Chapter 162
Chapter 162: The Ship (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lex and her team had been travelling continuously for the past two days, and by now, they were thousands of miles away. Hence, the people sent by Gilya would never be able to locate them. The Potency spell, Chunlin spell, and Windspeed spell were repeatedly blessed onto the horses. But even the best war horse could not withstand such strain, and thus Lex decided to slow down their pace of travel after two days.
The land of the Qin Empire was limited in its eastern and western regions but expansive in its northern to southern regions, being second only to the Cloudflow Empire. Saleen and his team traveled on horseback throughout this entire distance and had gone around the largest mountainous region in western Qin, and they could now make their way towards the south.
At the end of the day, Saleen was not a swordsman, he was a warrior. The past two consecutive days of travel had exhausted Saleen. Even though Lex practiced martial arts, she was a mage, and her physical endurance was only equivalent to that of a high-level swordsman.
Lex possessed the most detailed magic map of the mainland. She took out her map and discussed with Saleen which road they should choose. According to the map, the four of them were currently situated in the central region of northern Qin. As long as they advanced forward for one more day, they would reach a road which spanned the north and south of the empire. If they chose to walk for two more days, there would be an enormous river where they could take a ship.
Lex wanted to take the roads while Saleen wanted to take the ship.
Noticing that Lex could not make up her mind, Saleen said, “There will be plenty of opportunities in the future for you to encounter the survival experiences of the average commoner. If we take the roads, there will only be another hinterland of the empire. There won’t be much you can learn. If we move using the river, we can hire a big ship with two groups of sailors. Though we’ll need to pay extra money, we can travel without needing to stop and will be able to reach Alchemy City by next month.”
Lex thought about it carefully. It seemed like the Holy See were bent on declaring an all-out war, so it was not realistic for Lex to hope that she could drag her feet for another two to three years. Loulan would be fully plunged into war by next year’s spring at the latest. In order to become a sorcerer, Lex would need another eight to ten years.
“Aye, let’s take the ship then.”
Saleen was overjoyed when Lex agreed to his request. Since Saleen’s forte was Water Magic, it would be safer for him to travel by ship. Furthermore, taking a ship would not affect their magic training, unlike travelling by horseback which was taxing on a person’s bones.
“Lex, this map…” Saleen noticed that Lex’s magic map was astounding, being just like a large magic scroll. Once the map was unrolled, one could observe the full view of the mainland and magic could be used to unveil the minute details of the natural environment. All the mountains and rivers had magic markings on them, and the rivers even had varying markings to signify their width and water levels during the four seasons.
“This is Grade 9 magic equipment. There are only four of these in the entirety of Qin. It can’t be replicated.” Lex then put away the magic map apologetically. The war horses had rested for quite a while, and Saleen continued riding alongside Lex.
“Lex, how was the map produced?”
“I am not too sure either, but it must have been made by having many Grade 9 sorcerers come together to piece together all of that information.” Lex appeared to be somewhat clueless as well. The maps in the Grukos family had originated from the Second Dynasty, but that ancient history had been gone with the wind for quite some time. After pondering for a moment, Lex continued, “I am just speculating though. The land in the empire undergoes constant changes, so this map is different from the original. Before the Qin Empire was established, many Grade 9 sorcerers participated in the revision of the map. At that time, the mainland was in chaos, so nobody stopped them.”
Even though Saleen had known about the glory and glamor of the time when the Qin Empire was built, he was at a loss for words when he learned that many Grade 9 sorcerers had been involved in the making of this magic map. Nowadays, most magic maps were completed by magic disciples after being mapped by alchemy props. The Qin Empire had been established for less than one thousand years, and the number of mages had already dwindled down to less than half.
The deterioration in the power of humans seemed to be accelerating. Magic had flourished in the Qin Empire, but for the past two hundred years, not a single mage had come from Saleen’s hometown of Ceylon City.
The war in Loulan was too far away, and many nobles had deployed their troops in hopes of getting a piece of land from Loulan. This, in turn, had caused the road linking southern Qin and eastern Qin to be bustling with commerce as businesses prospered as a result of the war. The armies of the nobles were essentially private armies, and they needed a great deal of resources in order to set up camps in Loulan. During the journey, Saleen even saw two Grade 7 mercenary groups protecting some business owners. The offensive capabilities of a Grade 7 mercenary group were almost equivalent to those of the empire’s elite soldiers.
Since Saleen was a mage master now, it was not an issue for him to handle hundreds of heavy cavalry by himself. However, if they were surrounded by a camp of soldiers, even Lex would have to use Wind Magic to escape. If an army possessed alchemy crossbows, then a mage could not fly, otherwise they would become a human-sized hedgehog beneath that barrage of arrows.
After another two days on the road, Lex finally understood what Saleen meant. The roads used by the empire for the war were fairly safe, and it had merely been a coincidence bumping into those swordsmen who were disguised as bandits. All the business convoys traveling west hired many mercenaries, and there were many swordmasters among the mercenaries. Hence, throughout their entire journey, the roads were as serene as the town of Bitter Water Prefecture.
The large canal had actually been transformed from a river that flowed from the south to the north. On the west bank was a colossal city. This place was an enormous wharf in the north as well. Food that came from the Phoenix Duchy would be transported down south and would eventually reach the largest city in the central southern region of the empire – Pompeii City.
At Pompeii City, the canal merged with the Emerald River before flowing east out into the ocean.
