Chapter Ten: The Pirate Army!
Overseas Islands.
Warships were being prepared, and a fog rose on the sea at an unknown time, where Soren stood quietly on the water’s surface. At the dock, many laborers were busy transporting goods, and Modo city now had nearly five thousand slaves, providing quite a robust labor force. Soren’s gaze was fixed on the distance, occasionally closing his eyes to sense something, sometimes lost in thought, as if he had merged with a special force.
Advancing to Archmage did not greatly enhance his strength, but the potential of an Archmage was undeniable.
Currently, the two most useful specialties were as follows:
“Arcane Runes [Primary Specialty]: Archmages master mysterious runes that can be used to craft and enhance weapons and equipment. Arcane Runes are quite stable, which makes Archmages more successful when creating extraordinary equipment. Arcane Runes can have special effects in many aspects, applicable in spell refinements and energy devices, and many advanced arcane runes can easily produce legendary items.”
Arcane Runes.
A construct rune similar to spell circuits, and its greatest use is crafting items.
Soren’s Alchemy ability was insufficient; although he had mastered over twenty Arcane Runes, crafting an extraordinary item would still be quite difficult. However, Gloria was a master in this field, and upon encountering these Arcane Runes, she immediately found a way to perfect the ‘Gisz Silver Blade.’ According to her estimation, if nothing unexpected happened, she could elevate the ‘Gisz Silver Blade’ to a legendary item.
A wizard capable of crafting legendary items is extremely valuable!
Soren naturally fully supported this, directly allocating over one hundred thousand Gind for Gloria to use, ensuring she could always purchase the corresponding materials from the Witch Council.
If possible, he hoped to see the finished legendary item soon.
The second specialty was [Arcane Countermeasure], differing from [Spell Countermeasure] in that it was a powerful combat specialty.
“Arcane Countermeasure [Primary Ability]: Archmages have a deeper understanding of the structure of the Magic Network than other spellcasters. They can essentially counteract spells cast by enemies. Although this requires extremely high intelligence and comprehension, if successful, the Archmage can directly bounce back the enemy’s spell, with an effect equivalent to [Minor Spell Deflection]; if the specialty’s countermeasure is successful, it can rebound spells of levels 1-3 back to the caster.”
[Note: Prerequisite ability for Advanced Arcane Countermeasure.]
………………
Rebounding spells.
Yes! This is the countermeasure ability of an Archmage—successfully rebounding spells of levels 1-3 back to the caster!
Soren was not particularly high in intelligence. However, with the enhancement of divinity, his foundational attributes could further increase. Currently, against medium to low-level wizards, his chances of successfully initiating an Arcane Countermeasure were high; in a situation of being besieged, his Arcane Countermeasure ability could undoubtedly astonish the enemies!
Soren had 2 points in divinity value, after which he could gain +1 to all attributes.
If this were the foundation, it was not impossible for Soren to raise his intelligence to 30 points in the future.
“Set sail!”
The surface of the sea cracked open beneath Soren’s feet. The ghost ship, The Requiem, surged through the waves, the black masts rising behind him, the deck lined with ghastly undead, surrounded by faint black spiritual energy.
This is the power of d*ath!
The ghost ship, The Requiem, mutated further in the midst of slaughter, and the abilities of the undead steadily increased as more wandering souls joined.
As a necromantic construct life, The Requiem had already touched the edge of the legendary realm.
It was hard to imagine what kind of abilities a ghost ship would possess if it reached the Legendary Domain.
A fleet of warships raised their sails, departing directly from Modo Harbor. Soren’s actions inadvertently attracted the attention of many, and various factions were now speculating about what he intended to do.
………………
Fury Sand Island.
Days passed just like that. Since Soren’s order was given, warships had been docking at this island. Now, the harbor was filled with warships, and when Soren’s The Requiem appeared, one by one, the warships moved towards the Eastern Sea Route. Hundreds of warships stretched for over ten miles in an imposing formation. As the pirate movements escalated, the entire southern kingdoms grew tense, with many duchies dispatching heavy troops to guard port cities, always on alert for these pirates to land.
Dragon Head Battleship.
Soren glanced at the others in front of him, casually spread the map before him, and said solemnly: “Here, here, and here. The Agate River is our only route into the interior; most of it docks near the estuary. The rest will lead elite forces with me into the interior.”
Agate River.
This river is akin to the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, being one of the largest rivers in the southern regions and the only river that allows large warships to navigate.
