Chapter 133: Wojin's Mutation

After Saifal joined, the nearly three‑thousand‑kilometre journey from Deepwater City to Am became instantaneous.

Saifal, as Kai Erben's son, possesses deep magical knowledge; according to him, Saifal is proficient in at least three schools: Transformation, Conjuration, and Plastic Energy.

The Seven‑ring Conjuration spell 【High‑level Teleportation】, under Saifal's power, can let four people cross 1,700 km in an instant; with just two casts, the four arrived at Am's capital in the blink of an eye.

Askatela City.

This decadent city, called the "City of Gold Coins," was founded in the Valley Hundred years ago; if the Am Empire is the essence of all trade and gold‑coin circulation in Frelen, then Askatela City is the essence of that essence.

The Am Empire's land area is very small; Askatela City occupies almost one‑third of the entire realm, is extremely wealthy, and also hosts Frelen's largest port—Askatela Port.

At this moment, Askatela Port has already been taken over by countless massive navy ships.

Naimi Xisi and others are standing in the underground base of the Masked Mage Society, a dim gathering place where nearly sixty black‑robed mages are assembled.

"Honoured Saifal Oluosang, Grand Mage, welcome," the chief of the Masked Mage Society, an Eight‑ring Mage, said respectfully, bowing to Saifal.

Saifal smiled and nodded; because the patron behind the Masked Mage Society is Kai Erben Heizhang, the whole Masked Mage Society almost regards Black Staff as its head.

The cause is, naturally, Am's national policy—prohibiting the existence of spellcasters.

Except for the priests of various churches and the family mages hired by the great nobles, the entire Am Empire strictly bans spellcasters.

But magic, as an eternal presence in Frelen, cannot vanish from an entire empire; moreover, those nobles have opened back doors for themselves, hiring family mages, so the empire's mages have not decreased but have instead become an underground‑style gathering.

Initially, these mages caused considerable trouble for Am's rulers, but to strictly forbid the influx of spellcasters (for reasons unknown why they are so fearful), the empire still upheld this basic policy.

However, privately, some great nobles contacted Kai Erben Heizhang, asking him to use his legendary mage's influence to gather the powerful spellcasters in Am into a semi‑underground gray organization.

That is—the existence of the Masked Mage Society.

The mages in the Masked Mage Society are all powerful mid‑ to high‑level mages who refuse to join noble families; the Am Empire finds them a great headache, yet cannot slaughter them on a large scale.

Moreover, regardless of these mages' capacity to cause massive damage within Am, even the Magic Goddess Church's wrath is beyond what Am's nobles can bear.

Such slaughter based on mage status is a professional discrimination that Mistra would never permit! Consequently, these hot‑potato problems have become this semi‑official organization under Am's turn‑a‑blind eye policy.

In name, it is an illegal organization, its members all being prohibited by Am law.

In reality, even a national‑level event like the Great Expedition, the Masked Mage Society can get a share.

After years of cultivation, the Masked Mage Society has long established a foothold in Am. It is said that the top decision‑maker of Am—the legendary Conjuration mage "Flowing Gate" Baolis of the Five‑person Council—is the one who recommended the Masked Mage Society's admission.

The so‑called chief of the society before us is, without doubt, a complete puppet.

Nevertheless, Saifal, true to his noble family's good lineage, still politely greeted the mage and sincerely thanked him for securing a slot for him.

After greeting Saifal, the chief turned to Naimi Xisi; as an Eight‑ring Mage, he immediately sensed something abnormal about the Juan Ce Long humanoid.

"True Dragon? Ms. Xianai, why didn't you tell me the being you invited is a True Dragon? Don't you know General Kodel's view of dragons?" the chief furrowed his brows, looking bewildered.

Xianai had not spoken when Saifal beside her took over, waved his hand and said, "No need to worry; with me as guarantor, Kodel won't act."

"Moreover," he smiled slightly, "Naimi Xisi is not one of the True Dragons Kodel once killed; he was personally certified under the Knowledge God Oggma's crown, having experienced two miracles. If Kodel truly dared to act, I fear that Losite would come to Askatela City himself."

The chief, hearing this, could only relent, sighing, "The Knowledge God's prestige may not help either; you may not know that for this expedition, the entire army includes only the priests of the Guardian God Heim and the Commerce Goddess Wojin."

"Am is becoming increasingly exclusive toward faith; if it weren't for the Guardian God's long‑standing influence on these lands, the Wojin Church would likely have already driven it out."

Upon hearing the name Wojin, Saifal also furrowed his brows.

For unknown reasons, since the Saint's Cataclysm four hundred years ago up to today, Wojin has never issued a single Divine Spell; if not for the priests' divine spells still working, people would likely think the goddess had fallen.

Moreover, the followers and priests of Wojin have changed a lot over the past few centuries; formerly Wojin's adherents were absolutely neutral, purely mercantile people.

But now, those who will do anything for profit, even leaning toward chaotic evil, have gradually become Wojin's followers; these multinational magnates use Am as their base, continuously pouring wealth and influence onto the entire western coast, seeking to acquire and control even more riches.

This makes the Wojin Church detestable, as if it were a cult of an evil god.

Under the Wojin Church's influence, the Am Empire almost universally worships the power of money; aside from the ascetic monks in Am's towns who still revere the Guardian God, there is scarcely any trace of other divine churches.

Naimi Xisi has also heard of Wojin; in the Juan Ce Long's ancestral memory, this absolutely neutral goddess is said to be a young, diligent deity, brimming with vigor and vitality, who loves reform, can be stubborn at times, but overall is a vibrant, righteous god.

Its followers could not possibly be influenced to become like this.

Saifal was silent for a moment, then said, "Regarding this, my father also has some clues but currently lacks the chance to act; after I return from the Great Expedition, he will personally visit that sage to investigate."

"A sage? —Grand Mage Ilminster, then? If so, I'm relieved." Upon hearing that Kai Erben would seek Ilminster, the chief, who knows this as Frelen's strongest mage, also breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of Chapter)