Salin sat in his carriage. Emperor Qin Yin not only gave Princess Rex ten battalions of military power, but also gave her a thousand swordsmen. Qin Yin's royal swordsmen were the same as the Holy Knights of the Vatican. They were lifelong professions. Their birth, aging, sickness, and death, as well as their basic necessities, were all taken care of by the country. The life of a royal swordsman was to fight.
No matter their background, a swordsman could become a mid-level officer as long as they reached the level of a Great Swordsman (also known as a high-level swordsman). A normal swordsman could be promoted to a low-level officer, and their children would be trained by the country. This was a huge temptation for many commoners.
However, the selection of royal swordsmen was extremely strict, and the number was always kept below a hundred thousand. In the past four hundred years, there had never been more than fifty thousand.
Apart from talent, loyalty to the country was also very important. Often, the son of a royal swordsman could easily become the next royal swordsman, while the chances of commoners were almost slim. Because many children of small nobles could not obtain inheritance rights, being loyal to the royal family and becoming a royal swordsman was a good way out.
Salin's chariot was specially designed for mages. Just like Princess Rex's carriage, it could see the wind from all sides, and could seat ten people. Rex could not let Salin and the others stay in her carriage when they officially set out, so she arranged for soldiers to protect them.
To Salin, this was a good treatment. Besides Shika and Neris, there were six more swordsmen in the carriage. One of them was Tinis, whom he was familiar with. Salin also arranged a small team around the carriage, with a hundred swordsmen protecting it. Salin did not know why his treatment had increased so quickly. Perhaps it had something to do with Joey.
The ten battle mages followed behind. Qin Yin's chariot was exquisitely designed. When encountering enemies, it could form a simple fortress. Even Cloud Flow's magical beast swordsmen would have a hard time breaking through.
The thousand swordsmen that Rex brought had already been transferred to North Town. By then, the Bitter Water Army would expand to two thousand people. Including the support troops, there would be close to three thousand.
With such a combat power, they would not have to worry about the nobles of Hades City attacking. Emperor Qin Yin had thought things through. There would not be more than five thousand elites in Haditha. Half of them had been conscripted by the Emperor, leaving only 2,500. At least two thousand would be left to defend the city. The remaining five hundred would not be a threat to the Bitter Water Army.
If there was an assassin, there was no need to worry. An assassin's combat power lay in concealment and explosive power. However, in the army, the role of an assassin was very small, unless it was an assassin at the level of Byrne.
Salin didn't expect Rex to hand Tinis over to him. Tinis was already a high-level swordsman, and he wasn't old either. He looked less than 30 years old. Such a person would be Rex's right-hand man in the future. Salin now knew the importance of a swordsman to a mage, so he wasn't in a hurry to train his magic. Instead, he chatted with Tinis.
"Thinis, where have you been all these years?"
"Cloudflow." Tinis didn't waste any more words. His reply was unusually concise.
"Have you seen a Beast Swordsman before?" Salin was not discouraged. He could always find a way to communicate with Tiny. As expected, Tinis was a little more talkative when it came to this.
"Yes, Cloud Stream doesn't have many warhorses, but there are many Magical Beast Swordsmen."
"Swordsmen aren't mages. How do they sign a contract with a magical beast?" Salin asked curiously.
"They don't need to sign a contract. They just have to beat the magical beast into submission. That's why Magical Beast Swordsmen aren't that scary. Their magical beasts are usually very low-level."
Salin thought of the silver Sword Sage who was captured by Rex's scheme. He only had a sixth-level magical beast with him, and he confirmed his thoughts. Contracts were only magic that worked on intelligent creatures. For low-level magical beasts, contracts were a waste of a mage's mental power.
No wonder mages would rather create puppets than tame magical beasts. Puppets didn't need to eat or drink, and didn't need to be taken care of. They could be abandoned at any time. Magical beasts, on the other hand, were living creatures that brought trouble.
Qin Yin's regular army didn't have infantry in the pure sense of the word. The infantry also had to ride horses, and their speed was very fast. If there was a need in battle, a large number of mages could cast acceleration spells on thousands of cavalrymen, making the imperial cavalry more mobile than any country.
Very soon, the army left the imperial capital and advanced north. A hundred thousand people couldn't advance at the same time. The ten thousand troops of the vanguard would be at least a hundred miles away before the main force arrived. The main force would also be divided into three groups, with thirty thousand people in each group. Finally, ten thousand troops would be left to bring up the rear.
Even if there were ten thousand people, they wouldn't be gathered together. They had to be divided into ten flag regiments. Two of the flag regiments were the mage battalion, and 200 low-level mages would be arranged in them. These two flag regiments were the main force of the entire swordsman battalion. One of them supported the infantry, and the other was the reserve force, which was a cavalry unit.
The ones that affected the speed of the army were the auxiliary soldiers. They usually only had one warhorse, and some even had to be driven. This wasn't a problem in Qin Yin's territory. There were enough routes to choose from. If it was in an area with few cities, and the roads were bumpy, the auxiliary soldiers would affect the speed of the entire army.
But there was no other way. When attacking a city, the auxiliary soldiers were the vanguard, and their death rate was high. No army would let their elite soldiers attack the city at the first wave. At the same time, the auxiliary soldiers were responsible for taking care of the warhorses and swordsmen, so that the elite troops could always maintain high combat power.
