Chapter 436: Achieving Advanced Rank

Arriving at Laidun's temporary office, Xia Duo discovered that Laidun was not there. Only after asking the Clerk did he learn that Laidun had gone to the cemetery, saying he had matters to discuss with Mote. Since that was the case, Xia Duo did not linger and instead returned to the Lord's Villa.

He had moved into the new house last night, only to find it had no windows. He had asked the soldier on duty, Nuoman, to find a carpenter to cut a piece of wood to seal them, but he had not expected to receive news of the discovery of a new Plane.

He had left in a hurry and had not waited for the windows to be sealed. Just now, while flying in the sky, he noticed that the windows had already been sealed, and not just the window in his bedroom; the windows of every other room, one and all, had been sealed up.

Even the doors were covered with a layer of wooden boards.

Looking closely at the specifications, they were quite familiar—weren't they just the splicing wall panels from the Standard Wooden House Components? Returning to the bedroom, it was indeed as he had instructed: a solid wooden block had been used to plug the window. There was not a trace of water inside the room. Xia Duo checked every room upstairs and downstairs and returned to the bedroom, feeling very satisfied.

Although this villa was called a villa, it was actually more like a small castle. In this era without reinforced concrete, it was quite difficult for ordinary people to build a two-story stone structure.

This required very exquisite structural design and project management. Xia Duo's house was very similar in structure to the other villas in the Savile Territory; perhaps this was the so-called "craftsman's secret."

……

At dusk, Laidun came to see Xia Duo, and it was only then that Xia Duo discovered one disadvantage of living here: this massive villa inevitably required many servants to maintain, and perhaps he also needed a butler.

This time, Laidun was brought in by the soldier on duty at the entrance, Nuoman.

Xia Duo deeply felt the tediousness of worldly etiquette. Let alone Xia Duo, who had transmigrated from Earth, even the Mages of Netheril did not like to waste time on these aspects.

After all, Spellcasters did not need to design cumbersome etiquette to demonstrate authority like ordinary rulers; the powerful strength they possessed was natural authority.

No wonder Mages liked to live in places like a Mage Tower, which combined the functions of a "research institution" and a "residence"!

Thinking of this, Xia Duo suddenly felt that such a large house had been built in vain. The construction period was long and the cost was high; rather than this, it would have been better to build a wooden villa.

After seeing Laidun to the second-floor bedroom, Nuoman left without a word, and only Xia Duo and Laidun remained in the room.

Xia Duo closed the book and looked at Laidun, asking, "Do you know about what happened last night?"

"I know, My Lord! I have already arranged for people to patch the gaps in the fence."

"Since you knew to patch the gaps, why didn't you have someone check the other parts of the fence?" Xia Duo asked again.

He had just learned from Jibu that Laidun had only arranged for people to patch the gap where the wolf had squeezed in and had not arranged for anyone to check other locations. In the end, it was the patrolling soldiers who checked, and then they found a carpenter to reinforce several other spots.

Being told this by Xia Duo, Laidun immediately reflected on himself, "My Lord, it is my fault."

Xia Duo's intention was not to reprimand Laidun, but merely to remind him. In fact, if he were handling the Territory's affairs himself without Laidun, he probably would not have done better than Laidun.

However, this issue was actually a management problem.

"Arrange for someone to become a safety officer, specifically responsible for discovering safety hazards in the Territory. Let this matter end here."

"Yes."

"Are the people of the Kewu Tribe stable today?" Xia Duo changed the subject.

Yesterday, the Shaman of the Kewu Tribe had just been buried in the Linshui Village cemetery, and the remaining Langasi had become anxious and uneasy. Xia Duo felt this was a good opportunity to help them integrate.

Laidun happened to have visited the Kewu Tribe people today, so he said, "My Lord, their emotions have stabilized, and some are even willing to accept the comfort of the Holy Light."

