Chapter 0200

“So now that blabbermouth told everyone the 4 elements natural element belongs to me, I’d like to introduce everyone to Kain Gourd.” Cardis grinned ferally. “Of course, I won’t tell you his full name as he is protected by a True Blessing bestowed by me.”

The name says it all.

The 4 elements natural element, no, Kain Gourd now, are under Cardis’ protection.

They couldn’t do anything to him even if they could get their hands on him. He has a name. Not just any name, but a name is given under the protection of a True Blessing.

“Hey, I thought Blessing is used to fooling the masses. What does a True Blessing have to do with a natural element?” Tempest cast a True Blessing on the child after she performed a Cesarean and cut him out of his mother's belly. She knows about it but doesn’t believe it works. She also doesn’t know how a True Blessing works on a natural element.

“Idiot, don’t you know anything?” Fenix hissed at her obtuse teammate though everyone wondered why she even bothered. They know of Tempest’s temperament by now.

“I wouldn’t be an idiot if I knew everything.”

Fenix opened her mouth and tried to retort but she couldn’t refute Tempest’s logic. No, not Tempest’s logic, a fool’s logic. She’d only lower her intelligence level down to Tempest’s level if she continued to converse with her.

Graden took pity on Fenix as Fenix needed a closer relationship with Tempest and Li Ming than he did.

“True Blessing invokes divine retribution on anyone attempting to harm a spirit without knowing their true name and before you try to nitpick, once a natural element gain sentiences, they are close enough to the spirits for a True Blessing to apply to them.”

“Uhh…”

“Basically, no one can harm Kain Gourd without pissing off Heaven unless they know his full name. Cardis is the one who bestowed the True Blessing onto Kain, so he is the only one who knows Kain’s true name. So if they want to use Kain for their cultivation, then they have to go through Cardis to get it.”

“Oh, identity theft protection, got it,” Tempest said.

Everyone eyed Tempest strangely.

Indeed, mages are weird. They are weird in the eyes of the other cultivator and Tempest is a perfect example of their eccentricities.

The fact that she was throwing their eccentricities to their face by her actions rubbed a sore spot in the hearts of the mages.

“Come out Kain and introduce yourself to everyone here. Don’t forget to remember their faces, especially the old men in the mage robes. You can go to them for help if you need it. They will lend a hand if they know what is good for them.”

“That’s going too far!” a black haired man with red highlighted vehemently protested.

“Ah ignore that guy Kain. Remember everyone else here.” Cardis said sweetly at Kain Gourd. Kain Gourd nodded eagerly at Cardis, his innocent doe eyes stared adoringly at Cardis.

“Since I dare offered your assistance to my little boy here, I’m willing to pay the price accordingly. Everyone heard blabbermouth over there a chaotic rift opened in my domain recently. The little fishwife was spouting off incorrect information. There were two chaotic rifts that opened in my domain.”

Everyone hissed as Cardis clarified the rumors. One treasure from a chaotic rift would cause all the mages here to fight each other to death to obtain it and that’s only one treasure out of who knows how many that come out of a chaotic rift.

Now Cardis said not one chaotic rift opened but two! Treasure from two chaotic rifts.

Everyone who knows anything began to turn red eyed with greed. If it wasn’t Cardis who revealed the information then everyone here would have pounced. Sadly, the treasure from the chaotic rift was in Cardis’ hand. Unless Valstein Yoresteven and Miretta Morcean joined hands with them, there was no chance of them harming a hair on Cardis’ head.

Miretta Morcean could be swayed but Valstein Yoresteven’s friendship with Cardis goes a long way back and it has been tested again and again and it hasn’t broken yet. It won’t break now.

Valstein Yoresteven’s appearance here wasn’t an accident nor was it him coveting the natural fire element. Cardis invited his best friend here to back him up. Naturally, Valstein wouldn’t covet Cardis’ treasure. He probably got his portion already.

“I’m willing to use three treasures from the chaotic rift as collateral for a Spirit Oath Contract.”

Before Tempest could open her mouth Graden started the explanation. “A Spirit Oath Contract, as the name implies, is a contract enforced by the spirits. If either side breaks the contract, their cultivation would stagnate, the collateral in question would be broken and the mage would stink.”

