"Kaslay... I'll remember this!"
Leilin was certainly not the kind of person to take a beating without striking back. Everything the other party had done to him, he would repay a hundredfold soon enough.
In times of war, anything could happen, could it not?
……
Amid the howling cold wind, a small squad slowly filed out through the gates of Silver Moon City. A somber atmosphere pervaded the entire group.
Even though everyone knew the road ahead was fraught with danger, orders were orders, and there was no way to shirk them. Such was the tragedy of joining the army.
"Rafinia! In the Dark Night Forest, the dense trees and thorns will prevent you from fighting alongside your mount..."
Olan was still briefing Rafinia on the various points to watch out for.
"Don't worry! My combat skills are decent enough—I don't necessarily need a warhorse to back me up." Rafinia patted the black sharkskin scabbard at her hip, a relaxed expression on her face.
For many high-ranking knights, their mount often represented half their fighting power. But Rafinia was different.
With her past experience, she had long ago made a conscious effort to train herself in this area, allowing her to retain most of her capabilities even without a mount.
This stood in stark contrast to those who, once separated from their horses, could do nothing but function as heavy infantry.
"That's good then... Let me introduce you to the main force of our squad!"
Olan said cheerfully, and began introducing the other members to Rafinia.
"The accompanying wizard—Leilin, you've surely already met him. Next is our scout leader, the thief Lancelle!"
Olan pointed to a slender figure nearby, dressed in tight-fitting leather with a cloth mask covering half their face.
"And these two warrior brothers who lead the frontline: Auger and Audo!"
As the squad's vanguard force, the brothers Auger and Audo boasted brawny muscles. Each rested heavy weapons on his shoulders—spear-axes and spiked hammers.
Behind them stood nearly twenty elite warriors clad in chain mail and other steel armor. Every one of them possessed the strength of at least a third-rank warrior, which was quite respectable.
"Hello!" The brothers Auger and Audo greeted her with broad smiles, their expressions honest and straightforward—a sharp contrast with the ferocity they displayed in battle.
"And our medic. Also the beauty of the squad—the priestess Jinqi!"
Olan then walked over to a young woman with golden hair.
She wore the white robes of a priestess and sat atop a summoned white steed.
"Sister Olan... stop teasing me. What beauty..." Jinqi blushed slightly, her golden hair cascading like a waterfall. She carried herself with a quiet, refined air.
"A standard squad has an establishment of fifty regular soldiers, but we lost over a dozen brothers in an engagement last time and haven't been given replacements yet..."
Olan showed Rafinia around the team, a hint of disappointment and regret still lingering on her face.
Given that they were about to undertake a dangerous mission, even she didn't dare bring in new colleagues rashly—let alone the risk that enemy spies might be among them.
"Rafinia, you're a knight, so by regulation you're entitled to two squires and four horse grooms, plus a separate monthly stipend... Just send me the names..."
Olan waved her hand generously.
"I only have four squires—just fill in whatever you like, Sister Olan." Rafinia said nonchalantly. Given her personal wealth, she naturally had no interest in this modest military subsidy. But for many common-born knights, it was no small fortune.
In fact, to pocket more gold coins, some common-born knights would even reduce the number of their squires and grooms while still collecting the full stipend. This made Leilin sigh inwardly—embezzling military funds was something that happened across all times and places, and required no special instruction to learn.
"Alright then, I'll put you down for two squires and two grooms..."
Olan glanced at Rafinia meaningfully, only to find her completely unresponsive. She quietly shook her head, feeling a twinge of shame for her own earlier thoughts.
"Oh! Look... are those goblins?"
Rafinia's attention had clearly wandered elsewhere, and she quickly shifted focus.
Out on the wasteland, there were scattered green-skinned little folk—identical to the goblins Leilin had seen before. They eyed the column with naked greed, yet dared not charge in, appearing timorous and cowardly.
"Yes. Don't worry—they wouldn't dare attack a fully armed human column..."
Olan explained, then watched helplessly as Rafinia spurred her horse and charged off. She looked at Leilin with a speechless expression, and Leilin just shrugged with a helpless look.
"Alright... I finally understand why you had that conflicted look on your face when you introduced Rafinia to me back then..."
Olan rode up beside Leilin and rolled her eyes.
