A mage's journey begins with a battle mage.

Chapter 102 The Price of Victory

Without a doubt, the Mage Alliance won a complete victory. However, for some reason, the number of soldiers applying for psychological counseling has increased dozens of times compared to usual these days.

Many soldiers didn't even dare to drink the broth.

Jiang Shuzhou neither confirmed nor denied this, his heart was too fragile.

Look at me, I'm doing whatever I want, and I'm enjoying my food.

Broth? I drink it every day!

Four dishes and a soup are the standard, otherwise, where would he put his face as a leader?

"What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"

Jiang Shuzhou looked up at the two men opposite him, Hayes and Devalin, who were sitting upright.

The two men's faces were ashen, a mixture of fear and nausea, their gazes fixed on the pot of soup on the table, as if it contained something indescribable.

"If the food doesn't suit your taste, just change it. Look at you all."

He gave the waiter a wink, and the waiter immediately understood and removed the soup bowls from in front of the two of them.

Jiang Shuzhou continued drinking the meat soup in front of him.

It's delicious, flavorful, and not greasy at all.

"Let me give you a brief report on my work."

Seeing that the two were clearly out of sorts, Jiang Shuzhou had to speak up and remind them to get back into the zone.

"My lord, it's like this..."

Hayes began reporting to Jiang Shuzhou.

First, there are the temporary workers. So far, Hayes has recruited fifteen mage apprentices, and now he has a lot of free time to assist Jiang Shuzhou.

Dwarin reported on the progress he had made in his craft over the past few days.

Due to Jiang Shuzhou's various bizarre demands, Devalin not only taught himself blacksmithing, but also tailoring, stonemasonry, and even carpentry.

It must have been tough on him.

At the same time, his strength increased rapidly, and now he is the same as Hayes, also a first-tier warrior.

"good."

Nodding in satisfaction, Jiang Shuzhou gestured for them to continue eating before turning and leaving.

Perhaps because their superiors were in front of them, the two felt extremely uncomfortable and barely ate anything.

Out of consideration for his subordinates, Jiang Shuzhou had no choice but to leave first.

There's nothing we can do; he's an exceptionally good leader.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Seven?"

Jiang Shuzhou originally thought he might not see 87 again for a while, but unexpectedly they met again.

"My lord, you've arrived."

Sure enough, a thick barrier has already formed between us.

As the deputy head of logistics, Jiang Shuzhou had too many things to manage, but he didn't have much of a desire for power, mainly because it was too much of a waste of his energy.

However, some things are still quite interesting.

For example, being a teacher.

The alliance plans to organize a group of player-made assault suicide squads to harass enemy lines, and naturally, the task of recruitment and training will be the responsibility of the logistics department.

Jiang Shuzhou delegated all the other projects to Hayes, but there was one he planned to handle personally.

That is to teach these players a lesson.

This is a rather challenging job, but also quite interesting.

"Seven! Answer this: how many types of murlocs are there?"

"Report! There are more than a dozen types of merfolk, the two main groups being the Red-striped Merfolk and the Blue-scaled Merfolk!"

"Good! Do you know what their weaknesses are?"

"..."

"Forget it, sit down. You keep making the same mistakes every year! Each administration is worse than the last!"

I think we're the first batch, right?

However, while they thought this way, none of the players dared to say it, not only because of the high prize money, but also because of Hayes, who was eyeing them covetously from the outside.

He didn't know who performed well, but he knew perfectly well who dared to disrespect their lord.

I'll give you a few dozen extra laps of practice then.

After reciting the script for a while, Jiang Shuzhou finally let the group of players off the hook.

Next up is Hayes. Since Hayes didn't know that players could be resurrected, his training was exceptionally rigorous.

"Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime!"

"Quick, quick, run!"

"How can you fight fish-men if you can't swim?"

"Double the training today!"

If Jiang Shuzhou used psychological tactics to attack players, then Hayes simply used physical training to torment them.

However, players avoided Jiang Shuzhou's classes like the plague, but flocked to Hayes's grueling training.

Jiang Shuzhou didn't say anything about it, after all, not everyone can calm down and learn these new things.

Of course, 87 is an exception. He was indeed a good student. He listened attentively and answered questions actively. It's clear that he was a model student when he was in school.

"Seven! Come here."

Seeing 87 being tormented by physical training, Jiang Shuzhou decided to give him some extra help and talk to him about the Alliance of Saints.

"Sir, is there something you need?"

War really can make people grow. It's hard to imagine that 87 used to be such a sunny and cheerful person, but now he's shrouded in gloom.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You need to know that war always involves sacrifice."

"..."

Seeing the silent Jiang Shuzhou, there was nothing to say. After all, he wasn't a psychologist, and besides, he hadn't personally experienced the war. He was just someone who pressed buttons to send people to their deaths.

"I called you here to tell you about the Alliance of Saints. Pay close attention to it when you come here."

Then, Jiang Shuzhou began to speak.

"I called you here to tell you some things that can really save your life."

"Regarding the Alliance of Saints"

Jiang Shuzhou paused for a moment, then asked a question.

"Imagine you're deep behind enemy lines, being pursued by a group of paladins. Around a corner, you encounter a lone priest whose emblem is scales. What would you do?"

Seven was stunned for a moment, his brain started working at high speed, it was a bit of a brain teaser.

"He's a follower of the God of Justice, and the God of Justice is extremely hostile to mages... Should I... ambush him?"

"madness."

Jiang Shuzhou offered his assessment without reservation.

"You should immediately drop your weapons, kneel down and surrender, claiming that you are a civilian coerced by the Mage Alliance and that your mind has been controlled by evil magic."

"The followers of the god of justice are pedantic and arrogant. They are keen on 'judging' and 'saving' lost sheep, rather than simply killing. This may leave you a glimmer of hope."

Seven's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Let's assume," Jiang Shuzhou continued, "that the priest you encounter has a gold coin as his emblem. What would you do then?"

"Gold coins...the goddess of wealth?" Seven tentatively replied.

"right."

"I...I prayed to the goddess?"

"Do you have any money on you?" Jiang Shuzhou asked.

Seven subconsciously touched his pocket.

"If you have no money, you're just waiting to die."

"Give him all your money, the more the better. Followers of the Goddess of Wealth can buy life with money. They are smugglers and mercenaries who travel the continent, and for money, they are even willing to engage in smuggling trade with the Mage Alliance."

"The Alliance of Saints sounds like a united front, but it's actually riddled with internal factions and rotten to the core. The Spell Destroyer Faction, led by the gods of the Sun, Justice, and Protection, wants all mages dead."

"The control faction, represented by the Goddess of the Magic Network, is unfortunately still in the revival round, so she is not a threat for the time being."

"There are also neutral parties, such as the Earth Goddess who is obsessed with farming, and the Wealth Goddess who only wants money."

"Most of the priests and paladins who are fighting against us come from the anti-spell faction."

"However, there are always exceptions. You'll have to play it by ear when the time comes."

"Remember, rules are rigid, but people are flexible."

Jiang Shuzhou patted 87 on the shoulder.

"As long as you don't give up, there will always be more solutions than problems."