by Michael Sisa
Lark pointed at an area on the map, at the Eastern District of Blackstone Town.
“Now that the library’s been finished, I plan on building a small school next to it,” said Lark. “Two stories tall, three rooms each floor. We’ll be conducting classes there, so each room should be large enough to accommodate at least a hundred people at once.”
Silver Claw rubbed his chin and nodded in understanding. “I see. So this is the reason the Young Lord insisted on leaving the plot of land next to the library vacant.”
“For now, building the school will be your top priority,” said Lark. “How soon can you finish this task?”
“We’ve managed to hire more workers lately, due to the sudden influx of immigrants. It should be possible to finish it in a month. Maybe less than that.”
“Perfect,” said Lark. “Next, Melody.”
The so-called Scholar eagerly replied, “Yes!”
“Starting today, every night, you are to come to the mansion and learn Arithmetic and Language from me. I know you’ve already been studying them using the books I gave you before, but there might be a bottleneck. There’s a limit when learning everything on your own. I also bought several books from the capital. History, Theology, Agriculture, and Geography. I don’t believe there’s a conflict with the law if we were to mass reproduce these books in Blackstone Town and use them in our curriculum.”
Books were considered expensive commodities in this era. Copying already written books and mass producing them using the tools on the third floor of the library would greatly reduce their expenses. Thankfully, there was no law prohibiting the reproduction of books in this Kingdom.
Lark looked at everyone in the room. “The night lessons apply to everyone else in this room, apart from the head mason. All of you are to come to the mansion each night and learn how to read and write. I will also teach you basic arithmetic afterward. We’ll continue doing this until I’ve taught you the basics. Understood?”
The other officers were surprised that they were also included in this, but they nodded their heads regardless.
“Yes, Young Master!”
“The school will become Melody’s battleground. You’ll be tasked to teach the citizens of Blackstone Town,” said Lark. “This time not just the soldiers, even the serfs, the servants, the miners, the farmers. All of them, regardless of rank and status.”
Melody felt the heavy weight of responsibility on her shoulders, but she did not back down. For some reason, she found joy in teaching other people. She always came home feeling fulfilled after teaching the soldiers the basics of reading and writing.
“We’ll try to find assistants for Melody later on, but with the Kingdom’s current level of education, we’ll have to settle for what we have for now.”
Lark turned toward the middle-aged man sitting next to Pico.
“Oliver.”
Unlike Pico, Oliver seemed unperturbed upon the mention of his name. He bobbed his head and began his report. “We started the harvest last week. A surprisingly abundant harvest, considering the fact that the Northern Land was considered to be nonarable for the past several years.”
Oliver grinned. “I’m not sure if the Young Master has seen it, but the unending gold and green is amazing! I’ve never seen such a vast wheat field! We’ve been harvesting so much wheat that we’re almost close to filling the entire granary! With this, our people will no longer have to fear dying of hunger during winter!”
Oliver’s last words had a great impact on the officers. Just a year ago, several people died from hunger and the cold. But after all these reformations, it seemed that such things would now become distant memories. They would no longer fear the coming of winter.
After Oliver, the head miner gave his report. According to him, they’d managed to uncover two more areas in the mine, and it seemed that the seventh area was by far the largest one so far. The only downside was it was way too deep underground and, with the lack of flowing air, the miners were at risk of dying from asphyxia.
Until they managed to find a way to solve this problem, Lark decided that mining would be limited to the sixth area of the cavern.
Captain Qarat also gave a brief report regarding the status of the soldiers. Although they’d lost a lot of their men during the war with the Empire, over a hundred new recruits had joined their ranks. It seemed that the soldiers who’d joined the war with the Empire were now being revered by the new recruits. The first day the veterans returned to the town, the recruits started asking them to tell stories about the war during their free time.
Lark found it amusing that the soldiers—who couldn’t even kill mere goblins several months ago—were now considered war veterans by the new recruits. Well, their skills had indeed increased a lot since then. Lark was even confident that they wouldn’t lose to the soldiers of Lion City. Surviving the war with the Empire was also a tremendous feat by itself, and Lark had no intention of dismissing the achievements of his soldiers.
After everyone had given their reports. Lark discussed the direction Blackstone Town was going to take. Mainly, he discussed the projects he had formulated during his absence. After earning a hefty sum from the war, he now had enough funds to support several concurrent projects in Blackstone Town.
He also started allocating the budget for each department. Silver Claw was especially stunned after his department received a thousand gold coins, meant for building a watermill and a waterway connected to the town, and for the development of residences and school in the Eastern District.
***
After meeting the officials of Blackstone Town, Lark went straight toward the underground chamber of the mansion. Just like before, a putrid stench assaulted him the moment he opened the metallic door. For a moment, he wondered how the servants managed to store all the monster corpses here.
Lark cast his spell and a translucent bubble formed around his head, preventing the stench from assaulting his nose any further. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“The smell will go up and fill the entire mansion at this rate,” he said after shutting the door. “I need to finish this quickly.”
