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."

invest a big chunk of my money into the futures of people

a powerful family isn't costing me much, but I am essentially saving that person's life. At the current moment, the resources I spent on that person

person gets the opportunity, time, and resources to fully realize their potential, their help and loyalty will pay far more than I have invested

handle all my lands with dedication, and they are

I am not burning them into nothingness like coal. Taking advantage of a True Mage might bring immense profits in

is happy working for

Whirlwind looked at

more altruistic person can say that I am a kind person that gives to the weak and gives them the opportunity to

can say that I am exploiting poor and naïve people, giving them something negligible for me but valuable for

end, it's up to your

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

two things

for me is doing so of their own free

generating the resources I need

that answer

several thoughts went

Whirlwind had explained his method to becoming more powerful very objectively without trying to

a bit skeptical regarding

of nice managers in his past life. They were friendly, helped

was profit to be made, Shang had

even worse, the managers continued smiling and asked Shang

Duke Whirlwind might

the logical and

described the cause and effect of what

Karma.

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

the term to

and needed a place to live, person B might directly

person A, what would most likely happen if person B got into trouble in

would be more inclined to help person

Why?

in the past, and they would want to

thought that associating with person A was of

person B got into trouble later, person A would very likely

should they? Person B hadn't

this was all about

scumbags that had no problems with throwing someone away that had helped them before, and there were also saints that were willing to help

this was how

This was Karma.

was just cause and effect when

people so that they would one day help

could refer to this mindset with two