This wide canal stretched for thousands of miles and was a vital line of transportation for the Qin Empire. Hence, the city to the north of the empire had become extremely vital. However, since Saleen had been to Holy Rock City, this city named Ivantel seemed fairly standard to him. Even though this city was as beautiful as a piece of artwork, it did not have the atmosphere and heritage of Holy Rock City.
As Ivantel had been built close to a body of water, it was different from most cities. Artificial rivers had been dug to surround the city walls, forming a perimeter of protection around the city. The thing that amazed Saleen the most was the bridge which spanned the canal. This bridge had a metallic structure, was over two miles long, and was so wide that eight carriages could travel side by side upon it. The pier was a single piece of steel rock, and this steel rock had not been polished so that it still maintained the appearance it had when it had first been extracted.
Saleen could not figure out how such an enormous steel rock had been transported to the canal. Judging by the size of the rock, even a Grade 9 mage would not have been able to fit it into their spatial equipment.
The bridgehead had two miniature castles. Going one mile south would enable a person to reach the city’s wharf. There were docks to the south of the wharf, so Saleen and his team did not need to pay any extra money. They did not enter the city, and instead went looking for a suitable ship that they could hire.
Saleen’s identity as a mage enabled him to effortlessly obtain a suitable ship. Of course, it was also because Saleen was rich, so he had plenty of options. Saleen’s destination was Alchemy City, and he would have to spend quite a large sum of money in order to get there. Furthermore, Saleen had also requested for the ship to travel through the night, so two groups of sailors were required. He needed to hire the sailors separately. Each sailor asked for one silver coin per day, while the boatswain demanded one gold coin per day. A commoner earned less than ten gold coins in a year, so this boatswain’s salary was roughly four times that of a commoner.
It was only when Saleen saw the enormous ship he had hired that he understood why he had spent so much money.
The ship was about twenty meters long with three stories, and the hull was covered in bronze. If this ship was further reinforced with some magic arrays, it would be as strong as one of the empire’s warships, aside from the fact that it was slightly smaller in size.
What caught Saleen’s attention were the six giant concealed propellers placed on both sides of the ship which could obviously be powered by magic. This ship required a magic disciple at minimum to activate it, and only low-level magic nuclei were used. The enormous mast had been lowered and it leaned against the bow. When the ship was traveling in the direction of the wind, its sails could increase its speed even further.
This ship was more advanced than the tattered fishing boats found in Ceylon City. Its controls were also more complicated.
In the past, Lex had seen images of such magic ships, but this was the first time she had ever seen one in person. “Saleen, the ship that you’ve hired is pretty good, and it’s cheap too. If I had been in charge, I would have definitely spent at least ten times more than what you paid,” Lex said with a great deal of satisfaction.
“Lex, there are only four of us. And with the eight horses, we won’t even take up that much space. Other people can still bring their goods along, and such a price is…”
“That is perfectly normal. There are only a few of us, and if the ship doesn’t carry any other goods, then it would be a complete waste of the empire’s resources. Sikeqinya might be labeled the empire of business, but us Qins are the richest.” When Lex said those words, there was a hint of pride. Furthermore, she had regarded Saleen as a Qin.
Saleen laughed bitterly in response. Since a long time ago, Saleen had heard that the Qin people regarded all mages as one of them, just like the people of Tanggulasi regarded the gods as their own. Saleen was obviously from Sikeqinya, and even if he was now part of Lex’s plan, he should have been considered a person from Bitter Water County.
Was this merely pride, or was it arrogance?
The ship captain was obviously a normal person, while the second and third in command were at least high-level swordsmen or perhaps swordmasters. Saleen was the only employer of the ship, so the captain brought Saleen to meet with the boatswain and the chef before allocating rooms to Saleen and his team.
The rooms were on the third story, and this entire floor was connected. The decorations in the rooms were not considered extravagant, but meticulous thought had been put into their materials. The windows were mosaicked with multicolored glass. Multicolored glass was cheaper than purely transparent glass, and the advantage was that people would not be able to look into the rooms even if there were no curtains.
The flooring in the rooms was wooden and lined with metal, and it was also resistant to corrosion. Additionally, the flooring had obviously been treated with magic before, so it would not be deformed even if it was soaked in water.
It seemed like this ship was catered solely to nobles. There was even a tiny living room. The corners of the walnut wood table were shaped like petals, and there were no oil paintings on the wall. Instead, there were wood carvings. All these minute details were testament to the amount of thought and effort that had been put into the design of the rooms.
Saleen was extremely satisfied with the rooms. Such an environment was suitable for practicing magic, and also, the second story was empty, so no one would disturb Saleen.
Lex was pleased as well. The windows in the cabin could slide about. When they were all opened, the vast view of the river filled people with a sense of serenity. Lex habitually set magic alarms at all of the entrances. Aside from the four of them, any other person would trigger the alarms if they tried approaching.
Saleen used his icy sight to check the walls, floors, and ceiling of the cabin. He discovered that there was a secret passageway under the table, but it was unidirectional, and a person could only go from the third story to the second. It was used by the passenger to escape in times of peril. The walls of the cabin were chunky. There were magic materials within the walls, making them very sturdy, thus heavy weapons would not be able to break them down.
This was just a ship for civilian use, so the empire’s warships must have been far more fortified than this. There were also the legendary indomitable fleets and sea dragons of the Cloudflow Empire. Were those ships like massive magic machines, then?