Away from all that was happening in the Kingdom of Helius, Benjamin was in the grasslands of Carretas, and he knew nothing of what was going on.
In fact, they were still really busy!
There was a lot of the grasslands to cover, and the number of herdsmen that lived there were uncountable. Even though the Tide of Beast already depleted many a number of the herdsmen, but according to Benjamin’s estimation, there was still a few million people on the grasslands.
After picking out the ones that were naturally gifted in the area of magic from the millions, they made a team of a few hundred people. Even though these were beginner level apprentices, but thinking back to the time when Benjamin selected twenty mages from the Kingdom of Helius, weren’t they all now mages in their own right?
So, they spread out across the four corners of the grasslands, contacting every single tribe that they met, picking out the apprentices from among them. Benjamin had very high hopes for the tribes, he had almost become the Father of Magic in the grasslands. Thus, they did not have to say much because the people were very willing to follow them, behaving even more respectful than the servants at the palace.
Because of this, in a few short days, they could physically see Benjamin’s team increasing in size.
"Up till now, there are fifty-seven apprentices that have joined our team. The resources that we have are plentiful, so we are able to feed them and not worry about any food depletion." Varys held a small notebook and reported the numbers to Benjamin, "everyone’s information is in here, you can look through it."
Benjamin took the booklet and scanned through, allowing the System to memorize the contents and passed it back to Varys.
Varys took the booklet back, not even blinking at Benjamin’s "eidetic memory".
"But... regarding this batch of apprentices, I feel that we should tell them clearly what to expect." He hesitated before adding on, "it’s like they do not understand what we will be facing in the future. The church, ambush, and assassinations... I feel they are not prepared for that."
Benjamin nodded his head as well.
"Relax, I will find an opportunity to let them know."
Up till now, all the apprentices had a willingness to learn new things, that was why they were asked to join Benjamin’s team. Going against the church is an arduous but necessary mission, and they had not realized this yet.
If they realized it, there may not be as many people joining them.
And because of this, Benjamin decided to let these people know later.
The church was something that all the mages cannot escape from since these people already decided to be mages then they will naturally be unable to escape it. Benjamin had put them on this ship for their own good!
"That’s right... didn’t Myers just return, what is the situation like out in the grasslands?" Benjamin put aside the other problem and asked.
"Nothing special to report." Varys replied, "it looks like the church has given up on hunting us, instead they increased the prohibition efforts for the "Declaration of the Freedom of Magic". Another group of people secretly hid the "Declaration of the Freedom of Magic" and were hung to death, there seems to be a disturbance in the peace among the people."
Benjamin took it all in and shook his head, sighing in resignation.
How unfortunate...
Carretas was such a big country, the talents collected would not even fit in the grasslands. When they released the "Declaration of the Freedom of Magic", it was to support the new mages, but now, it was very hard for them to do anything.
They did not have a choice, the church had a firm grasp over the cities. They could not show their faces because once they did, priests would come at them from all directions and ambush them.
... wait a minute.
Benjamin stopped as he thought of so
mething, an impression appeared in his mind.
According to what he knew, the church had eyes in all the major cities in Carretas. Strict guards at the entrances of the cities making it difficult for them to pass through.
But in the regular villages, the church did not have a stronghold there.
They might be able to expand further there.
With this thought in mind, Benjamin immediately calls his people to gather for a meeting.
The mages were not united in their thoughts regarding Benjamin’s idea. Some were worried about safety, with such a big group even if they hid in the deserted villages, they might be seen by someone from the church on the road. And others felt that they just brought in fifty new apprentices who do not even know the Flying Spell. They felt that they should allow them to be trained up first and not be in a rush to get anywhere.
But... Benjamin was very clear that even with their current number of fifty apprentices, it was still not enough.
And so, they finally decided on a compromise.
Most of the team would stay in the grasslands and continue the work of expanding the magical circle among the herdsmen. And in terms of Benjamin himself, he took a small team of mages and left the grasslands, bringing the fight to the cities of Carretas and to the church.
Because Benjamin had the water element sensing technique, they did not have to worry about being followed, this reduced the chances of them exposing themselves. With only about ten or so mages bringing havoc to the kingdom, a small and alert guerrilla team would make it very difficult for the church to catch them.
Moreover, with Benjamin on the outside, it would be easier for them to get any news. If anything were to happen, they could use magic to communicate, making things easier.
The mages nodded their heads once the idea was confirmed, not doubting it anymore.
"Teacher Benjamin, I wish to follow you out. The grasslands are too boring; I don’t think I have what it takes to be a teacher..."
After the decision was made, made of them came up to him on their own, wanting to join Benjamin’s team.
Benjamin gave it a lot of thought before choosing a team of ten. These were the leaders among his underlings with plenty of battle experience. The magic that they mastered were also evenly distributed. Together, they were a well-rounded, complete team.
"Farewell, I will watch out for the mages here. In regards to the king, please help me protect him."
Myers said this on the day the small team was about to leave.
Benjamin nodded his head.
Nothing happens in the grasslands, the reason why Myers was staying back was because Benjamin’s magic had no effect on him so he was unable to bring Myers along to fly.
In regards to the king... Benjamin did not think that he would be bringing a deadweight along, but the king came up to Benjamin himself and expressed his interest to join them as well.
"If you guys want to involve all the villages in Carretas then you should just bring me along." He looked much calmer compared to a few days ago, saying, "no matter what, I am still the true king. Using my name will make the people more accepting of you."
This made Benjamin’s eyebrows rise.
"We might be facing a lot of dangerous situations, are you not frightened?"
The king took a deep breath and shook his head, "I... I cannot stay in the grasslands forever. These people don’t even know what a king looks like, but it’s not like that on the outside. I can only prove my identity by walking out of here."
Benjamin took it all in and gave it some thought, but in the end, he chose to accept it and nodded his head.
It is true that there was no point in the king staying in the grasslands. If he followed them to the cities, he would be able to use his identity and be of some use to them. He might even be helpful in connecting in some powerful place.
And because of this, he added the king with no battle experience into his dream team.
That afternoon, a week after Benjamin entered the grasslands, he took his dream team and headed out of the grasslands.
And their target...
"The hundreds of villages in Carretas. This is the route that I have prepared for you, follow it, and you will go one round around Carretas and pass through most of the villages. You might be able to find those gifted with magic." The System spoke to him in his mind.
Benjamin nodded his head.
Hundreds of villages... not bad, they would now be busy again.
With this thought he turned back, looking at the small team behind him. He suddenly bowed and smiled saying, "for the future of the mages, move out!"