Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 480: Chapter 278: The Undead Tribe’s Junior-Level Economic War

Kais hid behind Hill, making faces at the towering Earth Element Lord.

With a sense of helplessness, Hill grabbed his little arm, pulling the disgruntled Wind Element up to his face, ”Do you have any objections to what Korenden said?”

”I’m so small, it doesn’t matter,” Kais argued forcefully. ”I just flit past them, they have to squeeze through the crevice on the other side for a long time, dawdling and chatting. I’m dying of impatience! I don’t want to wait!”

”But that crevice was opened by the Earth Element Lord for his own convenience!” Hill said very seriously to Kais. ”The exit to the Elemental Realm is in the home of Lord Korenden.

If other Elemental Spirits entered your Cloud House without saying hello, would you be pleased to welcome them?”

Kais fell silent for a while, ”But didn’t he allow Elemental Spirits to pass through as they please?”

”Other Elements would greet me before entering!” Korenden said, unable to hide his irritation. ”They would even queue up! They wouldn’t whoosh right past my face, then whoosh back again!

I’ve been patient for so long, I almost didn’t smack you dead!”

”Below the Magic Tower is Earth Element territory, other Elements wishing to pass through our domain to the Elemental Realm would greet the Earth Elements in the basement, not just fly over our heads!” Christoval, normally amiable, seemed quite upset as well.

”Wood Elements are small too, we always queue up, why can’t you?” said Eronaen, who couldn’t help but flutter over to ask Kais.

Seeing the Water Elemental Lord Nielendi also standing there, Hill realized that Kais truly made these Elemental Spirits uncomfortable.

Elemental Spirits are slow-paced by nature; this was the first time they directly dealt with a hasty Wind Element. They would probably need some time to adapt.

”I was wrong. I thought anyone could go anywhere!” said Kais after reflecting with his head bowed. He finally understood that even though the passageway was on Hill’s territory, it didn’t belong to Hill. If he wanted to borrow the way through someone’s home, he had to greet its proper owner.

And queuing was a matter of courtesy, best not to be broken unless it was an emergency.

Seeing the Wind Elemental Chief yielding, the Earth Elements released his tribesfolk.

Hill frowned slightly as he watched the Wind Elemental Spirits instantly fly back to hide in the Cloud House, ”No wonder you still haven’t become a lord, Kais. Have you split again?”

”When I become a lord, the ones who split won’t be tribespeople but my children,” Kais said despondently. ”An Element Lord can autonomously split a child only every few thousand years. I don’t want to wait till my tribespeople grow up to split again; it’s too slow!”

Hill was momentarily taken aback, having forgotten that Kais was the first Wind Elemental Spirit in this world. The initial divisions were just Wind Elements produced by the Law through him, his tribespeople, not his kin.

Once he became an Element Lord, the Law wouldn’t be able to use Kais’s body anymore; Wind Elemental Spirits would have to return to the normal growth path of Elemental families.

But even though much of his power came from the Law, Kais had given much of himself, and the path to Element Lordship he’d delayed to the present proved his dedication.

”But Kais,” Hill said, touching his swirling head, ”when Christoval first followed me, there were only a few dozen tribespeople. Water and Wood Elements were even fewer, and look how large their groups have become. Kais, you need to believe in your own tribespeople. After all, you’re a great clan leader with hundreds of tribespeople!”

”I understand,” Kais said earnestly. ”I’ve got to become a legend too; otherwise, next time I mess up, I might indeed get beaten half to death.”

Hill’s gaze sharpened: Why are you so certain you will make mistakes again?

His memories of Kais were still of the shy, timid one who preferred to hide in a pendant and live a solitary Elemental life, a pitiable sight. When had he become someone who charged headlong into trouble?

Hill looked up at the Cloud House, and then his gaze dropped to the fountain where Agleya’s little labyrinth was.

With so many Element Lords, why do you have to learn from the Undead? Hill was almost about to ask but held back in the end.

Compared to Kais, other Elements had interacted with the Undead for longer, showing no interest in the Undead Tribe whatsoever.

It was probably a trait of the Wind Elements, just that they’d taken it a bit too far learning from the Undead.

”Kais, if it’s your own trouble that gets you beaten, I won’t intervene, you hear?” Hill tried hard to keep his voice calm.

”It’s okay, they won’t kill me anyway!” Kais replied offhandedly.

He quickly realized what he had said and immediately turned into a small whirlwind, ”I’m heading back! I need to comfort my tribespeople! Goodbye, Hill!”

Hill sighed, his children were all good-natured, but one seemed cheekier than the other?

After sorting things out, he docked the Cloud Ship in front of the Magic Tower, finally home again.

This trip had at last come to a close.

”Sir,” List appeared behind him, ”You’re not planning to go out again soon, are you?”

