Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Terry leaned on the bar, propping his chin with one hand.

After observing the room, he realized that probably due to Hill's mild behavior recently, some people seemed a bit eager to stir trouble.

However, these folks probably didn't understand what it meant to face a mage's power. Although many mages had gotten used to not striking first due to the constraints of magic slots, it also meant that once they acted, it was lethal.

Not a single legendary mage would be without a constant set of status spells.

They were likely judging Hill's strength by those ordinary mages around level 10.

They were just too untested.

Terry sighed, much like his mother's kind, a giant dragon that had ruled in The North for many years, there were always those who foolishly provoked, so it was quite normal for someone to try to cause trouble for Hill.

With Hill's keenness and the arrays he had everywhere, he probably detected this unrest early, which is why he promptly let Tyr's paladins in.

It wasn't that he couldn't handle it, but that he didn't want to bother with these trifles.

Though oftentimes Hill didn't quite seem like a mage, when making decisions, he was no different from those top-level mages.

His time and wisdom were the most precious, never worth spending on these negligible people.

No wonder his mother said that before becoming a mage, Ellaströ was both the city lord of Silvermoon and a chosen of the Goddess of Magic.

Hill being so powerful at such a young age probably had to do with not wasting his energy on these minor issues. Terry tapped his bottle opener, wondering if he, too, should be more diligent?

Terry tossed away the object in his hand, sprawled himself across the counter—he still felt it better to find time for a nap.

Moreover, the folks in the tavern didn't seem as interesting as before; now he seemed to prefer his dragon nest.

Hill didn't know about Terry's quick shift in attitude, but he had long understood that this dragon might not last long, for it was still just a juvenile golden dragon, and their whims change very quickly.

He was standing with Agleya on his study balcony, observing the Silver Shield moving in.

In just five days, they had moved in with their families, whereas from Neverwinter, even by carriage, it would take at least two days.

Marsha was now able to appear in every corner of the town, swiftly meeting up with Captain Thorne and guiding them into an alley.

Thorne looked up at the floating castle in the southeast corner and waved his hand in greeting.

The people of the Silver Shield, be they mere human attendants or their families, seemed to get along well, quickly settling on their residences.

At the entrance of their alley was the residential management center. Only by dropping the corresponding gold coins into a drawer with a matching house number could the lower half of the drawer pop out, containing three magic keys to open their doors.

After a year, the magic keys would lose their effect, and they must return to exchange them with more coins.

That meant, the actual keys were still in the drawer; what they received were merely duplicates.

Thorne wasn't likely to reside in the residential area, but even he was surprised upon hearing the report from his subordinate. He had encountered many mages, but ones like Hill were truly rare.

Mages were either exceedingly indifferent, wishing to avoid dealing with everyone and not seeing ordinary people as their equals, or they were extremely sociable, becoming leaders among major powers.

But their eyes seldom looked down; sometimes mage territories ended up in utter turmoil not because the mages themselves committed heinous acts, but because they neglected everything.

They didn't understand how these ordinary people could make such a fuss over a single copper coin, and many mages dealt with such matters by ignoring them, letting them fend for themselves.

Naturally, this resulted in riots. While the populace needed kindness, they absolutely had to know what the rules were first.

If the laws or the lord didn't establish a particular crime, in the eyes of the populace, no crime existed.

Hill, too, didn't like to manage matters, but he truly understood.

No matter how many people rented his houses, no one could deny payment; this was managed by magic, devoid of personal feelings.

Thorne had also seen the houses, which appeared as simple stone buildings, but with ordinary beds, cabinets, fully equipped kitchens, and even proper toilets in the restrooms.

This indicated that Hill truly welcomed the followers of Tyr; otherwise, he wouldn't have provided such complete infrastructure.

But he didn't come out to welcome the Silver Shield paladins.

Everything seemed very ordinary.

Thorne glanced at his family and followers who were quite satisfied with their new homes; the pride that they usually carried had been completely set aside.

It was nothing like in Neverwinter, where they thought themselves above everyone else.

Thorne smiled with satisfaction, "That's much better, otherwise I might have had to seriously remind these followers who don't know their place."

He gestured to his team members to lead the winged Pegasuses pulling the large carts towards the designated area.

Thorne had originally planned to clear a path using his vital energy, finding a small path they could traverse, but just as they reached the roadside, a frosty path appeared before them.

