City of Sin

Book 2, 34

Agreement

By nightfall, the camp at the lakeside had fallen silent. Both the soldiers and their captives were thoroughly exhausted after the long, hard day, and they’d gone to bed early. The only ones full of energy were the three raptors, who’d just had a heavy meal. They took on patrol duty.

Richard meditated until he completely recovered his mana, before walking out of his tent and slowly wandering towards the lake.

Standing by the lake was the graceful silhouette of Flowsand. Even though she rarely meditated, it seemed like she could recover her mana just as fast as him. She was quietly gazing out at the lake, her thoughts a mystery. The Book of Time was hanging from her waist, glowing faintly that when coupled with the misty haze from the lake made her seem dreamy.

Richard walked over and casually asked, “What’s on your mind?”

“You and I,” her slightly hoarse voice was as lethal as ever.

Richard stopped, coughing a few times in an attempt to hide his awkwardness. Flowsand had an extraordinary charm, great enough to make him feel awkward with that dubious answer. He’d retreated a few times before, but this time he wouldn’t back off from the exchange. He clarified, “What about us?”

“Our relationship.”

Richard gritted his teeth and continued, “What relationship?”

However, he realised how stupid that sounded the moment the words left his mouth. This evidently surmounted to a type of defeat.

Flowsand turned around, gazing deep into Richard’s eyes, “I’ve been thinking of how many years we can keep this up.”

Her reply was really vague, and seemed to conceal another meaning. However, it was also possible that she meant nothing at all. Richard sighed, “Many. As long as we can survive.”

She let out a faint smile, “We will as long as you want us to.”

This made Richard curious, “You seem to be more confident in me than I am in myself.”

“You have a strange ability... The depths of the battlefield seem transparent to your gaze. What’s more, you also have your broodmother...”

She deliberately paused for a while before continuing, “And you have me.”

Everything she had said was correct. However, some of it was especially lethal. Looking at the priestess under the moonlight, Richard couldn’t help but think back to her body. It took a difficult struggle for him to control his desires, and he spoke sternly, “You’ve seen the information on our surroundings. The commoners aren’t necessarily hostile to us, we might even have an opportunity to work with the nobles. The only ones who truly want to destroy us here are the deities.”

Flowsand replied, “That goes without saying. Our presence here already violates the law of the planes, they will definitely try to get rid of us. However, even if you conquer the entire plane the nobles will still find a place in your regime.”

Richard nodded in agreement, “So we actually have a high possibility of finding good allies. There are two candidates. First is the Direwolf Duke in the west, who comes from a clan that believes in ancestral worship. And the other is Earl Oliver in the south. Rumours say he’s dabbled in the dark arts for almost twenty years, and he has numerous connections to the abyss. I’ve heard that he’s secretly created a pool of blood, frequently killing his prisoners to present them as offerings. It indicates that he’s trying to summon demons, and they definitely won’t be from this plane so they won’t be in the same camp as the God of Valour.

“Most interestingly, neither territory is particularly far away, but they’ve still continued their existence. This means that they have enough capability that the church cannot just destroy them.”

“Indeed. A violent tyrant and a murderous maniac,” Flowsand hit the nail on the head.

Richard nodded, “We have no choice but to work with murderers and tyrants now.”

“Watch out for them. They may eat you alive!”

Richard laughed, “They can try. They’ll most likely break their teeth.”

The two continued to joke around for a while, something that finally allowed Richard to grow less tense. He gazed at the calm lake, saying, ”Ah... I feel like it takes more time for me to increase my mana pool here.”

“That is normal. The greater the restrictions on power in a plane, the slower one grows as well. Primary planes don’t have many restrictions on power, which is the entire reason they’ve grown to their positions. To a certain extent, expeditions to lesser planes are a waste of your lifespan, exchanging time for resources. If your only ambition is power, you need to remain in your primary plane to hone your craft.”

“Oh... And before I forget, this plane only has two moons. Why can I still draw the powers of the seven moons when I use the secret swords?”

Flowsand shook her head, “That I don’t know. There are far too many mysteries in the planes, and my knowledge barely scratches the surface. The only things I know are from written accounts.

Richard let out a long sigh, “Alright, I understand now. I’ve had a few ideas recently, and a breakthrough in my research into fireballs...”

“Fireballs again! That spell is only good when you need to roast a pig!” Flowsand couldn’t help but let out a laugh that faded into a tight-lipped smile. Shrouded in the moonlight reflecting off the lake, she looked indescribably beautiful.

“No, there’s always room for improvement. I can now delay the spell by upto a second. If I launch three fireballs in a triangular formation, I should be able to delay them such that they explode together—” Richard immediately squatted down, scribbling on the ground by the lake.

Flowsand didn’t think anything of it at first, but after some deeper consideration her complexion rapidly changed. If Richard really could control the spells so well, then the target in the centre of that triangle wouldn’t just be a roasted pig. She hadn’t heard of anyone under the level of great mages who had such great control over their magic.

Richard continued rambling, but then he suddenly looked up to gaze at the distance. He then gasped in surprise.

“What is it?” Flowsand asked.

“It’s nothing, let us continue.” The broodmother had just informed him that it had discovered a valley inhabited by troggs. It had sealed the mouth off, and was preparing for a meal. Troggs were just like goblins, a community that could barely pass off as an intelligent species. While they weren’t as smart as even the goblins, however, their fighting strength was far superior. Richard had grown concerned for the broodmother for a moment, but he quickly dismissed it. It was capable of discerning the threat its prey posed.

Richard had just said a few words, before suddenly turning his attention towards the forest. He stood up, frowning, “It’s late. Why is Olar running towards the forest? The raptors are taking care of patrolling... Come, let’s have a look.”