Chapter 271: Seeking Advice

On the training field surrounded by soldiers, Nicole was fighting an A-ranked fighter.

Victor folded his arms as he watched the battle.

Nicole was exchanging powerful blows without stopping. Who had the biggest advantage was the young fighter, thanks to her ‘armor’ that she condensed with her combat aura, gave her extra defense.

Adding her strength, speed and control of her combat aura that had been enhanced by her elixir, Nicole was strong.

Defense and offense, that young lady who seemed to not be gaining muscle was taking on an army man who was burly.

“HA!”

Victor signaled another soldier and an A-ranked spearman attacked, directing his spear at Nicole’s back.

If it was before, that young fighter would surely contort her body, following the style of the person who had taught her, but now she simply slammed her fist against the fighter to push him away and received the spear.

“...”

The wooden spear surrounded by the aura slid from the young woman’s back, deflecting away from its destination thanks to Nicole’s ‘armor’ forming to avoid the attack.

Her control was at the point that allowed her to prioritize her defense in certain areas and it was even now possible to deflect physical attacks.

*BOOM*

Turning full circle, Nicole launched a kick directly hitting the spearman’s face, who was sent flying.

They had been mistaken if they thought this young woman was weak.

Even though she was not S-ranked, Nicole, at mere A-rank had awakened a certain unique ability with her combat aura that was almost impossible to imitate.

Just that fact alone let one see the future potential she had, but that was when talking about potential and Nicole had something else.

“Come on!”

*BOOM*

With a shout full of battle spirit, Nicole advanced to meet the fighter, and she threw a punch that collided against her opponent’s fist, but the difference was clear.

The opponent flew into the air because of that young woman’s powerful burst of strength and the soldier’s distorted expression only showed how painful it had been.

That was another ability of Nicole’s... ‘burst of strength’. Even so, was not what Victor was referring to.

“Ugh...”

The spearman attacked from behind her back and Nicole took the cut again, but the scream of pain came not from her, but from her opponent.

That young woman had dodged just enough to not get seriously hurt and that small wound was the payment she had to make to hit the spearman.

She had grabbed that soldier’s spear and pulled it towards her to deliver a direct hit to her opponent, who let out a groan of pain.

“...”

Then, as her opponents walked away, she smiled.

It wasn’t that shy smile she occasionally gave; it was a smile that came from deep inside her... She had come to love the way she fought.

However, she also had the ferocity of a fighter who was unfazed by the pain, the blows and kept getting back up.

It was that spirit that made Victor take her to teach her personally, it was that reason why he couldn’t get bored of helping her even though he could let her be long gone.

Giving an amused smile, Victor waved his hand, giving the order for a captain to advance.

Unlike those soldiers, the captain was a more experienced psionic.

“That’s enough!” shouted the psionic, releasing a mental attack.

“Ugh!”

Nicole quickly made her combat aura armor become corporeal, surrounding her body, but the mental attack was powerful enough to pierce through her defense.

Still, she managed to resist the greater effects of that mental attack and took the fighter’s punch.

If when she was a B rank she could face two enemies of the same rank, now she needed to face even more enemies... And more so when he was the one training her.

“Whenever you see that she has the advantage, send another soldier. When she is defeated, help her recover and have the training repeated,” Victor ordered the captain, who was with his soldiers.

This training camp belonged to the military of the South American Empire, and now he had brought Nicole to face all kinds of trained and experienced enemies.

Those soldiers were, for since he had become ‘Emperor’, he prioritized the military who were ‘loyal’ to his orders.

The military training was rigorous and due to the situation in South America, they were used to face creatures, beasts or monster nests and even mobsters.

After receiving the captain’s nod, Victor walked away from the training area, leaving Nicole behind.

Nicole was excellent, skilled, talented and with the spirit of a fighter, but she was young.

Youth caused her experience to be too low when compared to others of the same rank.

Still, such a flaw could be remedied if she was put into a training camp with dozens of soldiers to be beaten hard.

Only through the blows and pain would she know how to dodge the next blow.

The remarkable thing was that he had chosen a platoon that obeyed him completely and, although they would consider her ‘his student’, they would actually beat her up as he had ordered.

As he left the training area, his secretary appeared in front of him as if she was always waiting for him.

“Are you here from seeing Erica Reynolds?” Victor asked as he looked at her curiously.

“Mostly checking on the ice city, but I took your advice and ordered Gliss to give her a hand,” Ersin replied and giving him a small smile, she added. “But it was unnecessary. Gliss is already interested in her.”

Victor, hearing such words, nodded indifferently.

“I don’t understand why you are interested in her. Can you explain it to me, Your Majesty?” Ersin asked, seeing that he didn’t say much and with curiosity, she specified. “Is it because of your acquaintance’s close relations?”

What was the reason for supporting Nicole? He liked her as a fighter, there was no doubt about that and her potential was interesting in his eyes.

The interests of training a young woman who could become a high rank were tempting and more the thanks in the future, but the truth that such things didn’t matter to him.

If in the future the mage became extremely strong and became his enemy for whatever reason, Victor would love to have a high-level battle.

However, it was different with that ice mage.

There was no profit, as the one who would have the thanks would be Gliss who was officially not under his command and was independent.

“Yes, you can take it as that. Aurora and Alice are too cautious, so the way I can approach are very few. This is just one of many ways.” Victor replied with a half smile.

That was part of the truth, but not all of it completely.

Still, it was enough for now.

Ersin asked for no further explanation and nodded and waved her hand, causing the surroundings to distort.

The next moment they were in the hallway of a large palace and Victor, looking at the time, turned to his destination.

