Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 820: Section 548: The Era Advances (Part Two)

Chapter 820: Section 548: The Era Advances (Part Two)

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"Han Qing, I can’t see his fate at all; this is very strange," the old man from the delegation muttered in perplexity as he watched Malin Gaiate chatting with Meng Jinshan.

The peer they called Han Qing frowned slightly, "Xing Wen, do you remember? Olsson’s family elder, Tack, stubbornly refused to mention Malin. It seems he already knew and chose not to tell us."

"Diviners and Astrologers behave like this when faced with someone whose fate they can’t discern. If he came to me, I wouldn’t tell him either, which is why I have been cautious ever since. Now, it appears I did the right thing by not directly conducting a divination of Malin’s fate. To do so unprepared could’ve led to inconceivable consequences," the elder known as Xing Wen sighed, looking at the young man before him.

"So, you knew," Han Qing said with a laugh.

"Of course. Diviners and Astrologers are of the same Sequence, differing only in the Eastern and Western nomenclature. This child... there’s something unusual about him, but at least he’s still on the side of humanity," the elder Xing Wen remarked before noticing that the young man called Malin had whistled, and a Half-human ran swiftly towards Malin, prompting a reflective sigh, "Speaking of which, why did the ancients, before the Great Destruction Era, create fantasy races like Half-humans, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Elves? Similar to our creation of the Orc race... Historians have found that it was their existence that led to the onset of the magical era after the Great Destruction Era. It was because of them that humanity acquired the ability to defend against the Chaos... Could anyone have foreseen all of this and created these unnatural races through genetic engineering?"

"My old friend, all you’re speaking of is just speculation by Historians. For us, it seems suffering is endless. Our Deep Divers have observed at least eleven worlds annihilated by Chaos, most lying within a century ahead. Yet, we have not been able to observe any world that has not been destroyed," Han Qing mused, as he looked at Malin, "Fate has never been kind to anyone, but human history is a history of heroism. At moments when civilization is in peril, there’s always a hero who will stand up. Old friend, we can’t lose hope."

"Yes, we cannot lose hope. Even if there are no heroes, there are still us, Mortals, banding together... Testing hands, mending the rifts in the sky."

While they were talking, the two old men noticed that Malin Gaiate had stretched out his hand, and a teleportation passage was beginning to open.

"The spellcasting gesture is very sophisticated; there’s nearly no fluctuation of spell formation energy. Could it be that spiritual energy has replaced arcane energy in the spell?" the elder named Xing Wen murmured.

"Yes, it is indeed spiritual energy that has replaced the arcane energy. Worthy of being a Double Legendary, it’s no surprise that this child might be the strongest being of this century. With him, the Western Human World at least gains a respite of two centuries," said Han Qing.

Then, as they saw the mechanical beings walk out from the teleportation passage, they gasped, Xing Wen even went so far as to clutch the hilt of his sword at his waist.

"Wait a moment, old friend, they are not rogue Machine Souls!" Looking at the second mechanical being exiting the portal, and as both beings stood before Malin and saluted him, Han Qing exclaimed, "I never expected that this child would be so fortunate to find two Machine Souls that were not out of control."

"My old friend, you said fate is never kind to anyone, but I think that’s not correct, because there seems to be what can be truly called a child of destiny. Look at him," he released his grip on the sword and sighed deeply, "Who was the last person who found two Machine Souls?"

"It was our emperor, you old fool," his old friend chided without restraint.

......

"Quentin, what are those two Thainan old men muttering about?" the Dwarf Tower Master, while eyeing the two Thainan elders nearby, asked his companion, Quentin, the Tower Master.

The latter shook his head helplessly, "I only know two phrases in Thainan, ’not tasty’ and ’tasty’."

"Are you a wild Sorrow Beast?!" The Dwarf Tower Master rolled his eyes at him while also noticing Malin looking in their direction.

The old Dwarf, in an instinct of self-preservation, turned to flee.

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"Hey, where are you going, you Dwarf." Quentin followed along.

"We’re off to see Corlys to discuss how he plans to distribute the money..." As he spoke, the old Dwarf fell silent for a moment: "I’ve decided I don’t want the money."

"If you’re not taking it, neither will I." The two Tower Masters approached Corlys, and after some deliberation, the trio decided to discuss with the other two Tower Masters to see if they could all agree not to take the money and instead use it for the young Mages who died in battle.

Corlys brought the five Tower Masters together and found that heroes think alike; all five agreed to give up their shares and divide the money among the young Mages who had fallen.

"Regarding Lord Malin, I’ll go and plead with him in a bit to see if he can take the children of those young Mages as Apprentices. If he can’t handle it alone, we can lend a hand." Corlys’s proposal was well received.

"It’s best if we also mention this to the Grand Tower Master and the council. If the Tower Masters all agree, that would be best, but we can’t force it." Quentin added his opinion.

The five Tower Masters had no objection to his addition, and so the Dwarf Tower Master turned to act as a representative to discuss the matter with Malin, only to see Malin opening a teleportation portal.

"Spiritual Energy replacing arcane energy? A neat trick; I am starting to think our Mr. Malin truly deserves titles like Legendary and Your Excellency." An old Tower Master named Joe Vaschi chuckled in admiration.

"Yes, it’s hard for us to deny our age; having such young people in this world is wonderful. As the next Grand Tower Master of the Mage Tower, I would endorse Malin." Corlys, the Tower Master, crossed his arms at his chest.

"I’m also prepared to endorse Lord Malin. Whether it is his kindness to the commoners, his strength as a Mage, or the authoritative stature he shows in front of the young Mages, they all make him worthy of my vote. The old Tower Master will retire when his term is up in twenty years, and by then Malin will only just be forty—a doubly Legendary forty-year-old, still so young." Quentin said enviously, "I believe the Mage Tower will flourish under his leadership."

"You’re right. With someone as clever as Lord Malin, who else could we choose? The Dwarves will all endorse Lord Malin. He’s truly outstanding... Wow, Machine Souls, and two of them at that. I’ve never heard of Lord Malin having two Machine Souls that could understand human speech, have you?" The Dwarf looked at the two emerging from the teleportation portal and turned to his old companions, musing.

"Never, I haven’t even seen Machine Souls that can understand human commands." Another Tower Master blinked, "Speaking of which, where is Lord Malin off to?"

"Who knows, but I think it’s all fine. After all, no matter what, Lord Malin will always be a Legendary Mage."

The Tower Masters reached an agreement, watched Malin enter the teleportation portal, and then turned to continue with their work.

At this moment, they faced a more serious disagreement.

"Who’s going to write the casualty notifications?" asked the Dwarf Tower Master.

"I won’t." The four Tower Masters answered in unison.

"Do you really expect a Dwarf to write this kind of thing?! You’re truly wild Sharol beasts! Damn it, Arsenal above!" The Dwarf Tower Master flew into a rage.