City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Chapter 514: Sage of Thousand Blades

Conference room 7

"The undead had escalated, and we need to respond to it," said Cardin.

We are meeting to discuss the skirmish that occurred an hour ago.

The undead came with unexpected numbers; it was a battle with the worst odds we had fought, but our people had repelled them, barely and not without a cost.

"We will. I am signing off on three battalions and five more companies," I replied, and the eyes of many lit up.

We have only seven outposts, each housing a company, but within a month, twelve companies and three battalions will be stationed at the boundary.

One battalion will leave for the boundary before midnight from Panar.

We discussed a few more things before coming to the topic. We had postponed last time.

"He did good. Killing a High-Mage, despite below Lv. 30. Even those of Lv. 30 and above couldn't do it," said Cardin, and many nodded.

I couldn't do it. It requires specific skills and talent to go against the mages. Even with the aura, I am sure of my limit.

"Well, we can't hold it off anymore. If we didn't give it to him now, it would be a disservice to his loyalty," I said. I am talking about his promotion.

Which he deserved to get after the battle of Panar, but I held it off.

I wanted to send him into the wild to advance his class, but that young man wasn't willing to listen.

He wants to stay here with his men.

It is quite unfortunate. He has a powerful class and inheritance skills. I wanted to foster them.

I could force him, but that would be counterproductive. So, I am going to give him his well-deserved promotion.

Along with the thing. I had been planning. I could not think there was a better person for the responsibility than him, and the result of the battle proved it further.

"I am signing off for the promotion of Captain Okor Uram to Lt. Colonel," I proclaimed, and they nodded in acceptance. He deserves it. No one would refute it.

"He will command the seventeenth battalion," I added, and a shock appeared on the faces.

Including that of Cardin.

"My lord, I don't think that is wise," said Colonel Vihra.

"Orok is powerful and talented to lead, but he is young, and advancement to his class is blocked. I think we should give this responsibility to someone experienced," added Major General Hiren.

I smiled and turned to Cardin.

"The orcs wouldn't be happy with it," he said. To that, I smiled.

Yes, the orcs wouldn't be happy. They would have been ecstatic if any other orc were given this position, but they would not be with the albino orc.

"They will have to deal with it," I replied.

Lt. Colonels' command battalions and nobody would have said anything if it had been any other battalion, but the seventeenth battalion is different.

It is special because it doesn't exist. It exists only on paper. It is an idea, a plan.

A plan for an elite battalion.

We formed the plan for it after the battle of Panar. It is designed to be a force that could tear through the enemies to reach their critical targets and kill them. It will be the tip of the spear.

The battalion will get more funding, better equipment, and greater training.

A few names have been suggested for it, but they didn't feel right. Orok feels right, despite his main skill suffering from the block.

Elite armies are special, not only in name but also in power. Some could reach a height where they gain their own unique classes.

Gaining those unique classes is extremely rare, and it needs to be very distinct and good to awaking that. It is hard to attain that gift.

"My decision is final," I stated.

Many still wanted to argue and even opened their mouths, but closed them, seeing my expressions.

A few minutes later, everybody left, leaving only Cardin.

"That young man has huge potential, but he will need to unblock his class," said Cardin. To that, I couldn't help but nod.

"He does," I replied, to the man.

That man has the most powerful class in the entire army. Even the classes' of Stone and Azalia couldn't compare to his.

Even in the city. His class is most powerful, after mine, Caena's, and Bell's.

It has the same weight as the Lord Class but has a pure martial focus. It is why, despite being unable to use it fully, he killed the Lv. 30 High mage.

However, if it is just class, I wouldn't choose him.

Because of who he is that's why I have chosen him. The class is just a tool that he earned through his effort.

If you didn't know how to use the tools, then no matter how powerful they may be they wouldn't be able to achieve what they could with it.

"Get him a good adviser. That will help him forge an elite battalion," I ordered.

"I will," he replied before placing a document by me. I quickly reviewed it.

"They are moving smoothly through the territories. Except here," he said, tapping on the name on the map.

"His forces went into Viscount Taris's territory and captured them," he added.

He is talking about the movement of people we have poached. It had been a week since the party, and the deals we have made in the past few days are already helping us tremendously.

When we tell people about a safe route to bring them and their families here, they are quicker to agree and start to move.

To those who are fearful of their families' safety. We are offering them to stay in the Inam. I have signed the agreement with the Lord of Inam for that.

I don't like doing that, but I need experienced people.

"Count Igalad. Brother-in-law of Count Raul," I said, looking at the name.

His name was on the invitation list, but I canceled it after what happened in the Ertburn, and now the man is taking revenge for that.

I had expected anger and a little payback, but I didn't expect that he would go to the height of breaching the territory of other nobles and kidnapping.

"I will deal with it. In the meantime, change the route," I ordered.

It will cost us and take more time for them to reach here, but we have to do this.

I will need to solve the problem with Igalad. It is bad for me. If the news spreads, it will make for a more challenging time poaching people.

