Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
The two magic towers Abel entered belonged to two rich advanced wizards. The former was Wizard Cliff, the head of the Kingdom of St. Ellis’s central intelligence force. The tower that he currently lived in provided him a large-sized teleportation circle and a defensive mechanism that was very difficult to breakthrough.
The other owner was Wizard Kilmer. Whilst serving as the backbone of the Assassin Union, the richest organization in all of the Holy Continent, Abel was pretty certain that there would be a lot to his private collection.
As soon as Abel stepped into the Kilmer Magic Tower, the first thing he saw was a short-distance teleportation circle that should be connected to the one at the Assassin Union. To prevent leaking the tower’s actual location, the destination was set not to the inside of the Kilmer Magic Tower but a spot that was shared with the Assassin Union. The teleportation circle was old. It was a middle-sized circle used since the founding of the union. Since the Wizard Union helped install it, the Wizard Union was permitted to supply more teleportation circles in times of emergency.
For Wizard Kilmer, since he was building his magic tower at the Assassin Union main building, there was a very high risk of being found out if he was installing a teleportation circle right here. Also, if the Wizard Union’s advanced wizards decided to cause mayhem, they’d always have the option of making a forced entry with the special authority that they possessed. Take Abel’s large-sized teleportation circle, for example. If it weren’t for the help of the dwarves, the Wizard Union would’ve taken it in no time at all if they wanted to find out where his magic tower was.
He averted his gaze away from the short-distance teleportation circle. Abel went around to see where the guest room was. As things had it, Wizard Kilmer didn’t have a lot of friends (or he just wasn’t the type to invite his friends over to his place), so the entire first floor was pretty much just a decoration room.
Come to think of it. There were a lot of strange gears here.
“He’s a pretty freaky collector, isn’t he?”
There were knight’s armors, warriors’ armors, and plenty of other extraordinary gears. There was all magic equipment, too, and not ordinary ones. It wasn’t just for the humans. There were even sets for dwarves, elves, and orcs. The Assassin Union seemed to be very resourceful when it’s about this kind of thing. It was a shame, really, since Abel could only spectate and not wear the ones that weren’t for humans.
Usually, a knight would be more than happy to own one or two magic knight equipment, but here, Wizard Kilmer, a wizard, had enough that could almost fill up the entire floor. This was basically like a jewelry shop. He didn’t move the equipment here since everything already belonged to him as he was using Wizard Kilmer’s sign card. Everyone else that had a chance to earn the same authority died already. The entire Assassin Union was pretty much his for the taking.
Speaking of which, this could serve as an extra base for the Harry Family. The Kingdom of St. Anwall was the closest kingdom to the Budapest Mountain Range, so it should be very helpful to set up a knight’s training ground here.
Abel thought as he walked up to the second floor of the magic tower. There were countless boxes here. As he opened up one of them, he could see that there were rows of intermediate magic gemstones. Upon opening up another one, he could see that it was filled with intermediate gemstones as well. It’s almost like Wizard Kilmer was a giant dragon since both had the exact same hobby.
Abel continued to see more valuable items as he climbed up the stairs. There were precious gemstones, rare ingredients, art pieces of the finest kind. Wizard Kilmer’s magic tower was pretty much a treasure storage room. Of course, not a lot of these were helpful to Abel. Apart from some of the raw minerals and ingredients, the magic equipment was only mediocre. It was the same for the magic gemstones. As someone who had possession of the Horadric Cube, he could make as many intermediate gemstones within the given time.
For the art pieces, they were all equally useless to a wizard like him. He had a very simple way of sorting them, though. He would be putting them into his residence for anyone to enter. That way, they wouldn’t be locked in the basement so no one could see them. Since he already carried too many from the underground layer of Lut Gholein, he had to find a palace to put in the ones that he just found here.
Soon, he arrived at the seventeenth floor, which was the topmost layer of the entire magic tower. This was where he saw the tower spirit. It was in a half-dormant state. Its master’s death caused it to use the minimum amount of energy to sustain itself. Therefore, it didn’t take a lot for Abel when he tried to make a forced connection to it with his power of Will. The process was finished in an instance. He felt a strange connection to the magic tower, and soon it declared him as its new owner.
As such, every wall, brick, and floor tile was connected to his mind. The magic tower became pretty much like his body.
“I went too rough just then,” Abel thought to himself. He could feel the large sword marks were left on the tower. The damage left a huge opening on most of the spell circles that were inside the tower. He seemed to have forgotten, though. If he didn’t go this far, Wizard Kilmer would’ve never come out to fight for his life. It was a necessary waste, to put it simply.
