Above the mage

Chapter 420 One Merit, Three Rewards

Dorne, the location of the Goldenfeather Keep, the residence of the Marquis Drake.

In the Plantagenet dynasty's peerage system, the title of Marquis was second only to that of Duke.

The title of Duke was held by only a handful of families throughout the entire Plantagenet dynasty, mostly from a few prominent families that had inherited the title since the early days of the dynasty.

After that, the Plantagenet dynasty never granted any new ducal titles.

Therefore, in a sense, the title of marquis can be considered the highest rank that an ordinary person could achieve through hard work and talent under the Plantagenet dynasty system.

Marquis Drake is both the lord of Dorne and the supreme ruler of the entire County of Byrre.

Inside the study of the mansion.

The nearly 600-year-old Marquis Drake looked through the report that had been urgently submitted by the Lord of Auckland, Earl Roland, not long ago, and his expression showed slight surprise.

"Secondary planes... Since the Nolan calendar, as the magical concentration in the mage plane has become increasingly rich and the plane's stability has increased, the probability and occurrence of these lower-level planes forming spatial channels with our plane have become increasingly rare. It's truly unbelievable that Auckland has encountered one."

"Fortunately, it was resolved without serious consequences. If the Wind Network had truly taken shape, it would have been a disaster!" Marquis Drake couldn't help but sigh.

The family steward standing nearby said, "Earl Roland has managed Auckland for so many years, and he has always done a good job in dealing with the aftermath of every whirlwind attack. He has both ability and experience, which is why he was able to get through this dimensional calamity without any major incidents."

"Yes..." Marquis Drake put down the report, pondered for a moment, and slowly said, "The timely resolution of the Wind Network problem, while partly due to luck, is mostly a testament to ability, and deserves a good reward."

Auckland is one of the major cities in Barrow County. Once the wind rift forms, Auckland will cease to exist. The long-term hidden dangers thereafter are secondary.

Under his rule, the destruction of a city, regardless of the cause, was considered a major "work error" for him, the governor.

Because of this incident, he and his family would be unable to hold their heads high in the dynasty for the next hundred years, which had a huge impact.

The Marquis Drake couldn't help but feel lingering fear whenever he thought about it.

So he flipped through the report he had just put down again, his gaze sweeping over a name that was mentioned repeatedly in the report.

Gao De, Sea Sentinel Mage...:

Because it was an urgent report, the information was very brief, aiming to summarize the main points. However, in this concise report, Gaode's name appeared three times and was given the evaluation of being "key".

"Sea Sentinel Mage...:::" Marquis Drake thought for a moment and said to the family steward waiting beside him, "Go to the Sea Sentinel and retrieve the information on 'Gaode'."

The name Gaode was still unfamiliar to him.

He had some impression of the great nobles or descendants of great mages in the Byro County who were outstanding in ability and served as sea sentinels.

That means that this Gaode is most likely just a minor nobleman or a commoner mage.

The reason for retrieving the information was twofold: firstly, Marquis Drake himself was curious about what kind of mage could have made such a great contribution in the Windfall Disaster that made Earl Roland want to award him the title of Honorary Mage of Auckland.

Secondly, as the Earl of Bairo County, Gao De had made great contributions, and it was only right and proper that he should be rewarded. Knowing the details of Gao De's situation was the only way to give him the most appropriate reward.

With the windstorm resolved, the continuous torrential rains gradually subsided, and the weather returned to clear skies.

The disaster continued for another ten days. Under the command of Count Roland, and with the help of supplies and manpower from Dorne, more than 99% of the victims were rescued and properly resettled.

In addition, the Marquess of Drake rallied nobles and merchants in Barrowshire to donate funds, uniting them to assist the disaster area.

The response was overwhelming, and donations of over 20,000 gold coin were quickly raised for Auckland.

In addition, thanks to the application of the Earl of Roland and the efforts of the Marquess of Drake, the dynasty, taking into account the disaster situation, decided to exempt all affected victims in the Auckland disaster area from taxes for three years.

With support from various parties, the victims' hearts gradually calmed down.

The disaster itself is terrible, but the aftermath is even more terrible than the disaster itself.

Putting aside other things, in Gaode's previous life during the feudal dynasty, after a disaster, the people lived in dire straits, their lives filled with misery.

A quick glance at any document reveals numerous examples of bandits rising up in the mountains.