“Stink?”

“Stink. It’s not just any foul smell either, but the worst one you could think of. Even brimstone, sulfur and the spray of Swamp Side Skunk can’t compare to it. It is the spirits method of telling the world the mage in question broke a Spirit Oath Contract.”

“Kinda childish of you guys,” Tempest said to her spirits.

Surprising as it might seem, we spirits take the oath seriously, especially one taken under our supervision. And the punishment is highly appropriate, don’t you think?

“Appropriate no, effective, yes,” Tempest answered thoughtfully. The oathbreaker won’t be given another chance to break another contract since no one wants to be near them if they didn’t have to.

Tempest ear’s perked right up when she heard a mage with bright blond hair faded to blue at the ends hesitantly asked, “Your conditions?”

It was as if he didn’t believe Cardis’ offer. No mage in their right mind would take out a treasure from a chaotic rift and use it as collateral for a Spirit Oath Contract without demanding an unreasonable amount of benefits in return.

“The guilds who accept collateral will join hands and punish any guild and their associates when reasonable proof is found leading them directly or indirectly harming the person whose essence is tied to the contract.”

Cardis was careful with his words. His phrasing indicates that the guild accepting the contract must help punish everyone who was found to harm Kain Gourd and their associates. It allows Cardis to pursue all possible avenues of investigation should Kai Gourd be harmed and it would punish them if they were found colluding with the perpetrator.

There is some leeway on the guild’s part as Cardis only requests they take action when an incident is made known to them and reasonable proof is provided to them. It allows the guild some loophole to work around as every mage here knows there is going to be some underhanded method used to obtain the boy, contract or no. The consequence is dire if they get caught, but they have to be caught in the first place.

The mages present aren’t stupid. They are going to make the contract then think of a way to obtain Kain Gourd without violating the contract.

Afterward, the mages turn to the collateral Cardis was offering. Three treasures split among the six of them. They outright disregard Cardis since he was the one offering the treasure as collateral and Lurnel Ye Tiendo, the Magus Alliance Council Member representing the Eternal Spirit Guild.

Cardis no doubt offered a portion of the treasure to the Eternal Spirit Guild and Lurnel Ye Tiendo already got her share. She probably got dragged here by Cardis to back him up.

The same can be said for Valstein Yoresteven. Cardis and Valstein Yoresteven go a long way back. They’ve been friends for a long time, long enough for Cardis to offer a portion of the treasure he got from the chaotic rifts without Valstein Yoresteven even asking.

After the elimination, there were only four Magus Alliance Council Member, Miretta Morcean and Llyana Arosis who had a valid claim to the offer.

Three of the Magus Alliance Council Member gave each other a meaningful glance before splitting up to fight for their benefits.

“Ah how fast they turn on each other.” Tempest thought in her heart as she watched one of Magus Alliance Council Member trying to exclude one of his brethren from the Spiritual Oath Contract.

Then she promptly ignores the two as she would not gain any benefits from the outcome of their negotiation. Tempest turned her attention towards Llyana Arosis and the Magus Alliance Council Member talking to her nearly wanted to facepalm herself when she heard Llyana Arosis’ demand.

“I want to openly and fairly investigate the Domain Management Guild and properly punish the appropriate party without any bias. In return, I’ll waive my portion of the treasure Cardis offered.” Llyana Arosis opened with her demands and it was immediately accepted.

Tempest lamented. Fair? Just? Bullshit. She should have asked them to investigate then give the harshest punishment possible for even a hint of wrongdoing. Tempest made a note to have a word with Fenix and her sisters even though she does not want to be alone with any of them right now. Ah, shesh, Fenix’s mother already made her demands and it was accepted. It was too late for Tempest to intervene.

Tempest was not saying that because of the scary smile she saw on the three sisters’ faces. She definitely didn’t fear the vibes they were putting out. She definitely wasn’t shaking in her boots just now. Ah hell, she was. Graden, where are you?

Tempest saw her shield off to the corner and she slowly made her way towards him lest the three monsters in human skin notice her.

Once she was safely behind Graden, she turned to look at what caught Graden’s attention. It was the conversation Miretta Morcean was having with her Magus Alliance Council Member negotiation with her.

