869 Cooperators
It had been many years since the Union of Sorcerers started to dig the City in the Sky. The central area had been cleaned, and a lot of magic towers and houses had been set up. If it weren’t for the research value of the other debris, the first scene Douglas saw would have definitely not been as dilapidated as this. Right now, a magic tower near the relic of the central magic tower sent out the sound of a bell being hit. According to the deal, it marked the beginning of the meeting.
The sorcerers who were having a huge fight in the square reluctantly shut their mouths, unsatisfied that the rare opportunity to unleash their complaints was over. They slowly surged to the five-story tall magic tower.
“Those old men must’ve exchanged their opinions in private…” Fernando mumbled. The real agreements had almost always been reached before the meeting, and the meeting was only an occasion for announcements.
Douglas watched the sorcerers come from all directions; his eyes deep and thoughtful. It was not until the square was cleared that he finally sighed. “Let’s go in.”
“Do you feel helpless about their argument? In such a time of peril and despair, they still refuse to let go of their biases and selfishness. To be honest, I have zero confidence in their future after seeing the fight just now.” Fernando moved forward while complaining.
Douglas shook his head and said in a low voice, “Everybody is selfish. So, a sincere cooperation is not based on the complete abandonment of selfishness, but on the demonstration of your strength, so that everybody understands that it is in their best interest to fight by your side.
“I don’t mean the strength in the regular sense. It means so much more. For example, even if we are not strong enough yet, as long as we can convince other people that our path is hopeful and we can lead them on it, it will also be our ‘strength’.”
He was solemn and did not have the slightest desperation or anger.
“Isn’t it the process to build up their confidence in us through various approaches? It’s a sophisticated skill in the school of illusion,” Fernando derided Douglas out of habit.
Douglas turned around to look at Fernando. “You know the school of illusion very well?”
Personally, he was not good at the theories of the school of illusion. He was capable of a lot of illusions, but he never studied them deeply.
“My teacher was a great scholar. Before he was killed, he had been in touch with many archmages of the school of illusion. So, I know a lot of sorcerers who specialize in that.” Fernando mentioned his teacher but did not seem to be close to him.
Douglas did not keep asking because they had reached the magic tower. A middle-aged man who was wearing the arcana badge of the Union of Sorcerers was waiting by the door. “Are you Mr. Douglas? Mr. President asked you to go to the living room in the wing on arrival.”
He recognized Douglas through Fernando.
“Alright,” Douglas replied politely.
It slightly surprised the middle-aged man, because archmages were mostly very arrogant in his impression, even including someone as kind and amiable as President Arnold.
Many stone chairs had been raised in the hall. Douglas and Fernando stepped into the living room.
“Douglas, let me introduce you,” Arnold greeted him with a smile like a kind old man.
Douglas was as steady as before, but Fernando chuckled in a low voice. Judging from the old fox’s good mood, the negotiation must have gone really well.
Hearing Douglas’ name, the dozen sorcerers in the living room all looked over. Some were wary, some curious, and some were hostile. Was he the archmage who was capable of “Time Stop” and who killed the Predator?
Arnold put his hands on Douglas’ shoulder and pointed at a fat old man. “This is Nielson, leader of Red Eye and an archmage. Even though he looks fat, his body is as sturdy as that of a gold knight.”
Douglas immediately understood what Nielson was good at. Perhaps his every body part had been fixed with a certain special ability. His current appearance was nothing but camouflage.
Besides his body figure that left a deep impression, Nielson’s ruby eyes were also very attractive. When he smiled, the fat on his cheeks jiggled. “I’ve always looked forward to Antiffler. The archmages from there are truly remarkable.”
He said that he looked forward to it, but there wasn’t any earnestness in his tone.
Understanding the feud of the two empires very well, Douglas nodded with a smile, not bothered by Nielson’s attitude.
Pretending that he did not hear Nielson’s indication, Arnold continued, “This is Amanata, a student to the Master of Shadows and one of the leaders of Shadow Singers.”
Amanata, covered in a black magic robe, sat in a shadow in the corner. He merely nodded as a greeting after Arnold’s introduction. If it weren’t for his male name, Douglas couldn’t have even told his gender.
Arnold joked, “Shadow Singers always favor shadows.”
Not far away from Amanata, there was a sorcerer whose air was cold and gloomy. He was wearing a black glamorous robe, and his head only had the white skull left, with needle-like dim red fire bouncing in his eyes. He was a classic lich.
“This is Congus, the archmage who single handedly created ‘Supreme Soul’. He was praised by the Master of Shadows in person, who said that he is very likely to become a legendary sorcerer.” Arnold introduced the lich who was no weaker than Nielson or Amanata.
Congus opened his mouth. His voice was so unpleasant that it sounded like someone whetting a rusty sword. “My friends in Antiffler never mentioned you.”
He seemed very close to Antiffler.
“Because there were too many sorcerers stronger than me in Antiffler,” Douglas replied modestly. “Also, I was a weirdo.”
“Still, Antiffler was destroyed by the pope,” Nielson interrupted.
Congus looked at him and said coldly, “At least the empire hasn’t perished yet, but as for Asso…”
“Cough, cough, cough.” Arnold stopped the upcoming quarrel with coughs and introduced the lady who was playing with her red hair in boredom. “This is our beautiful Ms. Priscilla, the controller of Tower of Destroyers and an elementalist who is good at Cracking (Advanced).”
