Chapter 111: Chapter 110: Great Mage
"I can tell, you know? I can feel it—the aura of Magic on you.
Are you the Commander-in-Chief of this Human Race army? Sir, I’m certain that I’m an excellent Mage who would be a great asset to your forces.
Believe me, I have many uses..." Falan Dao’an explained desperately as he spoke.
Robson raised an eyebrow at his words. Influenced by his past life, he had originally thought the one in the ring would surely be some old man.
But the Mage’s tone inexplicably reminded Robson of the tech nerds he’d met during inspections in his past life.
They were desperate to prove their worth but would stammer and fail to get to the point.
’How could I not know he’s a Great Mage? If he weren’t, he couldn’t have preserved his own soul.’
According to the limited magical theory Robson knew, a person’s soul in this world, just like their body, had a finite lifespan.
Generally speaking, the lifespan of a soul and a body were about the same. But after experiencing the mortal world, the body could suffer damage and perish prematurely, leaving only the soul behind.
Under normal circumstances, these souls would travel to their family altars or, with a Priest as an intermediary, journey to the Divine Kingdoms of the gods. There, the souls would live out their final moments before being annihilated and turning into energy.
For a soul to exist independently in the world was exceedingly difficult; it would be impossible without some special means.
Of course, there were also cases where the soul dissipated before the body...
But that wasn’t the point. The point was, why should he, Lord Robson, spend so many Magic Crystals to save a complete stranger whose background he knew nothing about?
’What if I get him out only to find out everything he said was a lie?’
"I need some assurance, you understand? I don’t know you," Robson said, cutting straight to the chase.
When dealing with this kind of socially awkward tech nerd, being blunt was the best and most efficient method of communication.
"Assurance? I can swear on Vidahill! If a single word I’ve said is false, may I lose the protection of Magic and never be able to attain truth in this life!" Falan said.
’Vidahill?’ Robson was taken aback.
’The infamous Evil God! Worshipped by the Truth Sect.’
"Vidahill? But that’s an Evil God..." Robson said.
Although the list of Evil Gods had been published by the Dawn Church, the Truth Sect that worshipped Vidahill was indeed up to no good. The Frank Kingdom had even launched campaigns in the past to eliminate such domestic terrorist organizations.
The Truth Sect was one of them.
"Evil God? Has his reputation fallen that low? How about this, I... you... can you draft a Magic Contract?
If that doesn’t work, that energy from before... I could feel it was restrictive. You can use that energy to anchor me."
’Energy anchoring?’ Another term Robson didn’t understand. ’Could it be related to the system panel?’
In the end, Robson decided to use both the system panel and a Magic Contract as a double guarantee.
He wasn’t short on materials. To practice Magic, Robson always kept several sets of magical ingredients in his Space Ring.
The contract’s contents were even based on the official agreement templates provided by the Magic Guild in the Tilia Kingdom.
This kind of thing had been used by all human powers for over a thousand years with almost no changes. If it had been problem-free for a millennium, Robson didn’t think a single Mage could find any loopholes.
Conveniently, crafting these basic Magic Contracts was a required course for junior Mages.
Of course, this also meant he could only create a basic contract. The kind of high-level contract that could turn someone into a slave required an exceptionally high level of skill from the Mage.
Fortunately, Robson had no intention of making the man his slave anyway.
"Sign this contract and add your Soul Mark. You understand the procedure, right?" Robson held the completed Magic Contract in front of the pendant where Falan resided.
It was just a standard employment contract, the kind high nobles used to prevent mercenaries from turning on them. The only difference was that Robson had changed the duration to fifty years.
This type of contract first became popular during the era of the Holy Pope. Back then, the noble system was not yet fully established, and the Holy See was adept at sowing discord, leading to a chaotic age that gave rise to many mercenaries.
Something that had been tried and tested for over a thousand years ought to work.
"This... Fifty years? Sir, I... I came here with a mission. I need to..."
"A mission? What kind of mission?" Robson asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I... I can’t remember it right now, but I’ll definitely remember it later... It’s a matter of great importance to the Human Race!"
