I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE

After cursing each other for a while, Angus and Balrug finally calmed down a little bit.

"Tch.. Anyway, Why are you here, crazy old man?" said Angus.

"Me?? Hm.. That's a secret. Hahahaha… How about you? Why are you also here, brat? You seem close to master Valeron." asked Balrug back.

"Well, that's also a secret, old man." replied Angus.

"Hmm.. Then keep your secret. Anyway, let me introduce you to some of my friends." said Balrug while trying to change the topic.

Then, Balrug introduced some of his friends. All of them are renowned crafters inside the Heart Kingdom. Angus politely greeted each of them, unlike when he called Balrug. During this time, Jayna and the others decide to go back first.

Angus also decides to go back to the mansion after chatting with everyone for a while. Balrug's friend really enjoys talking with Angus. His innovative and novelty way of thinking makes some of them inspired.

Arriving at his home, Angus decides to cultivate his chi. He knows he will hardly have time to do this when doing the graduation mission after the break over. Late in the night, Angus gets called by his father through Pavlon, the head butler.

Entering his father's study room, "Father, did you call me?" said Angus.

"Ahhh.. Yes, Angus. It seems you need to do your mission even faster than scheduled." said Jacob.

"Ehh.. Why such a sudden change?" Replied Angus.

"Though there is still no official announcement. But, we got some information that the other nearby kingdoms are also starting to arm and build their army."

"This afternoon, his majesty notified all the four dukes to prepare the soldiers and be ready to battle anytime." explained Jacob.

"Hmm… I see. Then, I also need to start to prepare tomorrow. I think I could go right away the day after tomorrow." said Angus.

"Good. I will tell the others about your arrival." replied Jacob.

"Sure. Is there anything you want to tell me?" said Angus.

"Yeah, I may have already asked this many times. But is it possible for others to learn that technique? I need years before I manage to do something like that." said Jacob.

"If it is the complete mastery of Firecast, it will be very hard. However, if it is only creating explosions from their own fire mana, it is easier to achieve as long as they keep practicing and have fire affinity."

"Actually, it depends on the person itself. If the person is really talented and a hard worker, they may be able to do it in months, but if they are less talented and lazy, they may never achieve it even after a few years of training." said Angus.

"Hmm… I hope those people can learn something from you. Sometimes, they could be a little bit.. stubborn." said Jacob.

"Really?? Then, all I need to do is make sure they learn properly through some personal guidance." said Angus with a smirk.

Looking at Angus's smirk, 'I hope they don't do anything stupid.' thought Jacob.

"Anyway, Father. If the war breaks out, will you be deployed to the frontline?" asked Angus.

"Usually, the duke's will only be deployed when there is a major movement from the other side. But, since the border is not my jurisdiction, there is little chance I will be deployed. Though it also depends on the war and his majesty's decision itself." said Jacob.

"I see. Then, I will excuse myself first." said Angus before leaving Jacob's working room.

"Sure. Good night, Angus." said Jacob.

"Night." replied Angus shortly.

After Angus leaves Jacob alone, Jacob stands up and looks at the starry night from the window.

'War.. It seems inevitable.' thought Jacob.

In the meantime, outside the capital city. Two people in black robes meet each other in the deep of the forest.

"How is it?" asked one of the black-robed people.

"I barely made it out from there. But, luckily, that greedy noble is quite useful." replied the other one while giving a sealed parchment.

"Good. I supposed this is the report." said the other black-robed people.

"Yes, make sure to get it to his majesty as soon as possi…" said the other one.

*Swisshh* *Bam* Before the other one said something, a burning spear traveled in the air and attacked them. The two black-robed people immediately back away. After that, more burning spears came out from the surrounding forest.

"Shit!! [Rune - 4th Circle - Force Barrier]" as one of the black-robed people takes out a runed crystal.

At this moment, a strong transparent barrier covers both of the two black-robed people and withstand the burning spear attack. After that, the two black-robed people immediately scatter in different directions.

Not long after that, a few people with burning spear emblems on their armor came out from the forest.

"Quick, don't let them get away!!" yelled the leader.

"Yes, sir!!" as the other soldiers begin to pursue them.

Looking at the soldier's burning spear emblem, "Shit, it is the extermination squad." said one of the black-robed guys.

After that, countless explosions could be heard inside the lush forest. This situation happens not only inside this forest but also in some other locations near the capital city. At the same time, a man with various scars on his body stood on the top of the capital city's wall.

This man is the leader of the extermination squad, Otebon Flamewaver. Currently, Otebon looks at the chaos that happens on the horizon silently. After a while, a person wearing extermination squad armor comes towards Otebon.

"Reporting, sir?" said the person.

"How is it?" said Otebon without looking at his subordinate.

"We managed to capture most of the revealed spy, except for one that managed to go to another direction with the border. Currently, Aldo and his team pursue the escaped spy." reported the extermination soldier.

"Hmm… So, one of them managed to escape. It means this guy is not an ordinary spy. Tell Tim and Bob to assist Aldo in their pursuit. I want the escaped spy to be captured before the end of this week." said Otebon.

"Yes, sir." said the soldier before going away from the Otebon.

The next day, the capital city starts their day like there is nothing wrong. Despite all the battles happening near the capital last night, most of the capital city residents didn't notice it. Only the nobles and the sharp perception of people noticed such a battle.

One of these people is Angus. Although he didn't know which direction the battle took, he knew a chaotic battle was happening not far from the capital city. However, since his instinct didn't alarm him, he ignored this and went back to sleep.

Currently, Angus is writing some kind of note while some books are opened in front of him. Angus is preparing for his private mission, which is teaching the newly formed squad called explosion squad about his fire explosion skill.

Although the explosion skill is actually an accident skill he created during his training in Firecast, Duke Jacob and Angus find that this skill could become a dangerous weapon when using it at the right time.

If an army managed to create an explosion by manipulating their fire mana, this firepower might turn the tide of the battle. Still, both Angus and Jacob have a little high hope for the army to learn this skill.

Angus may have said that everyone could learn it as long as they work hard. However, this explosion skill actually needs relatively high fire mastery. Therefore, they decided to teach the explosion squad before spreading the technique to the kingdom's army.

Because of their purpose, the explosion squad has high fire mastery and is familiar with the explosion. So, it will be easier to learn Angus's explosion skill than others.

Currently, Angus has decided to make a teaching material and revise it. He also tries to revise the skill and create a shortcut for other people without high fire mastery able to use the skill.

This work is quite hard since it needs a lot of research and mismatching information from some books. Unlike Angus, the others didn't have the Ancient Power [Hellfire] and blessing from the ancient king Firelord.

Therefore, Angus needed to create a teaching material where ordinary people with average talent could use the explosion skill.

After a whole day doing his research, "Haa.. I think this is enough for now. Whether they could do it or not depends on their own effort." said Angus before deciding to sleep on his comfy bed.

Early in the morning, Angus begins to depart from his manor towards the explosion squad base near his hometown, Freyspire city. Unfortunately, Jacob couldn't come with Angus since he needed some business to attend at another location.

Therefore, Angus couldn't use the teleportation device and needed a carriage to go towards the explosion squad base. The carriage is accompanied by a personal guard from the Victory family. Few of these guards are combatants from the Sur village.

"Young master Angus, we meet again." called one of the guards.

"Ahh.. If I am not wrong, you are Allard, right?" said Angus.