Thorne gently inhaled a breath of cold air, "This Sea God even possesses the divinity of ice and snow!"

And, he didn't mind letting that Ice Maiden know at all!

Hill, this guy, and The Fury Camp are likely going to fight to the death.

He displayed his most sincere smile and performed a respectful knightly bow towards the Sea God Temple, "Thank you, Goddess Agleya, for your help."

His team members quickly jumped off the wagon and followed suit with a bow.

A breeze blew past, sprinkling drops of Holy Water on them, and the Paladins, who had been traveling for two days, instantly felt their strength restored.

Thorne smiled as he led his subordinates to the selected spot and began unloading and filling in the earth.

He was somewhat surprised; Hill truly hadn't bothered about this side of things at all.

A normal lord, if he were to designate a spot for building a temple, would at least come to investigate once to see if there was anything of interest.

Thorne sighed, took out a Legendary Level scroll of Mud into Stone; he had hoped to save it!

Truth be told, as a Nature Mage with strong architectural abilities, the simplest method for Hill to examine this place would have been to help set up a sufficiently large foundation.

Unfortunately, that man really didn't want to handle matters; he couldn't save anything at all.

Thorne thought with a smile about the news he had received on the road yesterday: The Harpist was also going to set up a base here, and Melikai's Elf Priest would also come to build a temple.

Hill had agreed to all requests, but whether a temple or a base, he only allowed them on the swamp side.

That was rather good too, Thorne thought cheerfully, the more the Kind Alignment comes, the better; once the temples were up, if Baal really dares to choose this place for resurrection, he'd turn to dust before he could even walk a meter.

The Harpist's people arrived a week later than Thorne's Paladins, with winter's first snow already beginning to fall, but as a multi-faith organization, they just planned to build a large house about as high as the one across from the inn; their spellcasters were numerous, so this simple construction would be quite fast.

Both he, Thorne, and the Harpist almost finished their work before the Dead of Winter arrived.

The rumored Wood Elf had not shown up, reportedly waiting for spring to come. Agleya was a bit disappointed; she had wanted to observe the differences between unicorns and pegasi up close!

Hill, however, thought she might not be able to come at all.

He remembered that there would be a year of thunderstorms, with dragon eggs appearing everywhere with the thunder; she simply didn't have the time to come over and build a temple.

Although it sounded like he was scolding himself, this was definitely a pleasure-loving, gold-plated second-generation elf.

Winter was originally the best opportunity to prepare, but she gave it up to those rangers and warriors unafraid of hardship, even some bards.

The first batch of dragon eggs brought by the first thunder of early spring was the most powerful and the easiest for humans to obtain.

The others, did they really think the once World Master dragons were for free?

Only this first batch was the easiest for humans to interfere with.

Bahamut could only know from Prophecy that dragon eggs would appear, but had no clue how they'd actually emerge; concerned for the safety of the dragon eggs, he notified those deities with whom he had friendlier relations.

By the time it was known how the dragon eggs would appear in the world, how many humans or elves could fly faster than these dragons?

There are many matters where if you miss the first sip of broth, you're left to watch others drink it thereafter.

Unless one is that lucky child, who could have a thunderbolt strike right in front of them as they walk.

Wait, Hill stopped abruptly; he quickly walked back to his room and solemnly fetched his fortune-testing talisman: a delicate little box containing twelve dice.

After throwing them ten times, he found that unlike in Teraxil where most were sixes, he breathed a sigh of relief, though the numbers were still quite large but not all twelve sixes.

It seems that it really was Teraxil that had a special bonus.

"Sir," List appeared behind him, "the inn's guests have been increasing recently, although they claim it's because this place can get through the Dead of Winter, it all seems a bit iffy."

"What, they're coming for us?" Hill asked incredulously; shouldn't Thorne's Holy Knights and the Harpist have drawn most of the attention?

"Mr. Terry said some are planning to wait and watch for our big spring battle. Others think we might start fighting this winter.

Miss Agleya used some Divine Ice Magic recently, and the power she showed was strong.

The last part may be watching Tyr Temple and the Harpist."

"Olypher won't come, at least not first," Hill touched the Ring of Winter on his hand.

This Great Fairy Goddess, although also very cruel, was clearer-headed than Ambori; the fact that she accepted girls from The North gambling their lives on her just to make money as messengers showed as much.

She would not use her own life to help Talos weaken Hill's power.