In the castle.


    Maximus and Feris were sitting at the table, discussing the various factions in the sunburnt teau.


    "Do you know all the factions and families stationed in the sunburnt teau?" Maximus asked.


    "I don''t know all of the families and factions stationed there, but I know some," Feris replied.


    "There are two other families stationed here that have the same strength as us."


    "The first one is the Moldhound family. Although it''s a family of knights, it''s one of the strongest families in the cursed continent, with a Tier 6 lunar knight as its head."


    "The second is the Westle family. They are a family of schrs, but be careful arround them, they are quite proud and have a lot of connections"


    When he heard the term family of schrs, he wondered what profession that was.


    After browsing his memory, he finally knew.


    The schr or teacher profession is somewhat famous, though not as famous as alchemists and mechanics.


    Schrs mainly study the history and general knowledge of the Etherium Realm.


    While alchemists and mechanics study the profession to master and control thew.


    Schrs mainly dump vast amounts of knowledge to make their souls purer to advance.


    They are also renowned as enlightenment teachers of powerful families'' children, providing enlightening guidance to top their full potential.


    This potential here is not just the one shown in his system panel, which mainly shows your aptitude for absorbing and refining mana.


    It is a broader term epassing potential in various fields such as alchemy, mechanics, battle magic, formation, etc.


    Schrs are one of the professions capable of detecting this hidden potential.


    Moreover, with a deep and broad knowledge, they are like a kickstarter to a fire.


    Guiding individuals to start on their path of choice.


    Being a teacher, it''s no doubt that they have a lot of connections.


    "As for us, the Helmsworth family, we are a family of battle mages, as you know,"


    Feris exined, summarizing the three strongest families stationed in the sunburnt teau.


    "Are there any more families and factions stationed here?" Maximus asked.


    "Yes, there are quite a few, but they don''t have Tier 5 or higher support, so you can rest assured," Feris reassured him.


    Afterward, Feris provided more specific information about each faction.


    Some were only stationed there to recruit talent and did not possess any magic crystal mines, making it easier to persuade them to leave.


    However, for others with multiple magic crystal mines, persuasion would be more difficult.


    Nevertheless, Feris suggested that Maximus offer them apensation of 100,000 low-grade magic crystals per magic mine if he wanted to avoid too much trouble.


    Maximus understood this approach.


    Although he could kill or forcibly banish them from the sunburnt teau, the subsequent consequences would be troublesome.


    After all, he couldn''t always be there, and the cost ofpensation was less than that of a Tier 6 mechanical weapon''s energy consumption.


    But if there were any stubborn ones with thick heads, he didn''t mind showing them the power of money and sting them to pieces.


    After the conversation with Feris, Maximus prepared a sum ofpensation ording to the rules, but Feris initially refused to ept it.


    However, when Maximus emphasized that friendship and business should be kept separate, Feris reluctantly agreed.


    "Also, if you can try not to offend the Berunn city," Feris warned


    "Berunn City?"


    Maximus knows this city, as it was the only ce you can go to travel to other ces in the cursed continent.


    "Does it have a huge background?"


    "Yes, they are one of the EGCC branches in the scattered ind in the cursed continent," Feris said lightly as if it was amon knowledge


    Maximus was just slightly surprised, as only EGCC was caple of that amount of transportation work.


    Furthermore, his disguised identity was a VIP 6 so it should be quite easy to talk to them.


    ...


    Leaving the castle, Maximus set off for the other kingdoms within the sunburnt teau.


    With more than 50 kingdoms in the region, he estimated that at least half of them had magic crystal mines, which meant he would need to provide a minimum of 3 million inpensation.


    However, considering his vast wealth of over 400 million magic crystals, this amount was not a significant expense.


    Arriving at his second destination, Maximus headed directly toward the capital city.


    It was easy to identify as the capital due to its prosperous style and higher mana density.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    Simr to his previous encounters, Maximus released his spiritual signature, catching the attention of the kingdom''s ruler who flew up to meet him.


