Picking up Girls With My System

The table had many foods, but it was mainly composed of seafood, the city's specialty. So, Nehres, the king, acted way differently than before, as he was now confident Arthur was powerful enough to stand as equal with him.

"I am sorry to trouble you, captain Arthur. Samara is my daughter, and she kept it a secret from you. She never believed you would come after her," Nehres said.

"I knew it!" thought Arthur.

He knew Samara had not been kidnapped but went there with someone freely, and they weren't looking to hurt her. Arthur believed she was one of them, or at least someone they knew, but that changed after he saw her so close to the king.

The only explanation for Samara to sit beside the king was that she was part of the family, and when Arthur compared the two of them side-by-side, the similarities were there.

"Why would she think that? I always help my friends, and she is one of them, even if we did not have that much contact."

"You do look like a good captain. So, what brings you here? Something else or just looking for Samara?" Nehres asked.

Arthur sat on the table in front of the king's throne. He grabbed a glass of wine, sipping it lightly.

"It was just for Samara, but I never believed I would find such an incredible place. What's the name of this city?"

"This is one of the ancient cities, like the long-gone Sky City, but we are still around, alive and kicking. It's called Karantis!" Nehres said, stuffing up his chest in a proud manner.

Well, that was unexpected. Arthur had read some texts which contained the name Karantis. Still, the material was scarce, just like the information about the Sky City, one Arthur tried to find a long time ago but never got any decent clue about it, yet Nehres mentioned it.

"Karantis! I read this name before from old texts, but I don't know much about it. And what do you mean the Sky City is long gone?" Arthur asked.

He did not know if asking Nehres about it would lead to something, but it did not hurt to try.

"You know the Sky City is the legendary city of the dragons, right? If you know that, you must know the dragons are not from this planet in the first place, as they are one of the strongest creatures in the universe!"

"The Sky City is as massive as a planet, and it's always moving, but so far up in the sky, no one can see it from the ground. But, many mages are mistaken about it,"

"Mages believe the Sky City only moves around this planet, but that is incorrect. The Sky City left this planet long ago, constantly moving throughout the stars in the universe!"

Not even Arthur knew about that! The Sky City was as big as the planet itself, moving around the orbit like another moon! So, that was the reason Arthur found no clues about it; the Sky City was not around anymore and could be anywhere in the vast universe.

"This is incredible. But why do you remain on this planet? Aren't you strong enough to leave?"

Sybille and most of the others who were weaker and were listening to their conversation gaped their mouths. A city flying among the stars? Leave the planet? For them, all of it sounded like a pipedream.

Nehres snorted and washed away his pride, saying, "I know my limits. Power equal to a rank three mage is the highest I can achieve, even if I get out of this planet."

Arthur knew it was not easy for a man like Nehres, a king, to say he could not improve his power. It only proved Nehres was a good person and someone who knew when to stop and settle.

"Nehres," Arthur said, looking at him intensely. He was not sure if he should share that kind of information, but the king of Karantis seemed to be decent.

"My next goal is the demon continent. I need to explore it and learn more about their planet's domination plan. Do you know something about them?"

Nehres got up from his throne and said, "did the demon continent start their moves? I heard they plan on taking control of Karantis after dealing with the central continent and all the other human continents. So I was planning to visit the current Archimage to speak about an alliance!"

Arthur was glad to hear that. Nehres possibly had some information about the demon continent to share with him. Still, he was willing to form an alliance with the central continent in the first place, even if Arthur did not find Karantis by accident.

"How strong is the demon continent?" Arthur asked.

The room was silent, and the only thing anyone could hear was the breathing sound of everyone in that room.

"Strong, really strong. The general population is stronger than that of the central continent. Still, they have fewer numbers, so the central continent and the demon continent are equal regarding the general force, but the real problem lies on something else," Nehres said. Then he paused for a second before displaying the following sentence.

"We all lose to that place because... they have rank 4 mages!"

Arthur had heard such stories before about rank 4 mages being present in the central continent, but it was hard to believe considering the low number of rank 3 mages on the entire planet.

How was he supposed to win against a rank-four mage? Arthur was already someone who defied logic by increasing his strength at a rapid pace, but even with all of his 'cheats,' he knew it would take him years to reach that level of power!

"A decade, and that's aiming low," Arthur thought.

The journey to the demon continent would take years, and while being on the ship, it was not the most adequate place to train when considering the mana density, but he could get a lot of experience with the constant sex with his wives.

Still, even if that, he was far from being capable of going against a rank 4 mage, and that's also considering it is a regular rank 4 mage. So if it is a strong one, or maybe a peak rank 4 mage, Arthur had no chance of winning even after reaching rank 4.

The expedition, which Arthur believed would take a long time, appeared to take longer if he wished to reach a level of power capable of going against those creatures.

"How many ranks 4 mages are there?" Arthur asked.

"Well, many different races live in the demon continent. Some races are weaker, having only a rank 3 mage in charge, and some even weaker, having only a rank 2 mage in charge, but the strongest races there have rank 4 mages, so you can expect at least 10 of those."

"Ten ranks 4 mages, at least!" Arthur said with shock.

"I don't know your goal with your mission, but don't worry about having to fight those mages. They are usually in the dark and don't act often, plus almost none of them have friendly relationships with each other; I believe that is one reason the rest of us are still alive," Nehres said.

Even though there were some rank four mages, most hated each other and were only willing to share the same side of the battle when facing a greater enemy, like a different continent to invade.

Arthur was confident he would be able to travel throughout the demon continent without getting much attention, avoiding the rank 4 mages while he aimed to reach the rank 4 himself.

"Is there something else I need to know about that place?"

"I wish I could tell more, but I don't know much about it either. Look, you can count on us to help your continent and all the others. So I'll go and talk with the Archimage myself and discuss an alliance with him. Here take this," Nehres said, taking out a box with a piece of jewelry in it; a ring.

"My race and the humans had been friends for ages, and this ring belonged to one of your human ancestors. It has some unknown magical properties that even I don't know about it, but there's one thing I know about this ring; it allows the user to speak with other ring users," Nehres said, showing his hand, which had a similar ring on it.

A valuable magical item, especially for Arthur, who would be far from everyone else. He was happy to receive such a precious little thing and wanted to study it to replicate it.

What if all his friends and subordinates had a ring like that, like a secret society of mages? It would be easier for them to speak with one another.

"Thank you for the gift. I wished I had something of equal value to give you. So, Nehres, if I fetch something nice in the demon continent, I will give it to you," Arthur said, picking up the box which contained the ring.

"I will be waiting for it," Nehres said, laughing.

Arthur stored the box inside his magical pouch for the time being. He continued his conversation with the king of the tritons and mermaids, mainly about the alliance and the demon continent.

Nehres gave him a map with all the entrances to Karantis, all around the world, and each continent had at least three hidden. It would be helpful for Arthur to get Nehres's help, especially after he arrived at the demon continent.