Genius
Seeing some of these structures, Leylin suddenly understood a fact. ‘Sky City occupies a small region of land, but it has a burgeoning population. It’s obvious that every bit of land here is expensive. The villa that I was allotted to was probably in the wealthiest region. In this place, nobody below the Morning Star realm can have such a luxury…’
There were streams of people on the streets, and practically all the different races in the central continent could be seen here.The Magi here possessed scholarly auras and were dressed in luxurious clothing, treating the others with respect.
‘Through the influence of civilisation, the behaviours of the residents of the city have evolved…’ Leylin exhaled deeply. Only a place like Sky City which was under the protection of a Monarch could display such a moving scene.
As Leylin had withdrawn his aura, he now seemed like the most ordinary of low-ranked Magi bringing his maid out as he took a stroll. He did not attract any attention.
As he was walking, he saw many Lightwings like Yuro. Quite a few were dressed like servants, following behind Magi. This made him observe Yuro herself, and he found her to be lacking.
Lights flashed in Leylin’s mind. Yuro’s talent was nothing in Sky City, and if she truly wanted to stay here she would need to rely on the Magi. Her best option was to become a servant.
Of course, those who were already considered excellent amongst the Lightwings obtained a higher status. However, no matter how much status they had, they could only remain as subordinates in front of their owners. This was rather uncomfortable, and feeling sorrow for their own kind living this way was understandable.
*Boom!* There was a sudden explosion in the streets, and the place immediately turned chaotic.
“Hm?” Leylin moved several steps backwards without leaving behind any marks, and Yuro grew nervous as she looked around them.
‘This intense energy wasn’t targeting me, it seems to be a coincidence.’ Leylin thought. He had stepped backwards in order to avoid trouble and waved his hands to get the nervous Yuro to back down. He then turned his attention to the scene.
A group of white-robed Magi with jewelled crowns on their foreheads and curved blades in hand were in a fight with another group of Magi.
‘These energy undulations… They are at rank 3, but they possess a frightening vitality. Not bad!’ Leylin easily saw through the veil that the Magi had cast upon themselves.
The white-robed Magi had astoundingly high vitality. This was especially true of their leader, his curved blade launching terrifying glints of light as it forced the dark Magi opposite them to withdraw.
Leylin was rather interested in gaining information about tempering the body.
“Do conflicts like this happen often here?” Leylin shot a glance at Yuro.
Yuro shook her head, “No! I’ve been here for decades, and this is only the fourth time such a thing is happening! The Sage Committee will react soon enough!”
“They’re already there.” Leylin looked towards the sky, a smile on his face.
*Rumble!* Platinum flames flickered, forming a clump of light from which a Magus in platinum robes stepped forth. He looked extremely young, even childlike. However, the moment he arrived, a frightening energy swept across the area.
*Thud!* The two groups of Magi who were in a tussle were immediately blown backwards. The leader fell to his knees as his bones exploded under a suppressive force. Finally, he collapsed to the ground like a giant toad.
Morning Star domain! This little imp was actually a Morning Star Magus! And what’s more, Sky City’s first reaction to such an issue was to send a Morning Star to suppress it!
*Swish!* In the meanwhile, even more Magi dressed in Sky City’s uniform had rushed to the scene. None of them was below the Hydro Phase in terms of power, and all of them had a hardened, bloody aura and indifferent expression.
With the suppression from a Morning Star as well as the arrival of a large group of elites, the two groups were immediately restrained. Even their seas of consciousness were bound as they were escorted away. Their heads hung low.
‘Hehe! As expected of Sky City. Their strength is so great that they can send out such elite forces quite casually.’ Leylin envied them.
Yuro misunderstood his gaze. Seeing this lord watching the direction in which these Magi were taken, she thought he might be wondering how they would be taken care of.
“They’re done for. Since they dared create trouble in Sky City, people from both ends will be punished. At the very least they’ll be expelled, and they might even be forced into labour…” she explained to Leylin in a low voice.
“Mm! Who are they?” Leylin was not really interested in the state they would end up in. What he was more concerned about was the body-tempering spells that the Magi had used.
Though it was merely a quick glance, Leylin could tell that their body-tempering methods were complete. If there was information for Morning Stars, then it would definitely be able to affect him to a certain extent.
