. However, there are two things about him that all Arcanist agree on: his unparalleled magical talent, and that he was a visionary."
Exploration Era proved to the Arcane Empire how reasonable the emperor's paranoia was. When Arcanist went to other planes, they found that countless rising civilizations were destroyed in an instant just because of a moment of carelessness.
The scary thing is that many of these carelessnesses were mistakes they almost made, but were avoided because of the emperor's paranoia. This is why the emperor's motto of "remaining extremely curious while maintaining extreme caution" became more and more popular during this period.
"I understand," Kroll nodded.
"Okay, that's all for now. You can rest now. I'll take you to take the test in about a month or two."
"A month?"
"Yes, this world can't last much longer," Claude replied casually, and he was right. The plane fell quickly. The day after their meeting, Claude sent out an army composed of the Knight Legion and Golem Legion. In just one day, they destroyed Korak Empire, and only President Verek and a few nobles escaped unharmed. The strange thing is that no one was injured or killed in the whole process.
The Legion appeared in the most densely populated area, cast a spell, and everyone fainted. When an advanced civilization fights a weak civilization, this result is expected, especially when the weak civilization has such fatal flaws. Because Soul Dimension is so fragile, mind/soul spells are the nemesis of this plane.
The next target was Mage Empire. The conquest took two full days, simply because Queen Selasi destroyed the first legion sent by Claude. However, after seeing this defeat, he sent out a legion controlled by Tier 8 Golem, and Selasi had to run away with his tail between his legs.
The final target was Saxix Empire. However, before Claude's legions arrived, the emperor and Empire's best warriors and troops had disappeared, heading to a place in this plane that was considered a forbidden place.
"General, you haven't told us why you insisted on bringing us here?" Selasi asked, her face still pale. She had just experienced the greatest humiliation in her life. With just one glance, the puppet almost killed her.
"Be patient," General Dragon Fist said as he led the three former rulers deep into the cave until they found a large stone more than twenty meters high.
"Is this why you brought us here?" Karak asked, making no secret of his impatience.
"Do you know our ancient history?" the general asked. "A long time ago, dragons and Giant ruled this world, and we were nothing but slaves."
"Are you really giving us a history lesson right now?"
"In that era," the general continued calmly. "Our compatriots were unwilling to accept their fate and rose up to resist, but we never succeeded. Do you know why? If you say it is because we are too weak, you are wrong. We are a race full of wisdom, so many ancestors found ways to imitate the power of Giant and the dragon and apply it to ourselves. The strength of those first-generation warriors is not inferior to that of the current era."
"Then why do we still lose?" Selasi asked.
"Because of our souls," the general replied. "With just a look, Giant and the dragon can make the most powerful warrior surrender." The room suddenly became quiet.
"You know what happened next. Dragon-Slayer King Otis emerged, conquered both races, and established Styrix Empire to rule the world. Dragon-Slayer Family ruled the world for thousands of years, and raised Giant and dragons as pets - something only they can do."
"You mean this stone is related to the Dragon-Slayer Family and can solve the problems of our souls?" Selasi asked.
"This is not a stone, but a dragon's heart," General Dragon Fist replied. "Yes, this is the key to saving this plane."