"Welcome to Parsus, everyone."
Looking at the archmages who walked into the study, Zayen smiled, stood up, and nodded at them.
Then, Jenn lifted his head and gazed at the old man before him.
"You must be Grand Mage Prague. I've heard of your name for a long time. It's my honor to meet you."
"Hahaha, I should be the one saying that to you, Mr. Overlord."
Upon hearing Zayen's words, Prague smiled and stroked his snow-white goatee before speaking.
"Even in the peak of the Northern Kingdom, you can hear rumors about the 'Berserk Sword'. Everything you've done recently has been the hot topic of discussion in the tavern."
"Berserk Sword?"
Jenn was taken aback by Prague's answer. Then, he curled his lips.
I don't know where this nickname came from, but it sounds so degrading.
However, Jenn couldn't do anything about it. After all, he was the one who spoke and he couldn't give himself a nickname. As the saying goes, there are only wrong names, not wrong nicknames. But the problem was that people who didn't know better would think that this nickname belonged to a barbarian!
Well, at least it's a good way to disguise one's identity.
Jenn comforted himself and immediately returned to reality. Then, he said with a smile, "This is really frightening.
"This is really frightening. I don't think I've done anything particularly noteworthy."
"Sometimes, the value of things in the eyes of mortals doesn't match their value."
Since Jenn wasn't willing to talk about this topic, Prague didn't continue to dwell on it.
"Rumors and rumors are always far from reality. Just like how I didn't expect His Lordship to speak to me like this … You see, there are always some things that need to be seen with your own eyes in order to verify their authenticity, right?"
"Indeed."
Zayen extended his hand to invite the great mage in front of him to take a seat. Then, he sat behind the desk again, crossed his arms, and looked at the old mage with interest.
"So, since Grand Mage Prague came all the way here, I suppose it wasn't just to take a look at me to verify the authenticity of the rumors, right?"
"Of course."
Prague nodded in response to Zayen's question.
The mages had done a lot of research on Jenn. This was also their habit. They would never fight a battle unprepared.
Regardless of whether the other party was an enemy or a friend, it was always necessary to understand the other party's characteristics and background before communicating with them. Only then would they be able to achieve twice the results with half the effort.
According to the information they had received, this young overlord was a decisive person of action who had no interest in superficial social interactions.
This was, of course, a good thing for mages. After all, mages spent most of their energy on studying magic and exploring the mysteries of the world. What they hated the most were meaningless exchanges.
This was also the reason why most mages were unwilling to interact with the nobles. They hated the countless banquets, parties, and balls.
Since Jenn was willing to go straight to the point, Prague wouldn't waste his precious time chatting with him.
Moreover, neither of them were fools. They both knew what the other was here for.
It was just like two gamblers at the poker table. Apart from gambling, they wouldn't do anything else. The only thing that mattered now was who had the bigger trump card.
"In fact, the reason why we, the Bridge of Wisdom Mages Association, came here this time is to build a stronghold for magical research."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing this, Zayen raised his eyebrows.
He wasn't a fool. Although Prague was one of the seven Great Mages of the Rainbow Light Council that ruled the Colombian Magic Empire, he was also the president of the Bridge of Wisdom Mages Association.
The Rainbow Light Council had a total of seven Legendary Mages and each of them had their own organization.
The Bridge of Wisdom, Blade of Courage, Breath of Life, Space-time Mystery, Firmament Light, Pond of Darkness, and Truth of Thinking.
Among them, the Bridge of Wisdom and Truth of Thinking were in charge of politics.
Blade of Courage and Firmament Light were in charge of military affairs.
Breath of Life and Space-time Mystery were the two most powerful factions in the Colombian Empire, while the Pond of Darkness was the most mysterious force in the Colombian Empire.
However, Jenn was most familiar with the Pond of Darkness because this faction had always been in contact with the underworld. They had even hired Dark Elves and low-level magical creatures to deal with enemies that were secretly threatening the Empire.
This was also another reason why the Colombian Empire was so impregnable. They could shamelessly summon magical creatures from the underworld and use them to steal intelligence and destroy enemies.
However, Seth of the Holy Empire couldn't compare to them in this aspect. Moreover, moving in the dark was the specialty of the magical creatures from the underworld, so this was Seth's biggest weakness.
However, what piqued Jenn's interest was that Prague pointed out that he wasn't here in the name of the Rainbow Light Council, but in the name of his Bridge of Wisdom Mages Association. This was equivalent to hinting that this was purely an individual action and didn't represent the entire Colombian Empire.
One had to admit that these mages were indeed calculative. However, it was a pity that Jenn wasn't a saint either.
"Hmm …"
Upon hearing Prague's words, Jenn narrowed his eyes and hesitated for a few moments.
"This is indeed an interesting matter, Grand Mage Prague.
But as you can see, my Passus City has only just been established. Besides, our minerals here are barren and there isn't much worth offering.
So may I know what's the purpose of building a stronghold here? "
"I think both of us can cooperate in many aspects."
Facing Jenn's question, Prague answered quickly.
"It is indeed as you said, Sir Overlord.