Xia Duo nodded. In fact, when the Kewu Shaman had just died, Laidun had tried to use the Holy Light to comfort those who were grieving, but the Langasi were unwilling to accept other "Witchcraft" distinct from Shaman Witchcraft.

In their perception, Witchcraft was related to Faith; they only accepted the Witchcraft of their own tribe's Shaman and viewed the Witchcraft of other tribes as a curse.

This "taking advantage of the situation" by the Holy Light might be the beginning of a change. Xia Duo reminded Laidun not to be too aggressive, lest it cause estrangement. Currently, the Daxia Territory was still seen as a savior and protector in the eyes of the Kewu Tribe people, and it must not become an antagonist.

"How is their progress in learning Netherese Common?"

"They were more diligent today than before."

"Very good, keep it up. Have those four people from the Silaiwen Chamber of Commerce improve their attitude." As he spoke, Xia Duo seemed to remember something else, "By the way, from today on, the word 'barbarian' is not allowed in the Territory; you must only say 'Langasi', do you understand?"

"Yes, I will notify everyone."

"Mm, that's all for today. It's getting late, go back and rest."

"Yes, My Lord!"

Laidun withdrew, and after reading for a while, Xia Duo also "turned off the lights" and rested.

……

Three days later, heavy snow.

A burst of hearty laughter suddenly erupted from the bedroom of the Lord's Villa in Linshui Village. Nuoman, who was on duty downstairs, scratched his head, wondering why the Lord was so happy.

He had never seen the Lord laugh like this before.

Xia Duo was indeed very happy because he was already standing on the threshold of an Advanced Rank Mage; as long as he was willing, he could step into it at any time.

Once he became an Advanced Rank Mage, although he would not be an absolute backbone of Netheril like an Arcanist, at least he would be able to move freely in this era. Even a Great Arcanist would not ignore an Advanced Rank Mage.

【Flight】, 【Teleportation】—the core advantages of a Mage were fully displayed in this period.

The 4th Circle 【Mage Armor】, equivalent to the 5th Circle level, had been completed. He only needed to successfully cast it to glimpse the fifth layer of the Magic Net, and then organize it into a formal 5th Circle Spell; then, Xia Duo would be a true Advanced Rank Mage.

At this moment, Xia Duo was very grateful that the Magic of this world did not require any mysterious insights; it was just like doing math problems—1 is 1, 2 is 2!

You might calculate incorrectly, but the answer to the problem would not be wrong. As long as you kept calculating, you would eventually be able to figure it out.

Now, Xia Duo had already obtained the answer for this stage!

……

Removing the wooden block from the window, he let the wind and snow blow into the bedroom and hit his face. He turned off the weak elemental balancing ability of the 【Crimson Shelter Robe】. The wind and snow, which had been as silky as thin gauze, instantly became sharp, carving messily like a graver.

Xia Duo could not help but shiver, but his heart was burning hot.

Having transmigrated until now, he had finally reached this step. He did not suppress his joyful emotions but let them flow and erupt.

After a long while, feeling that his face was already numb from the cold, Xia Duo began to collect his emotions, focusing his mind to slowly cast this spell that used low-rank annotations to explain the high-rank.

It was quite proficient, but not yet to the extreme. Of course, there was no need for that; it was just a transitional spell for the intermediate state.

Ten seconds later, a faint light flashed and then vanished into invisibility, but the wind and snow in front of the window were blocked by an invisible barrier in front of him.

At this instant, Xia Duo's consciousness was suddenly elevated, "high" enough to glimpse the entire appearance of this vast Magic Net—a complex structure spread across heaven and earth, filled with infinite energy.

All things existed within this magnificent structure, with the Magic Net Strings connecting everything, intertwined with one another.

A new volume has been split.

This is actually already the ninth volume~ New Mage is the fourth volume, and then 5, 6, 7, 8 are respectively: 5 Land of Heroes, 6 Elven Mythallar, 7 Acting Tower Master, 8 Projection Plane, 9 Prelude to an Era. Thank you all for your support!!

(End of chapter)