……
Though the knight-girl Rafinia had added quite a bit of entertainment to the journey, as the squad drew ever closer to the Dark Night Forest, the mood within the group grew increasingly heavy.
When night fell, a dozen or so tents had already been erected in the camp. Bonfires were lit in orderly fashion, and simple march rations were being boiled over them.
Leilin opened a can he'd been carrying and dumped the solid fish floss inside into the pot of boiling broth.
"Fish floss! I used to eat this all the time when I was traveling in the south!" Rafinia, sitting beside Leilin, sniffed the air.
"Is that so?" Leilin smiled faintly, without revealing that he was in fact the behind-the-scenes proprietor of the entire supply chain.
Due to its location and a well-established production pipeline, the Temple of Wealth had not cut out the Faolan Family to go solo. Instead, it had taken an equity stake, acquiring ownership of the vast majority of fish floss processing facilities.
Under the Temple's enormous wealth and trading network, the sale of fish floss had spread across the northern regions in just a few years, eventually becoming a military supplier for Silver Moon City itself. Leilin felt a quiet sense of pride in that.
Though imitation products had appeared on the market, none could match the Temple of Wealth in quantity, scale, or technology. So the profits would continue for a good while yet.
This information had come along with the annual remittance from the family.
While improving himself, Leilin had not relinquished control over his family and other factions.
If he were doing this purely for his own sake, then a Legendary or High
But if his goal was to ascend to godhood, personal power alone was far from sufficient.
The lofty gods could not do without the support of faith.
"In truth, the rules for godhood in the world of the gods aren't all that harsh..."
With Leilin's perspective, he could naturally see many things clearly. "If it were a new divine domain, it would be comparatively easy to gain the support of the world's primal force. With roughly a thousand devout followers, that would be enough to sustain a new god's existence. But an existing divine domain is far more troublesome—the requirements increase at least tenfold, and one is likely to attract the hostility of other gods who already hold related domains..."
Leilin's eyes glinted. "Of course, there is also the simplest method of ascension—sheer luck! If one obtains the godhead and crystallized divinity of a fallen god, becoming a god is quite simple... Whether the resulting deity is truly the original mortal or the resurrection of the ancient god, however, is anyone's guess..."
In his heart, Leilin actually looked down on those who stumbled into godhood through sheer luck.
Comprehending the power of law was not something that happened overnight. Even powerful Legendary experts could not always fully grasp the power of law, let alone someone who had been a mere mortal.
A child swinging a great iron hammer—the outcome required no further speculation on Leilin's part.
Of course, Leilin was different. With the experience of his original body at the half-seventh rank, supplemented by the Chip's assistance, if given a Minor God's godhead, he could very likely digest and sustain it.
"What a pity... the age of falling godheads is long past.
"Moreover, absorbing the comprehension of different laws would only pollute my own path..."
Leilin's expression was deeply grave.
His foundation was still that of a Bloodline Warlock, still the path of a Wizard!
A seventh-rank Wizard of Law needed to fully master the power of a single law, while an eighth-rank Wizard needed to command the power of multiple laws.
Only by finding one's own path and fusing the power of law into a unified whole could one truly ascend to the peak of the eighth rank and peer into the realm of the ninth!
Having already formed a vague plan for his own path, Leilin was unwilling to muddle it with other laws.
"Unless it happened to be the exact divine domain I need, even if a Greater God's godhead fell right in front of me, it would be useless..."
Leilin let out a long sigh.
"Hey... what are you thinking about?" His expression naturally caught Rafinia's interest.
"I'm wondering when this pot of fish soup will be done!"
Leilin shook his head. If he told this knight-girl that he was contemplating how to ascend to godhood, she would either think he was crazy or completely out of his mind.
Someone who wasn't even a fifteenth-level High Wizard, yet dared to speak of godhood—even Legendary experts wouldn't always have the nerve for that!
"Mmm! It's about ready!" Rafinia took a deep sniff. She clearly had more outdoor experience than before, and had apparently even picked up some cooking skills.
"Sorry to interrupt, you two!"
At that moment, Priestess Jinqi walked directly over, the hem of her white priestess robes sweeping across the grass with an understated elegance.
"Captain Olan has ordered me to inform you—all officers at squad leader rank and above are to report to the central tent..."