Chapter 338: Take me to the library right now!
As soon as Ethan left with his mother, Doran remained where he was, feet firmly planted on the newly laid stones of the central square.
His eyes slowly swept over the citizens, who were still reeling from the upheaval, their homes recently relocated to make way for the new barracks at the heart of the city.
Then he turned to the soldiers, their eyes gleaming as they took in the newly built barracks.
"What are you waiting for? Come on, take your positions! Soon, a new battalion will enter the Hell Soldier’s Gate!" Doran commanded, his firm voice cutting through the chatter like a blade.
The murmurs ceased instantly. Thalion, Doran’s second-in-command, began organizing the soldiers alongside Theron, issuing brief, direct orders that carried to every corner of the complex.
Calming four thousand excited men was no simple task, but fortunately, the Goldenveil army was no ordinary force.
Each of those men now carried the equivalent of years of military experience, all thanks to the Hell Soldier’s Portal.
Watching them enter the barracks in an orderly fashion, each taking his post without hesitation, Doran let out a satisfied sigh.
He wore an elegant black military uniform, meticulously tailored by the most skilled elven seamstresses in all of Goldenveil. The fabric draped impeccably over his broad shoulders, contrasting with the golden sheen of the insignia adorning his chest.
Clasping his hands behind his back, he strode forward through the military complex.
His footsteps echoed on the high-quality concrete, his gaze fixed on the enormous command center standing right in the middle of the compound.
That building alone was almost half the size of the previous barracks.
In his past life, the most he had ever led was fifty men—and even then, it was on a special mission he’d received from a friend.
It wouldn’t even be wrong to say he’d gotten that position through pure nepotism. Not that he lacked the competence for the job; it was just that his talent for aura was mediocre.
At the time, he was at the peak of the second stage, yet he had third-stage warriors under his command.
Fortunately, everything had changed now.
He was a proud third-stage warrior, fully confident that he would soon reach the fourth stage.
His sword was sharper than ever, he had a beautiful wife who would soon give birth, and he now commanded four thousand five hundred men, on top of this gigantic military complex.
Doran arrived at the command center, his footsteps echoing off the concrete before soon giving way to the softer tap of polished marble in the main hall. The air inside was fresh and clean, carrying a faint scent of polished wood and freshly forged metal.
He walked over to the enormous geographical map spread across the floor in the center of the hall.
"Hm... what is this place?" he muttered to himself, furrowing his brow as he scanned an unfamiliar region.
He recognized the western continent, but right beside it stretched a second landmass, with borders and cities he had never seen before.
Thinking of Aerick, he simply shook his head.
Aerick’s master was from that region.
Hands still clasped behind his back, he climbed a wide staircase and soon arrived at his office, which was much larger than his previous one.
He approached his desk, large and imposing, crafted from wood so fine that it could withstand even a full-force attack from a third-stage warrior.
The armchair behind it was spacious and comfortable.
Long ago, it had served as the seat of a powerful seventh-stage warrior, leader of the God-Emperor’s armed forces.
Doran settled into it, his eyes closing and his face gradually relaxing as the soft leather gave gently beneath his weight.
He had already verified the child’s gender. It would be a boy.
In twenty years, he wanted this boy by his side, fighting alongside him, a sharp blade against Goldenveil’s enemies.
Sighing, he retrieved a map from the spatial ring on his index finger; the ancient parchment unfurled onto the table with a soft snap.
It was time to begin planning Goldenveil’s future actions.
***
"This is... how can such a sophisticated affinity-testing device even exist?" Amelia asked, her eyes sparkling as she approached the enormous orb in the center of the room, her hands trembling with contained excitement.
There was one of these in the Blue Tower, but merely observing the one in the Golden Tower, and getting to try it out even a single time had been enough to set her heart racing.
"Come on, sweetheart... take me to the library right now!" she urged, almost jumping with excitement as she tugged insistently at Ethan’s sleeve.
For a knowledge-obsessed mage, this was paradise.
Ethan just smiled, sliding his hands down to grip her delicate hips.
"Alice must already be there with Veronica; maybe they even brought your apprentices along too," Ethan remarked, only now realizing he hadn’t paid much attention to the women accompanying her.
After handing them over to his wives, he had focused entirely on Ysara and Amelia.
Only now would he have time for other things.
"Ah... knowing those five, they must already be driving Alice crazy, fufufu," Amelia let out an elegant little laugh, her lips curving into a mischievous smile as she walked alongside Ethan.
They headed straight for one of the tower’s elevators, arriving on the 50th floor, where the library was located.
The moment the doors opened, they saw more than a hundred women scattered throughout the room.
Alice and Veronica had already chosen a book and were studying in a quiet corner, while several other mages browsed the endless shelves, carefully selecting volumes and touching them as if they were the most valuable treasures on earth.
Soon, Ethan saw his own mother lose herself in the vast sea of books as well. Her eyes took on that characteristic gleam of someone who had discovered a new world, her delicate fingers already running affectionately along the bookshelves.
Watching the scene, Ethan realized there was little he could do.
It was like a disease that afflicted all mages.
Many called it "the curse of wisdom," a fever that drove them mad, causing them to accumulate more and more knowledge in an endless hunger.
In any case, it shouldn’t be long before she returned to normal.
Apparently, he would have to leave them there for the next two days while he prepared everything for the announcement of Alice’s pregnancy and, of course, his next major military campaign.