Grinding EXP From Fireball Skill-Chapter 51: Aura

Every war must have a leader.

No matter how detached the Mage Tower and the Professional Association might be, in times of war, command falls to the City Lord.

The City Lord of Maple City is the supreme commander.

As the chief instructor of the City Lord’s Mansion Mage Tutoring Corps, Allen was bound to become the commander of the Maple City Mage Corps.

How could El possibly accept this!

But even he had no say in the matter.

The outcome could only be changed if Martin himself stepped forward to challenge Allen for command of the Mage Corps.

El knew Martin’s character. He wasn’t someone who cared for power.

As long as Allen didn’t do anything too outrageous, Martin wouldn’t oppose him.

Seeing his brother’s sour expression, Allen just smiled and didn’t mock him further.

He looked toward Martin and greeted him with a smile. "Mage Martin, long time no see."

Martin replied, "Allen, I didn’t expect you to become a Ring Mage."

Allen said, "I simply chose a path that was right for me."

Martin nodded. "Yes, I remember you were only a Tier One High Level Mage when you left the Mage Tower. Now you’re already a Tier Three Mage. Not bad at all."

Allen smiled and said, "For this campaign, the City Lord has appointed me commander of the Mage Corps. I’ll be counting on your cooperation, Mage Martin."

Martin said, "As long as your command is sound, the mages of the Maple City Mage Tower will give their full cooperation."

In other words, if Allen’s command proved inadequate, he shouldn’t blame Martin for refusing to cooperate.

Their conversation ended there as the City Lord arrived with his army.

The City Lord’s Personal Guard, composed of Extraordinary Professionals, led the way. Clad in Armor and mounted on a warhorse, City Lord Otz appeared before the crowd.

An army of several thousand soldiers followed behind him.

Maple City’s entire army numbered only five to six thousand. The soldiers now packed into the street before them numbered no less than three thousand.

Otz had mustered the majority of Maple City’s forces, preparing to lead them as reinforcements to the front lines.

Only about two thousand remained to defend Maple City.

It was a very risky move.

Never mind sending the bulk of their forces; most city lords would feel the sting of sending even a thousand soldiers as reinforcements.

The Macher Kingdom belonged to the King, but their cities belonged to them.

Unless, of course, it was one of the Macher Kingdom’s own cities.

The Macher Kingdom’s territory was vast. More than twenty cities stood within its borders, stretching from north to south and east to west.

Fewer than half of them had been founded by the Macher Kingdom itself.

Most were independent city-states that merely fell within the Macher Kingdom’s borders.

Their relationship was not one of subjects, but more like that of Dukes.

Maple City was an independent city-state.

City Lord Otz was a Count, a title bestowed by the Empire. The King of the Macher Kingdom was merely a Marquis, also a title from the Empire.

Otz owed his allegiance only to the Empire, not to the King of the Macher Kingdom.

The lords of the other independent city-states were in the same position.

Ostensibly, all the major cities within the Macher Kingdom’s borders submitted to the King.

In reality, the lords of the independent cities were rivals to the King.

Therefore, when most city lords received a summons to war, they would only send a token force as a gesture of reinforcement.

They would never mobilize on such a grand scale as Maple City was doing now.

Otz met with the leaders of the various factions.

Martin from the Mage Tower, Orn from the Knight Association, Reiman from the Warrior Association, Monte from the Assassin Association, and Tanya from the Shooter Association.

When Martin, Reiman, Monte, and Tanya saw Orn, they all looked surprised.

None of them had expected Orn, a Great Knight, to participate in this battle.

Otz, however, didn’t seem surprised. Allen stood beside him.

He announced to the crowd, "The supreme commander of Maple City’s forces for this campaign will be Orn."

No one was surprised to hear this.

Orn’s profession was War Knight, which was different from that of an ordinary Knight.

War Knights could only unleash their true power on the battlefield.

It was an Extraordinary Profession truly born for war. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

The burly Reiman, a Tier Three High Level Warrior, laughed. "I can finally experience the power of the legendary War Knight for myself!"

Monte, completely shrouded in a black robe, looked like a Ghost who could vanish into the shadows at any moment.

He glanced at Orn but said nothing.

Tanya was a Half-Elf, and her weapon was a Magic Short Bow.

Hearing Reiman’s words, she couldn’t help but glance at Orn a few more times.

She didn’t know Orn well, but she had heard of the legendary reputation of War Knights.

Martin glanced at Orn, a trace of wariness in his eyes.

Rumor had it that Orn had once killed a Grand Mage of the same tier.

This was an astonishing feat.

It was a well-known fact that Mages were invincible against opponents of the same tier.

After introducing Orn, Otz then introduced Allen.

"This is Mage Allen. He is currently the chief instructor of the Mage Tutoring Corps and will serve as the commander of the Mage Corps for this war."

After speaking, he looked to Martin and asked, "You have no objections, do you, Mage Martin?"

Martin silently nodded. "No objections."

The command positions for the remaining Knights, Warriors, Assassins, and Shooters were also filled by Tier Three experts from their respective factions.

Incidentally, the Knight Association had also sent a Tier Three High Level Knight.

Unfortunately, under the brilliance of Orn’s presence, this Tier Three High Level Knight seemed utterly obscure.

His strength was by no means weaker than that of Reiman, Monte, or Tanya. He only seemed "weak" because Orn was simply too powerful, his radiance too dazzling.

Once City Lord Otz had assigned everyone’s roles, he began his pre-battle rally.

Li Wei and Gu Ze stood in the crowd, listening as Otz loudly proclaimed the justness and necessity of the war.

Neither of them was really listening, instead murmuring to each other.

Gu Ze said, "There are a lot of people this time. Be careful. This might be different from usual."

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

It wasn’t that they had never been sent as reinforcements before, but never with this many people.

Li Wei nodded in agreement.

He didn’t know much about these matters, but the sight of Orn made him subconsciously feel that the situation was serious.

Seeing Orn reminded him of the hidden secret within Maple City.

He had only glimpsed a corner of the secret and had no idea what Orn, the City Lord’s Mansion, the Warrior Association, and the other factions were hiding.

Two months of winter had already passed, and the secret seemed to have died in the wind and snow, completely unmentioned.

"WAR! WAR! WAR!"

Suddenly, the three thousand soldiers raised their weapons and began to shout.

The sudden cry startled Li Wei.

He turned and saw that the soldiers’ expressions were extraordinarily frenzied, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

Li Wei felt that something was off.

He glanced over and saw that many among the group of Extraordinary Beings also wore the same frenzied expressions.

Gu Ze whispered, "The War Knight’s aura!"

Li Wei asked, "Why aren’t we affected?"

Gu Ze glanced around and guessed, "It’s probably because we’re standing too far away. See? All the Professionals with those frenzied looks are closer to Orn."

To maximize the aura’s power, Orn stood in the center of the crowd.

Li Wei and Gu Ze were standing at the edge of the crowd, outside the aura’s range.