"Young master Ron! What a pleasant surprise! How can I be of service?" Carson was in the training grounds diligently swinging his Sword while his men were keeping an eye on the gathering of merchants but keeping to themselves since their responsibility is making sure none of these "Visitors" strays away from their destination during their visit to Reapers-Fort.
After all they're still licking their wounds!
Cesar's First-Lieutenant quickly tossed the blunt training Sword towards one of the squires before running towards the kid.
"Where's your Marshal and Strategist?" Aaron asked while watching his men collect Gold and Silver Coins from the merchants then retrieved another bottle of Sunset Dew to drink.
'Maybe I should keep the Portals open for more time since it's sure going to take more time for the merchants to transport all these carriages.' He thought.
Carson pointed towards one of the highest towers in the center of the Fortress before saying : "In their quarters, please." Afterwards he looked at one of his men and nodded then personally led the way for the kid and his 3 followers.
Aaron followed while thinking : 'Killing these so-called Lyric-Valvatas or Pharaoh Cicadas according to Identify was nice and all but the amount of Exp I gained over all was only enough to push me a whole Level plus almost the majority of the next one but it's clearly getting a whole lot difficult for me to jump skip Levels like before.
'Unless there's some sort of target which comes in great number like these bugs and rodents while giving a whole lot more of Experience Points.
'It's getting really on my nerves that I'm requiring more than 2.2 Million of EXP just to reach Level 22.
'Earlier I exterminated an entire nest of these creatures and ended up killing more than 324K of them but I probably wouldn't have gotten so close to reaching Level 22 already if it wasn't for the Experience Buff from the Spirit Pendant!
'So far I can manage but in the scenario where Leveling-UP is getting so hard I must work on expanding and diversifying my arsenal of Skills.
'However, even though I've probably achieved the "Diversifying" thing after becoming a Sorcerer.
'Having "Orthodox" Skills which are already approved by the System is what gotten me so far to begin with.
'Now that I have 2 Skill Points available to me I should probably use them on one of the original 6 Skills on this Skill-Branch and skip the one which grew in place of Elemental Expert's Leaf.
Staff Mastery Increases Staff Mastery, M/Attk, and Critical Hit-Rate
'Now I'm torn between using these 2 Skill Points on High Wisdom or this Staff Mastery Skill.
'Since one increases my Intelligence and Wisdom Attributes while the other offer me more options which I never had in perspective before like this so-called Staff Mastery and Critical Hit-Rate!
'Since I can always compensate for my lack of having enough Points on my Intelligence and Wisdom Attributes by surrounding myself with a lot of people or creatures then take advantage of Emphatic Resonance to boost them, I'm gonna go with this one.
Aaron immediately used his 2 Skill Points to unlock the Staff Mastery Skill and just like what happened with Elemental Expert that Leaf withered and fell before another Skill-Branch grew from there!
Staff Mastery Increases Staff Mastery, M/Attk, and Critical Hit-Rate Staff Mastery Level 1 Staff Mastery +64% Magical Attack +50 Critical Hit-Rate +40%
But the kid still had more to do in the Skill Menu since now he has 2 Neutral-Class Skill Points available.
'The time has come for me to gear my pets in flames!
Flame Gear Temporarily coats Host's Pets with an Armor of Fire Flame Gear Level 1 Mana Cost 450 Duration 15 Seconds Proficiency Points 0/100 Note
* Able to withstand Damage equal to 100% of Host's MP bar.
* Enemies within Melee of Pets receive DOT equal to 50% of Host's M/Attk for 3 Seconds.
'Damn! I wasn't expecting this Skill to provide Defense as well as DOT too, now I can't wait to go back to see what happens to Nephrite, Paws, and the rest of the Royal-Guards.
'But I've got to take care of this issue first.' The kid thought while stepping into the living quarters of Marshal Cesar once Carson knocked on the door then pushed the small door open which is part of a much bigger thick metal-studded gates.
Both of the two old men were sitting at the table while some youngsters were handling the paper work in this living area which is a study/office for their Marshal and Strategist.
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Some young kid around Aaron's height was even pouring tea for the two men or running to that person to hand some sort of scroll to another person which is sitting on a desk at the far end of the room and clearly buried in paperwork!
"Hmmm!" The people in the room all stopped and looked towards Carson and the ones which entered the Marshal's living-quarters.
The atmosphere in this place thickened and the air was clearly heavy with some uncomfortable tension once everyone froze but the kid continued to walk at the same pace while looking at these people directly in the eyes one by one.
"Welcome young master Ron! Welcome to my humble abode! I would've led the way myself had I known that you'd be honoring me with a late visit." Marshal Cesar quickly took action once he noticed the tension in the air, the man got up from his seat and walked towards the kid while gesturing to the young kid to go brew some of the good tea which he keeps stashed away from Dalair's dirty and thieving paws.
Aaron walked towards the table and took his seat before saying : "Do excuse me for coming uninvited but I found myself in some sort of dilemma which is quite tricky for me to solve on my own, quite simply I need your help." While taking a cursory glance over the scrolls spread on the table before his eyes stopped on what appears to be a map.
Dalair and Cesar exchanged a glance and could see shock within each other's eyes since they weren't expecting this kid which is usually aloof and quite domineering to show them this side of his character so openly without even trying to disguise his request or anything like that!