Lark cast an orb of light and willed it to hover up, lighting up the entire chamber, revealing the mountain of corpses filling up almost half of the room. Most of them were the same gorilla-frog monsters he encountered back then. He spotted several peculiar ones, like the humanoid lizards and the monsters resembling a flying fish. It seemed that there was a variety of monsters living in the lake.
Lark grabbed the ormatane and gold dust sitting in the corner of the room and started drawing magic circles on the ground. After he was done, he placed the iron ingots at the center of the magic formation and started pouring his mana into the runes, activating the spell.
The iron ingots melted and slowly formed a distinct shape.
Since there was no longer a need to consider appearances, Lark decided to create the Blackstone Knights using the same design he used with the basilisks: Humanoid with a slender body, prioritizing performance over appearance. The arms had three joints instead of two, reaching all the way to the foot. The fingers were thin and designed to be capable of performing complex tasks.
It looked like a monster used to scare unruly children. But since his subjects had gotten used to these living suits of armor, producing more of them shouldn’t be much of a problem.
Lark looked at the monster corpses filling half the room. A long time had passed since they’d been stored here. He was sure that most of them had already lost their essence, rendering them unusable in the ritual. He just had to make do with the monster corpses whose essences were still intact.
Lark kept creating living humanoid armors one after another. Thankfully, his mana pool had been greatly expanded and he still had excess left, even after creating more than a dozen of them. He dedicated the entire day to make the bodies until his mana pool was wrung dry.
Two days afterwards, after replenishing his mana reserves, Lark proceeded with attachin
g the monsters’ essences into the humanoid bodies. Just as he expected, more than half of the corpses were no longer usable in the ritual, and he ended up only making twenty new Blackstone Knights as a result.
There were still several humanoid bodies left. Lark decided to use them later, once the next batch of monster corpses was delivered from Lion City. Twenty new Blackstone Knights were fewer than the original plan, but he had to make do with them for now.
CHAPTER 5
Lark issued a recruitment notice for the restoration of the Western Land. At the Central Plaza, where hundreds of people pass by daily, a written notice was pinned on the board and several workers started actively recruiting those without a job.
After the restoration of the Northern Land showed results through the current abundant harvest, people were eager to join in the next project. Several people started signing up to be included among those who would be cultivating the Western Land.
In just a couple of days, they managed to recruit the required number of men. The workers immediately gathered the treated composts and the magic tools used to till the soil and transported them to the west.
Unlike before, Lark no longer had to directly explain to the new recruits how to use the magic tools, how to properly spread the composts, and how to till the soil. All explanations were done by the head farmer, Oliver. Lark simply stood there and listened, as the new recruits gawked in amazement after the magic tools were introduced to them.
The humanoids who would be assisting them in the restoration of the Western Land were also introduced to everyone. Just like Lark expected, the new recruits, although wary, no longer feared the humanoids—who resembled monsters—after being exposed to them every day in Blackstone Town. On the contrary, some of them even cheered after realizing that they’d be assisted by them since everyone had seen how strong these beings were.
This reception was a stark contrast to how the farmers in the North reacted when the humanoids were introduced back then. It was apparent that, gradually, the town and its residents were growing by each passing day.
After all preparations for the restoration of the Western Land had been taken care of, Lark summoned Captain Qarat and the herbalist of Blackstone Town, Mores, to his office in the mansion.
“My Lord!” Captain Qarat saluted. “You called for us?”
Herbalist Mores imitated the salute of the captain.
“I plan on clearing a portion of the Endless Forest of trees,” said Lark. “We’ll be expanding the Eastern Residential District. But the Endless Forest is simply too large and it’d be reckless if we suddenly started cutting down a massive number of trees without first scouting the area.”
Captain Qarat understood what the young master was trying to accomplish. He also thought that it would be reckless to cut down numerous trees and delve deeper into the forest without any form of reconnaissance. After all, the mine was previously a goblin’s den. There might be more monsters in the forest that they were unaware of.
“You’re called Mores, correct?” Lark said to the herbalist.
“Yes, Young Lord.”
The herbalist was a typical middle-aged man seen in Blackstone Town. But according to the data they’d gathered, he was the most knowledgeable person in this territory when it came to the Endless Forest. It was the place where he’d been gathering the herbs he’d been selling, after all.
“I’m going to organize a scouting party in the Endless Forest,” said Lark. “And I hope that you can guide them. Of course, you’ll be appropriately compensated. Furthermore, you’ll be accompanied by the soldiers and several Blackstone Knights in the process. They’ll prioritize your safety above everything else.”
Herbalist Mores had heard of how powerful the Blackstone Knights were. Furthermore, he’d be accompanied by the so-called veteran soldiers who’d survived the war with the Empire. He’d been wandering the Endless Forest for over a decade now and he was sure that there were no monsters in the area around a day away from the edge of the forest.
The only threats were the dangerous animals he’d sometimes encountered. But with such powerful escorts, those ferocious beasts wouldn’t even be a threat at all. Mores thought that this was a chance to earn a hefty sum with minimal risk to his life.