”Not for a while, but I’ll have to go out again in a year,” Hill said as he stepped onto the Floating Stairway. ”Any news lately?”

”Nothing much, just the Untouched’s demand for Purification Potions has increased,” List replied. ”There’s none left in stock; I’ve already instructed them to acquire more from Master Fran’s Magic Town. There are more Alchemists there.”

”The demand has increased?” Hill was taken aback.

”After the dissolution of the Mage Association, many High-level Mages dispersed across various countries, stirring up a bit of instability. Some Alchemists, worried about trouble, moved to Magic Town to live.”

Hill nodded, ”As long as they don’t cause trouble, Grandpa will be willing to protect them. He has always felt that alchemy should have better development.”

”Not causing trouble is a very difficult requirement.” List couldn’t help sighing, ”It was my first time seeing Diamant so furious.”

When the floating stairway reached the top floor, Hill walked toward his own bedroom, ”What could they do that would provoke the Undead Tribe?”

”Probably provoked each other, I guess!” List said fairly, ”There are very few who can enter Master Fran’s territory. Those who run errands for us here don’t have the qualifications to enter there. So, these members of the Undead Tribe treasure this opportunity very much.

But they can’t help running their mouths at each other.”

Hill asked in surprise, ”What could the alchemists possibly have said to provoke them? The undead that can go to Grandpa’s place are all high-level.”

And for alchemists, it would be good to even reach the level of an Archmage.

The number of alchemists who become Magisters is pitifully small.

”Those of the Undead Tribe who stay in Magic Town for a long time are interested in alchemy,” List said with a strange expression, ”but sometimes the Undead only look at interest and not at talent.

And they are very rich.”

Hill uttered an ’ah’, thinking of those alchemy junior products that were cheap enough for commoners to afford, clearly not the work of just a few undead grinding for proficiency.

Given the current numbers of the Undead Tribe, there must be thousands staying in Magic Town.

Hill understood that even if alchemy was indeed difficult for the Undead Tribe, there would always be those among them who thought they were exceptionally gifted and would fall into this big pit.

It was common for them to casually toss away hundreds of thousands worth of junior items. It was a problem for the future if the high-level alchemy products couldn’t be made,

”Some alchemists think that they are going too far,” List said slowly, ”They’ve collapsed the market. Now junior alchemists can only survive by working for the high-level ones.

They don’t have as much money as the Undead Tribe, who can produce hundreds of junior products at once. The prices for materials have been driven up by their purchases, and many of the low-rank products are now worth less than half the materials used.

Even the high-level warlocks feel like they can’t afford it. The prices of basic materials are rising too quickly.

So some alchemists, when they see the Undead making alchemy items in the workshops of Magic Town, mock them, saying the Undead are either clumsy or dimwitted.

After the Undead got angry, they bought up all the materials from the town’s general stores.

For a week now, those alchemists haven’t been able to buy even a single herb.”

Hill shook his head, ”Only high-level alchemists could compete with the Undead in terms of wealth. But they wouldn’t do something so foolish.”

Probably only those junior alchemists who feel their livelihood is being destroyed by the Undead would do such a thing.

”But, the basic materials used by the Undead come from His Majesty the King, right?” Hill was somewhat puzzled, ”It has nothing to do with other material merchants.”

The materials used by the Undead are obviously brought from other worlds by the God of Time and Space and they haven’t hurt the foundation of this world at all.

The two of them couldn’t possibly be ignorant of what inflationis nor supply and demand balance.

In fact, most of the time the Undead use gold coins; they buy more from ordinary people.

Places like the Merchant Guild have basically no dealings with the Undead.”

”Merchants want to raise prices, any excuse will do,” List said as if it were only natural, ”Definitely some big merchant guilds have hoarded goods. Maybe even the royal merchant guilds have gotten involved.”

Hill swept the hair from his forehead back, ”Let them play! His Majesty the King has always been careful not to harm the fragile economic cycle of this world, and the economy of the Undead with him is almost a closed loop.

Although they have spent quite a few crystal stones at my grandpa’s and my place, we have mostly used these stones ourselves, so it’s also a closed loop.

If those merchant guilds go too far, and His Majesty really loosens up part of the economic restrictions on the Undead, just their gold coins could play them for fools.

It shouldn’t be crystal stones, unless some foolish king personally enters the fray.

Hmm... But that shouldn’t happen, right? There are so many lessons to be learned!”

Hill shook his head, ”I’m going to take a bath first, List.

Tell Diamant that if their Magic Tower is running short on basic materials, they can ask the Undead to buy at the normal procurement price.

They will sell. Our procurement price is much higher than what they pay when buying from His Majesty the King!

Leave the town be, if the general stores have it, they sell, if not, so be it. Those alchemists won’t be foolish enough to take action against the Magisters.”

List, who had already prepared the bathroom, agreed softly and disappeared.