Alexander The Great Mage

Chapter 72 - Natural Treasure

"But that's going against our orders!" Shira whispered loudly at Liz'An.

"I will take responsibility for that if Mistress decides that it was a bad decision. But for now, I believe that the most important thing right now is progress, efficiency and moving fast. I can feel King Aloxandros's urgency and I believe that this decision is the right one." Liz'An said. "Don't worry." Liz'An smiled at the two girls.

"I think we should send twenty six thousand Wyverns." Shira said loudly. "I will tell Princess Aleyria that it was my decision and take full responsibility."

"Twenty six? Are you kidding? I think we should send twenty seven thousand!" Kan-Dari immediately said. "Let's send twenty seven thousand then." She said in a firm voice.

"I think we should send -" Shira began.

"Enough, enough." Isabella chuckled. She understood what was going on. Each of the three girls wanted to make the final decision so that should the hammer fall, it would fall upon the final decision maker, and not the other two. Such loyal and adorable and girls.

"I'll take twenty thousand. And if Dubaza or the princess finds fault with it, you girls say that I insisted, and will not take no for an answer. The Princess… Even if she finds fault with my decision, I do not think she will punish me directly. She will go to Dubaza. And Dubaza will not punish me." She chuckled once more. "Oh no, he wouldn't"

"Are you sure?" Liz'An asked doubtfully.

"Yes, I am sure." Isabella nodded firmly.

"At least let me go with you. If you have problems controlling the Wyverns, I would be able to handle it for you." Liz'An said.

"Actually that would be a great idea. Without the Bloodline suppression of a 3rd Generation Wyverns, these younger generation Wyverns can get a little bit difficult to control.

Liz'An nodded. Shira glanced at Kan-Dari who nodded imperceptibly.

"In that case, we'll go too. You'll need to split up to different cities to pick up the trolls right? Liz'An, Dari and I can take a group each and go pick up the trolls. Hey, in fact we can make a competition out of it! Whoever can pick up the most number of trolls and reach the City of Rin first, will win! How about that?" Shira said excitedly.

Kan-Dari's eyes gleamed in excitement as well. "Sounds good! You're on!"

Liz'An laughed at the two girls. They were so competitive! "Okay, let's do that then. Isabella, who do you think should bring the remaining Wyverns back to Lord Dubaza?" Liz'An asked.

"Gabriella will do it. I'm sure she'd jump at the chance to go visit that old man. She has a thing going on for him. I have to remain behind and make sure King Biruz stays alive." Isabella explained.

"A thing? What thing?" Shira asked in confusion.

"A thing, Shira. She has something to give him." Kan-Dari explained patiently.

"Yes. Probably a report on the past few days." Liz'An nodded sagely.

Isabella looked at the three girls in slight surprise before laughing out loud. Such innocent girls still exist in this world huh? Good for the world.

"Err, okay." Shira said uncertainly. She felt like it could be something more, but couldn't for the world think of what else it could be. So she let it slide.

"Well, sounds like we have a plan. Let's go!" Isabella said.

"Let's go!" The three girls said in unison.

*-*-*-*-*

"Achoo!!" Dubaza sneezed loudly.

"Hey! Stop that!" Alexander hissed urgently.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty." Dubaza whispered back. "Someone must be speaking ill of me. I have not sneezed for many decades."

"What? You have not sneezed for decades?" Alexander stopped and turned to look at Dubaza in surprise. "How is that possible?"

"I have no idea, Your Majesty. I haven't fallen sick since my powers awakened." Dubaza said with a shrug.

Mutter mutter mutter. Alexander muttered as he resumed his sneaking about. Thankfully the deer hadn't noticed them yet.

They were in a forest, trying to sneak up to a deer so they could cook it and have some venison.

"I could paralyse it and we can catch it very quickly, Your Majesty." Dubaza whispered.

"No!" Alexander said. "No magic! If we depend too much on magic, we'll lose our physical skills. We must catch this deer without magic!"

"Meow!" Fluff-fluff yawned from on top of Alexander's head.

The deer suddenly perked its ears, and scampered away.

"NO!" Alexander roared in anger. "This is the third time already!"