The army that set out this time would reach the border in a month at most. But to pass through Jia Loulan would also take a month. During this time, more nobles would respond to the emperor's call and send troops into Jia Loulan. By then, the entire Jia Loulan would have at least 200,000 Qin Yin elites and more than 500,000 auxiliary soldiers. If the peasant soldiers recruited in Jia Loulan were included, the expeditionary army could quickly expand to a million.
Not only did the emperor want to pacify the situation in Jia Loulan, but he also wanted to invade the Duchy of Divine Grace. As long as the war went smoothly, more nobles in Qin Yin would join the ranks and divide the land.
In the past two hundred years, the number of civilians in Qin Yin had skyrocketed. Many nobles desired to expand, and so did other countries. The root of instability had long been planted, and the unrest of the black mages was only the fuse. It didn't matter in a secluded land like Phoenix, but when Jia Loulan was in chaos, all the countries couldn't sit still.
Salin quickly became familiar with the six swordsmen. Princess Rex didn't hide the fact that he had sent the green dragon magic core to Kushui Prefecture. Everyone had a good impression of this Magician.
Salin described the battle with the Red Line Bandits, and even Tinis was impressed. At that time, Salin was only a level-one Magician. It was very likely that he would die against the bandits.
Just like that, as the army advanced, Salin interacted with the swordsmen during the day and trained crazily at night. He was almost at the edge of level-three, and he was only a step away from breaking through.
Salin knew that this was because he hadn't accumulated much and had only trained for a short time. However, with Joey's help in modifying his body, the boundary between level-three and level-four was much smaller. There wasn't even a so-called threshold for other Magicians.
So Salin wasn't in a hurry. It was only a matter of time before he became a Great Magician. During this time, he had to master more level-three spells.
When Magicians fought, they didn't always use high-level spells. In fact, many Great Magicians fought with low-level spells. If they could kill their enemies with acid sputtering, why would they release an elemental storm? The Magic String was limited. Using the smallest price to obtain the greatest result was the way a mage fought.
Salin wasn't stupid enough to charge and break through enemy lines. There were already six level-three spells stored in the Demon Spellbook. When he really needed to attack, that would be his capital. He had also studied the Bronze Spellbook he got from the Shrine, and regretfully discovered that unless he became a Great Magician, he wouldn't be able to turn the Bronze Spellbook into a weapon.
This reflected the value of the Demon Spellbook. It wasn't limited by level. As long as you could cast a spell, it could be stored in the Demon Spellbook for future use.
As for the scroll that Lanny had given him, Salin was still reluctant to use it. He was only a level-two Magician now, and this strange scroll could cast spells two levels above him. In other words, under the current circumstances, if he asked someone to successfully make this blank scroll, he could only release a level-four spell once.
The scroll was a one-time use item. Salin had a plan. The next time he saw Joey, he would find a way to get him to make a level-ten scroll. That way, when he reached level-eight, he could release a level-ten spell once.
A level-ten spell, as long as it was used properly, could kill any expert on the Myers Continent below level-nine. Even if a level-nine Magician encountered a level-ten spell, it would still be extremely dangerous.
The army had already begun to change directions. Princess Rex's troops separated from the expeditionary army and advanced southwest, while the Emperor's expeditionary army would directly head west and enter the Jialoulan Duchy.
There was a main road in the east and north of Kushui Commandery, but only rugged mountain paths in the west and south. The terrain was sealed. The Kushui Army bypassed Haditha City. Although it was a little weak, it saved them a lot of trouble. If the army of Haditha City wanted to attack the Kushui Army, they would have to travel more than 500 miles. Moreover, the Emperor had already transferred half of the elites of Haditha City. He could only send less than a thousand people, so Princess Rex didn't have to worry at all.
However, Salin was a little worried. Had the Silver Swordmaster, who killed Earl Moclari, returned to Tanggulas? If not, would there be another assassination attempt? If there was another one, even if there were more soldiers around Rex, the Silver Swordmaster would be more careful and wouldn't easily fall into the trap.
The ones who could really deal with the Silver Swordmaster were Fayern and the others. A Magician like Salin was just trash that could be destroyed with a wave of his hand in front of the Silver Swordmaster.
However, it seemed that Fayern had taken a lot of level-eight magic scrolls from the Emperor's warehouse. The scrolls that could be stored for a long time were all of the best quality. If the Silver Swordmaster were to face Fayern, he really might not have the confidence to win.
[Everyone, you don't have to worry about the protagonist's level. According to the rules of the Myers Continent, the protagonist's strength isn't the fastest to improve, but it's almost there. Having many magic books is an irreplaceable advantage. Think about it, when the protagonist is at level-three, he can release seven more level-four spells than other Magicians of the same level (six come from the magic books, and he can release one more). If the protagonist rises to level-six, he can release seven more Magic Shooter-Level spells. So, I dare not let the protagonist rise too quickly. If he becomes invincible, then what's the use of Sika and Neris? When the little devil grows up, everyone, look forward to it. Mages aren't used to charge and break through enemy lines, it's good as long as they can make the final decision.]
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