Chapter 366: New Plans

Chapter 366: New Plans

Walking across the barren, sandy land, under the heat of a blazing star as it beamed down its energy, giving life as easily as taking it, Gerald accepted the heat and covered his head to protect his face.

Clothed in airy leather trousers and a tunic, with a white gown overtop, he went, step by step, closer toward his home. The soles of his boots sank into the desert sand, requiring extra effort to continue moving forward.

To say that he didn't regret taking one of those Sand Crawlers with him would be a lie. But the beasts were long gone, spooked by the sounds of battle they ran away as soon as their riders died.

And now he was alone, walking across the Great Desert, but that was fine. With plenty of time to think, it allowed him to remember the many unfinished businesses, as well as things he still wanted or had to do in the future. There were so many, that he doubted he even had the time to accomplish it all.

The plan was to expand his potion business massively, which would require a lot of new connections so he could get new suppliers for his endeavors. Buying ingredients on the open market would be easier, but also much more expensive.

If the demand increased rapidly, the prices of herbs would sharply increase in Auralba, especially after the already high demand for potions after the war. Perhaps going to the west would be a smart decision. He could gather God's Blood as well as all the other common plants he needed.

He planned on also increasing his team's powers as quickly as possible, and filling them with potions seemed the easiest way to do so. At least their magical abilities could advance quickly. The physical increase would have to wait.

Preparing for the future was also a must. Gerald already knew what had to be done. He drained his spells scroll stores quite substantially, and they had to be replenished. Now that money was not a problem anymore, he ordered his butler to buy all possible ingredients such as cores, high-quality parchment, and beast blood so he could focus purely on production after getting back.

With a bit of luck, a mountain of treasures would be waiting for him when he gets back home. At least that's what he hoped would happen. Then he could spend a few days or weeks relaxing while training his scroll-making skill.

Then again, he had to reorganize his magic knowledge, so that might take quite a bit of his time too. He had learned so many things, many of them wrong or incomplete, that he wasn't even sure exactly which theory or information was correct.

It was best if he organized it all neatly in one single book so he could teach it to his students as efficiently as possible. The work was bound to drain a lot of his free time.

And, of course, how could he forget the most important thing of them all? The Elixir of Life and Fire!

The potion was something he had to make, no questions about it. However, despite getting his hands on the most important ingredient, it was still not enough. He was still missing a few minor ingredients though, so that might also take some time.

Then there was the million-dollar question Should he even use it?

It took him a few more days to reach Auralba, or almost The war was bad for business, and the local bandits were trembling in their holes as the monsters roamed the land. But now, as it was all over and it was safe to go back outside, they were emboldened and the attacks increased.

It just so happened that Gerald seemed like a good target riding on a horse all by himself. He was a fat morsel for the hungry thugs, so to speak.

It only took one well-aimed arrow to bring him to a standstill. The horse was shot in the neck, got spooked, tossed Gerald off, and escaped into the distance where it soon collapsed due to severe blood loss.

"Motherfucker! Who was it?!"

You probably already know what happened next. There was just one thing that was to be done in this situation where a gang of bandits surrounded a lonely traveler.

That's right, Gerald didn't kill anyone. I'm serious, he just broke a few legs, and arms to disable his attackers.

"Count yourself lucky I don't want to dirty my Soul more than necessary! If it wasn't for the fact that cleaning corruption was a pain in the ass you'd be already dead!"

The thugs had no idea what he was talking about and just trembled at his feet, "Please mercy, sir! Mercy! Don't beat us anymore, we won't do it again!"

"Silence!" Gerald kicked the leader groveling at his feed. "First you kill my horse, and now you are dirtying my boots with your blood! Get out of here!"

"Ah, mercy, mercy!"

Gerald rolled his eyes and left the sorry excuse of a man behind. He really didn't care what they did in their free time, but killing his mount And he was so close to the capital as well! Now he had to walk the remaining few kilometers across the muddy ground and over the rotting corpses of the battlefield.

No matter how much the people of the city cleaned it up in his absence, it was impossible to remove it all. The place stank like the inside of an Orc's asshole! Not that he would know from personal experience. He just guessed.

Then the familiar black fortifications came into view. The beautiful, tall, scorched walls of Auralba!

"Finally, I'm back!"