He grumbled and cursed the fat cat for being a useless freeloader. He leapt up from his crouch and ran after the deer. He really wanted venison.

After being raised to a Silver Warlord, his speed was definitely not any slower than a mere deer. He soon caught up and raised his hand to point at the deer. Immediately ice appeared on the deer's feet. It tumbled and fell, and tried to get up. But it couldn't do that anymore because its feet were frozen solid.

"Ehm." Dubaza coughed politely. For all his age Dubaza managed to keep up with the younger and Perses-enhanced Alexander. Apparently Alexander wasn't the only one with secrets.

"A sneeze, and a cough, Dubaza? Are you getting old on me?" Alexander said grumpily, still angry at the cat and oblivious to the fact that Dubaza had effortlessly kept up with him.

"No, Your Majesty, of course not." Dubaza wisely refrained from pointing out that Alexander had just used magic to catch the deer.

Alexander stomped towards the deer and immediately killed it. He skillfully skinned it and quickly got a fire roaring and cooked the deer. Alexander was a very skilled cook, the deer was perfectly seasoned with a bunch of herbs Alexander always had with him, and was roasted perfectly over the fire.

Within a few minutes, they were digging in.

"Meow!" Fluff-fluff meowed happily as it bit on a large chunk of meat.

"Freeloader." Alexander grumbled at it. Fluff-fluff ignored him completely.

"This is excellent, Your Majesty. I had no idea you could cook this way." Dubaza praised after he had his fill.

"Indeed." Alexander burped. "I hadn't cooked this way for a long time."

Dubaza raised his eyebrow slightly at that. As far as he was concerned, he had never seen King Aloxandros cook a deer. And he had been his Chief Bodyguard for many long years. Another mystery to solve.

Alexander laid down on the bedding he had made. "Let's rest up before we resume early tomorrow morning. Vernie and my Wyvern would need time to hunt and heal too."

"As you command, Your Majesty." Dubaza bowed. He quickly made his way up a tree to keep watch as his King took his rest.

However, before Alexander could begin to drift off to sleep, Dubaza's voice sounded from above him.

"Err… Your Majesty. I think I found an extremely rare natural treasure."

"National treasure? What treasure?" Alexander perked up a little at the mention of 'treasure'.

"I think its the Verdant Magic Fruit." Dubaza said with a strange tone.

"A Verdant Magic Fruit? What is tha- A VERDANT MAGIC FRUIT?! LET ME SEE IT!" Alexander shouted in shock.

"Errr…" Dubaza's voice sounded out once more.

"What's the matter? Let me see it!" Alexander said impatiently.

"Yes, Your Majesty. How many do you want to see?" Came Dubaza's voice once more with its strange tone.

Alexander remained silent for a moment.

Poof! He appeared next to Dubaza, who pointed at the cluster of fruits growing in the corner of a branch.

Alexander looked at the fruits in shock. Indeed, they were Verdant Magic Fruits. There were at least ten of them, at different maturity levels. By his estimate, four were already ripe. Perfect for immediate consumption. The other six would probably require another three to ten months before they mature.

Verdant Magic Fruits were incredibly rare and precious fruits. Nobody really knew how they were formed, and nobody really knew where to look for them. They grew at the strangest places. Under a bush, near a stream, on a tree… There was no common thread among all the Verdant Magic Fruits that were found which could be a clue as to how they were formed and where to find them. All people knew was that they were extremely rare, and extremely powerful.

Verdant Magic Fruits allows Mages to form a strong affinity with Verdant Magic. The keyword was FORM. People with NO affinity at all toward Verdant Magic ended up having powerful affinities with it after they had consumed the fruit. For those who already had affinities with Verdant Magic, the effects were only an increase in affinity with Verdant Magic. It was rather muted compared to a non-verdant magic user consuming it, but it was still great nonetheless. Any increase in affinity meant a jump in power.

"Take one." Alexander told Dubaza.

"Your Majesty, look closer." Dubaza pointed at the cluster of fruits once more.

Alexander leaned forward to look at the fruits. His mouth dropped open.

"No way…" He whispered.