However, for the Golden Plantagenet Dynasty, an ancient dynasty with a history spanning over 100 years, there may have been unavoidable deep-seated problems such as escalating social conflicts, but in this respect, they handled it extremely well.

Of course, dealing with such a major disaster involves many aspects, including the repair and reinforcement of dikes, compensation for property losses, subsequent living arrangements for disaster victims, and stabilization of food prices in disaster areas. These are all large-scale projects that can be measured in months.

However, these matters fall under the responsibility of local officials and nobles, and have nothing to do with Gao De, who is a sea sentinel mage.

He was only responsible for frontline rescue work.

After responding to the call to arms and returning from the expedition with the main force of Auckland mages, Gaode stayed in the Auckland area for another seven days.

During this period, all the tasks he carried out were to eliminate water beasts, especially those in large groups.

They traveled back and forth to six or seven regions and participated in nearly ten missions to exterminate the water monsters.

Putting everything else aside, after just a few trips, Gaode has earned four more first-ring origin points for himself, bringing his total number of first-ring origin points back to seven.

He reserved three points as "reserve" resources, and then directly invested the remaining four points into spells.

【Relentless Pursuit+】(Change type, first ring):

You enhance your body's ability to travel long distances...:

Bonus: During the spell's duration, when you use Sprint, your movement speed is increased by an additional third;

At the same time, you will gain stronger tracking capabilities, making it easier for you to find traces left by the target, more accurately judge the target's direction of movement, and increase the success rate of tracking.

[Entanglement+] (Transmutation, Level 1):

This spell will cause tall grass, weeds, and other plants to entangle any creature that enters or is in the area.

Additional: Plants within the spell's area will release pungent or deceptive odors that affect creatures within the area's sense of smell. Additionally, if a creature relies on its sense of smell to track a target, the tracking effect within this area may fail.

[Burning Hand+] (Evocation, Level 1):

A cone of scorching flame erupts from your fingertips.

Additional: After you cast Burning Hand on a creature or area, some magical energy will remain. If you cast Burning Hand on the same area or creature again within one minute, it will resonate with the remaining magical energy, increasing the power of the next Burning Hand.

【Blade of Pressure+】(Transmutation, Level 1):

When you attack enemies with melee weapons, the Crushing Blades will increase their momentum and density...:

Additional: When you use an enhanced melee weapon to attack, you can better control the momentum of the weapon, potentially ignoring some of the target's evasive maneuvers.

The first three enhancements are actually quite simple, and their specific effects are immediately apparent: [Relentless Pursuit+] and [Entanglement Technique+].

Both are functional enhancements, while [Burning Hand+] is a power enhancement.

As for the additional effects of [Heavy Blade+], Gao De didn't quite understand their specific meaning at first, but after some testing, he finally understood what they meant:

Simply put, this momentum guidance is roughly equivalent to "attack guidance" in the game, making it easier for him to hit the target when swinging his sword, which indirectly improves his sword skills.

Putting everything else aside, just considering these four key points and the core elements alone, Gaode's disaster relief efforts this time have already yielded substantial results.

Of course, there are other things that need to be mentioned as well.

Although he wasn't sure how much credit he would ultimately receive, Gao De was confident that as long as Earl Roland reported all his contributions to the Windfall mission to the Sea Sentinels as he had said, a first-class merit was inevitable.

The only uncertainty is the quantity.

Furthermore, the contributions made in Tyrrell Town would at least warrant several second-class merit awards.

Gaode also made detailed records of the water beast extermination missions he participated in.

However, since it was a collective action, they were following the official Auckland mages and the unaffiliated mages they had gathered to hunt down the beasts together.

Therefore, he was unsure how the sea sentry would ultimately assess his military merits.

On the tenth day, after the Sea Sentinels confirmed that no more large-scale water beast groups had been found in Auckland, they notified all the Sea Sentinel mages who had gone to Auckland for disaster relief that the disaster relief mission was temporarily over and that everyone could choose to set off back to Dorne.

On the Earl of Roland's side, there are still many things to do. Although rewarding merit is important, it must be a lower priority. Therefore, the "Honorary Mage of Auckland" that was previously promised to Gaode has not yet been decided.

Gao De couldn't stay in Auckland and wait around for these reasons, so he, like the other sea sentinel mages, chose to head back home first.

I left on the 14th of Green Leaf Month and returned on the 28th of Green Leaf Month.