Right now, the duchy of Carmel didn’t have any rank seventeen wizards. Since there wasn’t anyone that was fitful to become the owner of this new tower, Abel must be mindful of whether the Wizard Union would try to go after him for violating the related rules. Wizards could only claim towers that were in relation to their ranks. This was the rule that made wizards proud of who they were. If it wasn’t for this pride, they would’ve not spent so long on helping to preserve this world. Well, it wasn’t like Abel cared that much. He was a grandmaster blacksmith and a man with several kill counts of advanced wizards. He could do whatever he wanted, and scarcely would anyone try to make trouble for him.
Somewhat disappointed with what he was looking at, Abel walked out from the Kilmer Magic Tower. It wasn’t like the stuff he found wasn’t valuable, but it was nowhere as helpful as what he found from the Cliff Magic Tower. Sometimes, a powerful wizard was much better off than a wealthy wizard.
Abel sent a command with his power of the Will, “Open the teleportation circle, assassin spirit. Find a way to make a connection with the Harry Castle teleportation circle.”
“Yes, Master. The teleportation circle has already been opened,” the assassin spirit’s mechanical voice came over.
Abel asked before he left the main building, “Actually, assassin spirit, would I still be able to send out missions once all the mission points are recovered?”
The assassin spirit responded, “If the mission points are recovered, Master, you will be able to restart the assassin business once more. You just need to set up mission circles where they are located.”
Abel nodded his head as he disappeared from the teleportation circle. He was heading back to Bakong City of the duchy of Carmel.
“Burbridge,” he said as soon as he went back to the palace, “Help me get my father, will you?”
Soon, Burbridge helped Lord Bennett towards the study, where Abel was waiting.
“You’ve come, Father!” Abel stood up and greeted.
Lord Bennett said stiffly towards his king, “On what matter have you summoned me, your Majesty?”
Abel sighed towards the unnecessary formality, “I have one matter that I must ask for you to take care of, Father. For this project, everyone that participates must be someone trustworthy.”
In terms of reliability, a magical contract was the best way to go. Everyone that took part in this must sign a magical contract before they were officially put on the team.
Lord Bennett could sense how serious Abel was being, “What is it?”
Abel placed his hand on Lord Bennett’s shoulder, “Come with me.”
With that, the two teleported on top of the teleportation circle. They headed towards Pute Valley of the Kingdom of St. Anwall, where the Assassin Union’s main building was. As they stood on top of the teleportation circle there, Lord Bennett waited for a bit before his travel dizziness went off.
“Where’s this?”
Abel walked out first, “The main building of the Assassin Union.”
Lord Bennett cried out immediately, “You found it? My spirit, you found the main building of the Assassin Union?”
Lord Bennett looked around himself as he couldn’t believe that he was looking at the most mysterious location in all of the Holy Continent. It was supposed to be a place that existed only in the legends. Apart from a few of the senior members, no one was supposed to have known about this palace.
Abel waved his hands, “I’ve killed all of them, Father. There’s still an assassin spirit here, though. This here, this is the object that’s been protecting the assassin business all across the Holy Continent.”
Lord Bennett understood immediately, “So you’re saying we should claim the Assassin Union as part of the duchy of Carmel now?’
The assassin class had always existed. It’s this way even without the Assassin Union. The point of having an Assassin Union, in the first place, was so that the activities of the assassin could be regulated. If Abel didn’t take the Assassin Union right now, more would rise up to form syndicates of various sizes. Things would be very messy if that were to take place. After all, having one regulated organization under his command would mean that things would become steadier and less unpredictable.
Abel spoke, “The Assassin Union must be put into the hands of someone trustworthy, Father. I’ll leave the right to use the assassin spirit to you. You’ll be responsible for it from here on.”
First up, no one must know that the duchy of Carmel controlled the Assassin Union. This knowledge could lead to the antagonization of the duchy of Carmel on all sides.
Lord Bennett nodded and said, “I’ll take care of this, your Majesty.”
Of course, Lord Bennett knew how serious this was. The Assassin Union might be a very dangerous thing to handle, but it could serve as an extra help limb in the dark world in which the duchy of Carmel resided.
Abel brought Lord Bennett underground, where the underground assassin spirit was supposed to be. After granting his father the right to use, they both went outside the building. This was when Lord Bennett finally realized their geographical location. The Assassin Union’s main building was located at a place that was surrounded by valleys. He didn’t know that there was a large-sized seclusion circle here, but it would be very difficult to find the building even without it.
