First Hearing of the Royal Struggle

After a moment of silence, Hill perked up and asked, "Uncle Adrian must have brought me a lot of news, right?"

Adrian shook his head. "Luckily, you didn't go to the capital. When Master said he wanted you to make your own way in the world, I disagreed. Master is already a Magus, and I'm an Archmage—how could we not protect one child? Luckily, Master didn't listen to me."

Hill could not help asking, "Is the capital very chaotic now?"

"The king is dying!" Adrian said. "The eldest prince is only a Knight, while the second prince is already a Sky Knight! Even if he's an idiot! Even the youngest prince and the two princesses are Great Knights."

Hill asked in confusion, "Does the eldest prince have many supporters?" Salar had only changed kings three times, and they had all been Sky Knights capable of living four or five hundred years. The eldest prince was nearly eighty—how could anyone possibly support him? The old king had only outlived his long-lived predecessor because he himself was a Sky Knight.

"No one expected the king to grow old so early. Everyone thought the eldest prince would meet the previous king first. They were all waiting for him to die; no one wanted to risk their life for a prince.

"But now, the eldest prince can definitely hold on for another ten years. He is the eldest son, after all. And don't forget, he has a son who became a Great Knight at twenty. It is said that he has already touched the threshold of Sky Knight." Adrian sneered. "Not to mention that he married the eldest daughter of Duke Moran! The royal capital is a complete mess now. Most of the Magi in the Mage Towers have shut their doors to visitors."

"Most? What about the Archmages?"

"There will always be people who think pursuing worldly power is easier than magic." Adrian said indifferently, "Several of Master's disciples who left have returned as well."

Hill understood. "Could anyone really think Grandfather would be dragged into this by those disciples he cast out?"

"No. Some people think Master wants revenge on them!"

"Is the count going to be in trouble?"

Adrian suddenly smiled. "I thought you didn't care."

"I don't," Hill said frankly. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to see him suffer."

"Then you will get to see it. Everyone is trying to pull people onto their side. Perast has stirred up plenty of trouble in court; otherwise, so many people would not have helped him back then. Once you owe someone a favor, don't even think about hiding. Just wait for him to be unlucky!" Adrian said. "Master wants me to stay with you for a while longer."

Adrian's father was a marquis, and his mother had a trace of royal blood as well. No one knew whether, in the end, all the great nobles would have to choose a side. After Falan sent him away, he would probably shut himself away until everything was over.

Hill nodded in agreement. "Perfect. There are still many things in my tower that haven't been arranged, and the magical array on the outer wall of the territory needs to be inscribed too."

Adrian rolled his eyes at him. "Did I come here to be your laborer?!"

Hill gave a bitter smile. "Once you reach Archmage, you no longer need to spend every day meditating. I have to work a little harder."

Once a Mage reached the Archmage stage, their soul and body could constantly communicate with the elements. When the body became fully immersed in the elements, they would naturally enter the Magus stage and no longer need long periods of meditation to acquire elemental power.

Once the Elemental Avatar was formed, the next step was using the soul to resonate with the elements, thereby entering the Legendary realm. Therefore, Archmages who needed a Mage Tower's help to absorb elements were the ones who spent the most time in Mage Towers.

Adrian said regretfully, "I can't help you with that. I'll let you copy my spellbook. Don't live solely on the few spells awakened by your Sorcerer bloodline. You must study more and read more. Once you become a Sorcerer, you cannot let your bloodline mislead you. You need to understand why Legendary Sorcerers are so rare: most Sorcerers rely only on their awakened spells!"

Hill understood this well. At lower levels, Sorcerers truly were powerful. They did not need to painstakingly learn spells; once a Spell Ring awakened, the spell was already inscribed, and all their spells were instant.

If all one wanted was a good life, being a Sorcerer was truly a lucrative profession.

But if one sought a higher path, resisting the temptation of bloodline power was very difficult. The ease of a Sorcerer's early stages had to be completely repaid upon reaching the Legendary realm. If they could not resist their bloodline's temptation, they would gradually lose their humanity and ultimately become nothing more than a bloodline creature.

Therefore, Hill had to read and study more, building a deep foundation at every stage. He could not allow himself to sink into the strength of his bloodline.

Adrian had brought Hill a message box for contacting Falan. It was expensive to buy and even more expensive to use. Only Mages could install it, and it could only be used inside a Mage Tower. Once activated, it could no longer be moved. Each use consumed a great deal of mana, and only the Tower Spirit could actually read its contents.

