3 Years
The Magus world was extremely pragmatic; no one would make life difficult for a rank 2 Magus just for a guild that was already exterminated.
Given that the demise of Nature’s Alliance would benefit quite a few other guilds, if Dense Fog Forest still had survivors who could repeatedly report them and collude with the authorities, there would have been a small bit of hope. However, Leylin had directly uprooted them. Under the massive Toxic Bile attack on their headquarters, not even a dog had survived. Thus, this matter had been met with little resistance.
This was another reason why Leylin had to exterminate the headquarters of Dense Fog Forest, not only to protect the secret of the Icy World.
Since the way forward had been decided, the other matters were much easier to take care of. Hence, Logan immediately remarked, “In that case, the joint conference will handle this situation appropriately. Dense Fog Forest’s remaining strength should also be handed over to another guild!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get Nature’s Alliance on the path to becoming a medium-scale guild once I go back. However, will the council members cooperate?” Leylin asked. Eastern Twilight Zone’s joint conference was held once every 20 years, and the current one had just ended.
“That’s not a problem! The nine enforcers can make an exception for you, but the matter would still have to be presented at the next joint conference for the sake of formality!” Logan waved his hand.
“That’ll work!” Leylin immediately returned the favour saying, “For the upcoming wave of Dark Creatures as well as the looming threat of the Dark Elven Empire, I will help with the defence. After all, I’m a part of the human race as well!”
After being reassured by Leylin, Logan chuckled, the wrinkles on his face smoothing out.
“In that case, Leylin, since you’re a newly promoted rank 2 Magus, you must have many new perspectives and enlightenments. Now is a good time for us to discuss our viewpoints!”
Logan beamed, and with a flick of his hands, the steel table folded inwards, and two cups of steaming, warm, beverage floated up.
“I’m extremely honoured. I too have many questions pertaining to meditation techniques that I wish to consult Mister Logan on!” Leylin said, smiling and raising his cup.
A few hours later, Leylin left Logan’s estate. After he left, the exterior of the steel building immediately changed. The four thick legs on the steel building stretched out, and the building slowly moved away.
Meanwhile, at the side, Leylin’s mouth revealed a smile which showed his good mood.
This time around, not only did this move help prevent any future troubles, the experiences Magus Logan offered to him were all very useful. Because he had experienced a rapid advancement into a rank 2 Warlock, he had lacked some understanding in regards to rank 2, especially in regards to the path of pursuing the truth!
Even though these things did not look very important right now, they would definitely create a lot of inconvenience for him when he attempted to condense the point mass as a rank 3 Magus.
Now, there was a chance to remedy this.
Moreover, Leylin’s depth of knowledge, acquired from the accumulation of information from a different part of the world, greatly surprised Logan. The insight he had gained from this exchange was no less than Leylin’s.
……
Ever since Leylin had returned, Nature’s Alliance’s strength had reached a new peak. Rapidly, all the remaining factions within the Dense Fog Forest was absorbed, and the influence of Nature’s Alliance had even spread its net even wider.
Regarding these actions, the joint conference enforcers turned a blind eye; they eventually even produced a formal letter that openly announced Nature’s Alliance’s promotion to a medium-scale guild, a move which left many Magi dumbfounded.
Through the development during this period, Nature’s Alliance had broken through from a declining small-scale guild to a peak medium-scale guild! After all, with a rank 2 Magus like Leylin overseeing the guild, it could be considering as a trump card that could surpass most medium-scale guilds.
However, Leylin obviously knew Logan’s bottom line.
The nine existing large-scale guilds had already stretched the resources of eastern Twilight Zone to their limits; the remaining resources were insufficient to support the birth of yet another. Leylin had no intentions of vying to make Nature’s Alliance a large-scale guild, and hence Nature’s Alliance finally stopped growing and began to consolidate their strength, which left many Magi heaving a sigh of relief.
Honestly, Nature’s Alliance’s expansion this time was way too aggressive and depended solely on Leylin’s powers. The guild’s foundations were very unstable.
However, after passing this period, everything they took in would have been assimilated, and their abilities would naturally improve as a whole!
As the ceremonial guild leader, Celine had been so busy lately that no one knew of her whereabouts.
Leylin was far too busy to care about tangible powers. Hence, since Celine was the original guild leader and as someone who shared an intimate relationship with Leylin, she had obtained a great portion of this power.
At this point in time, Celine was full of gratitude for Leylin.
Nature’s Alliance had once again achieved glory under Celine’s leadership, and the extent of its success exceeded that of the past. If her mentors knew about this, they would have been very pleased.
Leylin did not care about any of this. After the situation had more or less stabilised, he continued staying in the headquarters of Nature’s Alliance and sank into the deciphering of high-grade meditation techniques along with his own cultivation.
