In the flying boat, Maximus was heading to one of the kingdoms in the Sunburnt Plateau.
He was going to persuade them to relocate and leave the island.
He couldn’t just start a war like before, as he might offend someone unintentionally.
Every ruler of a kingdom may have a background, as most of them possess a tier 4 Sky Knight strength or even more.
Even in the past, in the Faerie Kingdom, he didn’t consider conquering the kingdom until months later when the king died and there was no other response.
It was confirmed that the Faerie Kingdom had no background whatsoever, although it remained a mystery why the kingdom had two tier 4 Sky Knight individuals in its midst.
…
After traveling in his flying boat for a while, he caught sight of the capital city of one of the kingdoms in Sunburnt Plateau.
Although he didn’t know the name of the kingdom, he released his powerful spiritual consciousness to notify the ruler of his presence.
While he adopted an amiable approach in conquering the Sunburnt Plateau, it didn’t mean he was a coward.
With his current wealth, he could afford some tier 6 mechanical weapons.
Furthermore, based on his previous travel to Elnor Island, the harbor before reaching the Aracne Continent, a Tier 5 Mystic Mage or Tier 5 Lunar Knight was already considered the strongest in the Curse Continent.
Therefore, he was fully confident in occupying the entire Sunburnt Plateau for himself.
Of course, he needed to maintain a low profile, as one never knows when they have a trump card when they are cornered.
Upon sensing the powerful aura of a Tier 3 Nascent Mage, the ruler of the kingdom flew toward his floating boat, seemingly to greet him.
“How can I assist you, esteemed Mage?” the ruler respectfully inquired.
“I’m Maximus Shadowcrest, the ruler of Moonlight Kingdom. May I know your name?” Maximus asked curiously, stepping out of the flying boat to meet him face to face.
“I’m Feris Helmsworth, a peripheral member of the Helmsworth family,” Feris responded, hoping to intimidate Maximus with his surname.
The Helmsworth family is one of the most powerful families in the Curse Continent, with their main territory remodeled to be a Tier 5 mana environment.
Transforming a barren land in cursed continent into a Tier 5 mana environment is a dream for many forces and families living here.
So being able to accomplish it sets them apart.
“Oh, Helmsworth? Do you happen to know Griffin Helmsworth?” Maximus inquired.
He recalled the person who incessantly bothered him during his trip to the Arcane Continent.
“Are you referring to Young Master Griffin?” Feris was shocked to hear about the prodigal son of the main branch family from an outsider.
“Yes, the one who arrived at the Arcane Continent a month ago,” Maximus confirmed.
“Yes, Young Master Griffin is the most gifted combat prodigy to be born in a century in the Helmsworth family,” Feris boasted about his knowledge of his young master Griffin.
After all, he couldn’t disgrace his family, especially to an outsider.
While it was true that Young Master Griffin was a renowned combat prodigy, despite his low potential of only rank 3 Rare.
Young master Griffin was more famous for being a prodigal son.
Although he didn’t engage in prostitution, Young master Griffin was addicted to gambling.
It’s okay if it’s just normal gambling, but this young master despite never winning a match in his life continues to gamble.
If it weren’t for his family’s wealth, he might have been sold as a slave by now to pay off his debts.
Observing that Maximus seemed to know Young Master Griffin.
Feris asked, “Do you know Young Master?”
“Of course, we became friends just months ago,” Maximus sincerely replied.
Although Griffin could be talkative and occasionally annoying, he was indeed worth befriending, as he lacked ulterior motives and conspiracies.
“That’s a relief,” Feris sighed.
Since Maximus was a friend of Young Master Griffin, everything was fine.
Griffin, despite his mixed reputation, excelled at making friends, and all of his friends, without exception, possessed great potential or have something exceptional about them.
It seemed as though all of his luck in gambling manifested in his relationships with people.
“If you’re a friend of Young Master Griffin, then feel free to let me know if you need anything,” Feris said, recalling that Maximus had released his spiritual consciousness earlier as if he needed something.
“Well…” Maximus hesitated, feeling somewhat embarrassed about what to say.
After all, it involved his friend’s territory, even if it was just a portion of it.
He didn’t want to appear outwardly greedy.