Soren could not abandon the advantage of surface combat, so he could only head towards Leaffall City along the Agate River.
“Your Grace.”
The Half-Elf First Mate looked a bit puzzled and whispered, “Are we making such a large-scale movement just to enter the interior?”
Soren had not yet clarified the specific mission.
If it were other pirate kings doing this, many might have walked away. However, Soren was different; his reputation among pirates was far too high.
Even though no one knew why he issued such commands, the pirate leaders still dutifully executed them.
“Of course not!”
Soren glanced at the pirate leaders present, his eyes sweeping over the Cyclops Pirate, Scarface, Giant, and other pirate leaders who all looked puzzled. Soren’s lips involuntarily curled into a slight smile as he slowly said, “We are here to pick someone up!”
Pick someone up?
After hearing Soren’s words, the expressions of the pirate leaders became even more bewildered.
Who exactly are we picking up?
Who needs such a grand array to be welcomed? This time they had mobilized over five hundred warships, with the pirates mobilizing over ten thousand men, and troops standing by on the route, ready for a reception at any time!
Such a large operation!
Could it really be just to pick someone up? They thought Your Grace was preparing to attack some kingdom!
Although they still couldn’t figure it out, it did not prevent the pirate leaders from continuing to carry out their tasks. Soon, the Half-Elf First Mate led the Dragon Head Battleship and the Third Fleet to stand by at the mouth of the Agate River, while the other pirate leaders led their elite forces to follow Soren into the interior regions. The Eastern Pirates had long since made arrangements, and the southern nobles were somewhat panicked, not understanding why such a massive pirate army had gathered here.
This incident even alerted many powerful factions and various god churches.
Yet during this special time, no one dared to act blindly; these pirates seemed to intend to sail upriver along the Agate River. As long as they did not attack the nearby cities, it was unlikely anyone would dare provoke Soren.
Thus,
A large group of pirates sailed arrogantly along the Agate River, gradually approaching Leaffall City.
………………
Leaffall City.
With the retreat of the Half-Orc Army, this devastated city had regained some vitality.
However, even though the Half-Orc Army had retreated for nearly a week, the tense atmosphere within the city had not eased in the slightest. After the battle ended, the forces of Leaffall City had split into three factions.
The first faction consisted of Druids, with a significant number of Half-Elf Druids, many of whom were influential figures.
Regarding how Leaffall City should respond to the Half-Orc’s assaults, the Druid faction advocated seeking assistance from the Elven race and Druid organizations to use their strength to repel the Half-Orc advances. However, during the initial siege, the Elven race stood by and did not send troops, and although the Druid organization provided some assistance, they had been busy searching for traces of demons recently and had not offered much support.
Therefore, this faction held little sway.
The second faction was the traditional nobles of Leaffall City. They were the backbone of the city and the main defenders. Due to the dragon plundering the city’s treasury after the battle, the power held by the nobles suffered heavy losses, and the vast majority were unwilling to provide their private wealth to help the city through its crisis. Lacking military pay and supplies, the morale of Leaffall City’s armies was low. The nobles had recently been very active, both busy consolidating themselves and blaming the forces of the last faction.
The last faction was the church.
Or rather, after the siege battle against the Half-Orcs, it quickly gathered around ‘Holy Spirit Priest’ Milan, the original priest of the ‘God of Half-Elves and Wanderers.’
These priests were not many!
Many had fought at the front lines to protect civilians during the siege, with a casualty rate nearing thirty percent.
However!
They held immense prestige among the civilians, especially since during the Half-Orc siege, Milan called upon the deity’s avatar to descend, ultimately summoning a dragon to lift the siege. Countless people witnessed the dragon circling in the sky, trembling under its dragon pressure, thus the influence of the church had quickly recovered in a short time.
A church that had lasted hundreds or thousands of years could not disappear so easily.
Since the descending deity claimed to be the ‘God of Half-Elves,’ it was only natural for the church to serve this new deity.
The original system was not destroyed.
The biggest change was that ‘Holy Spirit Priest’ Milan became the highest leader of the church. Until the deity explicitly appointed a new Archbishop, the status of the deity’s elect was far greater than that of the other priests.
This third faction was also a source of some turmoil in Leaffall City back then!
Because on the very first day after Milan awakened, he delivered the deity’s first edict.
“Greater disasters are about to arrive! Only by leaving Leaffall City and migrating along the river can one avoid these disasters. The deity will arrange for someone to receive them, and ultimately they will take great ships to a safe overseas life!…”
………………(To Be Continued ~^~)