“Hey, Arnold, do you want me to give you one?” Priscilla made fun of Arnold with a vague smile before she extended her fair hand. “‘Time Stop’ and ‘Cracking (Advanced)’ are the best match. It’s a shame that I am incapable of the former. I hope that I can learn from you sometime.”
She was probably the most friendly responder.
“I always look forward to Cracking (Advanced), my lady.” Naturally, Douglas shook her hands courteously.
Fernando followed him and murmured to himself, “Is it really possible to work with those guys who were all minding their own business?”
Arnold then introduced Douglas and Fernando to the leaders of the other organizations, but he did not mention anything about cooperation, as if it were just trivia that had been decided.
Arnold was friendly and humorous throughout the whole process. That was probably why he was the convener instead of any other leader.
“Alright. It’s time for us to join the meeting. Let’s tell everybody the refreshing news.” In the end, he pointed at the gate.
All the experts stood up and walked out while following Arnold.
Because the safety of the meeting was not guaranteed, they had come with clones and simulated images, and they did not bring many sorcerers with them. The hall was not full.
After the leaders came out, the whispers in the hall were gone.
“Everybody, the War of Dawn, as named by the Church, has been going on for more than three hundred years. Many of you probably never lived life when magic was supreme. You were born in panic and depression, you grew in darkness and desperation, and you will probably die in the fire.” After the leaders sat down, Arnold began his speech.
His heavy opening further silenced the hall. The older sorcerers remembered the last glory of the empire, and the younger sorcerers remembered their own experiences, but they shared the common dread against the nightmarish Church.
After a brief pause, Arnold went on and said, “The power of individuals is so weak in the darkness. Only if we help each other can we cut the thorns and embrace the dawn. This meeting is to inform everybody that the organizations present will abandon our internal conflicts and fight together for our living space.”
In such a devastating environment, any good news could be pictured into a wonderful future. Therefore, everybody was excited by what Arnold said. If so many organizations were united, they would probably be able to resist a parish without legends…
Fernando snorted in despise but did not say anything.
Arnold did not say anything about a coalition. He knew that it was not realistic. Without enough power, uniting so many self-involved organizations would only collapse his own organization.
After describing the beautiful future, Arnold ended his speech. At this moment, a sorcerer stood up and asked, “What living space are we going to obtain in the future?”
Now that the excitement died down, the sorcerers were more suspicious and worried. Their experience told them that prudence meant a long life because they barely had any chance to start over if they made the wrong choice.
“Hey, you are not as stupid as I thought,” Fernando mocked in a low voice.
It was impossible for Arnold to speak of the terms of cooperation. So, he merely said, “Our successful cooperation will be an example for other people. More and more sorcerers will join us, even the legendary ones… The Church is definitely not invincible. Many legends have been gathered in Aalto. Also, the Church’s enemies include vampires, dragons, sea clans, elves, demons, and devils…”
The audience’s hope dwarfed their suspicion for now. Also, as elites of their respective groups, they could tell that the leaders had secretly reached an agreement, so they simply narcotized themselves with the beautiful future.
“Yes. We can cooperate with the supernatural creatures and absorb magic elements from them.”
“But can magic really compare to the divine power? At least when it comes to yielding legendary experts…”
After Arnold’s speech, the sorcerers had a lot of random thoughts. Some remembered the benefits of working with supernatural creatures and the development of magic, and some remembered the frustration of magic since the beginning of the War of Dawn… Hope, fear, desperation, and expectation overwhelmed them.
Nielson, Congus, Priscilla, Amanata, and the rest of them gave a brief speech to show support, but none of them revealed the terms of cooperation.
“Since we are partners, allow me to introduce the sorcerer next to me, Douglas from Antiffler. He’s good with ‘Time Stop’, and he attacked an Inquisition with Fernando.” Arnold showed the power of his Union in satisfaction.
People whispered in exclamations. Arnold nodded at their reaction and said to Douglas with a smile, “Why don’t you say something to everyone?”
Douglas stood up gravely. Arnold was rather stunned. Why did he look like that? What was he going to say?
Fernando also noticed Douglas’ strange expression; the man he was not wearing his usual warm and comforting smile. He also did not know why Douglas was like this. As for Nielson and the rest of them who were not familiar with Douglas, they sensed no anomaly at all.
Douglas looked around at the hall, silencing the whispers of the sorcerers, before he spoke in a low but clear voice.
“Ladies and gentlemen, many years ago, the esteemed ancestors of mankind learned how to make use of spiritual powers from dragons, elves, giants, demons, devils, and the other magical creatures. Then, by analyzing their body structures and blood qualities, we melted their bloodlines, modified our bodies, and came up with many meditation methods to build up our spiritual powers. We also created various kinds of magic by copying the magic patterns on their bodies, thereby gaining enormous powers. We drove the demons back into the abyss and kicked the devils back into hell. The giants, elves, and dragons either retreated to the uninhabited mountains, wilderness, and alternate dimensions, or bent before our feet.”
His opening, which was a brief review of the origin and glory of the age of magic, did not make Arnold and Fernando feel easy because Douglas was certainly not someone who would bring it up for nothing. The sorcerers, on the other hand, seemed to have sensed the glory at the beginning. They all looked rather refreshed.
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