Chương 419: Chapter 418 – Time To Train

"I don't understand you," Straus said, taking his hand from the wound on his neck once he was sure he was not going to start bleeding again. Through the smeared blood no wound could be seen. If someone did not know he was the one that was just mortally wounded they would be sure it was someone else's blood.

"I'm not your friend, nor your ally, in fact, I'm a former enemy. Yet you give me a priceless potion to save my life."

"Well, you can only use one of those once a week, so they do have their limitations. Besides, if I let you die, then we won't know what you learned about our friend. And since she got away, that makes what you know worth even more."

"What makes you think I was able to learn anything from her?" Straus asked.

"I'd be rather surprised if you learned nothing. Despite our differences, you were a well-respected Justiciar once. You know how to be observant and how to pick up on what people don't say, just as much as what they do. You also know how to interrogate a suspect, and I think you could do that even if you were her prisoner."

"I think you give me a bit too much credit," Straus replied, lowering his head.

"No, I think he is correct in his assessment of you," Visault chimed in.

"You were always very observant, asking few, but pointed questions when you were in my people's care. I agree with Mage Wells, I think you learned a fair amount, especially if the Alfar believed you were going to be dead soon, she would not have been very guarded with you."

"Alright. I guess since you saved my life, I'll share. As Visault knows, the Alfar's name is Mirax. Apparently she is a Mistress, whatever that means…"

"It's sort of a position for female Alfar," Visault explained.

"Comparable to either a second in command or regional commander that reports to a Matron, or commander, similar to my father's level."

"So, a step down from the head honcho," Damion commented.

"Got it."

"Some of this you have probably already guessed, especially since Visault knew who she was," Straus told them.

"I'd like to see how much you were able to discern."

"Well, Mistress Mirax, wanted to kill Damion because he is a true mage, which seems to be the same reason you, Visault, are interested in him. Her goal seemed to be his death, but clearly she did not anticipate your arrival with him, or his mastery over the Spatial affinity. She appears talented with several affinities, but not all, I'm not certain what a true mage is so I can only theorize.

My guess is that it means a mage can use any affinity, but there are some they are more prepositioned to, such as yourself, Mage Wells, with Ice.

"As for how Mistress Mirax reached so deep, apparently, they have a method of detecting the spatial disturbance caused by Exile and relied on spies within the Iblis domain to determine if the disturbance was caused by a human entering the Mother World. Apparently, it is more common for beasts or partially or wholly destroyed objects to be sent through. From what I hear, a massive attack was once sent through some months ago, perhaps Visault could shed some light on that."

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"It was a blast from what we believe to have been an A Rank magic cannon, similar to what we use on our patrol ships."

"That was probably my fault," Damion said. He recalled the blast from a magic cannon he Exiled some months back when visiting a Crimson Order outpost.

"That was quite a thing to Exile," Visault told him.

"Luckily, the area around the ruins is deserted and the blast came in parallel to the ground. If it had come in straight down, it could very well have released the horde that lurks below."

"Oh, so you are aware of those," Straus said.

"That was one of the reasons the Alfar came alone. She did not want to risk disturbing the creatures lurking there."

"Of course she didn't" Visualt sneered.

"They are her people's greatest defense. Our goal is to negate the seal and return the Mother World to its previous harmony. Their goal is to force us all to flee and then claim the Mother World for themselves."

"Close," Straus said, surprising both Damion and Visault.

"The Alfar want to let the mana density of the Mother World to rise to SSS Rank density, so they can achieve that Rank without having to go into high-level dungeons."

"They are insane. There is no way their general population can survive that mana density. Anyone under A Rank would die for sure, not to mention their offspring…" Visault suddenly cut himself off as he was speaking as if he realized something. Straus and Damion waited for a moment before finally asking.

"What is it?" asked Damion.

"The mana density and the Alfar plantations. They've been preparing for this for a long time."

"You mean the way they use Realm Breaches as farming plots for rare materials?"

"Precisely. We, the Iblis, only use Realm Breaches as natural farms, but the Alfar have been creating them, in greater and greater numbers. We thought they are just using them as a means to divert mana away, but what if they are using them to safeguard their people, while they make the Mother World uninhabitable for everyone?"

"Going a bit extreme there are you?" Straus asked.

"Even if you are right, now many years away are they from that magic density?"

"Not as far as you think," Visault countered.

"Because of all the Realm Breaches they have created, that are sending a great deal of mana to other worlds, the mana density of the Mother World is only slowly rising. But what if they suddenly collapsed hundreds or thousands of those Breaches. The mana they are draining away will cease and we will quickly be faced with a rising tide."

"And how far away are they from that?" Damion asked, suddenly worried.

"There is no way to know for certain. We have no idea how many Realm Breaches they have, how many they plan to use to hide their people, or how many it would take collapsing to allow the Mother World's mana density to rise to SSS Rank."

"How many SS Ranks do they have that they want to use this method to let them Rank up?" Straus asked.

"To my knowledge there are only three. Each of them Elder Matrons. They are ancient, thousands of years old, but it is possible the Alfar have raised more to that level. Take Mistress Mirax's matron, Jysella. She is upper S Rank last time we encountered her in battle. She and the other Matrons may all be closing in on SS Rank."

"And the Iblis?" Damion asked Straus." How many SS Ranks does your side have?"

"Three, though my father is at the peak of S Rank. If he could find a suitable Realm Breach to enter, he might be able to breakthrough."

"They can't be too close," Straus commented, catching Visault and Damion off guard.

"Why is that?" Visault demanded.

"Because when she learned that Damion is only B Rank, she was relieved, but not overly so. If they were close, they wouldn't bother with him. She would have killed me, and fled back to her people, as Damion would not be able to grow strong enough to interfere with their plans."

"But she stayed and tried to eliminate him. Which means there is a chance that Damion can grow strong enough to interfere with their plans." Both Straus and Visault turned to look at Damion, who was absorbing the news.

"Looks like I need to get training."