Chapter 1168: The Success of One General is Built on Ten Thousand Withered Bones, The Iolum Era

"After many years, a new Great Arcanist has been born in Netheril, and the strength of the Arcane Union has once again been bolstered. Now, let us pay tribute to Sikumu Hermaneer and Duolaisen Huo Ke!"

After speaking, Kangjienio was the first to stand and bow to the two Great Arcanists, after which everyone in the hall followed suit to pay their respects to the pair.

After Sikumu and Lord Huo Ke returned the gesture, the crowd sat back down; the vote that Xia Duo had imagined would take place did not happen, as this was merely a formality.

Afterwards, Kangjienio continued, "In today's Netheril, new talent is constantly emerging. As an old man who has watched Netheril develop almost from the beginning, I feel very gratified."

"And the Arcane Union, to me, is not just a place of work; it is more like my home. Over these years, I have watched it become perfected bit by bit. If I could, I would be willing to serve it for another hundred years."

"But in recent years, I have felt increasingly drained of energy and can no longer take good care of it. For this reason, I have found a suitable successor to take my place in serving the Arcane Union, serving all of you, and serving all spellcasters!"

As soon as his voice fell, low calls erupted in the hall. Led by Haichenite, the Councilors of the Arcane Union called out that name in unison:

"Iolum!"

"Iolum!"

Subsequently, those in the know and those who were not all cast their gazes toward the person beside Kangjienio, and even Xia Duo, standing behind that person, received a baptism of many gazes.

And Kangjienio's introduction continued—

"Hundreds of years ago, there were many Orc tribes within the borders of Netheril. Supported by those powerful tribes, the Orcs launched Orc Tides time and again, bringing countless miseries to Netheril. The end of all this is to be credited to one person!"

"In the last hundred years, there have been 125 major battles, 742 conventional battles, and countless other skirmishes. Finally, one hundred and twenty years ago, after the Battle of Thunder Peak, all organized Orc tribes within Netheril were completely wiped out."

At this moment in the hall, the vast majority of people were born after the Battle of Thunder Peak, but they were not unfamiliar with that battle, nor with the countless Beast-Extermination Wars that preceded it.

After all, in the past, Iolum had only wiped out most of the large-scale Orc tribes, not all of the Orcs; it was almost impossible to eliminate them all.

As long as Orcs existed, people would mention the past Beast-Extermination Wars, and in those wars, Iolum's name was absolutely the one mentioned most often.

At this moment, Iolum's name was called out by the crowd once again, and even Xia Duo subconsciously followed along and recited it twice.

But at the same time, Xia Duo remained relatively calm inside. As far as the present was concerned, apart from his contributions to the Beast-Extermination Wars, Iolum seemed to have no other notable achievements to show for himself.

And when mentioning the Beast-Extermination Wars, it seemed there was no one else to talk about besides Iolum. As the saying goes, "The success of one general is built on ten thousand withered bones." It was not that there was no one else, but rather—

Except for Iolum, almost no one could participate in this war that lasted nearly a hundred years from beginning to end, let alone live to this day; they had either died of old age or died in battle.

It took the piling up of countless human lives and Orc lives to trade for the name "Iolum"!

At the same time, Xia Duo also thought of the honorary title "Thunder Mage," which was meant to honor those who excelled in the final and most cruel battle of the Beast-Extermination Wars—the Battle of Thunder Peak.

Luodite's father, Lord Collins, had inherited this title, and if nothing went wrong, Luodite would continue to pass it down in the future.

There was "Iolum" and there was "Thunder Mage," but those who sacrificed themselves had almost never left their names behind. Xia Duo knew a few, but most of those names were hidden in the old papers in the Library and were not widely known.

It seemed that only heroes, only those who were alive, could be remembered by the world and by history; this had to be called a tragedy.

Just as Xia Duo was lost in thought, Iolum had already risen amidst the calls of the crowd. He solemnly accepted the pen and scroll handed to him by Kangjienio, which symbolized the arbitration duties of the Arcane Union President, and then issued his first declaration as President:

"From this day forward, I will continue to uphold the principles of neutrality and justice, serving Netheril, serving the Arcane Union, serving all of you, and serving all spellcasters!"

Following this, a strong Magic Aura erupted within the hall.

Xia Duo, who was close to the wall, felt this even more intensely, as if he were sitting on a Spell Source Point about to erupt. If this were any other occasion, or if he were completely unaware of this, his only choice would have been to get as far away as possible.

But fortunately, this was the site of the Arcane Union's Council of Great Arcanists, and Kangjienio had reminded him before the meeting, so he was able to continue sitting in his place with peace of mind.

The effect of the magic was soon revealed; it was not any one person that changed, but the hall itself—

The entire outer wall of the circular hall rotated nearly 30 degrees!

Or more accurately, the entire interior of the hall rotated nearly 30 degrees. It was just that everyone inside the hall used themselves as a reference point and did not feel any movement on the ground, so it seemed as if the outer wall was moving.

In the center of the hall after the rotation, where Kangjienio had originally been facing the door, Iolum now stood, which seemed to symbolize the transfer of Permission Level.

The rest of the meeting was presided over by Iolum. However, Kangjienio did not leave immediately, but next time, I am afraid we will not see this old President who served for hundreds of years!

"The Iolum Era of the Arcane Union has arrived; can Netheril's be far behind?" Looking at Iolum's not-so-sturdy back in front of him, Xia Duo was lost in thought.

Living in the same era as such a person was a misfortune for any genius spellcaster, and what was even more unfortunate was that with the existence of various Life Extension Spells, Iolum's influence would last even longer.

Xia Duo did not consider himself a very clever person. The achievements he had attained were more due to the systematic Modern Education he had received in his hometown before crossing over, which gave him a high level of scientific literacy, allowing him to walk relatively smoothly in the field of Magic.

This was actually because the current Netheril Magic system was already relatively perfect!

In terms of sorting out, exploring, and applying existing Knowledge, Xia Duo, who had experience from another world and a high level of scientific literacy, was able to be like a fish in water.

Such as 【Imaging】, a new Spell involving the Principles of material change, and new Magic Creations like the Magic Scroll Printing Machine that integrated Earth experience and the technology of the Magic world.

And even various improved Spells, improved Magic Items, and improved production methods.

It looked like the results were quite fruitful, but when it came to the exploration of frontier theories and frontier technology, he had few accomplishments.

Things like Magic Net Background Communication, Permanent Magic, and Weave String Materialization were either obtained from the Projection Plane or were the result of research by members of the Tower of Time.