Chapter 415 The Weather Is So Cold

Shaoke was silent for a long time, knowing that if things continued this way, his stronghold and even the entire Barbarian Empire would face a great danger: a further decline in population. But now, this war was initiated by him, and he had no reason to stop it first. At this moment, he thought of the Blue-robed Female Mage again; if she were here, the situation might not be like this.

"Is something wrong?" asked Mage Roman, looking at the female warrior beside her. "Has something unexpected happened in the war again?"

Mage Meigan shook his head. "This time, the alliance has summoned all Ninth-order beings, intending to thoroughly cleanse the Mage Guild alliance and other Ninth-order invaders within the empire." Saying this, Mage Meigan glanced at Shaoke, who remained silent, and then quietly advised him not to clash with them this time when he goes, since now they face foreign invaders, and all internal conflicts should be temporarily set aside.

Shaoke shook his head; he did not want to attend such a meeting. So he expressed his thoughts to Mage Meigan. "You two go ahead. I will guard the stronghold with Mage Roman. If any unexpected situation arises, we can hold out for a while until you come to rescue us." With that, the mage wearily left with Mage Roman, returning to their temporary residence. There, his daughters were quietly studying various magical knowledge in their rooms, trying to survive better on the battlefield.

Shaoke never knew when Mage Meigan and the others finally left for that gathering. He only knew that after another ten-plus years of sporadic warfare, the war finally came to an end. During this time, the mage neither heard of nor sensed any signs of large-scale battles among Ninth-order professionals. Of course, the members of the Mage Guild had not launched such frenzied attacks as before during this period.

One day, as the mage was about to end his meditation, Mage Roman, who had been commanding the frontline, returned with the Cleric and Shaoke's three daughters to Shaoke's room. "This war should be completely over now," said Mage Roman, her expression quite pleased, and the Cleric and daughters also seemed in high spirits. "All the alliances have negotiated and signed treaties with the surrounding countries. The common people's war has ended."

Shaoke nodded; he had long stopped caring about this inexplicable war. Over the past ten-plus years, the mage often stayed alone in his stronghold's mage tower, studying various magical knowledge.

"I understand," the mage said, then gestured for Mage Roman and the others to leave the room. He closed his eyes again and resumed his Meditation. He was very close to being capable of advancing to a Tenth-order being.

After the war ended, Mage Roman became even busier than before. She had almost taken the place of the Blue-robed Female Mage in the alliance. Not only did she direct the various professionals in the stronghold in their training and work, but she also studied the plans for the stronghold's reconstruction with some scholars.

The lack of able-bodied population made the recovery of the stronghold very slow. For this reason, the Female Mage had to seek everyone's opinion and allowed the female captives to join in the reconstruction work. There, these captives no longer had to suffer the previous abuse. Instead, Mage Roman promised that after the war ended, they would be permitted to start their own families. Of course, the specifics were not something Mage Roman had time to oversee; some scholars would handle those studies.

The bright candlelight flickered from time to time. The firewood in the fireplace crackled as it burned. The mage removed his cloak and sat alone in a high-backed chair, spinning his staff rapidly in his hands. The White-robed Cleric curled up on the floor, leaning sideways against the Male Mage's leg. She still held her golden book, reading. "Xueye, Lan Wei'er and the others—why haven't they returned yet? Have they encountered any accidents?" After reading for a while, the White-robed Cleric could no longer suppress her worry.

Gently patting the White-robed Cleric's head, Shaoke was not at all worried about his daughters being harmed, because among his three daughters, Anling had successfully advanced to a powerful Ninth-order Ancient Command Spellcaster a few years ago. Her combat experience was even richer than his. He believed that with Anling's protection, ordinary Ninth-order professionals would not cause them any harm. Of course, a more important point was that Shaoke had spent a large number of precious books to trade with the Death Mages of the Blue Feather Empire, obtaining many powerful Ninth-order spells.

"They will not be in any danger," Shaoke comforted the White-robed Cleric. "Don't forget, I can sense the presence of Moyu'er and Anling. If they were in danger, I would know." With that, the mage closed his eyes again and was deep in thought.

The White-robed Cleric curled up a bit more, closed her spellbook, and fell asleep on Shaoke's lap. She was also very tired, as a great deal of work needed her attention. But she did not complain about the busyness; on the contrary, she was excited to no longer be idle.

After waiting another three days, Lan Wei'er and Anling finally returned from the Misty Forest, carrying various precious magic materials. Shaoke carefully inspected the items and then asked the children about the development there. From the inquiry, he learned that the people of the Barbarian Empire had already cautiously moved the stronghold a bit closer to the canyon, where they could better protect the Snow Bee Queens from being plundered by others. Shaoke was quite satisfied with this approach.

After having Lan Wei'er store the various magic materials, Shaoke sent them to help Mage Roman and the White-robed Cleric with some matters in the stronghold. Of course, the matters in the stronghold referred to the entire Blue Feather Empire Wanderers Alliance stronghold. As for the Snow Night Family affairs, Hegel managed them entirely with the family members. Shaoke now rarely focused on his own family, because Hegel and his descendants had disappointed the mage greatly. In nearly three hundred years, the family only had a few Seventh Tier Mages, not a single Eighth-order being, and the training of various professionals was also very unsatisfactory.

Although the mage was very disappointed, he never showed it in front of Hegel. He did not want to add more pressure on him because of himself. After all, Hegel's talent was really poor. However, the White-robed Cleric, after finishing her own duties, often taught the young children of the family some knowledge. After all, this family was built by her child, and she had to help her son.

Seeing everyone busy, Shaoke went alone to find Mage Roman. The female mage was bent over a writing desk, busy writing something. Beside her, a group of old and young scholars were drawing things on some blueprints. When Shaoke suddenly appeared there, Mage Roman quickly became alert. "What's the matter?" The female mage relaxed, then went up and took Shaoke's arm, leading him out of the room, because there were still many people working inside.

"How is the alliance's situation lately?" Shaoke caressed the female mage's face. He really didn't want to get involved in these tedious matters, but because of him, Mage Roman had become so exhausted; he felt quite uncomfortable.

The female mage tilted her head slightly, allowing the man to stroke her face. "Everything is fine, but many things require my personal attention." Then the female mage buried her head in Shaoke's chest. "Are you planning to leave here?" As she spoke, her voice trembled a little. In these decades, everyone had been busy, rarely getting to stay together for long. She really couldn't bear Shaoke leaving. "Some matters in the alliance are almost settled. Give me ten years; in ten years, I'll leave with you."

Shaoke helplessly stroked the female mage's face, then kissed her long hair and neck. "I plan to advance to a Tenth-order being. I'm worried that after I start the advancement, there will be things in the alliance that need me."

As soon as the mage finished, Mage Roman became delighted. She kissed Shaoke's forehead deeply, then jumped a few times, like a child, showing her excitement. But then she grew worried again. After all, advancing to a Tenth-order professional, especially for mages, had a very low success rate. Often, many powerful Ninth-order mages would disappear forever from this world when attempting advancement, because there was only one chance. If they failed