Soul of Searing Steel
chapter-129

West of the city, in the mansion.

Nostradamus who revealed his identity as a mage had been welcomed and escorted to the main hall of Joshua's mansion. He was currently sitting on a chair in the middle of the main hall as he sipped the hot tea that was served to him by the female servants. In the meantime, he was observing his surroundings at ease. After that, he sighed and said, "I can't believe this. Even though this is just a backup mansion for the Count, the decorations around in the mansion is not half bad… This cut on the neck seems like he had the advantage over this beast when he was battling it…"

Although the last words were a little out of the blue, however, no one would feel strange or absurd about it. Well, that was because there was a giant head of a Rimetooth Wyrm hanging on the wall not far from where the white-haired mage was sitting.

During the end of December last year, the only remains of the Rimetooth Wyrm after the festival celebration was this dragon's head. The head was hung right on the wall of the hall. Its two eyes were filled with rage as if all its rage before its final moment were stored right in that pair of eyes. Normal people would have pissed their pants if they ever see this head hanging on the wall.

Truthfully, most of the female servants in the mansion were startled or horrified by the presence of that wyrm's head when it was first hung on the wall in the living hall. However, as time passed by, the servants began to grow used to it.

"He started slashing his sword down at the wyrm's on the fifth joint of its bones, also its most vulnerable joint. It was a clean cut. The sword went straight through the neck of the wyrm without a trace of the sword stopping halfway of the cut. After all, this man's experience in such regard is very rich. It makes me wonder how many heads he had chopped in order to attain such skill in the art of decapitation."

As he nodded his head praising it, the old mage then turned his head over to look at the lady that was sitting quietly on the chair beside him. The long-haired lady was sipping on her tea occasionally while when she was sitting on the chair. Then the old man smiled and said, "Clyre, as a Druid of this land, aren't you committed to the balance of all living beings? Don't you actually feel like saying something about this? Nothing at all?"

"Hmm…"

After hearing what Nostradamus had to say, the druid with a long green hair and pointy ears frowned slightly. Clyre put down the cup of tea in her hands gently on the table right beside her. Then she gave some thoughts about it and answered with a stern look on her face. " This is not a torturous slaughter. So, it's fine."

After that, she lifted her teacup again and took a sip. Then she revealed a faint smile on her face.

"You really like tea…"

Upon shaking his head, the old mage was not surprised by the answer she gave. The lady in front of him was unlike other elves who were savage, but part of the druid tribe that was much gentler.

They claimed that civilization was also part of the cycle of nature. As long as it is not like slaughtering on a massive scale like the incidents happening in the Dark Forest, hunting daemons and collecting wood for raw materials still fell within an acceptable level. The bottom line was hunting pregnant female beasts and replanting young seeds onto the land after chopping the old ones down.

Creak

The sound of the door opened was heard not far from the living hall.

"Oh, the Count is here."

Clapping his hands a little bit, the white-haired mage immediately stood up from his chair. He looked to the other side of the living room where the hallway leading to the gate was with a smile on his face. "Clyre, as a guest, it is basic manners to take the initiative to greet and welcome the arrival of the mansion's master."

"That's not true."

The druid stared at her old friend.

"We've known each other for over what? More than fifty years? There's no need for such courtesy among people who are close."

Just when the two of them were having a conversation about courtesy and politeness, Joshua walked right into the mansion. This time, he was wearing a dark brown leather suit with a ceremonial sword hanging on his waist. Because the warrior had not cut his hair recently, he tied his hair up in a ponytail.

Joshua walked across the hallway and into the living hall where the guests were. The smooth black pine floor that came in touch with the bottom of the shoes caused clear sounds of footsteps. There was a hint of curiosity in his eyes. It seemed that he was wondering which mage would want to see him at a time like this. However, the moment when he saw the old white-haired mage standing right in the middle of the living hall, the warrior immediately widened his eyes. The glimpse of curiosity in his eyes turned to astonishment.

"[Mastery Soul]?!"

Suppressing his surprised voice to himself, Joshua's instinct had led him into pressing his hand on the sword hanging on his waist. He was ready to battle. "This mother*cker is just too damn strong!"

According to the messenger, the old mage who came to visit him was extremely strong and there was no way for the messenger to tell how strong the old mage was. However, the warrior thought the 'strong' that the messenger said was just Gold tier at most. He even though the mage would just be an Upper Silver. After all, the city's guards at the city gate were merely Steel tier. They would not be capable enough to see if the person was an Upper Silver tier or a Gold tier. They would not be able to see the powerful existence of Mastery that was infested deep inside the mage.

In any case, Joshua had never actually thought about encountering [Mastery Soul].

With the Seven Gods existing in this world where the 'The Great Magic Era' had yet to arrive, the existence of a Supreme tier was so rare! The eastern plains were homes that were industrialized with magic. There were the best and the most wholesome Mage Academies and LEgacies all over that region. But even so, there were no more than twenty Supreme-tier mages throughout the entire continent. The current northern Empire was no longer the same kingdom of legendary mages three hundred years ago. Now, there were only two Supreme-tier mages in the entire kingdom that belonged to the Emperor who was a Legendary warrior. There were only two!

Upon stopping on this thought, Joshua's heart held on to the unexpected. He gazed at the mage and took a deep breath nice and slow. Then he sighed and spoke, "The Archmage of the Empire, the leader of the Imperial Royal Mage Guild... Lord Nostradamus, to what do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?"

Obviously, Joshua only felt surprised, but not happy. Sighing heavily, the warrior looked at the mage right before him helplessly. He was trying his best to recall his memories from his previous life, digging deep to remember the information about this old man.

