Chapter 429 Responsability
Zaos wanted to make Milliendra practice controlling her power as much as possible. However, he knew that once Drannor heard about him, he would organize the largest army that the world had seen. So, with that in mind, Zaos had to alert other mercenary leaders. While the group didn't fight directly against orders and grew a lot, there were three other groups that were even larger than Zaos'. They should be able to cause a lot of trouble to Drannor, but that wasn't Zaos' goal.
"Millie, first Let's check if your power is the same with low physical contact," Zaos said. "Touch my hand with a single finger."
Milliendra nodded, and even though she hesitated, she touched his hands, and she could feel Zaos energy being drained. She tried to stop it, but it was impossible… In any case, Zaos noticed that he didn't lose all that much mana. So that confirmed the theory the mana drained relied on the level of body contact.
"Tell me in detail what you felt," Zaos said.
"It was like… daddy was a lake and just by touching the lake, I could drink the water," Milliendra said.
"I guess it is like that because I have a large mana pool," Zaos said. "Now touch me while you do the same thing you do to recharge the magic stones."
Milliendra nodded. Zaos learned that he also could transfer mana to other living beings, and while it was way more complicated than recharging a magic stone, it was possible. In any case, Milliendra tried that, but she couldn't return more mana than she could steal… her powers were just that powerful. Not to mention, Zaos could feel that her presence didn't change. So, using that tactic wouldn't solve the main problem, which was her terrifying aura.
"It looks like we can't counter the effects… we have to make you stop them completely," Zaos said.
"How, daddy?" Milliendra asked with a nervous expression on her face.
"Don't worry, your daddy discovered many things over the years, with your help, it will be even easier," Zaos said as he patted Milliendra.
Although Zaos said that, he still didn't have any idea how they could do that. The first idea that came to mind was to create a barrier around her body that was supposed to be different from the Protection and Magic Barrier. One that would be so thick that would be the same as controlling raw mana to contain her aura. However, that would be dangerous since raw mana can pretty much turn everything into dust if one has enough mana.
That was the only idea that Zaos had on the first day, and once that was discarded, Zaos just asked Milliendra to try to stop the drain of mana with her willpower. That didn't work… at least on the first day. Unfortunately, a month passed in the blink of an eye, and they didn't make any progress. During that time, Milliendra left the base to play with the other kids, and while things got awkward in the beginning, it all ended well. However, she couldn't play for too long.
"I will have to pay a visit to them," Zaos said to Aleni while they watched Milliendra playing through the window of his office. "Last night, I received a message that told me that forty thousand soldiers had reached the eastern base of the Sairus kingdom."
"Forty thousand…" Aleni muttered in shock. "It is almost half of the troops that the kingdom has."
"I don't know if Nyana and the others told him about the return of the revival of the demon god, but he is being cautious nonetheless… maybe they are having trouble in the North since they are the only real enemy that can cause massive harm to the kingdom."
"There is also the possibility of Orleand sending some naval troops to attack the port towns," Aleni said.
"He certainly sent, he owes the royal family that much and his daughter was a great friend of Ameria," Zaos said. "He should be able to send around one hundred and fifty ships. That adds five thousand more men to the battlefield. I can stop them, but…"
"That leaves the frontlines on the other hands of many mercenaries who are always trying to overthrow one another," Aleni said. "Those three might hold the battle for a while, but mercenaries aren't known for their defensive abilities."
Zaos was worried that he wouldn't be able to prevent thousands of casualties without being on the frontline. Sure, he could move faster than most, but even that had limitations. He couldn't protect the entire south coast of that country and then move to the frontlines that often… doing one of them will already force him to stay away from home for months.
"I suppose that I will have to play dirty to prevent too many casualties, I can smell the hand of the demons behind all this mess somehow," Zaos said. "They are the ones who would benefit most from all this chaos… I will leave a stock of mana potions with you for you to help Milliendra with her training."
"I get it that we can't leave her alone right now, but you built this place with that in mind, we have three thousand mercenaries under our command, use them to help you," Aleni said.
"Only half of them have any chances of surviving a war for more than one day, besides, I would feel bad to send them to the frontlines and to their deaths," Zaos said. "I will make them spread around the towns close to the borders and ports, they will help with evacuation if necessary."
"What about Nakin and the others?" Aleni asked.
"They will stay behind and fight alongside you to protect Milliendra when necessary, they are also skilled enough to sink some ships without letting anyone die in the process," Zaos replied. "We won't need their ability to gather Intel in times of war."
"Once again… you are trying to solve everything by yourself," Aleni said and then put her arms around Zaos' waist. "I get it that you feel responsible for all of this, but remember, by trying to protect Millie, you are also trying to protect the world. Don't blame yourself for everything."