Passus itself is a barren land, but you seem to have neglected the wilderness at the edge of Passus. To be honest with you, the reason why we want to build a stronghold here is to a large extent because of that wilderness. "
"Oh?"
Zayen raised an eyebrow at this.
"This is interesting. I didn't know that the mages are as passionate as the holy knights."
"No matter if it's the holy knights or mages, both wish for a stable order. This is the foundation of our world's existence.
Besides, the reason why we want to go to the wilderness is also to find a secret hidden there. "
Prague shut his mouth and didn't speak another word.
It was apparent that the information that he was about to provide wouldn't be free. Upon hearing his words, Jenn knitted his brows.
Of course, he knew the situation of the wilderness at the edge of Passus.
Although Jenn didn't intend to go deep into the wilderness, he still knew a thing or two about it through Xenomorphs.
There were a lot of barbarians living there. In the beginning, when Jenn established his territory, these barbarians tried to find trouble with him.
But after being eaten by Xenomorphs a few times, these barbarians didn't dare to come over.
Apart from that, the wilderness was basically a barren land and there wasn't anything worthy of special attention.
However, Jenn believed that since Prague was so certain, it meant that there must be a problem.
"Can I know what the secret is?"
Since Prague had already thrown out his cards, Jenn naturally had to follow suit. Hence, he smiled and asked.
"Not now, Sir Overlord."
As expected, Prague shook his head in response to Jenn's question.
Jenn wasn't surprised by this answer at all.
Although these mages were here to cooperate with him, mages were a bunch of arrogant fellows.
Idiots like Archbishop Edward who looked up at others all day were just the lowest form of tactics.
On the other hand, mages were the best at it. Although they appeared to be polite now, after interacting with them for a long time, one would discover the arrogance hidden behind their politeness.
For instance, what Prague said just now could be translated as: "You also want to know the secrets of us mages?
Go back to where you came from. "
However, he had to admit that mages were much better at speaking than those inflexible fellows.
"Then I don't understand."
Jenn leaned back in his chair and adjusted his spectacles.
"If the target you need to investigate is in that wilderness, you can just enter it directly. That place is unclaimed and I think with the abilities of all mages, no matter what you are looking for, you can easily find it.
When that time comes, you just need to build a camp around the target to solve the problem, right?
Why do you still need to seek my help? "
Having said that, Zayen shrugged.
"No matter what, I'm a decorated noble … Not to mention, this is the territory of the Church of Holy."
Jenn wasn't wrong. Eagle Highland was one of the seven major parishes of the Church of Holy. If Jenn's Passus was located at the border of Seth and Correncia, it wasn't that he couldn't benefit from both sides.
But the problem was that Jenn's Passus was currently within the territory of the Church of Holy.
To Correncia, this place was basically an enclave with no value to speak of.
"That's true. I can understand your concerns, Sir Overlord."
Since Jenn had made his move, Prague naturally had to respond.
"In fact, we hope to make a deal with you, Sir … I think you know that you have a lot of things that we are very interested in."
Prague said as he looked around meaningfully.
"And you also know that us mages are a bunch of old men who only know how to curl up in the library all day and only know how to read ancient books. To us, the value of ten thousand gold isn't comparable to knowledge.
And in your territory, we have come into contact with many new things that we have never seen before and this has piqued our curiosity … "
This time, Prague wasn't just trying to please Jenn. What he said was also the truth.
Especially the organization called 'Healing Hand' in Passus' territory. Prague knew that it was the best choice to deal with the Church of Holy.
One had to know that the Church of Holy was able to maintain their rule among the commoners mainly because they spared no effort in promoting the existence of clerics to protect and heal. The mages might be good at destruction, but when it came to protection and healing, the Church of Holy was the professional!!
This' fallacy 'not only had a profound impact on the commoners, but many mages also agreed with this conclusion.
They even basked in it and felt smug.
But in fact, Prague knew that magic was almost omnipotent.
It was nonsense to say that divine spells focused on defense and healing.
There were also spells similar to 'Holy Healing' such as' Light Healing ',' Heavy Healing ',' Disease Dispelling ', and so on.
These spells weren't of a high level and even low-level mages could master them.
Moreover, Alchemists could also make these spells into alchemy potions that were convenient to carry around and use.
If Correncia could learn from Jenn and send these low-level mages to different areas to form a professional healing organization, then the impression that mages were only good at destruction and nothing else could be completely changed.
But what made Prague depressed was that he had so many subordinates under him, but none of them came up with this idea.
If he didn't see the 'Healing Hand' organization in the villages in Passus, perhaps he wouldn't have thought of this either.
Just from this point alone, it could be said that Jenn had given the Correncia Empire a huge gift. But of course, Prague wouldn't be foolish enough to reveal this matter.
The older the mages, the harder they were to deal with.
But Jenn wasn't someone who could be easily dealt with either.
"Then, I guess you must have prepared the corresponding compensation. Equivalent exchange, I'm sure Grand Mage Prague understands this logic, right?"
"Of course."
Prague stroked his beard, reached into his pocket, and placed a box before Jenn.
Looking at the box, Jenn was taken aback.