After pondering for a moment, he gathered his words.
“I have come on behalf of my teacher, a Tier 5 Mystic Mage. My teacher desires to claim the entire Sunburnt Plateau as his territory,” Maximus said with seriousness, attributing it all to his disguised teacher.
Since he had already used this alternate identity as his backer, why not continue using it?
Moreover, having a tier 5 mystic mage as a ruler will not be as conspicuous as him a tier 3 nascent mage becoming one.
“I see. If it’s from an esteemed Tier 5 Mystic Mage, then it is indeed fitting for him to rule over a plateau on his own,” Feris replied as if understanding.
Most people born in the Curse Continent, who became powerful, aspired to return to their roots and rule a land of their own in their homeland.
So it was not surprising that Maximus’s teacher had similar plans.
As for not him inquiring whether his teacher was born in the Curse Continent, Feris hadn’t thought that far.
Only those born in the Curse Continent were allowed to have their own land and rule over it.
Otherwise, the families here would lose their place in the Curse Continent.
By then, it would already be flooded by families and forces from the Arcane Continent if it were the case.
You see, even though the Arcane Continent was the most prosperous place, it had strict rules and regulations that kept them in check.
Therefore, most of the families and factions in the Arcane Continent hoped to have a land of their own away from it.
After all, who wants to be always on the leash of others?
Of course, they can’t do anything about it, unless they’re very powerful to travel on their own toward another place, they can forget about it and be an obedient dog to the rules and regulations of the arcane continent.
It seemed like arcane and curse continent is quite close as it only needed half a month of journey.
However, that was using a specially processed body of a dead tier 9 sea creature.
As for lower than that, like a tier 8 vessel, it would take at least 10 yeast just to go from arcane continent to curse continent.
Just imagine using lower-tier vessels, maybe your lifespan already run out and you are still on the way.
…
“Just give me a week to settle, and I will give you this kingdom,” Feris said knowingly.
After all, what could he do? Rebel?
Leaving his territory is the most appropriate solution, considering he was stationed here only for a family task, not truly to rule the land.
Maximus was also surprised by Feris’s decisiveness.
He had assumed that he would need to offer some form of compensation or negotiation.
But none of that happened.
After talking for a while. Feris invited Maximus to visit his castle.
As it wasn’t appropriate to have a prolonged conversation in the air.
Once they were both seated, Maximus asked Feris a question.
“By the way, why are you in such a remote place?”
This was something he couldn’t comprehend.
The Helmsworth family already had a Tier 5 mana environment, from what he had heard.
So why were they still clinging to this barren place?
“I was sent here for a family task,” Feris explained.
“A family task?” Maximus inquired.
“The Helmsworth family’s currency is contribution points, and to earn them, we are assigned family tasks,” Feris elaborated.𝞸𝓥xt.𝒪𝑚
“My task is to manage the low-grade crystal mine in this territory, and more importantly, to scout for individuals with rare potential and above.”
“The duration of the task is a hundred years, and after me, another person will replace me while I move on to another task,” Feris carefully explained.
“I see,” Maximus nodded, finally understanding.
The Sunburnt Plateau, despite its barren nature, contained numerous low-grade magic crystal mines.
Though not rare, they still held value as a source of income.
It was similar to the previous conflict between the Faerie Kingdom and the Jade Kingdom, where they fought over a small, low-grade crystal mine.
After ruling over the previous kingdom, Maximus had gained control of the mine, but its output was disappointingly low.
It only produces less than a hundred low-grade magic crystals per month.
The reason for the low output was that mining prohibited the use of mana or energy.
Magic crystals were highly fragile upon extraction and would assimilate with the environment at the slightest fluctuation of mana.
Maximus had also attempted to use mechanical devices that didn’t rely on mana, but the results were disappointing.
It seemed that any energy fluctuation would cause the magic crystal to assimilate with the environment.
As for the recruitment of talented individuals, the previous Faerie Kingdom had neglected that aspect.
Maximus wondered if the previous ruler of the Faerie Kingdom had other goals, as they hadn’t actively recruited individuals with high talents like other forces stationed in the area.
Did the ruler of the previous Faerie Kingdom come to this place merely to experience life or for some other reason?