Upon returning to Dorne, he first went to the White Tower in the Deep to prepare to submit his mission records so that the Sea Sentinels could make a final assessment of his military merits.

Because this was a large-scale, mandatory group mission, all the Sea Sentinel Mages in Dorne who were not on any other missions were sent to Oakland. The mission ended at the same time, so the White Tower of the Deep Sea became exceptionally lively.

Even the supply office where task records are submitted has a long queue; Gaode has never seen such a scene before.

While waiting in line, some familiar sea sentinel mages had already gathered together and started chatting.

The topic of conversation was, without a doubt, their experiences during the disaster relief efforts over the past few days, mainly involving encounters with powerful water monsters.

After witnessing the devastating disaster, one should assess the extent of one's contribution.

And then there's the whispered discussion about the Sea Sentinel Mage who performed exceptionally well in this disaster relief effort.

"The greatest credit most likely goes to Mage Erwin. He was among the first to set out, arriving in Auckland immediately to respond to the call to arms issued by Auckland's mages, and joining the main force of Auckland's mages on their expedition..."

3

In front of Gaode, a mage dressed as a sea sentinel sergeant spoke to his companion.

So much time has passed, and the reasons behind the Fish Whirlwind have long since spread. At least the Sea Sentinel Mages who participated in the rescue know the inside story.

In this situation, the military merit gained from participating in the Wind Network mission would undoubtedly be the greatest merit, far exceeding their disaster relief efforts.

"The location where the Wind Network appeared was too close to Auckland City, so Auckland City discovered it and launched an expedition very early."

"I heard that Zuo Wen of the Burns family went straight to Oakland immediately, but he missed it. He was in the second group to set off, and he was riding a Flamemane. I reckon that only Warrant Officer Erwin was involved in this mission." His companion remarked.

"That's not true," the former said with a mysterious expression after hearing his companion's words. "I heard that two of us caught the Mage Rally in Auckland, which means that besides Warrant Officer Erwin, there should be another person who also participated in the Wind Network mission."

"Oh? Who is it?"

"We don't know yet. Everyone is busy with disaster relief and doesn't have much time to ask about this kind of gossip. We just got back now, so the details should spread in the next day or two."

Gaode stood in the crowd, listening to everyone's recordings in silence. When it was his turn, he quietly handed in his task record.

Since there were still quite a few people in line, Old Neil simply put away Gaode's task record, made a registration, marked his name, and that was it.

He didn't find it strange, and after leaving the White Pagoda of the Abyss, he went to the Walmart Magic Materials Store.

Unbeknownst to Gao De, before he submitted his mission record, a small meeting was being held to assess his military achievements.

It had already been held in the conference room on the third floor of the White Tower of the Sea Abyss.

There are many procedures and ceremonies involved in bestowing a title, and Count Roland is too busy to do it.

However, it doesn't take much time to claim credit.

So when the sea sentinels announced the end of the mission, Count Roland took some time to personally write a letter requesting a reward.

It was sent to the sea sentry.

During the meeting.

"Take a look at the letter of request for rewards sent by Earl Roland first," Lieutenant Colonel Grayling, who was presiding over the meeting, said in a deep voice, waving his hand.

In front of each person was a copy of a sheepskin book of requests for rewards.

Captain Merrick picked up the parchment and began to read it word by word:

"Respected Sea Sentinels and Venerable Masters:"

"Thank you for your generous support of Auckland. We are writing to acknowledge the outstanding achievements of your esteemed monk, Venerable Gao, and respectfully request that he be recognized and rewarded."

"This fish whirlwind originated from the Wind Network. The Venerable Gaode responded to the city's call to arms, participating in the defense of Auckland. He distinguished himself and achieved the greatest merit in the mission, sacrificing his own phantom spirit in the process. His abilities and sacrifices are beyond the reach of ordinary people..."

.

"Even before the Windfall mission, Gaode had already assembled a fleet in Yaxi Town, under the jurisdiction of Auckland, to organize the evacuation of disaster victims..."

"After the Windfall mission, although he made the greatest contribution in the Windfall campaign, he did not rest on his laurels. He also readily participated in the city's campaign to exterminate the water beasts. This humble and unassuming attitude demonstrates his concern for the disaster victims and his noble character..."

3

"Such individuals, possessing both virtue and talent, are exemplary role models and pillars of the dynasty's future. Therefore, I request that you bestow upon them the honor and reward they deserve, to recognize their achievements and inspire others!"