“I don’t know, but based on their attire, they should be people from the Northern Desert!” Yuro answered.
Suddenly, she felt a chill in her body and looked around, realising something had changed.
Under the domain of a Morning Star, be it the Magi or the residents, they were all lying on the ground, too afraid to move. Actually, they couldn’t move at all, and yet she was standing as if nothing had happened. She and Leylin seemed extremely out of place in this scene.
‘Is this my Lord’s strength? After all, he’s a Morning Star as well!’
The Magus floating in mid-air discovered this strange situation quickly. With a flash of platinum flames, the childish Morning Star appeared in front of Leylin.
“I never expected to see a Lord here!” Upon seeing Leylin, the arrogance on his expression was moderated.
When the young man turned and saw Yuro, recognition dawned in his eyes. “I remember you! You’re a maid in Boffel’s villa!”
“Yes, Lord Weyers!” Yuro knelt respectfully, making introductions “This is an important guest of Lord Boffel’s— Lord Leylin Farlier of the Ouroboros Clan!”
“So it’s you! The strongest Kemoyin Warlock, someone who killed Demon Hunter Cyril right after advancing to Morning Star.”
Leylin could do little about this. As there was no obvious method of classifying Morning Stars, their reputation and achievements in battle had become their distinguishing characteristics.
And what he was currently famous for was killing Demon Hunter Cyril. As for the title of strongest Kemoyin Warlock in history, he had no idea how that had come about. It left him speechless.
“Lord Weyers became a Morning Star even before reaching a hundred years of age. Even in the entire history of the continent, he’s among the top hundreds!”
“Before reaching a hundred?” Leylin nodded in understanding.
When someone advanced to become a Magus, they would permanently keep their original appearance. This fellow must have become an official Magus extremely early, and the following advances had helped him retain his looks. This was why he appeared this juvenile.
‘It looks like he probably became an official Magus at eight to nine years old. What a demonic genius!’ Leylin’s pupils shrank.
When he was eight to nine years old, he probably didn’t even know what a Magus was.
‘To reach that level, one needs an astonishing aptitude, but that is not enough. There also need to be top-grade meditation techniques and expansive resources, as well as the mentorship of famous teachers. It looks like this Weyers has a great backing.’
Even as he wondered about such things inside, Leylin feigned shock. “Lord Weyers is a rare genius in the continent! Morning Stars like us can only blush with shame…”
Words of flattery were free of charge, and he specifically picked out the nicest words. As expected, a look of pride rose on Weyers’ face.
Face was something he had long since thrown into the drain. With this Magus’ strength, talent and backing, one could not show distaste on their face unless it was possible to kill him in one move and eliminate his backers.
Leylin had nothing against him, and he began to assess his own strength. It was probably difficult to destroy Sky City, which was why his words of flattery were boundless.
Even if they were merely pleasantries, it also depended on who was saying them.
Weyers had been treated as a genius since he was young, and he had probably heard many compliments like this before. However, praises from Morning Star like Leylin evidently put him in a good mood.
“Of course not! If I, as I am now, were to be matched against Cyril, things might be slightly difficult. I quite admire Lord Leylin…”
Geniuses were perhaps the loneliest of people. Weyers had never had someone at a similar age to his who could speak to him as an equal. While Leylin was slightly older than he was, they were somewhat around the same age. Apart from being a Warlock, Leylin had some reputation in Potioneering too. Hence, Weyers felt like he had found a companion at the same age and began to converse with Leylin.
“...Haha, Once this matter is over, I’ll definitely drop by for a visit, Leylin.”
By the end of their conversation, Weyers had automatically dropped the formality of the Lord title, calling Leylin by name. It showed that they had gotten closer.
Weyers and Leylin conversed for a long while as if nobody else was present. Whether it was the Magi on the ground or the other guards, nobody dared disturb them, and they could only wait pitifully.
Of course, due to the power of the Morning Star domains, they could not hear the contents of the conversation between the two. All they knew was that this Lord of theirs, who had always looked cold, seemed to be in a good mood.
There were very few Magi who the Lord found to be pleasant company. The guard team was astonished as they all snuck peeks at Leylin before departing with Weyers.