“Before your meeting, I would like to brief you on the plan to uproot the roots,” Ersin reported and without waiting for him to speak, continued. “The mobs have already settled in the West African Republic, but due to the situation with the Queen of the North, they have split and are at loggerheads.”

Victor looked at her curiously as he walked beside her.

“While the confrontation has not yet been direct, they have been carrying out illegal acts of all kinds in the African region. All for the purpose of making money, once they achieve their goal, the confrontation is likely to begin.” Ersin explained earnestly.

“How illegal?” Victor hesitated curiously.

There were quite a few illegal things the mobs did in America, so there were quite a few actions that fell under that term.

“A portion of them carry very illegal acts...” Ersin replied and instead of answering, she projected a report, getting Victor to pause.

Selling drugs was the least they did... Victor simply nodded as he read in passing.

It didn’t happen in his region and he honestly didn’t care what they did.

It was clear that they were desperately trying to make money and get back on their feet, which was going to be a problem for him... Or at least, a problem he wanted to avoid, no matter how small.

“Get a team ready to send out. I want to take them out completely.” Victor ordered earnestly.

The nice thing about Africa was that it was easy to move against most of them in secret and if they ever found out, it wasn’t like anything major would happen.

Only Zerzura, the Kingdom of Madagascar, Morocco and South Africa, had any international standing to criticize diplomatically.

The mafia was not a major problem, but he had already killed many of them and it was possible that quite a few of the survivors had a grudge against him.

So the best solution was to ‘eliminate’ them all completely... Of course, he was also making a profit.

Ersin nodded, understanding what he was going to do and then, they both entered a nice meeting room.

The place was completely empty, but Victor activated a high-quality communication crystal and it spread a wave that covered the place.

A strong barrier that prevented any kind of detection and high security that even powerful people of their level would find it difficult to intervene and spy on.

Ersin hid himself using magic, making it appear as if he was alone and Victor contacted the person to meet.

A figure began to be revealed, as if he had been present in the room all along.

Wearing an elegant mage’s robe, her expression and figure would undoubtedly win the hearts of the onlookers.

“Cecile, I hope you have been well,” Victor greeted with a very cordial smile and seeing that mage’s eyes glowing with magical energy, he commented. “You seem to have progressed quite a bit.”

“That’s right, thanks to you. I’m getting closer and closer to my goal,” Cécile Leroux replied after a simple greeting.

Victor chuckled softly and gestured for her to sit in the chair at the front of the table.

“I hear you have been selected to participate in the next expedition to the abyssal portals. I don’t know whether to congratulate you or pity you.” Victor joked with his smile.

Unfortunately, his joke made the woman’s expression crinkle slightly.

Cécile was puzzled, as she had only found out a short time ago and that was why she had asked for the meeting... Besides, that everything was extremely confidential because it hadn’t been made official.

Victor, with a single glance, could understand her thoughts.

“That’s right... Even though I have confidence in my personal strength, I have asked for a meeting to see if it is possible for you to give me some advice,” Cécile asked, returning to her serious expression.

No, she had not come to ask for some ‘advice’, she had come to ask for something else.

What’s more, that wasn’t about help, surely she was trying to find out about him and his ‘group of friends’, wanting to get as much information out of him as possible.

The notes she had received are paying off and such an outcome gave some anxiety to her own future and more so when the connections seemed murky.

“You are not yet a member of our group of friends. There is not much help we can offer you,” Victor replied with a smile and, seeing the slight frown, commented. “We’re not that kind of group of friends who share belief.”

We are not a religious sect or cult... That was what he was trying to say with his words.

Cecile was about to enter an abysmal portal and if something happened, the only ones who were possible to help her were ‘higher’ entities.

Now she had come trying to see if her group of friends was some cult of religious worshiping, some kind of god to carry out their objectives.

Such individuals did exist, but in this case it was different.

“However, I can help give you that push you need with some notes that you will surely be interested in,” Victor commented and with a friendly smile, added. “It’s always nice to help a new future friend.”

He wasn’t lying about wanting her to join, but they had requirements to get into his select ‘group of friends’.

However, he was lying about the notes.

“Sure, such notes won’t be from ‘that’ person, but they will help you complete your goal.” Victor added and as if remembering, asked. “Of course I would like to know about the abyssal portals.”

He had a highly valued palace and there was no doubt that in his library he had all kinds of grimoires that would help a summoner like Cécile.

The former owner of such a palace was a dragoness who liked to keep many things in that place, and it was normal for him to have all kinds of treasures that would even be valuable to Terra nova mages.

They might not be as valuable as the notes he had given her before, but it would certainly attract some greedy eyes, and now it was enough for her.

Cécile’s gaze turned serious.

She had come to try to get some information out, but she was slowly being offered more advantages and was being drawn in completely.

Being close to completing her goal was not the same as having completed it and more so when the goal was to reach SS rank.

Could she refuse?

No, no one in their right mind would refuse to be lured by power.

“Maybe when you come back, you can join our group. It’s all up to you.” Victor pointed out with an amused chuckle.

Adding a member to their group of friends was nice, but not important.

It was all about knowing where to invest.

“Once those selected are chosen, the expedition will enter the portal at the end of the month,” Cécile said and giving a sigh, muttered. “It is expected to be a group strong enough to survive on the other side. Only when the portal is taken will other groups be sent.”

A sensible plan.

The first group needed to be strong enough to take on whatever was on the other side.

While the entry was delayed a bit, what it was all about was getting the right people ready.

Victor smiled as he saw Cécile begin to speak.

Maybe these topics are confidential, but this was what they did in their group of friends, tell each other secret to help those in need.