Nostradamus, no last name, born on Starfall Year 768 . Both of his parents were commoners. He had exhibited that he could cast powerful spells and he had the Gift of a Prophet. Upon receiving financial support from the Kaos family, he had succeeded in becoming a Silver-tier mage when he was twenty three. Thirty years ago, Starfall Year 802, when he was 34 years old, Nostradamus had attained Gold-tier Glory, joining the military under the orders of the Empire to battle against the largest invasion of the orcs in the past 300 years. That was also the first time the Northwest land had an all-out war.

While on the battlefield, Nostradamus who seemed normal and insignificant at first stepped out with unbelievable radiance, charging up the entire mage party, making the entire party invincible. With him as the center point of the party, they even managed to defeat three orc shaman legions of equal size. After looking at the post-war statistics, Nostradamus had defeated twenty seven Gold-tier orc champions. This number had shocked the Emperor of the Empire during that time being. The Emperor even invited him to teach the Emperor's future successor, the elder prince, which was the current Emperor of the Empire, Israel.

Of course, these were not the reasons Joshua could remember him. Although these incidents were his legacy and they were legendary, they were not worthwhile for people to remember them for that long. What really made Joshua remember this old mage was what was about to happen in the future.

In Starfall Year 835, that would be three years from now, this old mage did not forget what he always wanted to do way back when he only started this journey to become powerful and significant. He followed his heart and created the first formal Mage Academy in the Imperial City. Regardless of whether the person was a commoner or noble, as long as they had the talents or Gift, the person would be provided an opportunity to learn and master magic. His actions had nurtured countless powerful spellcasters. These spellcasters would be providing much help in the future against the invasion of Chaos.

Speaking of which, Brandon seemed to be Nostradamus's junior… Then the reason that he came all the way to was quite obvious.

"How rude of me to come here without any prior notice. As for saying your place is small, that would be a joke. Let's not talk about the history of the Radcliffe family in the North. The fame of your nickname as the 'Cold Steel Duke' has long been spread as far as the Imperial City itself. Riding on horseback and charging forward for seventeen days straight, you annihilated the rebels who attempted to take over the fortress. Then you also rushed to Moldova and closed the dimensional with merely your own strength. These events have long been the topics for discussion among the nobles during the Empire's banquets."

The old mage complimented the warrior in front of him with a smile on his face. Meanwhile, the warrior did not let the opportunity slip. He also grabbed on to the opportunity to express his respect towards the mage. The two of them went to the main topic after they had a brief chat.

"I came here today for the dimensional rift deep in the middle of the Dark Forest in Moldova."

Nostradamus fixed his eyes on the warrior. His eyes were filled with curiosity/ "As one of the only two Supreme mages in the entire Empire, sealing the dimensional rift is my duty and responsibility. About half a month ago, I've completely sealed that large rift with Vale Dani's support. Also, because you've destroyed all of the magic convergence points, I did not need to spend much effort and time to clear out the remaining Chaos in the surroundings."

In fact, in addition to that, the old mage had been observing Joshua secretly for at least two weeks now. Other than just shocked by the fact that the warrior had actually managed to advance into Upper Gold tier, Nostradamus had been searching for the presence of [Mastery Soul] all the while. However, after all these years, he had not been able to find even the slightest sense or sign of [Mastery Soul]. It seems that the sense of presence that he felt while observing the battle between the warrior and Brandon was just an illusion after all.

Without solid proof or any leads, there was no way that he could predict and make any assumptions. Nostradamus could only put that incident behind for the moment and focus on the incident on hand right now. He needed to solve the main problem first.

"Just call me Joshua. As for those who are also counts, I haven't been thinking much about it at all." Joshua shook his head. The warrior knew that the magewas born as a commoner as well. The old mage was not a person to forget his roots and he rejected the Empire's offers and rewards. Because of that, this old mage was still poor as he was before his current status. However, that was not the reason for the other person to have great respect for him. Joshua turned his head around to look at the green-haired woman who stood quietly behind the old mage. Then he asked, "And may I know who this is?"

'She's a friend of mine for many years now. Her name is Clyre Windsong, an Upper Gold-tier druid."

It seemed that the old mage had waited long for the warrior to ask his question. The old white-haired mage then smiled and said, "I invited her along to purify the northern land. As you know, the dimensional rift has left quite a large amount of Chaos energy all over the place."

So that explained a lot. Upon hearing that, the warrior instantly understood something.

Currently, because the Sacred Mountain of the High Seas were preparing for some major events that were bound to happen soon, there was no manpower to spare to get rid of Chaos from the northern land. The Church of the Seven Gods was also in the located at the Sacred Mountain of the High Seas. As such, the druids who have embarked on the balance of the order was indeed the best choice of all for such task. After all, they could also purify the power of Chaos. Furthermore, the situation in the northern land was that the land had been contaminated with Chaos. The druids who shared the breath of nature may be able to aim at the root of the problem better than the others in such regard.

According to Joshua's knowledge, the large druid tribe in the previous world that called themselves [Reformers of the World] would show up to purify the land. They were quite proficient in purifying the contaminated land and recreating the oasis on the Mycroft Continent which was nearly destroyed by the war.

"Hello, Ms. Clyre. Your presence in my territory is an honor."

"Hello, the Count of this territory."

Receiving a warm welcome from Joshua, Clyre closed her gray eyes and nodded gently to express her respect towards Joshua. After that, the long-haired druid did not speak much. Instead, she went straight to the point, "I sense that there is Chaos energy lingering in your mansion."