Chapter 270: Rules and Research

Some magic books are also materials you can trade with me, as long as they're ones I haven't read yet. Don't use spellbooks of low-rank mages as trade items, and don't use books copied from those available in the Mage Guild to trade with me." After saying this, Shaoke ignored the two mages and focused on grilling his breakfast, not wanting the meat slices or bread to get cold again.

After thanking Shaoke for his generosity, the two mages made a simple distribution, which seemed to be a tacit understanding formed over a long time: the Elder Mage took one fewer pill, ending up with just two pills that helped with mental training.

After finishing breakfast, the three mages continued south toward the fallen capital of the Esuoer Empire as planned last night, intending to stay there for a while. The mages mainly wanted to pick up some rare magic materials there, as a large number of small nations' merchant guilds and caravans had gathered there for trade.

On the way, Shaoke made the two mages wear ordinary cloaks, since a group of mages traveling together could easily attract unwanted trouble. Since the war ended, many Wandering Mages, as well as mages from the Mage Guild and even the imperial military, had gathered here. To avoid being recruited, the mages kept their heads down.

There were many bandits, and the mages fought their way to the fallen capital. However, there were almost no mages among these bandits; if there were any, Shaoke, judging them too low in rank, let the two mages kill them.

The fallen capital was very large, at least one or two times larger than the capital of the Blue Feather Empire, with city walls built from huge stone blocks weighing several tons and wide city gates. However, the walls weren't carved with any magical arrays or spell traps, and there were no guards stationed there. Just four or five ordinary imperial soldiers kept basic order. The population was also quite mixed, with many commoners from four or five neighboring empires living here, forming the foundation of this fallen capital.

A carriage owner warmly offered to show Shaoke and his companions around the fallen capital, but Shaoke declined. He figured since they'd be staying here a long time, they should get familiar with the streets. Since there were no streets specifically for military use, the streets for pedestrians were even wider.

Lots of mercenaries, merchants, mages, and even some rarely seen archers showed up here. They didn't fight each other based on which empire they belonged to; instead, they would politely greet each other when meeting on the street. Of course, this was only superficial, as conflicts still occurred frequently between people of different races and nations.

The two mages who had just joined Shaoke's group silently followed him through the streets, not asking when he would stop. Thus, the three cloaked mages spent an entire day wandering the fallen capital, only covering a small part of the city.

"We should have a permanent residence," the younger mage suggested as night fell. "There we can regularly come to trade with you." As he spoke, he slowed his pace and looked at Shaoke's back.

"Do you have enough money to buy a house here?" Shaoke did not slow his pace even when he noticed the younger mage slowing down, continuing at the same speed. "Would anyone sell their house here? Or do you want to buy an ordinary commoner's house?" He led the two mages into a slightly secluded street filled with small estates. He thought that if he were to buy a house, it would be best to do so here.

"I don't think I need to buy any house or anything here," the younger mage said quickly, ignoring his companion's attempt to stop him. "I'm just making a suggestion." He looked nervously at Shaoke, unsure if his words would anger him, but he had to try.

"If we had several hundred mages above the Fifth Tier, we could get anything we want here," Shaoke said, suddenly gathering his mental energy and releasing it to probe the surroundings. Since entering the city, he had felt someone following them but hadn't found anyone. Just now, he sensed a faint energy fluctuation and immediately locked onto that area with his mental power.

Under the vague lock of his powerful mental energy, ordinary pedestrians and a Low-order Warrior quickly fled from that area, leaving only a young-looking warrior. The warrior nodded awkwardly, then struggled to break free from Shaoke's mental suppression. Without activating his Aura, he couldn't move because his rank was much lower than Shaoke's.

"Tracker, can you explain why you're doing this?" Shaoke frowned at the young warrior. He felt that the one following them was not this warrior; perhaps this warrior had just exchanged places with another tracker and let out some energy fluctuation due to emotion.

"Honorable Mage, I wasn't following you. I just sent away the person who was following you," the young warrior quickly explained as Shaoke slightly relaxed his mental suppression. He noticed that the other two in black robes were also mages. It was rare to see three mages traveling alone together, as even other mage organizations usually had other professionals to assist them in missions or actions.

When the young warrior saw Shaoke's skepticism, he quickly added, "I saw you mages coming from the direction of the Blue Feather Empire, so I wanted to help some of my empire's compatriots settle here in this free fallen capital. That's why I sent away the person following you." Shaoke didn't believe this explanation at all, but he nodded and gestured for the young man to leave. Under Shaoke's mental lock, the young warrior awkwardly moved far away.

"Maybe we should ask him about the rules here," the Elder Mage hesitated but suggested to Shaoke. "That would save us a lot of unnecessary trouble." He looked at the surrounding commoners and children watching them, feeling uncomfortable with the attention.

"If you're sure what he said is correct, you can go ask him now," Shaoke replied without retracting his extended mental power. Instead, he condensed it into a net around himself within a ten-meter radius, so he would quickly detect if any professional entered this range. Of course, if the opponent was more powerful than him, he wouldn't notice anything, especially high-rank Infiltrators. These annoying Infiltrators were second only to Archers as assassins, often taking pride in killing mages of the same or higher rank.

The two mages didn't argue or test him any further, silently following Shaoke as he continued down the streets until they had dinner together at an inn, breaking a long silence.

"Tomorrow you are free to leave. If you obtain items for trade, meet me at the city gate where we entered at dawn a month from now. I will only stay there until sunrise. If you haven't arrived by then, I'll leave. Come again the same time next month." As he spoke, Shaoke slowly turned his staff, looking at the two mages.

They discussed a few other matters before returning to their rooms to rest. Shaoke leaned over a writing desk and began reading in detail the tattered book written in Ancient Magic Script.

After nearly a month, Shaoke had completely deciphered this damaged magic book. Due to its age and damage, many of the traps had already been destroyed, saving him a lot of deciphering time. Otherwise, he would have needed about half a year to fully decipher a book written in Ancient Magic Script. Of course, as his strength increased, the time required would greatly decrease.

This magic book recorded the cultivation insights of an ancient Spellcaster. In modern terms, such records were called spell records. The fragmented and scattered records still provided some insights. Since the book was likely the original, Shaoke could truly feel the mental and magical fluctuations of that era's spellcasters and comprehend the inexpressible insights attached to the text—something impossible to achieve with the copied books he had obtained from the Death Mage Corps.

As he read on, he sensed more spellcasting fragments from the ancient spellcaster. Feeling the arrogance and elegance of the ancient Spellcaster, along with a few Spellcasting Techniques, and even the aura of that Spellcaster, all greatly influenced Shaoke.

He spent the entire night immersed in the vague figure of that ancient spellcaster. Only at dawn did he enter Meditation to recover from physical fatigue and other consumption.