Chapter 54

Name：The New Journey of an Old Soul Author：
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Chapter 54

A/N: A bit more informative chapter before returning to real adventures and shenanigans.

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Nelehs group had traveled to a location relatively close to the capital of the duchy. The location where they traveled to was the place where many of the major ley lines running through the duchy crossed. Despite the power she had gotten from the dragons, Neleh didnt see any point in wasting it and instead chose to stick to her original plan of utilizing the power of the ley lines to create the Nexus. Normally when one drew mana from other beings, the part of the mana that went over the individuals own mana capacity would slowly dissipate, essentially going to waste. Thats why mages usually didnt walk around with extra mana siphoned from other people. It was much more common to use a well to store any excess mana, in preparation to spells one couldnt cast with their standard mana pool.

Due to her knowledge from her previous life, Neleh was much more effective at storing excess mana, but even she would waste a portion of it. Luckily she had come prepared. Its not that she was expecting to run into thirty dragons willing to share their mana, but it is not uncommon to run into situations where one has access to excess mana. In addition to the numerous small gems she used as wells, and was willing to show to people, she also had one enormously powerful well she used as an innocent looking necklace. Normally making small wells was fairly easy, even normal gems were able to store some mana. The problem was that the making of a well got exponentially harder the more power needed to be stored.

Making a well powerful enough to store the mana Neleh pilfered from the dragons should be theoretically impossible with the knowledge of this world, which is why Neleh kept it as a secret trump card to use in a case of emergency. Even for her it wouldve been too difficult to make such a powerful well using normal methods, but as usual there are ways around the problem. In short, Neleh simply cheated with the help of spatial magic inside the well. The downside was that if anyone was smart enough to strike at the spells within the well, the necklace would explode burning through all the power stored inside. In the case of the power she got from the dragons, the resulting explosion would be large enough to turn half of the duchy into a wasteland. Her original plan while creating the well had been to use the next ten or so years to squirrel away all the excess mana she had, also taking any chance to store away any excess mana she came across. The little event with the dragons had done most of the work for her. One of the good things about dragons was their stupendously excessive access to mana.

When they reached the location she wanted, Neleh had the others make camp for the night because it would take her most of the night to prepare and perform the ritual needed to create the Nexus. Even for her, creating large scale rituals took time.

What are we doing here? Azrael asked, trying to satisfy her curiosity. Neleh had been very secretive about the whole thing, and Azrael had already gotten one large surprise with the creation of the mountain.

We are here to make history. I think you will like this one. Its something the celestials can also utilize after you figure out the trick behind it. Neleh replied with a smile.

Ill be looking forward to it then. Azrael replied expectantly. She and Estelars men started to make camp, while Shiori and Asheara went through their training routine. The soldiers might have been tempted into complaining in their minds about the two slacking off, if they hadnt seen their hard training several times already. Now they thought they themselves got off much easier. Then again, they were veteran soldiers so making camp was a piece of cake for them, having gone through the routine thousands of times.

Neleh went a bit away from the campsite, to the exact location of the ley lines crossing each other under a small meadow. She drew several magical formations surrounding the meadow, and anchored a glowing Ri Majon pattern above each of them. Each pattern held a small gem made into a well at the center. Azrael monitored Neleh performing the preparations, not even trying to hide her curiosity. She especially wondered about the glowing patterns in the air that Neleh had called Ri Majon, but refused to explain further.

The patterns were beautiful works of white glowing magic. When Neleh made them, one or more of her fingers started glowing, drawing a line that stayed in the air. Then she performed complex series of gestures with the hand, looking as if her fingers were dancing in the air. The resulting pattern was complex, compelling and absolutely foreign to Azrael. She could only guess at the purpose, but Neleh would not go through the trouble of making something so complex without a good reason.

Interestingly, there was one large difference with what Neleh was doing now, and with the other large rituals she had performed in the past. This time she wanted to keep the whole process a secret as much as possible. The same would have been true for the ritual she used to gain her Ignasia, but back then she didnt have access to her magic and couldnt use spells to hide her activities. This time there would be no large surge of power felt across half the continent. This time no one outside the meadow would know that something was going on.

The ritual itself took less time than the preparations. Neleh once again elected to use song and dance to control the spell, simply because it was a great way to control large amounts of power and make the power behave exactly as you desired. As the morning was beginning to shine over the horizon, Nelehs ritual had been finished, all the magical formations disappeared and the wells dropped to the ground empty. Azrael could feel that the ley lines had been taxed heavily, but that made her even more confused. It seemed like nothing at all had happened. What was the spell for?

Ok, the ritual looked really impressive but what did you do? I can see no change, and can feel no spells in the surroundings. Azrael asked.

Neleh gave a small smile. Go and fetch Estelar, and Ill show you. No need to show the soldiers yet, as we arent quite ready to show our hand yet. Just tell them that we might be gone for a while, but that they should be ready to leave when we return.

Return from where? Azrael mumbled as she did as Neleh asked, leaving Shiori and Asheara waiting expectantly.

When Azrael returned with Estelar, Neleh finally got down to business. Time to open the first door. She said mysteriously. She drew her spear, thrust it forward and made a small twist with her hand. They could all see a normal looking sliding door and a doorframe appear out of the thin air. As Neleh twisted her spear, the spearhead forced the sliding doors to part, leaving the doorway open.

