281 - Chaos Beyond Imaginations

“Look, that is Ethan, he is an NPC.”

“We know who that is. It is Jason’s student from the Wizard Tower.”

“Is he here to answer us?”

“Why are they sending an NPC? Is this a quest?”

“I don’t think we can trigger quests like this….”

Various voices and whispers came from the group of players as they saw Ethan appearing from the village gate. 

“He is not coming here. He must be here to announce something.”

…

The players grew impatient as Ethan stood there in silence without making any sound. The village guards stood between the players and Ethan to prevent them from bothering Ethan.

“So… They still fear the guards. I guess they have some use.”

Xanders raised his brow in amusement.

“They aren’t very useful at the moment, not unless they reach the Master-level within the next year.”

Jason was too busy playing with Hanna to look at the situation outside the gate. 

“Master-level? Do you want all the guards to reach the master level? Kid, we are talking about Aura users.”

Xanders looked at Jason who was playing with Hanna as if he heard it wrong. 

‘What is that creature? Why can’t I gauge its strength? This thing is not normal.’

His eyes focused on the weird playing Hanna had found after Jason went missing for three days. 

Since they desperately wanted Jason at the village, he asked the aliens to bring Jason back from their world. Only then did everyone realise Jason wasn’t in his world or Light Shone. 

‘He must have teleported away to some other place. Or did he enter the Dark Forest?’

Xanders never heard of a humanoid magical creature with wings and razor-sharp teeth. 

It looked like a Magical fairy, but that spell didn’t summon a creature that could stay in the real world permanently. Besides, they had no Life Wizard with them, and Charlie was still a Novice Wizard. 

“Yes. I mean… It is okay for them to work as guards, but we are going to need Master-level guards.”

“By when?”

Jason’s answer left Xanders baffled. 

“Hm… By next year maybe?”

“We can make them Aura users with your new techniques, but how are they going to train in combat to reach the level of a master? It is not just about aura, they need to be competent with their technique and experience.”

Xanders didn’t agree with Jason.

Most of their guards didn’t reach the standard of the Elites, which meant they mastered their respective combat styles. Without mastering their combat skills, just using aura didn’t make them a true master. 

“Well… I might have a method, but it is a difficult goal.”

“Do you? What? Are you even talking to me?”

Xanders felt frustrated when he saw Jason wasn’t even looking in his direction. 

“Oh… Ethan is about to cast his spell. Do you want to see, Hanna?”

“Magic…? Yey! Let’s go, Daddy.”

…

‘Was he even talking to me?’

Xanders felt dejected.

“Great Flood!”

A gigantic magic circle appeared in front of the protesting players.

A sudden wave of coldness leaked out of the circle for a moment before a torrent of water showed out from the circle. 

“Arcane Shield!”

A giant blue shield appeared to cover the entire front area of the village to protect it from the raging flood. The people who were caught in the flood didn’t even have a moment to scream as the wave of water crashed them into the forest. 

‘A full-fledged Wizard. This is the third in our village. We are not going to avoid the heat anymore.’

Xanders knew it would only be a matter of hours before the news would circulate the world. With the aliens’ ability to record and circulate events at an alarming speed, many would realise Ethan had become a proper wizard. 

A third wizard meant they had the qualification to be a small kingdom. Along with the presence of Jason and Amelia in Light Shone, they had power comparable to Alexandria. 

‘They must know what happened to those wizards who came after Jason, so they will come prepared.’

Even though none of the major forces leaked the information, everyone knew Jason got rid of an entire army before returning to Light Shone. With the third wizard coming to light after Lock and Merlin, the retaliation against them would only increase. 

“You are getting better, Ethan.”

“Uhuh… Uncle Ethan is getting better… Eh… Was uncle sick before?”

Hanna’s confused words brought Xanders back to reality. 

Jason looked unbothered by the entire thing as the water drained into the forest, leaving the muddy ground behind. A single spell took out nearly a thousand individuals in an instant, and this wasn’t even the full extent of that spell. 

‘Hm… Ethan is still nowhere near as fast as Jason, but they are way faster than any average wizard.’

Xanders wondered why Jason trained his students like this. 

The wizards enjoyed royal status in this world, and they had no reason to train into war machines like this. 

“Let’s go, Mr Xanders, we have to finish up for the day.”

Yes. Let’s go, Rude Grandpa.”

“How am I the rude one?”

Xanders shook his in dejection.

Hanna had a way with her nicknames for everyone, and no one could scold the innocent girl, anyway.

He wondered if she wasn’t happy with him because of how he reacted when she saw him for the first time, or if she just memorised it as his name. 

…

“We are sending all the exclusive members to hunt down every bandit and every thief in the surroundings. No matter where they are, they should get rid of them.”

Jason finalised his decision.

“But most of them are….”

“They are not used to killing, right?”

He looked at Scott, who was hesitant to voice out the concerns. 

“Jason… What about the NPC… I mean… Natives.”

“They are going too.”

The exclusive players of the Crystal Pulse went through bloody combat training, but the Crystal Pulse also had the natives of Yuriel. These people would die for real if they failed in the combat. 

“But….”

“There are no buts… They will learn what it means to fight for real.”

Jason rarely used his authority like this, but he knew they had very little time left. 

“Assign experienced fighters to each team. Send out the Grandmasters to scout and assist if necessary. Also, let the players know if they fail, the natives in their teams will pay with their lives in the battle.”

“Isn’t it too extreme, Jason?”

“Not at all, Ms Amanda. They will learn to kill or fail. No matter to what extent they train, they will never become warriors until they learn to kill.”

“You want to make them your army.”

Xanders wasn’t the only one who grasped the meaning of Jason’s words, but no one else was forward enough to utter those words. 

“Yes. I need an army before the war.”

Jason didn’t deny their words. 

“But why… Jason? This is what I truly don’t understand. I mean… You and Ethan can take over hundreds of smaller units, why do you need an army?”

Bruce was the only one who had such a question even after witnessing Ethan’s actions earlier. 

“Isn’t it obvious? That is the exact reason. We are too destructive, Bruce. A war between armies might kill hundreds of thousands of people, but a war between wizards might kill millions.”

Jason shook his head.

“Unless a wizard is so confident in killing the other without dragging things out, a war between wizards will bring chaos beyond imagination.”

Jason thought of his physical capabilities in simulations, and he knew it would be inevitable. 

There would be a moment where he would have to step in, and he wasn’t afraid. However, he needed to keep things to himself at the moment.