Heroes of Might and Magic: Grand Consul

Chapter 333 The Altar of Blazing Fire
While Silvertop City was under construction, Forrest did not forget the advanced materials for the Holy Blood Vial.

Alchemy dust is a specialty of the Arcane Empire, and this trip might allow us to negotiate and collect some. However, ordinary lords have no access to second-tier resources, and directly asking them would probably be futile. We would have to rely on Sedros's special alchemy to trade with the empire's underground forces.

There was progress on the Darkblood trail. The ship merchant Raymond said he had obtained a special channel from the desolate region of the far west, enabling him to smuggle some goods from there, but the prices were extremely high, so Forrest should be prepared.

High price? That underestimates Kuraki's financial resources.

Even if the lord goes out to war and doesn't have any governance or financial management skills, the income from Maggie and the town alone is a huge fortune, with nearly 200000 spell power coins a week. Combined with the accumulated money, it's enough to pay for more than ten sets of second-tier materials.

To Forrest's surprise, the shipping merchants had quite a few connections, even managing to find the undead forces.

"Tell Raymond that the price is negotiable, just let him sell the goods. We've cooperated so many times, he must know my reputation."

Give him a deposit of 20 spell power coins first, so he can buy it with peace of mind!

Upon hearing Forrest's words, the merchant envoy was visibly delighted. Whether Raymond was relieved or not, the envoy was certainly at ease.

Given their previous cooperation, Raymond would naturally not do anything short of self-destructive, especially since he knew Kuraki's strength and would never dare to betray him.

The materials for Darkblood have been sorted out, and alchemical dust isn't difficult to obtain either. The real problem now is Dragonblood Essence.

In the past, Forrest wouldn't have dared to even think about it; he could only search for some dragon descendants to explore the possibility of second-tier materials.

But I've heard that Isildur has unsealed Dragoncliff and a large number of golden dragons have appeared on the battlefield. Will other dragon lairs gradually appear as well?

To take it a step further, is it possible that someone in the Barrier sells dragon blood essence?
Profiting from war is nothing new. The soldiers fighting desperately on the front lines do not prevent the elven lords behind them from making money.

Forrest thought that if he could clear things up, he might gain something new.

Currently, his diplomatic skills are still at a beginner level and the effects are not obvious. If he were to advance to an intermediate or advanced level, he would be able to handle even merchants with strong barriers with ease.

"I still need to improve my strength. I should go to the Arcane Empire to observe and learn. These low-level buildings are not difficult. Even without blueprints, I can learn about 80-90% of them."

However, the fact that Sederlos had fellow disciples saved him a lot of trouble.

It is said that Beatrice, the mentor of Cedrus, returned to the Throne of Wisdom. Upon learning that someone had plotted against her disciple, she flew into a rage, uprooted some of the forces in the capital, and destroyed dozens of mage towers.

The Void Throne allowed her to vent her frustrations without intervening. After all, their objective had been achieved, and there was no need to exert further pressure. In the end, the Void Throne proved superior, but the two thrones reached an agreement to unite against a common enemy for the time being.

Even if Beatrice is angry, she cannot go against the decisions of the City of Wisdom.

However, after she appeared, many sorcerers in the City of Wisdom had a backer again and returned to their posts, no longer afraid of being purged.

The lord of this border city, Jenny, is a sorcerer from the City of Wisdom. She had previously crossed paths with Cedros, and this caravan was visiting under the guise of old acquaintances.

Of course, they couldn't reveal the news about Cedros, nor could they expose Forrest's identity. They only said that they had some past acquaintances and that it was the Sham Scholars from the City of Wisdom who sent them to visit.

After escaping the Arcane Empire, Sederlos did not forget Sham's kindness. He specially repaid him with many magical resources and recorded his unique alchemy techniques in a book, which he passed on only to Sham for study.

This impoverished apprentice, with the help of an astrologer, quickly mastered knowledge and became a scholar (a hero profession) of some renown. Although he was not considered a brilliant genius in the City of Wisdom, he frequently expressed unique opinions, which helped him gain fame.

He wouldn't be suspected too much if he conducted trade in his capacity.

After Sedros produced the tower blueprints, Forrest had already suspected that Sedros still had connections within the Arcane Empire. It wasn't exactly a rare resource; buildings below level 3 could be obtained from an ordinary lord. As for extraordinary buildings, the higher-ups of various factions generally promoted them, since the more unit types a race had, the stronger its civilization. What was truly difficult to acquire were the resources themselves and the construction methods for upgraded buildings; certain special buildings were the core secrets of each faction.

Building a level 2 or 3 combat barracks is not difficult, but Forrest went to great lengths because he was considering the future development of Silvertop City.

After the Iron Man and the Mage, what is the future direction of Silvertop City? Even a senior architect cannot imagine it out of thin air; more practical experience is needed.

If given the chance, he would also like to visit the City of Wisdom and witness Vatra's Arcane Wisdom Wall firsthand, which might offer him some unique insights.

Of course, this would require a more comprehensive arrangement, which is not feasible at present.

To Forrest's surprise, while passing by a peculiar snow-capped mountain, he encountered a group of fire elementals. They weren't there to fight; instead, they wanted to join his forces.

A group of fire elementals admire your reputation and want to join you.

Forrest first looked at the group of disguised strongest swordsmen beside him. Their strength was indeed overwhelming, but as for their reputation, it probably wasn't that well-known in the snowy plateau.

He looked around at the snow-capped mountains and figured that the fire elementals probably hadn't joined for fame, but rather that they were about to go out if they didn't find a place to stay.

The Astrological Moon is indeed powerful; it can even produce fire elements in snowy mountains.

Recently, even in the plains, a large number of fire elementals have appeared. Ouling led his ranged troops to clear out the monsters, but he didn't find anything valuable. Unexpectedly, he found it in the snowy region.

To survive in such a harsh environment, they must have some special outdoor structures.

"Since you admire me, then take me to find your companions. I'm sure I can still save you from this predicament!"

Fire Elemental (Elemental City Tier 4, Tier 1 Unit): Attack 10, Defense 8, Damage 4-6, Health 35, Speed ​​6, Medium Size.

Element: Fire (a natural element, requiring no additional magic to control).

Heart of the Elements: This unit is an elementalist, immune to mental/fire magic, but takes increased damage from water elemental magic.

Comment: These burning flames can actually move?!

That's the advantage of Elemental City's troops: they are naturally elemental and don't require special magic consumption. Even after upgrading, there's no need for additional consumption, unless it's a special element.

Following the group of fire elementals, Forrest quickly found their lair, a structure influenced by the Crimson Moon.

【Fire Altar (Flame Deepening): The Fire Altar allows you to recruit fire elementals.】

Fire Effect: If a hero with fire elemental mastery is recruited here, a fire elemental can be recruited.

As expected, it was the Altar of Blazing Fire. Surprisingly, this illusory structure had already been surrounded by other forces.

It appears to be a demonic race and a troop of tower troops vying for control of the altar.

It seems there are quite a few troubles ahead.

(End of this chapter)