This is awesome. Shiori said simply, getting a nod from Azrael as well.

Oh this is great. Now that I can always reach you, I can finally push some of the work back on you, and you can stop shirking your duties. Estelar said with a relieved sigh.

Neleh gave a small chuckle. Sure, as long as you understand that Im not a bureaucrat. I will delegate that stuff mercilessly to other people. If we have capable people, then theres no need to seek my approval and opinion on everything. My policy is to let smart people do their thing, and then come smack them around if they make mistakes. If you try to bother me with pencil pushing and minor details, Ill string you up by the beach from your toes. Im sure we can find a sea monster or two to nibble on you when we visit the naga.

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The group reached the capitol of the duchy, imaginatively also named JaoeTinukai. Neleh felt that it was such a shame to have the capital city carry the same name as the duchy, but she had to admit that it was probably clearer to people outside the duchy. Although now there was the trouble of knowing whether a person referred to the city or the duchy when they said the name. I wonder how much trouble it would be to rename the city? She thought idly.

She passed the necessary plans and spells required for creating the large arches to Estelar, and also gave him the power to open some of those smaller doorways. They could make the first arch in the city right now if they wanted, but they decided against it until they had the necessary people to secure the Nexus before opening it to the public. Estelar would have the first arches done within the Order sanctuaries for obvious reasons. One of the masters in charge of the training came to report on their progress. They were talking within the ducal palace, an ostentatious building constructed by the corrupt previous duke. Neleh felt that it might be nice symbolism to have the palace torn down, but she did need a visible seat of power when she took the position officially, and she couldnt have all the people coming into their new home within the Nexus. She had to figure something out something else.

So how is the training of our Order brothers and sisters? Estelar gave me some information, but I want to hear it in your own words. Neleh asked the rough looking elf.

Well enough. He grunted. The program you two put together really reforms a person. Combined with the elixirs and pills you provided us, their growth and strength is almost frightening. I would wager our more advanced students could take the soldiers of the army one against five at this point. One against ten if using groups, since youve had them focus on fighting as a group. Its almost vicious how they all aim for efficient kills instead of just subduing the enemy. Normal warriors have some resistance against aiming to kill their opponent, but your training completely breaks that. Theyre almost brutally effective. In a couple of years the first ones will be ready for anything. Its almost a miracle how few of them drop out of the training. Even though we break them on a regular basis, I think theyd rather die than leave. The old veteran had a wondering voice towards the end.

Thats what happens when you supply people with a way out, a purpose and a family in the form of the Order. Their fellow students are their new brothers and sisters, and leaving would feel like abandoning their family. Neleh explained.

Makes sense I suppose. Im guessing, youll eventually have some of the Order members become the trainers to replace us, when they have enough experience? I thought as much. Not that I mind, since youre compensating us handsomely, and its quite wonderful to be part of making something this great. Anyway, the first students are starting to progress through the tests of the weapons. Were still not quite sure what these Test of Survival and the final Test of Life and Death are. The man asked, obviously curious.

Estelar can explain the specifics, but suffice to say, that weve prepared something to test their survival skills in a place similar to the Training room spell. They will have to apply their skills in survival and tracking, which they learned from the rangers and hunters. They will face hunger and extreme conditions. The test of Life and Death is a little different. Every member of the order will have to take a life before becoming a full brother or sister. We will put them on an arena with a criminal or a bandit, and only one of them walks out. To motivate the criminals, we will promise to let them go if they manage to kill their opponent. Neleh explained in a cold voice.

Thats a bit harsh, but I can see why. The members of the order must be able to kill. How are we going to get enough criminals though? I dont think we have enough murderers and slavers once the bigger classes of students start to take the test. At least we wont once the word gets out. The man asked.

First of all, were adding rapists and pirates to the list. Secondly, Im planning on having the other provinces of the empire send their criminals to us. They are sentenced to death anyway, so we might as well make use of them. We will have a proper method of transportation when the time comes. Neleh assured the man. She also thought that if push came to shove, they could fake it and have the students think they killed real people, while they actually just killed a shadow inside Nexus.

Oh right. For some reason the students have started singing together. Its odd how they all got the same idea in several locations at the same time. Its eerie to listen to thirty thousand voices sing the same songs at the same time. I think its something theyre doing to both show their solidarity to each other and show that we cant break them. The man suddenly said.

Good, encourage that. If you think thirty thousand voices is eerie, imagine a million voices doing that to you from the other side of the battlefield. Neleh ordered with a wide grin. Besides, a gathered sound like that could be used as a weapon, both mental and physical.

Once the man had left, Neleh prepared to cast the third large spell within few days. They would not be able to have an arch in every town and village of the duchy, but they could still improve the logistics of the duchy with magical means. She knew of a spell called the Golden Road that would be a large upgrade to the road systems within the affected area. It was a huge spell that would pave every road in the duchy with solid stone. In addition, anyone traveling one the roads would travel faster and would get a lot less fatigue than normal. The end result would be much easier and faster travel within the duchy.

She would need some maps of all the roads within the duchy. So much to do, so little time. They were supposed to leave towards the naga settlements on the coast in a few days. She wondered idly how the naga would react to the new roads that suddenly appeared