Ch.78Chapter 78: Preparation.

When Lati showed surprise, Solpin spoke with indifference.

“Well, think about it. Barbarians are unnaturally strong, so what would happen if they mixed with the Dragon-kin who lack magical power? I’ve listened to many professors talk about racial reproduction issues, and they don’t think badly of Barbarians.”

It was a reasonable point.

Valt’s achievements had been nothing short of sensational.

His existence alone had caused people heading south to spring up like mushrooms after rain, dramatically improving the Barbarians’ image.

And then there were his abilities—impressive enough to attract interest not just from humans of the Central Continent but from other races as well.

“What about his homeland?”

“How many Dragon-kin do you think there are? Homeland matters less than preserving our race right now.”

Having made up her mind, Solpin’s eyes gleamed as she ran outside.

“I can’t wait, I need to talk to Father about this.”

***

After returning to the Academy, Valt found himself in the Chancellor’s office with Liris.

This was somewhat of a gamble for Valt.

The reason they were in the Chancellor’s office was to discuss who might be behind what had happened to the Vampire race.

Initially, Valt had consulted with Riman about this matter.

Riman had proven himself trustworthy in Valt’s eyes.

And it was this same Riman who told him that this was too important to discuss with him alone—it needed to be brought directly to the Chancellor.

Having met the Chancellor before, and knowing that Riman trusted Chancellor Baldur enough to serve as a professor under him, Valt ultimately agreed to meet with the Chancellor directly.

Besides, only the first-year professors and the Chancellor knew that Valt had deliberately targeted the Vampires.

Professors of other years were too busy looking after their own students to concern themselves with such matters.

After much consideration, Valt concluded that the probability of Chancellor Baldur being an enemy spy was extremely low.

“Hmm… why are you only telling me this now? Liris, didn’t you have a private audience with His Majesty?”

“I didn’t think it was appropriate to bring up such matters then.”

After a moment of contemplation, Chancellor Baldur asked for Valt’s opinion.

“So, Valt, you believe they might be from the same organization as the masked individuals you encountered before you and Lisa Valentine came to the Academy?”

Valt nodded.

“Yes. Their leader in Brasov said they wanted to create tension in the peaceful continent. I pondered what that meant for a long time, but now I have some ideas.”

Seeing Chancellor Baldur’s silence as encouragement to continue, Valt went on.

“First, it literally means they intend to take actions that will affect the continent’s political situation. The kidnapping of Lisa, the theft of artifacts, the attempt to enslave Vampires—if all had succeeded, these would have been incidents too significant to ignore.”

“Indeed… it would have led to tremendous chaos… Oh my… this is troubling…”

After taking a moment to collect himself, Valt continued.

“But is this the end of it?”

“Of course not. Next… the north might be in danger.”

The North—known as the “Roof of the Empire.”

Just as the Valentine family protected the South from foreign invasions like the Barbarians, the Caldrian family guarded the North.

They were the family that protected the continent from monster invasions.

It was a region that remained a war zone year-round.

Not only the Caldrian family but also a considerable number of reinforcements were always stationed there, and families located in the northern regions often sent their children to Caldrian territory for coming-of-age ceremonies.

“I think so too. And this is still a hypothesis, but…”

“Speak your mind. We cannot ignore the opinion of someone who has been at the center of these events.”

Valt whispered the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth.

“Demon race.”

Chancellor Baldur’s eyes widened before quickly regaining his composure.

“Indeed… it’s not impossible…”

The Demon race.

Unnaturally powerful beings.

Fortunately, these demons lived in the Demon Realm, not the human world.

Even the weakest demon could exert power equivalent to a Grade 5 being.

It was said that if not for the Sword Saint Rushtein, who had reached the 10th Floor, humans might have lost these lands to the demons.

And even then, there were stories that the Demon King never actually manifested in the human realm during the demon invasion.

To summon the Demon King would require extraordinarily powerful items.

Artifacts, for example.

“There were three artifacts at that location, and they already possessed two sacred objects. We can’t rule out the existence of other artifacts. Where are most artifacts kept?”

“Obviously, the Imperial Palace and…”

Valt’s eyes gleamed as he spoke the answer in unison with Chancellor Baldur.

“The Magic Tower.”

The scope of their targets was becoming clearer, though the timing remained uncertain.

***

“Hahaha! Interesting. Very interesting. They act as if bringing in barbarians was a mistake. Kukukuku.”

The laughter was tremendous.

