The days passed relatively quietly after this incident, Caspian kept his mind focused on training and improving himself. Occasionally he would head out to explore the city and see how the people of different social classes lived in this world.

Surprisingly, compared to his past-life, the normal citizens were rather well off; they ate well, lived in better homes and even their complexions were much better.

According to the System it was due to them being born with Innate Mana that they were able to maintain such healthy appearances; the Mana would passively reinforce their bodies without them knowing it.

Over these days Caspian had finally finished the strengthening of his Mana Channels, his Artificial Channel had slowly grown stronger and stronger as it began to passively convert the surrounding Mana Channels although at a rate slower than a snail’s pace.

The only reason it had taken so much longer to finish than he had expected was that when he had attempted to reinforce the remaining Mana Channels he discovered that the Artificial Channel was passively using his Mana to reinforce itself leaving him no Mana to use for the remaining parts of the strengthening process.

So, for these few days he’d spent the time disassembling fireballs for their Mana and assimilating them to keep up with the rate at which the Channel was greedily devouring his Mana.

At some point during the process he had grown curious and decided to question the System, “Is it meant to be this easy to gather Mana?” He was truly curious; he had no point of reference but even he could tell that this was far too easy.

[For other it would be impossible but Apocalypse Store Skills draw energy from the world rather than the Host so you can continue to use them without end. Usually a Mage would use the Mana from their own body to create their spells but for which they would have to use a Meditation Technique to convert Ambient Mana into a suitable form to assimilate with their Innate Mana but because the Hosts body was created without Innate Mana it’s possible for you to simply draw in the Mana of the world used to create ‘Fireball’ and use it as your own]

“So, it’s just me going against the norms of this world again huh?” He chuckled before returning his focus to the task at hand.

Thus Caspian had finished completed the first stage of the ‘Orville Knight Manual’ without much effort firmly placing him within the Knight Apprentice Realm, although due to the sheer quality of his strengthening it wouldn’t be an understatement to say that he was a clear-cut above those who were of the same realm as him.

Naturally however he had his own shortcomings, Caspian wasn’t well versed in close-combat techniques so even with his newfound strength that allowed him to shatter a 1000lb boulder with a single punch he could and most likely would still be defeated by someone at the same realm as long as they could dodge his attacks,

For reference a normal Knight Apprentice only had strength equal to 500lb upon setting foot into the realm, only pinnacle Knight Apprentices would have close to 1000lb in strength but even then, it would only be barely. Caspian could tell that he still had space to grow before he could enter the Knight Captain Realm.

He had a feeling that his unnatural strength was sheerly due to the power of the Artificial Channel which caused him to be slightly excited to seeing what would happen if all his Mana Channels were converted into sheer Mana.

…

“You’re leaving?” Alexander was dumbfounded as he stared at Caspian with wide eyes, his somewhat handsome face was contorted in confusion. ‘He wants power, yet he doesn’t even use it, the only thing he’s done is wander around the city…’ He was truly confused; it was as if Caspian had no goal other than to experience the city without being disturbed.

He had expected to receive reports from the guards of the man mistreating the commoners, stealing from shops, taking slaves or just something more to prove he had a sinister motive that would justify him having sent assassins but there was nothing.

Alexander felt as if the man had defeated him without even trying, Caspian naturally understood the expression on his face and was amused at the sight.

“I never intended to stay here long regardless; I was simply passing through.” He said nonchalantly as he played with the sword he had taken from Alexander; Caspian had seen many blades in his life, but this was the first time in a long time that he had held one made of metal.

For some reason in his past he had been forbidden from practicing with a sword, now that he looked back on it that was probably a ploy to prevent him from gaining power to protect sufficiently protect himself so he could be easily disposed of like he had been.

Alexander stumbled for a response, but no words came to mind other than, “What about me?” His voice was quiet yet there was distress in his tone as if he was afraid to learn the answer to that question.