Still, despite the cost of using it, it was best not to be without one when needed.

Before becoming a Magus, Falan had not been qualified to monopolize an entire tower. After all, the Mage Towers belonged to the royal family, and only Magi could serve as tower masters of the seven twelve-story Mage Towers.

There were only four Magi in the entire royal capital, so after Falan became a Magus, he quickly chose a tower and moved in. By the time he learned where Hill had gone, winter had already arrived. Salar's winters were fairly cold, and travel was inconvenient, so there was no need to set out at such a time unless something urgent had happened.

Originally, Falan had not planned to send Adrian over. He had intended to teach him for several more years before letting him leave, and Falan still had several attendants at his side to deliver messages.

Unexpectedly, the old king's health worsened further in spring. Falan felt something major was about to happen, so he simply sent Adrian over and had him bring this message box to install.

Falan had agreed with Adrian that, unless something serious happened, he would send a message every six months. He would explain the capital's situation in detail and forbade the two of them from entering the kingdom to gather information. Unless it was a matter of life and death, they were not to contact him. Once everything was over, Falan would inform them.

Adrian installed the box on Hill's desk, and Hill summoned Liszt to connect it. Adrian said nothing as he watched Hill's Tower Spirit. He had long known that Hill would not use Melanie's appearance. He had once told Falan that as long as Hill did not ultimately use the image of his maidservant mother as his Tower Spirit, he would be satisfied. Fortunately, Hill still possessed the self-awareness expected of a Mage noble. That was good enough.

Even when Mages doted on their attendants or companions, they generally made them Knights. Hill's act of having Bourne study magic was extremely rebellious. Though Adrian did not approve, Hill had used items allotted to himself for Bourne, and Lina had been exceptionally diligent, so he had not strongly opposed it. With a precedent like Melanie, Hill's occasional breach of convention had not aroused Falan's displeasure.

But Adrian truly worried about Hill's nature of not caring much for social rank. If he became too affectionate toward Lina's family and went too far beyond the limits appropriate for servants, Falan would certainly be displeased. Fortunately, Hill still had his reason.

Hill did not notice Adrian's gaze. As soon as Liszt completed the connection, a great deal of information arrived from the box on the other end. Watching Liszt surrounded by elemental light, he was deeply curious about how this thing worked. He definitely needed to study magical alchemy more. It was truly fascinating!

Using magical resonance, Liszt released the information Falan had transmitted. A bust of Falan appeared in the air, and Adrian and Hill quickly sat obediently to one side and listened.

In his usual cold tone, Falan told them to mind their own business and read more books. Without his permission, they were not even to approach the national border. The eldest prince's movements were strange, while the second prince was desperately seeking methods and medicines to extend his life. Every Mage Tower had been visited. Unfortunately, the old king had indulged an alluring mistress these past two years and had not changed even after falling ill several times.

The youngest prince had suddenly fallen from his horse last week and had been bedridden ever since. Afraid that something might happen, the two princesses had also returned to their husbands' fiefs.

For a Great Knight to fall from a horse and be injured was simply an insult to all Knights. Whoever had acted against his harmless younger brother had indeed succeeded in making an example of him.

The eldest prince, Edward, had always been gloomy, while the second prince, Charles, had always been arrogant. But even William, the youngest prince, who had always focused solely on martial training and never interacted with nobles, had been dealt with so casually. Everyone who did not want to be involved in this matter was probably chilled to the bone.

Hill and Adrian looked at each other. "Uncle Adrian, the youngest prince is only in his twenties, isn't he?"

"Twenty-eight. The king's youngest child. He is twelve years younger than the eldest prince's eldest son."

"We should just obediently do as we're told!"

"Fine! Fine! Whenever I have time, I'll inscribe magical arrays for you!"

No one knew who would achieve the final victory, but Salar's nobles would probably have no choice but to pick sides. Yet no one was foolish enough to threaten a Magus like Falan, and Falan was probably the Magus with the fewest weaknesses. His only two remaining relatives were abroad, while all his enemies were within the kingdom. The mastermind who had stirred up trouble back then probably did not know whether to regret it now.

In any case, Hill was very happy. With things having reached this point, the person who had acted back then would very likely expose a weakness. Falan's temper and methods would absolutely make him Disintegrate. Hill would not think about whether he might never have had the chance to be reincarnated without that person. Anyone who treated another person's life as a pawn in schemes and conspiracies deserved no good ending.