"Please speak candidly young master Ron. Your wish is my command." The old man took his seat on the table with Dalair while Gilmore stood right next to the boy and the pair of twins stood behind the two of them.
"I do have my goal in mind and the way to achieve it is quite simple for me but my efforts might end up being a complete waste," Aaron started by saying that before adding : "Which is why I've come to seek your wisdom."
Dalair was taken aback by what he heard and started doubting his ears because when it comes to intellectual faculties, this little brat has already proven himself to be more than a capable foe to an old hand like himself!
Unlike Dalair which likes to peel the union, Cesar was more of a straightforward person by nature and lost his edge thanks to a lifetime's worth of experience but right now this wasn't the battlefield which is why he didn't feel like keeping his guard up against this boy which he owes a lot already!
"Explain it to us so we can get a clear view of your issue." The Marshal said while snapping his finger then gestured for the team of "thinkers" within the room to gather around.
Aaron relaxed in his chair and opened his mouth to say : "I can sum it all in a single word."
"Which is?" Dalair asked while feeling curious to know which kind of thing is this kid struggling to fix.
"Money!" Aaron said before pausing to look at the faces of every single man and woman around the table then added : "Like I said before, I do have the method and the means to solve the issue but I'm lacking severely when it comes to having background knowledge."
A young woman frowned while thinking to herself : 'Why's this brat talking in riddles?' Before asking : "Such as?"
The kid Teleported right next to the map on the table which startled the ones seeing it for the first time when he disappeared from right under their eyes before instantly appearing seven or eight meters away.
"Looking at this map I can tell the location of this Reapers-Fort and based on the cardinal directions vaguely tell the location of some places which I got to hear about from here and there, that's about it.
"I can't tell which Village, Town, or City is thriving economically and which is suffering from difficulties!
"Wouldn't I be making a loss and wasting my efforts if I ended up choosing the wrong location to invest?" Aaron asked and everyone nodded to show their agreement.
"My plan is indeed quite simple and I'm sure you'd all agree with me when I say that the easiest way to make money is by spending money.
"First is of course me opening Portals in the best locations possible to facilitate trade in the area and make it easier for our clients to transport their merchandize.
"Second is getting our hands on Premium-Quality land in these locations where we can easily distribute our local and special products to the markets ourselves to get the most profit possible." He finished explaining and waited to hear from them.
Dalair looked at the map while inwardly rolling his eyes and thinking : 'Here I thought you really needed our help! Aren't you just asking for someone to point the way here?'
Gilmore choose to keep his mouth shut once he saw Aaron looking at him and shaking his head discreetly.
'Looks like young master Ron brought me with him because he doesn't trust anyone in this place.' The Military Advisor's attitude immediately switched from being a member looking for a solution to this problem like others in the room, Gilmore heightened his vigilance to the max while waiting to analyze whatever is going to be thrown into his young master Ron's lap by this group of "Wise" people.
The young woman which asked Aaron earlier pointed at the map while saying : "Since we're looking for locations which are economically-thriving then we have to mention the Capital-Cities of the 3 surrounding Prefectures, Meteor-City, Crescent-Lake City, and Frozen-Peace City."
The hunchbacked man shook his head while saying : "I disagree with you there Tana."
"Why?" The young woman asked while wondering why shouldn't they target the most obvious destinations.
Dalair placed his finger on the map : "We should probably scratch Meteor-City since Viscount Gerand Specter is on his way to Count Bertrand Specter's Fallen-Moon Prefecture as we speak.
"Clearly he's heading over there with venomous intitions after getting his posterior handed to him by young master Ron.
"Crescent-Lake City is also a bit deep within the Duchy's territory which could endanger our existence since if we're not being careful with these Portals we might find ourselves inviting a Tiger into our house right after barely succeeding to chase the Wolf away!
"I say the best option for this is South.
"Cold-Moon Prefecture is quite perfect for such venture since Marchioness Serena's territory is not only bigger than Fallen-Moon and Lonesome-Moon Prefectures combined but also a lot safer since that mysterious woman is famous for being quite reclusive and tends to distance herself from the complicated web of family politics."
Tana mused for a moment before pointing at some locations on the map where a few famous Villages, Towns, and Cities are located, "Then are we going to change our approach and create Portals in these locations instead of the Capital-Cities of Lonesome-Moon and Fallen-moon Prefectures?"
Dalair didn't answer his daughter's question and looked towards Aaron before saying : "That depends on the wishes of young master Ron since we're merely here to give our opinion on the matter, what comes next is entirely up to him."
Aaron looked at the map before saying : "In a normal situation where I don't have to deal with the Beast-Wave... I would've opened portals everywhere in the territories of that adorable Viscount Gerand and his infamously-cruel Count Bertrand then welcomed them to try me with open arms.
"But luckily for these two, actually I don't have time to play with them right now and it kind of sucks because last time I earned a lot from that cowardly guy!
"So... let's completely ignore every Town and City in the East and North for now.
"However, I want everything in the South!
"Let's conquer that market and crush all competition." The kid said before walking towards the door while adding : "I'll leave one of my Personal-Guards with you, once you completely finish the plan send him back to me with the report and I'll immediately begin executing it at once."
'You sent one of your spies into my camp and Rhinne probably did her job well filling you in on most of the details about my day-to-day life, it's about time I paid you guys back with a dose of the same medicine... Hopefully Gilmore would do a good job covering the glimmer of brilliance from his gaze while he's at it.'