“Nothing.”

“Huh?” He wasn’t sure if he had heard that right or if those words had simply been a figment of his imagination, a hallucination he had wanted himself to hear.

“As I said, nothing. Whether you live or die can be left up to luck, if you can’t survive the people coming for you then there’s no reason for me to dirty my hands in the first place.” He said casually as he slid the sword back into the sheathe.

‘I wonder if you’ve already discovered the troops hidden among your own people.’ He mused as he looked at Alexander.

Despite his misgivings about the man during his time exploring the city he had heard and seen many things that while looked as if he was abusing his power on the surface let Caspian see another side to the arrogant persona that Alexander displayed for those hiding in the shadows.

He had ambition that far outmatched his own station and a yearning to survive yet despite this he had built the economy of the city to allow it to become a central trade hub of surrounding towns and cities benefiting his own people greatly.

Caspian himself didn’t know much about what it meant to ‘rule’ but simply from the lives of those who lived in Novatus he could tell that Alexander wasn’t as simple as he had prematurely judged. “An error in judgement on my part…” He muttered apologetically as he looked at the man.

While these factors had helped him decide it wasn’t what made him change his mind about killing him, the true reason was something far simpler and interesting.

‘I want to see how far you can go if you survive this.’

A single line of thinking, Caspian was interested in just what type of person that Alexander would become if he could survive the plots of others and come out on top.

If he wanted to save everybody, he needed someone who would be able to convince them to leave, naturally he was ill-suited for such a role but Alexander? He was making a gamble where there were only benefits, if the man couldn’t live up to his expectations then he would die, it was as simple as that.

‘He’ll need better soldiers than those he has now however…’ Caspian was thinking of bringing forth one of his plans for the future to force the people of this world to believe that they needed a new world to begin with and use it to help Alexander improve his troops.

“Alexander.” He said putting on a solemn tone as he spoke, “If this city came under siege do you have confidence in emerging victorious?” He asked mysteriously, his tone unnerved Alexander however, causing him to shudder.

‘Siege? There’s no way a noble could move that many troops to attack without being questioned… what’s he talking about? But if I was attacked… three-hundred soldiers, only a third of them have any experience maybe even less.’ He pondered seriously on the question before replying.

“No.” He said with a shake of his head, it was simply impossible. Any siege would have at least a thousand soldiers involved and with less than one-hundred trained soldiers who could accurately use ranged weapons they would have to engage in melee meaning they would eventually be overwhelmed by sheer numbers in the end.

Caspian nodded, “Good.” He said before getting up and leaving. His sudden departure made Alexander feel dread, ‘Is there a siege coming? Was this his plan?’ Thoughts such as these couldn’t help but fill his mind as he immediately ordered scouts to be on the lookout for an army much to their bewilderment.

Caspian nodded when he saw this reaction, ‘He knows his own limits and how to react accordingly as well, this might just work…’ He didn’t care that he had made Alexander suspicious since he’d know exactly who was behind it when he saw what was coming…

‘System how far away can I be to summon demons?’ He asked in his mind.

[As long as the Host has visited a location before Demons can be summoned there regardless of the distance, the system records every location for this purpose]

‘I’m not sure whether you’ll thank me for this or hate me for it…’ He thought to himself as he opened the Apocalypse Store.

[Apocalypse Summon: 350/1000]

He had 650 AS to work with, more than enough for what he was planning. If he killed a couple of the High-Tier Demons as well he’d have plenty to work with but for now, he only needed to summon a few for what he planned or else he’d accidentally destroy the city.

[Low-Tier Demon: 10 AS]

Each was comparable to a Knight Apprentice and he could even summon ten of them for only 100 AS, they were perfect for what he had planned.

“I hope you like my parting gift Alexander, use it well…” He muttered as he planned with the System for the next day after he had left…

TheWorldTree

Hope you enjoyed!

See you all again in a few hours :)