    "I''m Maximus Shadowcrest, and I havee with the will of my teacher to request that you leave this teau," Maximus dered, presenting the cloned token of his disguised identity as Edward Williams, the Tier 5 mage and alchemist.


    Sensing the aura of a Tier 5 mage emanating from the token, the ruler of the kingdom became frightened.


    After all, his patriarch was only a Tier 4 mage, so it was natural for him to feel scared.


    "I will leave willingly," the ruler hurriedly responded.


    Maximus found it amusing how easy it was to intimidate people by using the tiger skin he disguised as a teacher.


    "Don''t worry, you have one week to do so," he stated.


    "And if you happen to possess any magic crystal mines, I am willing topensate you with one hundred thousand magic crystals," Maximus exined.


    "Oh," the kingdom ruler was stunned by Maximus'' straightforwardpensation.


    "We don''t have any magic crystal mines," he replied, feeling disappointed.


    Considering that a low-grade magic crystal mine produces approximately a thousand magic crystals per year, the ruler was surprised by thepensation of a hundred thousand magic crystals.


    It was equivalent to almost a hundred years'' worth of mining.


    Unfortunately, he was only stationed in this region to recruit talents for his family, and his territory did not possess any magic crystal mines.


    "In that case, I will give you ten thousand magic crystals aspensation," Maximus said.


    Although he appeared extravagant with his wealth, such an approach would help establish a positive reputation for the sunburnt teau in the future.


    After all, Maximus couldn''t develop the entirend by himself; he needed external stimtion from the outside world.


    Otherwise, he could simply iste the sunburnt teau, and be done with it.


    The ruler of the kingdom was ecstatic upon hearing about thepensation.


    This amount was equivalent to his private property, and he no longer needed to hand it over to his family.


    After all this,pensation is not from the magic crystal mine that he needed to hand over to the family.


    After some quick discussion and the presentation of thepensation, Maximus headed toward the next kingdom.


    A week passed.


    Maximus continued his visits to the remaining kingdoms without much rest.


    Only two families, the Moldhound and Westle families, were left to negotiate with.


    Maximus decided to visit the Moldhound family''s territory first since Feris had mentioned that they were straightforward to talk with.


    After some time, Maximus finally reached the capital city of the Moldhound kingdom.


    Upon arriving at the castle in the center, he released his spiritual consciousness, attracting the attention of a tall, muscr man.


    "Who are you? What do you want?" the man asked.


    "I''m Maximus Shadowcrest, and I''vee on behalf of my teacher''s will. He intends to take the entire sunburnt teau as his territory," Maximus exined, presenting the cloned token.


    The man carefully felt the mana emanating from the token and confirmed its authenticity.


    "Is that so? I''m Dous Moldhound, the one in charge here," Dous introduced himself.


    "Why don''t we continue our conversation inside the castle?" Dous invited.


    "Sure," Maximus agreed.


    He parked his flying boat and followed Dous toward the castle.


    Once inside, they sat down to talk.


    "I''m sure you''re aware of the rules," Dous stated.


    "Of course, I am," Maximus replied confidently. Feris had already briefed him on the rules, which involvedpensation.


    For those without the backing of a Tier 5 powerhouse or above, Maximus only needed topensate them with a hundred thousand magic crystals per magic crystal mine.


    However, for those with such backing, thepensation would be ten times the amount, plus the loss of talent they could recruit based on the poption.


    "It''s easy to calcte then. Firstly, you have four magic crystal mines, which amounts to four million inpensation," Dous stated.


    "As for the poption, it''s around 26 million, which would require 2.6 million magic crystals," he continued, calcting the totalpensation.


    Maximus quickly agreed with the calctions and took out 6.6 million magic crystals aspensation.


    Just as Feris had mentioned, the Moldhound family was straightforward as long as things are properly settled ording to the rules.


    Dous agreed to leave in a few days without creating any unnecessary trouble.


    With the negotiations with the Moldhound family sessfully concluded, only the Westle family remained to be dealt with.