Sword God in a World of Magic

Shang hesitated for a moment.

"What is your goal, and what approach are you using to get closer to it?" Shang asked.

Duke Whirlwind's eyes shone for a short moment.

This was a very personal question, and Shang had directly asked Duke Whirlwind about his personal philosophy when it came to becoming more powerful.

One could say that Shang had asked for the secret of becoming as powerful as a Duke. After all, Duke Whirlwind's approach had obviously worked out very well, and knowing how he operated could very likely pay off in a big way.

"Those are two questions," Duke Whirlwind commented.

"There is only one question mark at the end," Shang answered.

Duke Whirlwind remained silent for a bit.

"Alright, I'll answer your question, and the reason why I am answering this question has to do with the answer," Duke Whirlwind said.

Shang nodded and listened to the Duke.

"As for the first question, my goal is to become an Archmage and to have my own Kingdom," Duke Whirlwind said.

Shang wasn't surprised by the answer.

"And as to how I'm trying to achieve it, investment and efficiency," Duke Whirlwind said.

"I can spend 24 hours per day working on my Magic, but that would only be the effort of one High Mage at a time. I can continually grow more powerful by working on my Magic, but without resources, I might not have enough time to become an Archmage."

"However, if I have access to rare and powerful materials, advanced studies, esoteric concepts, and plenty of teachers, I can grow many times faster than if I were on my own."

"But all of these things require wealth. Without wealth, I can't access these things. That's where the investment aspect comes into play."

"I don't have many hours in the day to myself, but the few hours I have are more profitable than several days of working on myself without pause."

"And how did I gain the wealth necessary to become this efficient?"

"Other people."

"I burn through millions of gold each day just to accelerate my growth. If I were on my own, I would never be able to pay such a large sum of money."

"So, I invest, not into corporations or resources, but into people."

"Every person has something they are good at, but many of those people never get the chance to realize their potential."

"Poverty, suppression, enemies, there are many things that will kill talent in its infancy."

into the futures of people weaker than me so that they

that landed in prison due to the corrupt influence of a powerful family isn't costing me much, but I am essentially saving that

person gets the opportunity, time, and resources to fully realize their potential, their help and loyalty

handle all my lands with dedication, and they are happy

Taking advantage of a True Mage might bring immense profits in

is happy working for me, they will be far more

Whirlwind looked at

to the weak and gives them the opportunity to become stronger than they could have ever

can say that I am exploiting poor and naïve people, giving them something negligible

end, it's

helps the defenseless, or am I a greedy businessman that exploits the

matter the answer, two things

working for me is doing so of

are generating the resources I need to

answer

as several thoughts went through

more powerful very

always been a bit skeptical regarding Duke

had met plenty of nice managers in his past life. They were friendly, helped him,

there was profit to

and asked Shang not

that Duke Whirlwind might be one of these

logical and

a concept on Earth that described the cause and effect of what Duke Whirlwind was

Karma.

that Karma was some rule the Gods had made to punish the wicked and reward the

simply the term to describe how

person A was in a tight spot and needed a place to live, person B might directly be impacted

what would most likely happen if person B got into trouble

would be more

Why?

had helped person A in the past, and they

that associating with person A was of no more value

got into trouble later, person A would very likely not help

should they? Person

about likelihood, and

with throwing someone away that had helped them before, and

general, this was how things

This was Karma.

cause and effect when it came to interacting with other

Whirlwind was helping weaker people so that

refer to this mindset with two contradicting