Chapter 123.2: Rebuilding and Strengthening the City (3)

But he couldn’t get his hopes up by simply relying on the Respiratory System. He also had to make improvements on several other issues. He had specially planned out the disposure and modifications of the 5 -year dispatch system and revisions of the curriculum taught in the Academy.

‘All of these are issues that need to be changed by the Ivory Tower Council today.’

Tonight was the council, and there were two issues that had to be addressed. One was regarding the systems of the Ivory Tower. And the other? The trial of Haileyy Greenriver, who was an unlicensed mage. It was an issue they had decided to postpone after the whole fiasco was over. The fact that Princess Hailey was a mage would be discussed at the Ivory Tower Council today.

‘Is she not worried at all, or is she just keeping a straight face?’

As the princess returned to carry more things into the office, their eyes met. Although it was for a split second, Ian could sense her feelings.

‘She’s nervous.’ He realized.

Ian couldn’t blame her. As a princess, this would be the first time she would be standing in trial. Not only would the trial be a new experience, everything else that was happening now would be new to her. Of course, she would be worried. It was impossible for even the most strong-minded person not to be swayed in this kind of situation. Princess Haileyy seemed hesitant once she had met eyes with Ian, but immediately went off to the Page family’s office, carrying another pile of belongings. It seemed impossible for Ian to get a chance to talk with her.

‘Looks like she needs some time to think.’ Ian thought, shrugging. He broke away his glance from the princess and looked up at the sky.

The day was still clear and bright. He had some time until the council meeting. It was enough time for him to finish his duties.

‘I should get some work done in advance.’ Ian thought and entered his house to get his second plan in action. He had been working on this plan every night, but decided to work on some of it now, since he wouldn’t have time later on due to the council meeting. His second plan was to ‘research’ the power of dragon languages, or rather, learn the language completely. Wouldn’t that help Ian to keep his promise with the artisans and make himself stronger?

“Amazing…” Ian murmured to himself as he was sitting in his study, a book open in his hands.

He had realized something over the past few days. He had a deeper understanding of the dragon language, which was what the book was about.

“I didn’t even take time to study it…” Ian murmured.

He had grown in knowledge of the dragon language once when he had met Fran Page, the greatest mage of all time, and once again when he met Fran Page as the Golden Dragon. The most recent was after he had defeated the Bone Dragon. He increasingly became more fluent in reading, writing and speaking the language.

“Hm…” Ian said thoughtfully.

Thanks to his skills, he was able to read at least 60% of the book’s content and he was capable of reading and writing fluently. Compared to the knowledge and language skills he had in his previous life, the improvement was incomparable.

‘Although… I still have problems with my mana.’ He thought. The problem wasn’t the amount of the mana, the problem was the quality of the mana.

‘I didn’t think it would require a higher level than 8^th class.’

Ian currently owned mana of 8^th class.

Thanks to Dennis, the jeweler, he had gained his old physical powers back, but Ian lacked the mana heart. It wasn’t enough for him to use the language powers to his pleasure.

‘I have to be higher than 8^th class.’ Ian thought. It was a level he hadn’t even considered before, but he had no choice but to reach for that goal.

‘I haven’t met my limits yet.’ Ian thought. 8^th class couldn’t be the limit for humans. After all, the greatest mage of all time had existed before.

‘The bastard was a lot stronger than me. He just couldn’t overcome the limitations of a human and used a dragon’s body to become stronger. That means the 8^th class isn’t the end for me.’

The first mage had reached the full powers of a dragon with only his human body. That proved nothing was impossible. It was too early for him to give up. Ian could surpass him with his own powers since he wasn’t a normal human being either. Whether it was the dragon or the first mage, they excelled more than Ian only in experience. At least, that’s what he thought.

‘But how did I turn back time with my powers?’ Ian thought, starting to grow suspicious. The Ian of his previous life was 8^th class as his present self, but he had turned time back 30 years with only a simple spell. How was he able to control such powers?

‘Was it because it was a one-time spell?’ Ian wondered.

The language, more specifically, the Golden Dragon’s language, was now gone from the written records.

‘… Maybe it was all part of that bastard’s scheme.’ Ian thought.

Then, he suddenly remembered what the Bone Dragon had said. Something he had been trying to hard to forget. What he had pretended not to remember was echoing in his mind.

Lightly re-edited by FlawFinder

I’m rarely editing for clarity anymore. Mostly small grammatical mistakes and inconsistent names/titles.