A few minutes later, I walked out of the conference room. I didn't return to my office, instead I walked out of the city hall.

I am usually at home by this time, but the news of the skirmish delayed it.

Soon, I sat in the carriage, and it began to move toward the legacy. I stay here every other day; I would have stayed longer, but I have to take care of the children, too.

They need a stable environment.

"The meeting is set for tomorrow afternoon," informed Zela. It is about Igalad.

My people will talk to him. I will only talk to him if it's unresolved at their level. I would prefer to talk directly with him, but the nobles' protocol needs to be followed.

It is for that reason only that I am waiting.

Soon, the carriage stopped, and I got out before walking past the lines of people endeavoring to enter the legacy.

Even a week after the opening, there are lines of people outside the legacy.

The most surprising thing is that half of those gathered are tourists. Their numbers in just a week have tripled.

Seeing we achieve what I had wanted to achieve, a smile couldn't help but appear on my face.

I have signed contracts with tens of travel and transport companies. Now we would be able to support the large trafficking of people.

These people are supporting the economy massively.

Still, when I think about how much I am losing. I couldn't help but sigh.

A lot of people are coming, but barely 30% are staying. It is not because they don't want to, but because there are not enough accommodations for them.

We are building the accommodation fast.

I have temporarily relaxed some measures to improve construction speed, which is helping. Still, I couldn't help but wish it would go faster, seeing how much the city's economy is losing.

Currently, thirty-seven small and big hotels are in the process of being built.

In the past week since the legacy opened.

The city hall permitted the construction of fourteen hotels and just today, I have signed an agreement with one of the big hotel chains from the empire.

I wish it could go faster. I need these people to stay in my city and help its economy.

In just a week, I have seen how much those people are helping the economy.

Others have also noticed it, resulting daily in thousands of inquiries arriving from merchant states, the empire, and even other countries.

The inquiries are about investment in the Greltheaven.

I looked around the lobby before stepping into the elevator. A moment later, it began to move up. I watched the floors and found each one of them full.

Ting!

Soon, the bell rang out as the elevator stopped. I stepped out and walked toward my office while watching the people on the top floors.

It is the best floor in velvet blue, and it is full of important people, including a few nobles and rich merchants.

I will meet them a few minutes later when I will make rounds.

Click!

I entered my office and sat on my chair, before closing my eyes and looking through every floor.

Nothing is hidden from me. I could see everything.

I opened my eyes a few minutes later and looked at the files waiting for me.

'My lord, can you spare a few minutes?' came a voice in my mind.

'Sure,' I replied.

I didn't ask why she wanted to meet me, but I knew it must be important for her to ask to meet me suddenly.

Click!

A minute later, the door opened, and Bell walked inside.

"My lord," she greeted. "Bell," I replied and asked her to sit.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" I asked. "These," she replied, and three books appeared.

"Gifts?" I asked and she nodded.

I had given the responsibility of the gifts to her.

Given the number of guests, we had invited. There were a lot of gifts. They needed to be opened and 'thank you' notes to be sent to the givers.

"Are they special?" I asked, and she nodded heavily.

There was a silence for a moment before she looked at Lola and Zela.

I looked at them. They both nodded and walked out, along with Jon, who was invisible.

The door closed, and I turned to Bell.

"As you might have heard, my house loved books," she said, in response, I nodded, it was well known.

It would be an understatement to say, her house loves books.

People used to say, her house fucks books. They love books more than their spouses and children. It is also said the leader of her house gets a class that has an academic element.

"We had one of the best collections of books on the entire continent," she added, with her eyes turning distant.

She piqued my curiosity, but I waited. It took nearly a minute for her misty eyes to clear.

"There were not many books we didn't have, but there were still some we wanted. My parents had made a list of the books that they most wanted,"

"These books were on the list and very high at that," she replied.

Hearing her words, I couldn't help, but turn curious and look at the books. To be honest, they didn't look very impressive or old.

"What are these books?" I asked.

"Basics of Aura Manipulation by Arasin Kalid," she replied, and I was a little disappointed by the title. It is quite simple and has 'basic' in it.

The author felt familiar and when I used the skill to find where I read it, my eyes widened.

"Yes, written by the sage of thousand blades himself. It is considered the best book on Aura of our era," she replied.

Sage of Thousand Blades.

He is one of the greatest powerhouses of the last incursion. His power was beyond comprehension, and he was considered the greatest master of aura of the era.

"These must be particularly valuable?" I asked. "Extraordinarily valuable. We only know of seven people who have this on the continent," she replied.

"Most importantly. It is a fountain of knowledge."

"As for the word basic, it is for the sage. For people like us, it is a sea of knowledge. A few gulps of it would be more than enough for us to reach the pinnacle of the world," she said philosophically.

I wanted to read them immediately, but instead, I turned to her with another question.

The most important one.

"Who is the one who gifted us such treasure?" I asked. My curiosity was palpable.

"You would not believe it, but when thinking about it. It is believable, given his ancestry," she said and I kept looking at her.

"Alex Rutto," she answered.

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