Chapter 248 248: Guardian

The Elders that are neutral or in favor of the creation of the new city kept their silence while giving their tacit agreement

While some of the Elders wished that the creation of the city would succeed, they are pessimistic

It has been years since the construction started and not to mention a city, the city walls' construction couldn't even be finished

If the walls were successfully built and were enchanted then humanity would be able to defend the place more easier

The walls that they are building are not your normal walls after all. Not only could the walls erect protective barriers when necessary, the top would also have magic cannons that could attack invaders

However, the procedure is complicated and since the magic beasts are constantly attacking the walls, the construction was prolonged this much

None of the Elders think that the walls could ever be finished and rather than wasting resources and manpower trying to do something futile, they think that it was better to cut their losses now

It was only the Guardian that insists on continuing the construction but if everyone is against it then even the Guardian wouldn't have a choice but to concede

"Humans in our realm have always been at the mercy of the magic beasts. Once upon a time, countless human tribes scattered in the lands, always fearing that one day, their entire bloodline would cease to exist"

"I don't want humanity to merely survive, I want us to live freely without fear every day that we would be annihilated!"

"For that goal, I fight and fight and fight! I shed rivers of blood, sustained various injuries, and mastered magic until I became the Guardian of humanity!"

"A thousand years ago, humans don't even have a city. We all lived in small societies as individual tribes but I made the creation of the City of Hope possible!"

"However! Even with the existence of the City, we are still always on the brink of annihilation and do you know why? Because we are weak and severely outnumbered!"

The more the Guardian speaks, the more agitated he becomes. His face was already completely red and every inch of his body was shaking. His eyes held a sea of hatred for the magic beasts

"We are weak and outnumbered because we don't have the capacity and space to foster more mages!"

"We have a low population and as a result, the number of talented mages that we have is not much. Most of them are always on the frontlines, fighting against our enemies"

"We lack people that would teach the next generation and the next generation after that. Only if we expand our territory and increase our population would more talent be born amongst humanity!"

"For that to happen, the creation of the second city is extremely important! We cannot stop it, if not, it would only be a matter of time before we are annihilated!"

"The City of Hope would cease to exist and once more, we would break down into smaller societies and form thousands upon thousands of tribes!"

Towards the end, the Guardian seemingly exploded. He stood from his seat and slammed his hand on the table

His agitated move causes his aura to flare. His palm shattered the rectangular table along with the crystal balls on top of it

His aura suffocated the Elders and threatened to destroy everything inside the room. The Elders were forced to erect barriers to block the change in the environment that the Guardian brought

Just as they were to try to calm him down, the oppressive aura that the Guardian was releasing vanished as he coughed blood

The Guardian covered his mouth with his hand as blood drips down from him

"Elder Lavery, quick! Use your healing magic!" The Elders urged the woman wearing a mage robe that has the logo of lavender

Elder Lavery didn't have to be told twice and she nodded her head as she approached the Guardian but before she can cast her healing magic, the Guardian raised his hand to stop her

"As all the Elders could see, I don't have much time left. It could be as long as a hundred years, a few decades, or as short as a few years. I won't sugarcoat my words but my existence is the only reason why the magic beasts haven't destroyed our city yet"

"However, the numerous injuries I suffered in my life hurt my vitality and after living this long, even with the longevity my rank gave to me, I am already nearing the end of my lifespan"

"Tell me! Tell me how could our City of Hope, our humankind possibly resist the magic beast after I die?! We haven't discovered a talent that could replace me yet!"

"At the very least, I want humanity to birth a talent that could replace me!"

The room sank in silence. Even the Elders that are blinded by greed do not wish for the Guardian to die. The Guardian's existence alone is the most effective deterrent against the magic beasts

However, while that is the case, the Elders also think that since the Guardian is nearing his death, wouldn't it be better to stop the construction of the new city and preserve their force before this deterrent factor dies?

For some time, no one from the meeting room spoke and the Guardian can't help but stare at the Elders bitterly until the elder at the end of the left side of the table spoke

"We cannot waste the resources and people we spent to create the new city but we also cannot waste any more manpower"

"Then how about this, there are still many small tribes scattered in the lands. We could gather them to replenish our manpower"

"Surely, there are tribes that have high-ranking Junior Mages. We could order them to defend the walls and in exchange, we would accept them in our city while teaching their younger generation. Considering that we are superior in power, possessed knowledge that they don't have, and the level of safety inside our city then there should be many tribes that would accept our proposal"

As soon as the Guardian heard the suggestion of Elder Dark Shadow, his eyes lit up as if he just saw the light of hope

Indeed! This proposal is great. Since the battlefield in the walls is mostly composed of Junior Mages, absorbing the scattered small tribes is a great decision

The bigger tribes should have mages at high cycle while on their younger generation, there might be some hidden gems that could not only become a Junior Mage but also exceed that rank!

However, there was a problem. While the supply of food could be solved as humanity is always attacked by magic beasts that they could turn into food, there was the problem with the living spaces

Not to mention, more people means that the resources of the city would have to be stretched thinner than before. And as expected, many of the Elders objected

"Absolutely not!"

"We already have problems with our population! We can't take in more people!"

"They would just waste our limited resources that should be given to the talented!"

Even the other neutral Elders also voiced out their opposition due to the repercussions that would appear by absorbing even more people, especially from the tribes that lack proper education

They think that the people from these small tribes are not talented enough and if they are given resources, it would be a waste

However, the Guardian already decided to adopt the suggestion of Elder Dark Shadow and he wiped the blood from his face before speaking again

"I want the Elders to give monetary support along with some cultivation resources. At the very least, we couldn't starve them until they have become self-sufficient"

"In exchange, I would open fifteen spots for my personal mana pool. Each Elder could send one person to use my personal cultivation pool and the top five Elders that would give the most 'support' would be given an additional slot"

It was not enough to give the Elders orders. Even the Guardian can't always just ask them to obey him as the Elders are humans with emotions

If the Guardian were to become a tyrant, the Elders might betray him and humanity. These Elders are the cream of the top, the strongest mages that humanity birthed and nourished

The loss of even just one of them is a great loss to humanity as a whole. As such, even the Guardian has to give them enough respect and in exchange for their help, he gave a tempting offer

"T-the cultivation pool?"

The Elders unconsciously gulped. Most of them have their own factions and if they want to have an edge against other factions, they can't let this chance slip by

Unless they have strength at the same level as the Guadian, the Elders alone can't be superior to the other factions

"Order your people or commission others to take the people of the scattered tribes. Remember, those that gave the most support would be given an additional slot!"