After looking back, he saw something even more shocking. It was a rank seventeenth tower, and he knew what it meant. He didn’t know what to say when he saw the giant sword mark on the tower.
Lord Bennett said with concern, “You are not just one man now, your Majesty. Please, I implore you to stop doing something like this. You are the king of the duchy of Carmel.”
Abel said with a smile, “It’s not as dangerous as you think, Father.”
Abel always prepared himself when he was facing off an advanced wizard. Since he had everything ready, Wizard Kilmer died without being able to damadge him. He ended up even not having to use Flying Flame.
As for learning how to operate the Assassin Union, Abel didn’t ask too much about it. The easiest thing for him to do was to have Bartoli at the main building right inside the magic tower. Bartoli was pretty much a freeloader now. Apart from cooking him some food on a few special occasions, she spent most of her time training for the next time. She did gain an infinite amount of time in the underworld, but after being freed from the underworld, she started training more arduously as she became more appreciative of the time she had.
While the rank seventeen tower was slightly damaged, the condition for training inside remained near ideal. This was an advanced wizard’s tower, after all. In terms of its mana density, it was no worse than the wizard circle outside of Harry Castle.
Meanwhile, Abel placed five lightning spirals around the teleportation circle. The design was so that any illegal trespasser would be executed on the spot. After putting them in place, he left the Assassin Union building and left it to Lord Bennett. The duchy of Carmel was a lot bigger now. There were plenty of men that could help to run this place.
The duchy of Carmel was not the same weak duchy that it used to be. Whether it was its land or its military might, it was only inferior to that of three human empires. There were plenty of nobleman’s families that came to live here, too. Political stability was always what rich and influential families were after. Once they came in, they would bring in experts of all sorts of fields, leaving the duchy of Carmel with no worries that it would lose talents in all fields.
In the next few days, special news was spread across the Holy Continent. It went as such: After following leads that were provided by the Liante City Wizard Union branch, Abel killed two leaders of the Assassin Union, who were Head Commander Acton and Wizard Elliot. The knights finally calmed themselves as they saw this. They already killed too many of those that were from the Assassin Union.
As for the working staff that was released, the majority of them tried to make connections to the main building. The assassin spirit would then respond to notify them that the organization still existed, providing hope that their jobs were still secured. Of course, they wouldn’t know anything about what happened at the main building, but they all contributed to rebuilding the once destroyed network. It wasn’t all that hard, actually. Since the bases were still there, the working staff only took some time, manpower, and ammunition to push the entire network system’s rebuilding.
“You were the one who told Abel, weren’t you, Allenby?”
The question came from Wizard Lorenzo. He was asking Wizard Allenby inside a room located at the Lianty City Wizard Union. So far, Wizard Lorenzo was the only one who had been to the Assassin Union main building, so naturally, it could only be him that provided Abel with the information.
Wizard Allenby nodded his head, “I was, but the location I gave was ambiguous. As for the death of Head Commander Acton and Wizard Elliot, I have no clue about it, to be honest.”
Wizard Lorenzo asked something that even he found unbelievable, “Can it be, by any chance, that Abel’s already seized the Assassin Union?”
Wizard Allenby shook his head, “Probably not, as far as I’m concerned. The guardian of the Assassin Union is Wizard Kilmer, a rank seventeen advanced wizard. It would be hard to take the Assassin Union main building without getting past his magic tower first.”
Wizard Lorenzo sighed, “Abel’s killed rank seventeen wizards before, you know that, right?”
Before, there used to be four rank seventeen wizards guarding the Liante City Wizard Union. Since Wizard Nigel wronged Abel, that number was reduced to three. Three advanced wizards fell when Abel went to have his revenge back then. Two of them were combat wizards, and the fact that a single man defeated them was what made the others want to become his allies. It was also precisely because of this that local authority overlooked the fact that he was making too many points with his “rabbit potion” restaurant.
Wizard Lorenzo said in wonder, “So we won’t see Wizard Kilmer again.”
Wizard Allenby was silent. He agreed with this statement as well. Abel’s always had a ridiculous record to his name. Now that he’s declared to have killed the two that were responsible for running the Assassin Union, it would be extremely likely that he’s already found the Assassin Union main building.
The two advanced wizards looked at each other as they considered the possibility that Wizard Kilmer was dead. They believed that they were getting closer to the truth, but this was the kind of matter that they could only put into their mind. Whether it was true or not, they couldn’t risk offending Abel by saying it aloud.