"You see? You don’t even know what your mission is. Don’t you want to serve the Human Race?" Robson stood up and looked at the pendant.
Falan fell silent for a moment. ’On second thought, he has a point.’
"That’s right. So, Sir, shouldn’t you be helping me?"
Robson chuckled softly. ’With a tech nerd like him, all you need is some patient guidance to slowly bring him around to your way of thinking.’
"Do you know where this is? Do you know who I am?" Robson asked.
"Uh, my apologies. I haven’t had the chance to ask your name," Falan said.
Robson lifted up the pendant containing Falan and gestured toward the collapsing Beastman Army all around them. After reaching Gold rank, he had already deployed a Qi Battle Arena, and now, the immense qi in Robson’s body was practically inexhaustible.
The Beastmen, terrified by the earlier scene, didn’t dare to advance a single step.
"This is the very front line of the war between the Human Race and other races! As a Commander-in-Chief of the Human Race, I am defending my motherland.
Not just now, but in the future, and for the rest of my life, I will continue to dedicate myself to this cause! To protect my country, to protect this race.
Falan, you see, our causes do not conflict," Robson said with a smile.
Inside the necklace, Falan was in a daze. His mind was now filled with only the magical knowledge from his previous life; as for his life experiences and such, he had long forgotten them completely.
Listening to Robson’s words, he felt that something was off, but upon careful consideration, there really wasn’t anything wrong with them.
"But, I still need to..."
"What could be more important? Perhaps you’ve been asleep for too long and don’t know, but the entire Human Race is currently besieged by peril. The Elf Dwarves to the east, the Beastmen to the north, the Sea Race to the south—there isn’t a single race that doesn’t covet our dominant position.
A failure on any front would be a colossal crisis for the entire Human Race.
I don’t know what era you’re from, but this is the reality of our current age!
And your mission should be to ensure the survival of the Human Race! By following me now, you can immediately help humanity fend off the Beastmen. Isn’t that right?" Robson said with a smile.
Strictly speaking, Robson wasn’t wrong. But by framing it this way, he was directly tying his own position and his own safety to the fate of the entire Human Race.
In reality, however, even now he was merely a fledgling general who had just begun to make a name for himself on the Western Front.
"It seems so... But what if..."
"There is no ’what if.’ You said earlier that you believe in an Evil God. Do you have any idea how serious a crime that is? It’s punishable by being burned at the stake.
How about this: you just settle in here with me for ten years. After that time is up, I’ll support you in whatever you want to do. How about it?" Robson said with a smile.
’Actually, ten years is my ideal timeframe. No matter how much knowledge this Mage has, ten years is more than enough time for me to squeeze it all out of him.’
’Besides, given my own growth trajectory, in ten years, it’s hard to say who will need whom more.’
With patient persuasion, Robson broke down Falan’s psychological defenses step by step.
"Well, you’re not wrong..."
Falan obediently pressed his Soul Mark onto the contract.
DING! "Falan Douglas has joined your party."
Robson eagerly opened Falan’s panel, but everything was listed as ’Unknown.’
’Could it be because he doesn’t have a physical body?’
"How can I help you now?" Robson asked, looking at the necklace.
"Just place me on that chest. The necklace has a Magic Array I prepared," Falan said.
Robson could even sense that Falan was probably a little excited.
Of course Falan was excited. That fellow Marin, no matter what Falan said, would never allow him to have his own body, probably fearing he would run away.
Now, he could finally be truly reborn.
When Robson placed the necklace on the chest, it suddenly flashed out of nowhere.
Immediately, the Magic Crystals from the several chests all surged toward the necklace.
A massive blue storm of Magic began to unfold.
’So advanced. Is this what Magic is? I have to admit, I’ve never seen anything this high-level before.’
Of course, it wasn’t just him who had never seen it. Even if Master Kosen were here, he would probably be blown away.
Slowly, the blue storm began to cool down.
After the storm dissipated, a young man wearing a blue Mage Robe gradually appeared.
"Hello, my name is Falan, from the Douglas Clan. Of course, that surname may have already vanished into the river of time..."