“I’ll be glad to do it, Young Lord.”
Lark nodded. “Good.”
Lark turned to Qarat. “A dozen soldiers, six Blackstone Knights. You’ll be divided into six teams; each should be escorted by a Blackstone Knight. You’ll be tasked to scout the area around thirty kilometers from the mines. All reconnaissance activities are to be postponed once dusk comes. Everyone will gather together at an agreed location when that time comes. I don’t want anyone to lose their life for this mission. Bring at least two weeks’ worth of rations with you.”
The captain was surprised that the young master was asking them to bring two weeks’ worth of supplies. If things went well, they could probably come back to deliver their findings in just a week.
“Understood!”
After the captain and the herbalist had been briefed of their mission, Lark summoned Austen, George, and Chryselle into his office in the mansion.
“Sorry for holding it off until now,” Lark said to Chryselle. “As promised, we’ll start with your magic lessons today.”
Chryselle was thrilled at this declaration. “Yes!”
Lark grabbed the thick book on his table and tossed it toward Chryselle. Although the book was heavy, it slowly and perfectly landed on her hands as though someone controlled its speed and trajectory.
“Have you seen this book before?”
Chryselle stared at the book, frowned, and bobbed her head. “Yes. It’s the book written by the former royal court magician, Algrove Aria. My great-great-grandfather.”
“As I thought. The two of you are related.”
“He’s the founder of the Magic Academy and is said to be one of the strongest magicians who lived in this country. This book is the one the first years and seconds years use in the Magic Academy.”
“I bought that book in the capital and read it on our way here to Blackstone Town,” said Lark. “There are a lot of interesting things written in that book, and most of them are correct.”
Chryselle didn’t miss the latter part of Lark’s statement. Lark was implying that there were several mistakes in the book written by her great-great-grandfather. She did not take offense and continued listening intently.
“You know how to dispel magic?”
Chryselle nodded. “Yes. We were taught how to dispel the five basic elements.”
“Perfect. Before I proceed with the basic lessons regarding magic formations, I want to correct a simple misconception. As someone taught in the way of magic with that book as the guide, it must have been engraved deeply into your mind.”
Lark willed the small piece of wood placed on top of his table to hover up. He cast his spell and its tip started blazing into fire. He cast another spell and an orb of fire, around the size of a fist, manifested itself next to the burning wood.
“Try to dispel the fire spell I cast. Both of them.”
Chryselle cast her spell and the orb of fire slowly dissipated and vanished. The wood, on the other hand, was still burning fiercely.
“Now tell me why the wood remains untouched by your spell, while the fire orb was easily dispelled by it.”
A first-year student of the Magic Academy may have found it hard to answer this question, but to Chryselle—the Fifth Elder of the tower—the answer was glaringly obvious.
“The answer is simple,” she said. “The orb is fueled by mana, the wood isn’t. By disrupting the mana which formed the inner circuit of the spell, the spell was unable to maintain its shape, thus the fire dissipated. The Grand Magician Algrove defined magic as the creation of a phenomenon through mana. The process of manipulating mana to achieve a desired result. A dispel is meant to disrupt the fuel—the mana.”
“And this concept is taught to all students
in the Magic Academy?”
“Yes.”
Lark sighed. As he’d thought, it seemed that the magicians in the Kingdom were performing their magic with this book as the basis of their spells—as their foundation. There were a lot of useful things written in this book, but some of them were simply inefficient. Those who learned magic with such an inefficient system would eventually reach a bottleneck and fail to achieve greater heights. The basic magic formations alone, written in this book, had several flaws.
“A dispel is meant to nullify the elements. It doesn’t matter if it’s fueled by magic or not. This is one of the things separating mediocre magicians from true ones.”
It was a statement rejecting the teachings of the Grand Magician Algrove—the Founder of the Magic Academy.
“Cast an orb of fire,” said Lark.
Chryselle nodded and cast an orb of fire.
“Watch closely,” said Lark. “This is a real dispel.”
Lark pointed a finger toward the orb of fire and the burning wood, and in an instant, both of their flames instantly vanished, as though blown away by an invisible giant.
Chryselle’s eyes widened as she realized that Lark dispelled even the fire unfueled by mana.
“The Grand Magician Algrove defined magic as the creation of a phenomenon with the use of mana,” said Lark. “It’s not entirely wrong. But my definition of magic is this: It is merely an alteration. We do not create and consume anything; we merely alter it. A common misconception written in the book is that mana is a fuel, when in reality it is not. Mana is an existence we alter into a distinct form in order to accomplish the phenomenon called magic. This concept is the reason why unstructured magic, spells which do not use any magic formation, exist.
“Hypothetically speaking, if by chance a magician is confined in a space where ambient mana did not exist and he used up all of his mana reserves, he would never recover his mana no matter how long he rested. This is because mana is never created by the magician himself. This is the same reason why the Magic Empire collapsed, based on the story you told me. The Dragon Vein—the source of all mana—was wrung dry by the cataclysm and the magicians never recovered their mana after using up all of their reserves.”