The formidable aura emanating from the voice made even Prok, a master of the 8th Floor, feel shaken to his core.

“And to think, a mere 2nd Circle managed to wound an 8th Floor master? Truly befitting a barbarian. I wonder why the gods created such brutish creatures…”

The atmosphere suddenly grew heavy, undoubtedly due to the oppressive energy the Council Head was emitting.

“Thanks to this, the blood tears of the Strigoi have become useless. Interesting. Very interesting indeed.”

Cold sweat formed on Prok’s forehead.

“Hmm… A vampire awakened with pure blood is troublesome. I’ll postpone your punishment for now.”

“Th-thank you.”

*Chik*

The Council Head lit his pipe, and smoke rose into the air.

“So our next plan needs to be more spectacular. You may leave now.”

“I receive your command.”

*Tap*

“Phew, how amusing. Yes, it would be boring if everything went according to plan. Finally, the third one. I don’t know why you keep crossing my path. A barbarian as the adversary? What nonsense.”

The Council Head took another draw from his pipe and asked the empty space:

“What about salvation?”

A chilling voice responded:

[It’s in the completion phase.]

“Let them run wild this time.”

[Understood.]

***

Chancellor Baldur acted quickly. Though aged, he was a man who had once risen to the position of being second only to the Emperor and above all others in the Empire.

He reported to the Emperor and issued orders to identify any unusual signs across the continent.

He reinforced troops to the Caldrian family and sent warnings to the Magic Tower.

And so time passed gradually.

After Valt increased his intelligence, magic truly became a fascinating discipline for him.

All living beings exist on the earth. This applies even to birds that fly in the sky.

Nothing can fly in the sky forever.

They must find food on the earth and coexist with it to sustain life.

Valt was extremely pleased that his specialty was earth magic, and he was grateful that he had contracted with an earth elemental.

He believed earth magic would play a crucial role in his future battles.

It wasn’t just about creating stone spears or metal spears to throw.

He could transform the ground to trip enemies and dig holes to disrupt their stance.

In fact, as Valt mastered spells like “Dig” and “Earth Spike” rather than offensive earth magic, it would be fair to say that no one among the first-years could defeat him anymore.

The only ones who could possibly match him were Solpin and Irene.

Solpin had always been strong, and Irene had grown exponentially stronger as her muscles developed.

The 7th Floor Aura Flow was finally showing its true value.

Today, Irene and Valt were practicing sparring.

*Clang!*

Having her attack blocked so easily, Irene started to grumble.

“Ugh… isn’t that just item advantage?”

Valt merely smirked at her complaint.

“Then you should have won first place in the tournament.”

On Valt’s arms were beautifully shining Luphenium bracers.

Or rather, they covered almost his entire forearms, more like arm guards than bracelets.

The Luphenium that the Emperor had gifted to the tournament winner was honestly too small for Valt to make into a weapon.

Besides, Valt couldn’t use weapons.

So he decided to make bracers out of the Luphenium.

With the Luphenium bracers on both wrists, he could block most attacks just by focusing his magical power.

This was why people were obsessed with quality items.

“Ugh, that’s not fair… I can’t tell if I’m hitting a mountain or a Barbarian right now!”

Despite Irene’s 7th Floor sword strikes, the Luphenium bracers—infused with earth magic, elemental power, and blood magic—remained unmarked.

In fact, they probably wouldn’t get scratched even if he only imbued them with magical power.

After using the Luphenium bracers for a while, Valt couldn’t help but ask Noise one thing:

What level would one need to be to create Luphenium with elemental power?

Noise said that to create Luphenium, one would need to become an Elemental King.

Imagining blood magic gauntlets completely covered in Luphenium, Valt became determined to make Noise an Elemental King.

“Argh! Here I come! Rushtein Swift Sword Style, Seventh Ultimate Technique!”

Victor, watching Irene, called out incredulously:

“Why does she always unleash her full-power ultimate technique during practice matches?”

“Haha, it’s because Valt is the only one who can take it, isn’t it? Don’t we do the same, Victor?”

Valt, who often sparred with his friends, routinely took their most powerful techniques.

Naturally, no one except Solpin and Irene could even scratch him.

Having completed her preparations for the seventh technique, Irene shouted the technique’s name as she swung her sword.

“Rising Dragon!”

Watching Irene, Valt thought to himself:

‘Hmm, Irene is strong enough to bring along. The rest of my friends need to get stronger quickly.’

Future battles would require preparation. Valt was solely focused on making his friends stronger.