Cindros was massive. Not on a modern megacity scale, but huge for this world’s level of civilization.
More than six hundred thousand people resided here. Faust knew the exact numbers because of all the paperwork he had seen the Duke do. Beyond admirable city management, the prosperity largely came from Cindros’s location.
It was a major trading hub.
The closest point the rest of the kingdom’s people could travel to from inland for trade with other countries. The Empire bordered Cindros to the east; the Golden River, originating in the mountain range of Calystria’s and Orzeth’s south-west borders, acted like a highway for smaller ships to reach Cindros from the capital and many more cities in between.
Not to forget, some of the important islands of the coalition of free cities were close to Cindros in the south-east. So people from five kingdoms could be seen in the harbor. It was a major hub for cultural exchange and trade in valuables.
One of the reasons why House Dawnfire was considered the second richest after the royal family in the entire Skarwald Orzeth.
But today, they were not going towards the bustling harbor or visiting the crowded streets of the city. The Duke, with his retinue of da ozen lords, some thirty knights, and hundreds of soldiers, was heading towards the south-east border of Cindros.
A small town near the coast that served as an outpost to keep an eye out for the wild creatures that washed ashore and keep watch over the border with the Velthros Dukedom.
"My lord, perhaps lord Saltray made a mistake in his assumption of the ceratuer’s rank."
Jonos Bold, the master at arms of House Dawnfire and the commander of the household knights, addressed the Duke.
"Perhaps," The Duke replied, a serious look on his face, "But Lord Saltray’s judgment has never proven wrong before."
"True," Lord Caspian Godfrey replied.
Lord Godfrey ruled Mibothen, one of the four riverlords, the most valuable lords of Cindros.
"A Latent Overlord..." Lord Velentine murmured, "Haven’t seen one of those since the northern subjugation."
"It’s in the sea, right? Any chance it will just leave if left alone?" Augustine asked.
"Hah!" Lord Velentine said in a jovial tone, "A spurned lover and a wild soul-beast can never be left alone, boy. It will do you well to remember that."
A series of laughter washed over the group of riders.
"You are the expert in the matters of spurned lovers, my lord," Augustine replied.
Several riders smiled, some even laughed out loud. Lord Velentine had strange habits. One of which was marrying a young woman every few years. The man already had four wives, and the way they made him suffer was peak entertainment.
Amidst the chuckles, Lord Caspian Godfrey looked back at Faust for a moment, then looked away.
Unlike Augustine, who rode beside the Duke at the very front, Faust was in the very middle of the group, surrounded by knights of lower status. It was by design, so people wouldn’t have an excuse to talk to him.
Whenever the Duke took him outside, he was to stay as silent as possible. Henric didn’t forbid him to speak, but encouraged him to speak as little as possible. If he had any questions, he could ask them later when the Duke was alone.
Being an heir, Augustine took part in everything important regarding the land and its management. He was even part of the small group of high-ranking court officials who managed the Duke’s day-to-day tasks. Augustine attended every meeting held in the castle to observe how his father ruled and learn from it.
Of course, Faust was there too. Usually in the corner, yawning. Even after six months, the Duke was still as strict as he was the first day Faust was ordered to follow him around.
Faust never spoke without being asked, never gave any opinions of his own, no matter how much he wished to speak, and stayed away from anyone of importance when he was out in the city with his father.
At first, the Duke did not take him out much, but on a few occasions when he did, he realized how easy it was to talk with powerful people when their power was stripped away. The sudden loss of power made people uncomfortable, which was very useful for the Duke in certain situations.
Faust enjoyed the beautiful scenery while riding despite the hurry they were in to reach the outpost. The knights beside him did not feel any discomfort either.
After six months of spirit-user lessons, Faust had managed to learn how to reduce the range of his field of absence to just a few centimeters around him. It was easy enough. Still, it took three months of control exercises and an increase in his core essence.
The spirit-user instructor, Hartwin, had him absorb eight hundred fledgling-rank monster cores to saturate his Latent core fully and become Tempered.
Usually, for a fledgling-rank emanation like him, absorbing only a hundred cores was enough to saturate one stage of his core. But that was if he killed the soul-creatures himself. Still, even if he just absorbed the cores provided by others, only double the usual amount, two hundred would be required to saturate his core.
But it took eight hundred because Faust was strange. In his case, only one soul core in every four was truly absorbed. The rest were just erased by his weird spirit of absence.
Soul cores were used as a currency in Eldraxis. Eight hundred cores were a massive expense. The Duke and his wife had to empty one-fourth of their personal savings to buy him that many cores.
It was just an experiment, though, and it was decided from then on that no cores would be provided to Faust in the future. Otherwise, the Dukedom would go bankrupt.
They had done all of this just to confirm whether he could absorb soul cores and progress in the path of divinity or not. The answer was yes, but the cost was enormous.
After three hours of riding, they finally reached the outpost and were welcomed by Lord Saltray. Even before entering the small keep and climbing its walls, Faust could see the large dark shadow beneath the sea-water in the distance.
A soul-beast of Overlord rank. Three ranks higher than himself.