There was no mistake. Benjamin planned to spread magic and disseminate education in Desert City.
Magic was very much a talent-dependent skill, but in that day and age, it was not just talent that determined whether or not one became a mage, but also chance. Being recognized by a teacher, or coming across magic knowledge by accident and being self-taught, slowly journeying onto this path— this luck-dependent and ineffective method seemed, alas, to be the only way to become a mage.
Under these circumstances, even if a person had the talent, if he forever lived at the bottom of society and had no contact with spells, his talent could never be uncovered.
Therefore, Benjamin believed that this model could not catch up with present time prolificacy. It was time to change.
He wanted magic knowledge to spread through the people and flow to the sides of every commoner. He wanted to lift the mysterious veil over mages and change the structure of the mages’ world from the inside out, so that more people could access this possibility.
And Desert City would be his first experiment.
Of course, other than this, he also wanted to nurture more mages, expand his team and strengthen his influence. He was not doing good purely for the sake of it; it was also a very practical move.
In fact, concerning all of Desert City, the only thing he really cared about was this.
"This place is not bad. It used to be the Desert Shadow’s stronghold. After some sorting out, it will be very suitable for a school of universal education."
Outside the Castellan’s Castle, in front of Desert City’s largest residence, Benjamin was talking while bringing the few mages who were to stay back
and govern Desert City on a tour.
"Sir… Are you talking about a school?"
Hearing that, Benjamin laughed, and said, "Of course, it isn’t the school you have in mind, the kind that only the wealthy and royal can attend. Actually, your perceptions about school are too old fashioned. School should be a place for everyone, rich and poor.
The mages behind him listened, agape.
Benjamin continued, "However, we do not have the resources to build that proper sort of school. If you cannot understand it, you don’t have to think so much. Turn this place into a stronghold, and disseminate basic magic knowledge to the people. That is enough."
To build a school at such a time as this was too ambitious on his part. This was still Ferelden territory; if there was enough going on to alarm the people at the top, the Church had all the right to direct troops to come over and ‘subdue the bandits’, thereby taking back Desert City. They would not be able to do much, then.
The mages listened; one by one they nodded. There were no more questions.
Thus so it was; after everything was settled here, Benjamin did not stay in Desert City any longer. Early morning on the second day, he brought the remaining mages and left the place, heading straight to the City of Rayleigh.
Returning to Ferelden after years of seclusion, the mages felt excited. On the way, they continuously asked questions. Benjamin had to answer them one by one, and took the opportunity to explain Ferelden’s present situation. When they heard the entire story of the ‘Triangular Spirit’ serial assassination, they could not help but rub their fists in high spirits, wishing eagerly to play a part.
"Sir, when can we join a battle against the Church?" One of them could not hold
hold his excitement and blurt out.
"What’s the rush? Your time will come." Benjamin could not help but laugh. "Right now, we do not have the ability to stand off directly against the Church."
This journey in the desert had brought him much. The inclusion of the hermit mages, Desert City, and some spoils from the ‘Desert Shadow’... and most importantly was how he had the sudden epiphany concerning the influence the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic had on the mages of Ferelden.
It had produced exactly the level of incitement that Benjamin had expected.
Looking at just the eastern desert, it had caused this group of mages to follow him here willingly; what about the other regions of Ferelden? How many more mages would, after reading it, have in their hearts a surge of passion and hope to kick the Church out of here?
The seeds had been sown; it should be time to reap the harvest.
Thinking thus, he could not help but increase the speed at which he was flying towards the City of Rayleigh.
Thus, a day later, they reached their destination without a hitch.
Walking into the City of Rayleigh, everything was just as Benjamin had left it. The incarcerated evangelistic priests were not yet freed, there was no sign of the annoying figures, and the streets seemed clear and quiet. It seemed like the Church had not taken much action.
Nevertheless, Benjamin was still very wary.
Before entering the city, he had painstakingly gone through the compulsory knowledge a spy must have
must have with the mages. Disguises, camouflages, codewords… Although he did not have a foundation in this area of expertise, having gone through so much war training, he had developed a high level of competence in this area.
After putting on their disguises, the mages split into a few teams and entered the city. Benjamin first allowed them free movement to familiarize themselves to the city. As for himself, after leaving the secret code for tonight’s meeting, he went back to the hotel and slept like a log.
——It was deadly tiring being a leader.
Finally, nightfell.
"These mages came from the eastern desert. After reading the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic, they have decided to join us. We might be few, but in a while there will be a bigger bunch coming over. Everyone, please introduce yourselves."
In yet another isolated, abandoned house, Benjamin gathered all the mages under him and began as such.
The mages listened, and curiously surveyed each other. Slowly, they began to mingle.
The entire ice breaking session took more than an hour, but Benjamin was in no hurry. This was rather important; they were not great in numbers, therefore it was even more necessary that they worked in good synergy.
Seeing that the bunch had slowly quietened down, Benjamin cleared his throat and spoke once more.
"As everyone knows, our goal is to rebel against the Church. Even though there are more of us now, but this is far from enough. The priests of the Church stationed in Ferelden are already in the thousands, and don’t get me started on the paladins. We cannot handle this alone, therefore, we still need to recruit more."
Varys, hearing this, spoke: "Actually, the mages in the City of Rayleigh had been quite supportive of us these few days. However… They might still be harbouring some distrust, harbouring some distrust, which is why they’ve stopped supporting. They do not dare to join us for real, to fight against the Church and the government officials of Ferelden."
Benjamin nodded.
This was definitely a difficult problem to solve.
Part of the reason why the desert mages were willing to risk it all joining them, was Morris. They trusted Morris, and Benjamin had managed to talk Morris into it. This was why they had been so willing to follow. However, it was not going to be so easy with the rest of Ferelden’s mages.
——They had not been isolated in the desert, and each held positions of prestige and power. They had their roles in society, which meant they had to be more conservative in their dealings.
Actually, the fact that they were willing to support the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic, and not cause trouble wanting monopoly power like the ‘Desert Shadow’, that would be good enough! Benjamin guessed that this was all thanks to mage Vinci.
"It’s normal, not everyone has the guts to stand out. It is enough that they are willing to support us." Hence, he spoke as thus. "However, we should still do our best in recruiting mages."
Frank had some doubts. "How? Shall we organize another recruitment drive?"
Benjamin shook his head.
"It’s too difficult to get new blood in the City of Rayleigh now. We must set our sights on the entire nation." He smiled, speaking slowly. "Dissemination is not fast enough using just the Declaration of the Freedom of Magic. We need to start up a nationwide publication, and set up secret strongholds along the way in every city, to draw more to our cause."