In the grand bedroom of the castle, Maximus gazed into the void like a sage, unraveling the truths of the universe. Luna and Livia lay beside him, fast asleep.
“I barely made it,” he muttered, reflecting on his stamina.
Maximus observed his two wives, their peaceful sleep brought a sense of satisfaction to his face. However, it also prompted him to contemplate his circumstances.
With the strength of a Nascent Mage, His brute force is stronger than that of a Great Knight, but it is still weaker than an Earth Knight.
This is confirmed by his recent victory in a grueling battle against two Great Knights who just drained his essence.
“I think it’s time to start Knight Cultivation,” Maximus pondered. Mage primarily trained to enhance the soul, to better control and guide mana.
On the other hand, Knights utilized mana to fortify their bodies, granting them immunity or at least minimize damage to mana and physical base attack.
This contrast explained why mages were generally more powerful than knights of the same tier. Mages drew upon the power of nature, while knights harnessed it to strengthen themselves.
It was akin to the strongest man on Earth facing an average man armed with a gun. Though the strongest man could dodge a bullet, a hail of gunfire would crush him to death.
Nonetheless, this did not imply that knights were inherently weaker than mages. In the later stages, it all boiled down to a knight’s accumulation of strength and a mage’s accumulation of knowledge.
Maximus chose not to train simultaneously in mage and knight arts due to safety concerns. In a world governed by strength, he focused mainly on mage cultivation to quickly have peace of mind.
Now, being one of the strongest on the continent, as long as he didn’t go to dangerous places his safety is secured.
Moreover, he found the idea of being a knight quite handsome, considering that knights were known for their chivalry and physique.
Without further hesitation, he accessed the system and browsed for knight cultivation methods.
Options appeared before him:
[Colossal Titan: The Origin of Colossal Titans. It allowed mana to expand and strengthen the body. Complete achievement grants invincible physical prowess and defense. Complete manual, Price 3 Billion]
[Tribulation Body: A body formed by tribulation. Using various tribulations and natural disasters to form. Complete achievement grants Pure body immune to all the elements in the world. Complete manual, Price 2 Billion]
[Divine Body: The body of god unaffected by time. Using mana and the power of the soul to forge an immortal body. Complete achievement grants immortality that can be reborn with a piece of blood or soul. Complete manual, Price 7 Billion]
After careful consideration, Maximus chose Divine Body as Knight’s cultivation manual, as it’s the same version as his mage meditation technique Divine Consciousness.
Due to his limited funds, he could only afford chapters 1 to 3, which totaled 1110 gold points. Nevertheless, he was just starting to train so he could buy a later version when he had the money.
After a moment of thought, since he decided to rebuild the kingdom he would do it in a grand way.
He starts by searching for a Kingdom Architectural Framework in the system.
[Aegis Skyhold: A colossal structure that defies conventional architectural norms. The foundation of the Skyhold is a Void Core that provides stability and various essential systems…. Price 1 million]
[Celestial Citadel: A Kingdom of god made for its pious servants…Price 3 million]
[Void Mandate: A Place made by opening a crack in the void… Price 4 million]
“Tsk,” he clicked his tongue in slight frustration as he looked at the list.
As he expected it’s expensive beyond imagination. But looking at the list he could help but be greedy.
You know this is just the plan. Plus material to make that thing possible is beyond imagination. Also, he can’t possibly have the strength to make such a thing possible.
Finally, after looking at the array of choices he saw one of the choices offered a service that is unique and affordable.
[Metamorph Architecture: A device that can make an architectural plan based on your needs. It can gather mana, build a barrier of defense, and a variety of attacks, it is a device generator for limitless architecture plan. Full Use, Price 8 billion ]
Although Metamorph Architecture was super expensive, that was when you buy the whole thing so that you can plan to your heart’s content like the manual said.
It’s like a generator of an architectural plan, you input population and location or scan it with the device and it will automatically generate a plan according to what function you need.
Of course, he can’t afford such a thing so he bought a one-time service.
Looking at the item floating in the air, he clicks the scan.
[Detected 2,705,348 people in a radius of a thousand kilometers.
Please input the desired range and function]
After deciding for a while he chose a range of 200-kilometer radius and function of purifying and gathering mana and directed the mana collected in his castles as the center.
[Calculating…
Cost a total of 10,000 gold.
Do you generate?]
𝓞𝑣𝐞xt.𝗰𝑶𝑚
After greeting his teeth he took out ten magic crystals from his storage ring and converted them to gold point feeling a heartache.
[Complete…
Thank you for your patronage…]
After that, the device vanishes into the void leaving behind a huge stack of magic paper that contains the kingdom’s architectural plan.
…
In the early morning, Maximus and the kids prepared for their field trip, filled with excitement.
The previous night, He got the kingdom’s architectural plan, but before handing it over to Doran, the person in charge of implementing the plan. Maximus first wanted to assess the current state of their kingdom and relaxed for a while.
However, during breakfast, when he mentioned his plans, the children began clamoring, accusing him of being unfair for not taking them on the supposed field trip.
His wives joined in the laughter, persuading him to grant the children’s wishes and take them out for some fun. Besides, they are assured that with him around it would be safe.
…
Looking at his three sons, Liam, Max, and Nathan heading toward the carriage, he decided to walk behind them.
“Dad!” Max exclaimed in surprise, rushing into his arms for a hug.
Maximus immediately caught and embraced his son and then ruffled the hair of Liam and Nathan as they walked towards their carriage.
“Where are your sisters?” he asked Liam.
“Lily is still deciding what to wear with Layla and Lydia. They’re taking forever,” Liam pouted, frustrated with his slow sisters.
“Yeah, yeah, they’ve tried on three dresses already,” little Max added, gossiping in his father’s arms.
“What a hassle,” sighed Nathan.
“It’s okay; we’re not in a hurry anyway,” Maximus chuckled.
After a while, they all climbed into the carriage, accompanied by a team of guards. Though he didn’t truly need them, Maximus understood the importance of displaying his regal presence.
He didn’t want people mistaking them for wealthy businessmen or such. Additionally, the guards were useful in case any troublesome situations arose.
After waiting for about half an hour, the girls finally made their way to the carriage.
“What took you so long? We’ve been waiting here forever!” Liam complained.
“Duh, we have to take our time to look beautiful, right, Dad?” Lily rolled her eyes at her brother and turned to Maximus, slowly twirling to show off her outfit.
“Daddy!” Lyla and Lydia were less concerned with the matter and eagerly embraced their father.
“Of course, my princesses are beautiful no matter what they wear,” he assured them, hugging the two tightly.
“Hmph!” Satisfied, Lily turned her back to Liam and hopped into the carriage.
“Alright, enough of that. Let’s go,” Maximus declared, putting an end to the playful bickering.
