Hilo Province
Kelen Province.
This was one of the Eilex Empire's seven provinces. It had six cities under its jurisdiction, and the population of Kelen Province as a whole exceeded a million. Rog walked along Hilo City's main thoroughfare. Besides humans with hair in every color, the streets were also full of strangely looking orcs and elves.
Most of the orcs were tall, each at least two meters in height. The tallest Rog saw was a minotaur warrior, who stood over two and a half meters tall and could be called a little giant. However, that minotaur warrior was only an Eighth-level Warrior, so he wasn't particularly strong.
"These orcs are probably all mercenaries. If I want to see fox girls, rabbit girls, and cat girls, I'll probably have to go to the Orc Great Prairie, or get in touch with the underground slave smugglers." Rog felt a little disappointed at not seeing any cute beast-eared girls.
"Hm? Is that an elf? No, more accurately, she should be a half-elf." Rog spotted a sharp-eared proprietress in a tavern. She was very cute and looked a lot like an elf. However, all true-blooded elves lived in the Forest of Elves. They also cared far more about their people than the orcs did, so pure-blooded elves were extremely rare in human empires.
The green-haired proprietress, dressed in something much like a maid's outfit, was only a half-elf.
According to the knowledge in Rog's memories, the elves of the Glais Continent were also a long-lived race. Even ordinary elves below the seventh level could live for over a thousand years. The stronger they were, the longer they lived; powerful ninth-level elves could even live for three or four thousand years. Humans, on the other hand, lived only five hundred years at most before reaching the Saint Domain, even if they were ninth-level powerhouses.
Of course, Rog's master was a Necromancy Mage. By using Necromancy, he had managed to live a little longer.
Nature Tavern.
This was the tavern with the half-elf proprietress. Thanks to the cute proprietress as a draw, and the distinctive taste of the tavern's fruit wine, business here was quite brisk.
"Welcome to Nature Tavern. Please come in." The half-elf beauty's voice was very pleasant, sweet and soft, and warm. Rog entered the tavern, found an empty table, and glanced at the bartender behind the counter.
"She's actually a ninth-level warrior. This tavern doesn't seem simple. No wonder they dare to have a half-elf beauty run it." Rog was a Soul Mutator and a Saint Domain mage. With a spell called Undead Sense, he easily saw that the seemingly refined, middle-aged man was a formidable powerhouse.
Although a ninth-level warrior's status was far below that of a Saint Domain powerhouse, they could still gain considerable power and standing by founding a family or joining the military as a general. Yet this powerful man with a gentleman's mustache had lowered himself to work as an "utterly ordinary" bartender in this tavern. It seemed he had a story of his own.
"Miss Sarah, the usual. Bring us ten bottles of 'Nature's Fire.'" A group of mercenaries walked in. They carried a powerful air about them.
The two dressed like mages and assassins were all right, but the armor worn by the other warriors seemed to carry the scent of blood, even though no bloodstains were visible.
"Hmph, those uncouth fellows again." Before they arrived, most of the people sitting in the tavern had been noble young masters or "civilized people." Deep down, they looked down on these low-class mercenaries, feeling that the group's arrival had ruined the tavern's serene, natural atmosphere.
"All right, Passat. They even washed their armor until it was spotless before coming in this time. Stop complaining." A man who looked like a noble lord was grumbling in the tavern, and his friend immediately tried to stop him.
After all, although they looked down on "low-class" mercenaries, those mercenaries were not to be underestimated. Their leader, the burly Muchali, was an Eighth-level Warrior.
Naturally, they didn't want to provoke him without good reason. After a brief incident, everyone went back to enjoying their drinks in peace.
The specialty of Nature Tavern was fruit wine. Most of the drinks weren't very strong. After trying some, Rog felt they tasted more like fruit juice or soft drinks, but they truly were "fresh and natural," leaving a lasting impression.
He had thought something unusual might happen at the tavern, but it had all ended with just a few words of bickering. Finding it dull, Rog went to explore other places, such as the legendary blacksmith shops and equipment-material stores.