No matter what resources and materials he required, an instruction to his subordinates was all it took for them to be collected immediately and sent to him. Hence, Leylin became even more reclusive.
He could feel that he had improved at a pace that was way too fast, and hence, he needed to reinforce his foundations for a while. As a result, he chose to enter seclusion.
Time passed bit by bit without anyone noticing.
……
Three years later, the borders of eastern Twilight Zone.
At the outskirts of a small town stood a small wooden house. Some animal skins were hung on the walls of the house, which attracted many envious stares.
Many townspeople passing by would greet the female owner of the house through the walnut wood fence.
“Good morning, Madam Ginny!”
“Good morning Aunt Veeya!” Currently, Jenny had already grown to become a mature woman, her face revealing more of the charm of a young lady, while she smiled and conversed with the lady at her side.
After Aunt Veeya had left, Jenny looked at the burlap clothes she wore, and the basket of wheat bread in her hands; her face revealed that she was distracted.
“How time flies! Three years have passed just like that!” Jenny muttered to herself. It must have been 1 or 2 years since she had defected from her family, and it had been another year since she had escaped with Baelin to this place, and changed her name to Ginny.
Initially, when she had decided to elope with Baelin and was escaping the Argus Family’s assassination attempts, they had encountered numerous dangers during their journey. Thankfully, Baelin was already a Grand Knight, and hence they reached the peak of commoners’ lives. In addition, Jenny was an acolyte with the knowledge and experience of nobility. After escaping the incessant pursuit of soldiers and the many dangers nature had in store, Jenny finally crossed the border and arrived unharmed.
Although this small town was positioned at the border of the eastern Twilight Zone and was extremely remote, it was considered a safe location and no one had ever called on them.
“But…” Jenny gritted her teeth. Vengeance for her father! Her own hatred! Was she to just give up on them?
After several chaotic memories came to mind, Jenny unknowingly clenched her fists, until a voice roused her.
“I’m back! Do you want to see what I got?” Baelin, who was wearing a hunter’s outfit and carrying a bow and arrows, dramatically raised the pot in his hand.
“Yellow oil! This is high-grade yellow oil! I exchanged a grey-toothed snake for it! If you spread it on bread, it’s something that even royalty might not be able to enjoy!”
“You!” Jenny rolled her eyes and led Baelin into the house.
Though the house was not big, all necessities had been provided through Baelin’s capabilities. Even though they had to maintain a low profile, they were still living better than commoners.
In regards to the lives they were leading now, Baelin was naturally very content, but Jenny seemed to have other ideas.
After the door was closed shut, Jenny solemnly turned her head around.
“We need to leave!”
“Leave? Why? The environment here is so good!” Baelin was at a loss. Immediately after, his face tightened. “Could it be that the men from your family have tracked us down?”
“No! It's war! The horde of darkness creatures is approaching soon, and the Dark Elven Empire might even commence their attack!”
Jenny smiled wryly. “You haven't discovered anything after all the constant hunting you’ve been doing?”
“Now that you mention it, there does seem to be something like this!” Baelin rubbed his head. “Currently, the number of Dark Creatures has increased by a large amount. A few days ago I was chased by a giant wolf that was the size of a hill for almost an entire day!”
“Now you understand! With regards to the horde of darkness creatures, towns like ours are the least safe. Any small wave of attacks will be able to demolish the town. We have to move closer to the central region, or even the capital before we are safe from them!”
“But!” Baelin scratched his head, “I’m worried about our identities…”
“Although the Argus Family has very deep connections within the eastern regions, we are in the northern region, where they have much less influence. Don’t worry, there won’t be any problems!”
Jenny comforted him on the surface, yet she was not too confident on the inside. What she said only applied to regular humans; she had no confidence if the powers of Magi were involved.
Even if that was the case, they still needed to move!
Jenny was extremely aware of the looming threat of the horde of darkness creatures. Baelin was just a Grand Knight, even with her might as a level 2 acolyte, they would only be swept away by that force.
However, with her drive to survive and encouragement from her hatred, Jenny had advanced into a level 2 acolyte in these three years, and could now cast rank 0 spells with some effort.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you then!” Baelin smiled boorishly. “However, can’t we leave in two days? Uncle Veeya’s birthday is approaching, we have to at least congratulate him before setting off!”
Aunt and Uncle Veeya were a couple in the small town that had played a huge role in Baelin and Jenny’s settlement here. Hence, no matter what, Baelin had wished to leave the town after the birthday celebration.
“Two days is doable!”
Jenny bit her lips. Large-scale battles often took a long time to prepare, so two days was not a significant amount.
However, it was regretful that, sometimes, the events in the world have anomalies.
For those in northern Twilight Zone, the Wheel of Fate was beginning to slowly turn...