novelraw Chapter 370: King Tier Spirit Beast - 1
Chapter 370: King Tier Spirit Beast - 1
Chapter 370: King Tier Spirit Beast - 1
"Well, there isn’t really a need to form any more after yours, but since your numbers are fewer, I guess I would still need to form an alliance with some more territories around mine. Though I won’t prioritise the top 50, as there’s no need to gather extra strength with you 3. The alliance will be purely for the sake of number intimidation. Also, the fact that I won’t be desperate enough to make arrays in their territories in exchange for an alliance."
"So, in a sense, just like how your territory holds the upper hand in this alliance, I will be holding the upper hand in theirs."
"My territory holds the upper hand? How so?" Leo asked.
"Of course it does. Even without my arrays and formations, your territory will survive in the upcoming bounty; in other words, you don’t necessarily need my help. But in my case, without your help, my territory will collapse. So, for me, it’s paramount that I secure you, but the same cannot be said for you."
Tavian leaned forward in his chair and looked at Leo straight in the eye.
"You can literally one-sidedly decide to annul the alliance, and there’s nothing I can do. I cannot even intimidate you with my territorial force to maintain the alliance. But you can do everything, and this gives you leverage. You can literally say to me that if I want to maintain the alliance, I do everything in building the array, even buying the necessary materials—which, I should say, are very costly—and I would need to agree even if I don’t want to, just so I can protect my territory by using your force." Tavian said with a serious expression that suggested something else.
Fuck, I made another mistake in management... Leo finally realised that Tavian was actually teaching him something.
Tavian continued.
"So, a territory that maintains the upper hand can have many leverage points over the territory under it. I hope you keep these things in mind from now on if you form more alliances in the future, or I should say, make a territory your vassal."
Leo nodded, and even Lily seemed to understand what Tavian was talking about. She internally decided to learn about the ’hows’ to abus—take advantage of their strength in any negotiations or pacts, which would be enough to keep the other party under control while still giving them enough space to breathe.
Leo internally grimaced. She is going to punish herself more.
He was talking about adding more tasks to her already busy schedule. Since the day Lily promised to take on management tasks related to the territory, she had started attending classes and spending her time in libraries to learn about it.
Leo had repeatedly reassured her that she didn’t need to worry about being perfect because it hadn’t even been 4 months since their real journey began, and that they would slowly learn and pick things up along the way. But Lily was adamant about making Leo’s life easier, and for that, she had been busy for almost 14 hours a day for the past week.
After those 14 hours came the 2 hours of "personal care" for Leo, during which she made him handmade food, massaged him, showed some fighting to demonstrate her progress, and having some light sparring session in which they flirted more than they fought. Only then did she sleep for 6 hours.
Of course, Leo also didn’t back away from taking care of her. Even when she said she didn’t need anything, whatever she did for him, Leo made every effort to return it. So it could be said that those 2 hours were their personal bonding time, and the part of the day they both looked forward to the most as a reward for their whole day’s hard work.
"Well, since 9 days have already passed, I guess I should start on the array work right now. Are you comfortable with that?" Tavian asked.
"Yes, there’s no problem. But how will you get the necessary materials? Do you already have them on you?"
"No, no. I will send those 3 to Aurelius Hall right now to get them. I will survey the surroundings and mark the important points. I hope you trust me enough to let me roam freely." Tavian raised his hand and pointed toward the plateau.
"Especially there. I can tell you hide and keep most of your secrets there. And I have a perfect array in my mind to disorient others and not let them get close to those secrets. And yeah, for that, once again, you’ll need to trust me."
Leo deliberated for a moment when Tavian asked about entering the plateau.
"What sort of arrays will you build?"
Tavian promptly answered.
"For that higher region, I will trace illusion arrays and formations so that people lower than Peak 3-star in strength can never approach your territory beacon, which I am confident is there," Tavian continued.
"Then the previously mentioned omnidirectional sense array, whose focal point can be made anywhere you want. Standing, or just lazing in the area of that focal point, will give you the locations of all the living beings of pseudo 4-star and lower rank, even if they are cloaked in some stealthy techniques. As for those above them, sorry, but unless they reveal their presence themselves, it’s impossible for an array built by me to sense them for now."
Leo nodded.
"That’s impressive nonetheless. And what is the region of this focal point? Do you need to stand in a particular circle?"
Tavian shook his head.
"No..." Tavian looked around the house they were in.
"I would say the focal point will be a bit larger than this house. In other words, you can have that focal point built in your house and sense others even when you are resting on a comfy chair or walking around."
"Nice. I will need to allow it then. And I trust that you will keep my secrets, because the leverage thing that you mentioned earlier, I will make full use of that. And I am pretty sure anybody can attack your territory after the bounty ends."
Tavian nodded his head, agreeing.
"Right. Now for other arrays which can be covered under costs..." Tavian thought for a while.
While they discussed things, they failed to notice the darkening sky on the distant horizon. Not only them, but most in the academy failed to notice it since it was very subtle and far away.