Since Rog was wearing a mage's robe this time, along with the mage-rank badge of the unfortunate eighth-level Grand Magus from before, he easily disguised himself as an eighth-level Grand Magus.
With that status, the others naturally treated Rog with great respect. After all, mages of the same level were even rarer than warriors.
"This makes no sense. This blacksmith shop doesn't have any divine weapons, let alone the rare, special materials I want." Rog had been hoping to find some suitable materials to make a weapon for using the Lightning Law.
"A magic staff is out of the question. With my talent, reaching Saint Domain in Lightning Element magic is only a matter of a few days. The only thing I'm missing is the incantation for a Forbidden Spell. And I can rely on the Death Rule for ranged attacks in the future, so I should develop close-combat techniques with the Lightning Law." As a dual-element Soul Mutation, Rog had to make the most of his advantages.
His soul had mutated, and its strength was around ten times that of a powerhouse of the same level. Naturally, using the Death Rule to launch Soul Attacks was exceptionally effective. However, in its later stages, the Death Rule mainly leaned toward being a "soul master" and wasn't particularly suited to the material side of things.
Fortunately, Rog also had an affinity for the Lightning Law. Though it wasn't as strong as the Wind Law on the material side, it was still powerful. When the time came, he could use Two-Element Fusion Divine Power to launch material attacks.
"I'm getting ahead of myself. I haven't even begun to understand a single Law yet." Rog sold some of his "stockpile," mostly spoils of war from before, and earned quite a few gold coins. Then he bought some magical materials.
"Should I join a mercenary group and experience a life of adventure?" Rog glanced at the lively Mercenary Guild building nearby. After hesitating for a moment, he still decided against it.
The reason was simple: there weren't many powerhouses in mercenary groups. Forget Saint Domain powerhouses-even ninth-level powerhouses were rare. Someone like the Eighth-level Warrior who had appeared at Nature Tavern was already among the best. Hanging around with a bunch of weaklings like that would do almost nothing to improve Rog's strength.
"I'd better focus on comprehending the Laws." Familiar with the rules of the world, Rog naturally understood what mattered most in this world: power! And the vessels of power in this world were the Seven Laws and the Four Edicts.
"As things stand, I only barely count as a peak Saint Domain powerhouse because my mutated soul is far stronger than an ordinary Saint Domain powerhouse's, and because I have the Soul Attacks of Necromancy. In terms of actual comprehension of the Laws, I'm still a blank slate. But I've already got a lead on the first part of the Death Rule."
After traveling around a few cities in the Eilex Empire, Rog paid for a secluded manor and began cultivating in seclusion.
A year later, Rog had successfully comprehended the first part of the Death Rule.
"The part of the Death Rule I comprehended was derived and expanded from the 'Death Ray' I know. It's a straightforward kind of Soul Attack. Its weakness is that this Soul Attack has no 'spirituality'; if the enemy has a Soul Defense Divine Artifact or something like one, this move will have a hard time working. Its advantages are that it's simple, brutal, and concentrated in power." Rog could feel that he hadn't comprehended very much of the Rule, and he was still a long way from fully mastering this "Soul Ray."
"If I fully master this 'Soul Ray,' I estimate I'll be able to become a god. What I've comprehended so far is probably only around one-tenth of it. But with my soul strength, even the strongest Saint Domain powerhouses will surely find it hard to withstand." Comprehending a Law or Rule and not comprehending one were as different as heaven and earth.
"There's no such thing as fusing profound mysteries in the Death Rule. I only need to follow the steps and fully master the 'Soul Ray.'" Since he hadn't sensed a bottleneck, Rog wasn't in a hurry to go out and seek adventure. There was no rush to cultivate the Laws of Lightning, either.
Rog knew that after becoming a god, his soul would undergo a transformation, and he would comprehend the Laws more quickly. Moreover, because he was a Soul Mutator, even his Divine Clone of the Death Rule could comprehend the Laws of Lightning. So before becoming a god, there was no need at all to divide his attention between cultivating two kinds of Laws and Rules.