Chapter 393 Reality Is Just Like This

The mage left the auction and returned directly to his residence. At this time, the high-tier professionals were still in the auction and had not returned, so the entire mage tower felt empty. The two mages did not go back to their respective rooms but stayed in the tavern within the tower.

There were not many people in the tavern—only about thirty or forty sitting around resting, with few conversations. "At the next centennial, we must gather enough resources to purchase some items," the Blue-robed Female Mage said in a low voice.

Shaoke shook his head; he didn't agree with the female mage. "With those things, we might as well copy some books from the library here. It will be of greater help to us," he said, then added, "Those spell records of Legendary Masters are of no value to us now. After all, we haven't reached that tier. Even if we had them, they wouldn't help us."

"What if you need them and don't have them? We should prepare in advance," the Blue-robed Female Mage retorted. "I don't think we'd be able to snatch things from others successfully at that time."

The mage said nothing, simply swirling the glass in his hand. "It will start in another three months. After it ends, do you want to travel here?" Shaoke suddenly changed the subject. He actually wanted to go out and explore, but many things required his attention, so he didn't have time to stay outside for long.

The female mage shook her head, denying Shaoke's guess. "After advancing to Tenth Tier, I'll choose another person to act as Ruler and go to that mysterious place. That's where we should travel," she said, only then realizing Shaoke didn't know about that mysterious place, so she quickly explained.

It turned out that although there were thousands of empires on this continent, vast areas remained unoccupied by empires. According to ancient records, these thousands of empires were only a small part of this land, while other places were covered by dense forests or barren mountains. Professionals who advanced to Tenth Tier were often taken by certain organizations or alliances to live there. After all, there were no large populations there, and even battles wouldn't cause bad effects. Of course, hundreds of professionals above Tenth Tier also stayed within the empires, with the empires' permission.

Shaoke didn't pay much attention to this. Time passed like this. When the mages were about to leave, a knight from the Hebrews came and chose to converse with Shaoke and the others. "Mage Xueye, I heard you're conducting an experiment. Could we also participate?" this Glory Knight asked Shaoke casually, ignoring the Blue-robed Female Mage.

The mage looked at the Blue-robed Female Mage in confusion, not knowing why others knew about the experiment in their base. The Blue-robed Female Mage smiled bitterly—after all, the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of people each year would be noticed by any organization or alliance. Of course, ordinary residents wouldn't know.

"I'm not qualified for this matter. You should discuss it with her," Shaoke said, indicating the Blue-robed Female Mage. He then bowed and left to prepare some items in his room. Afterward, he left again and once more arrived at the library of the Maple Leaf Empire.

Here, he seemed very familiar. Under the guidance of a young maid, he again went to the place where Ninth-rank Spellcaster books were stored for reference. Soon, a magic book caught his eye. He took out dozens of copies of ancient books he had previously transcribed and handed them to a nearby female mage on duty, asking her to evaluate them. After a short time, the young low-rank mage told Shaoke he could read and copy the book, then returned more than a dozen transcribed books to him.

He had been here many times. Since he lacked precious magical materials, he had to use his transcribed books for exchange. Taking the book, he found a room and began reading his chosen text, then started copying. A young low-rank female mage accompanied him quietly. Of course, if the male mage required any special services, this female mage would either serve him personally or find someone willing to do so.

Shaoke unrolled a silver-white scroll and began to copy. Fortunately, all the books here had been permanently stripped of protections and traps, so the mage only consumed some mental energy and magic power during reading and copying. After copying a paragraph, he would stop and close his eyes to rest for a while. Then he would read another short passage, comprehend the writer's insights contained within, and continue copying. Such work was very time-consuming and energy-intensive. Often, a not-too-thick book would take the mage over ten days to finish copying, and this was done without much rest. Though tiring, it speeded up the copying process.

This time, the mage stayed in the library for nearly three months. The Blue-robed Female Mage occasionally came to discuss matters with him. The rest of the time, he was busy copying knowledge he had never learned before. Only when it was almost time for the prince's feast did he end this work.

The mage lay lazily in the medicinal pool, which was more advanced than what he had used before. A young female mage gently massaged him. Every time he finished copying a book, he would come here to enjoy a moment and relax his tense mind. Of course, most mages did the same; only a few used drinking or other activities to relieve the pressure of long copying sessions.

Feeling the woman's unique softness and hearing her moans, the mage's mind wandered to other matters. As the female mage's movements on him quickened, he thrust a few times, then lay still, allowing her to clean him up. Of course, all this had to be paid for, and Shaoke was very satisfied with this female mage. He used more than a dozen transcribed books as compensation for her three months of service. This reward was very generous for the female mage; the books, if exchanged for magical materials and auxiliary items, could cover a Seventh-tier practitioner's expenses for nearly a hundred years.

When Shaoke returned to the mage tower, the huge auction had already ended. Although the group hadn't planned to buy items there as gifts for the prince, some wandering organizations from the super empires did purchase some items. The Hebrews spent the most.

They not only bought precious books and magical materials, but the female Ruler even purchased an extremely rare charm elf. Although everyone was puzzled by a woman buying a charm elf, no one asked. However, Shaoke noticed that the female Ruler often fondled the charm elf, appearing to have lesbian tendencies. The mage inadvertently mentioned this while talking with the Blue-robed Female Mage.

One day, while the mage was perusing his transcribed books, the Blue-robed Female Mage called him. Tomorrow was the day to go to the palace, and they needed to discuss matters further.

Hundreds of mages gathered in the spacious hall. After a complex discussion, they decided on tomorrow's arrangements. They were just a small nation. Though they had good relations with the Maple Leaf Empire, according to protocol, they were the last to offer blessings to the prince. Although some empires were weaker than them, their empire had been established for the shortest time, so they had to be last.

After discussing matters to be aware of, the group didn't disperse but gathered to discuss spells or academic issues from other professions, making it lively. Of course, these discussions were limited; no one was willing to reveal all they knew.

As these discussions continued, time passed quickly. At dawn, representatives from various organizations and alliances of the Barbarian Empire, led by a Ninth Tier Knight of the Maple Leaf Empire, entered the inner city. This was the first time the mages had seen the inner city up close. In the past, when they were still some distance away, high-tier practitioners had warned them to leave through special techniques.

The tall city walls were carved with protective and offensive magical arrays using special methods. Strange structures stood atop the walls, but Shaoke didn't know what they were. The knight leading them dutifully explained: "These are components of a huge Defensive Magical Array. With enough crystal supply, ordinary people can control them for defense or attack, though defense is the main function." After speaking, the knight led them into the inner city and indicated they could fly here.

"There's still a long way ahead. We can fly there. As I said before, just wait quietly there." With that, he took off first, and the others followed, flying swiftly ahead. At this point, Shaoke saw countless figures hovering in the distance, but they were too far to see clearly. Since mental power and any form of probing were forbidden here, these Ninth-tier beings had to rely on their eyesight. Shaoke had embedded some special spells on his magical array, allowing him to see farther than other professionals. Of course, the Archers' vision was still better than his.