Miretta Morcean smiled gently and the two mages put up their guard. “My request isn’t something you can fulfill.” She turned toward Valstein Yoresteven and her the brightness of her smile increase by a thousand watts. “As you know, my kingdom produces a variety of herbs and plenty of alchemists to go along with it. Alchemists are good but too dependent on outside forces to defend themselves. I want my kingdom to be self sufficient. For that we need weapons, strong weapons to give us an edge over the invaders. We’ve been buying weapons but that is another dependency. I want to be able to forge our own weapons. I want Valstein Yoresteven to trains a few of my descendants in the art of forging.”

Tempest could tell Miretta Morcean had put a lot of thought into her request. She had to hand it to Graden’s Ancestor. Not many people can forgo personal gain for the benefit of all. At least Tempest wouldn’t make the deal.

Tempest was eager to hear Valstein Yoresteven’s answer.

“Hmph, you’ve ignored me this whole time and yet when I can bring you benefits do you come to me.”

“That’s not -”

“That is what you are doing.” Valstein Yoresteven interrupted. “I don’t care to hear your lies or your excuses. This contract, I’d rather wash my hands of it if Cardis hadn’t asked me to lend my presence here.” Valstein Yoresteven addresses Miretta Morcean directly. “I would have accepted your request, no strings attached. I’ve been looking for a Successor for the last three hundred years and I don’t mind imparting my craft to skilled mages. I do warn you, my requirements are high. I just won’t accept anyone.”

“If my descendants can’t meet your requirement, then it is their own loss. Toss them into the forge if they irritate you too much. I don’t mind. I rather have no descendants than descendants who squanders all of my hard work.” Miretta Morcean confidently replied.

Tempest poke Graden.

“What?”

“How much of your relatives are going to die?”

“Valstein won’t -”

“Graden, Valstein is a master here. He’s a perfectionist by nature. Craftsman doesn’t get as good as they do by settling. Valstein won’t toss them into the forge right away, but if they continue to pester him after he judged them unworthy then, yeah, into the forge they go. A kingdom with women in power is no different from a kingdom with men in power. Men and women are both humans, so there got to be a bevy of useless second generation idiots leeching off the kingdom Miretta Morcean founded. I don’t think Miretta Morcean mind the leeching so much as being stupid and dragging the name of the kingdom she creates through the mud. Those stupid arrogant fellows are the ones she is targetting. They’d get themselves kill without a powerful backer and they won’t know Miretta Morcean isn’t going to back them up, at least not in front of Valstein Yoresteven. So how many of your relatives will die?” Tempest asked with a strange glint in her eyes.

Graden wanted to refute Tempest. He really did. He wanted Tempest to have a favorable opinion of his Ancestors who came all the way over here to fight for his benefits until he realized Tempest’s assessment of Miretta Morcean wasn’t all that wrong. “Uh.. at least half. I think. It might be more.”

“Your Ancestor is quite a vicious woman. Truly a Daughter of Nature. Only the strongest survive and if you can’t prove your mettle, then she would righteously get rid of you.” Tempest nodded her head. That's the conclusion she came up with.

“Ancestor isn’t like that,” Graden said, trying to maintain some dignity for his Ancestor.

“Then what do you think about the deal she made with Valstein. If she isn’t the lion throwing her cub off the cliff to make him stronger, I don’t know what is.”

“Ancestor has her reasons.” Graden was grasping at straws here since he knows how Miretta Morceans about some of her descendants.

“Yeah, and one of those reasons is getting rid of the useless descendants leeching off of her.”

As Tempest was arguing with Graden, the negotiation among the mages came to a close.

“We accept your offer Cardis.” Griel Anvolt, representative of the guild Elementalist on the Governing Board of the Magus Alliance and self-appointed spokesperson of the group said.

“You’ve wasted no time fighting for your benefits.” Cardis smiled as he glanced at the downtrodden Magus Alliance Council Member who was no doubt strong-armed into excluding himself from participating in the Spiritual Oath Contract.

Just when Cardis was about to take out the treasures he was using as collateral, Tempest jumped into the conversation. “Just a gosh darn minute here. Where are my benefits?”