Throughout all of the large organizations and nations on the Holy Continent, the most logical explanation had been that the Assassin Union tried to bargain with Abel. Most of them guessed that the Assassin Union was trying to get Abel’s forgiveness by surrendering two of their leaders. As for Wizard Kilmer, since they didn’t think that it was possible for an advanced wizard to be killed, they just assumed that Abel spared him and left.
If there was anyone that should be worried, it would have to be Emperor Ambrose of the Kingdom of St. Ellis. Under normal situations, he wouldn’t have to order the hit list himself, but a lot of resources would be needed to order an assassination attempt on Abel. For someone this significant, even Prince Derek wouldn’t get the necessary permission from the Assassin Union.
Not a lot of people knew about the assassination of Abel. The Assassin Union has had a very good reputation over the years (in the underground business) for keeping the secret of their clients. This was the reason that Emperor Ambrose was confident enough to order the hit. Yet, when he saw the news that Abel released, he immediately thought of the possibility that he had been sold out. All of a sudden, he was faced with the possibility that Abel was probably plotting revenge against him.
Upon information that his intelligence collected, Emperor Ambrose became very sure of something: Abel was the vengeful type. Every time he was taken advantage of, he would always respond with violence. This made him very afraid for the last few days, but after hearing nothing from Abel, he started to think that it was all in his head.
It wasn’t like Abel didn’t want revenge, no. He was just waiting to see how many cards an empire could hide under its sleeves. He needed to become more powerful before he made his next move. He couldn’t use all of his trump cards in this world. Flying Flame, for example. The dragons would go after him relentlessly if he decided to make it appear in public. His spiritual guardian knights, too. If the others saw him as someone who was capable of casting orc priest spells, he would be in a lot of trouble. There was also his battle fort. He’s been hiding it this entire time because he didn’t want the world to know that such terrifying war machines existed.
With all these limitations on him, Abel could not show his true strength in a lot of places. His only choice now was to wait. Before he could get his revenge on King Ambrose, he must first make sure that the duchy of Carmel became strong enough to match the strength of the Kingdom of St. Ellis.
Right now, there were thirty of the “dragon blood wall-breaking potions” in his hands. This meant that thirty more head knight commanders could be added to the Carmel military in a very short period of time. Once the head knight commanders were ready, Abel would ensure their loyalty by signing a magic contract with him. This way, there wouldn’t be anyone that was too powerful to not follow his orders.
As the days pass by, the Holy Continent seemed to have returned to its peaceful times. Of course, it was only a facade. The food crisis started countless wars between all the states except the duchy of Carmel. Almost all of them had their eyes on the duchy of Carmel. Still, after Abel demonstrated his military might, the idea of attacking the duchy of Carmel would always quickly perish away.
Once October came, everyone came to know that the production of crops had been decreasing. The ratio was two to ten of what was sowed. This was when Abel came in. He headed towards the Kingdom of St. Anwall, not as a king, but as the good friend of Prince Lansi, otherwise known as K3308.
Prince Lansi invited Abel to his wedding banquet. Of course, this was only a gesture of respect. He wasn’t all that confident that a king and a grandmaster blacksmith would show up so easily, but nevertheless, Abel came to pay his visit as a private guest.
The wedding took place at a royal mansion elsewhere. While Abel was walking out of the teleportation circle, he saw that Prince Lansi had been waiting for him already.
Abel greeted with a smile, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s right. So good to see you, man!” Prince Lansi said with a wide grin.
The two immediately laughed when they saw each other’s faces. They were war brothers. The bond between them was surely different from political opponents who had to be careful of what they said or think.
Prince Lansi said gratefully, “Thank you for coming to my wedding, Abel.”
Because of Abel’s arrival, more guests had come from the upper-class society. This made him a much more important figure in his home state, the Kingdom of St. Anwall. While he couldn’t become heir to the throne, his father Aldous was starting to place a lot more importance on him.
“That’s a little too nice from the K3308 I know of.”
“Well, same with you! I thought you’d come like the king you are, but you decided to come privately.”
The butler’s voice suddenly echoed through the hall, “Please welcome Grandmaster Blacksmith and the king of the duchy of Carmel, his majesty King Abel!”
Many guests went silent as they looked at Abel. To many of them, he was the only reason that they came here. Take Duke Chesterton of the duchy of St. Pierrt, for example. He wouldn’t participate in the wedding of a mere prince if there wasn’t something that would capture his attention.
It was the same for Emperor Aldous, who was the current ruler of the Kingdom of St. Aldous. All these important figures came early because of Abel, and that made Abel very embarrassed. Since they were waiting for him in advance, that just made him the last guest that would arrive at this event.