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."

of my money into the futures of people weaker than me so that they one day return a

corrupt influence of 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

to fully realize their potential, their help and loyalty will pay far more than I

and powerful. They handle all my

not forcing anyone, and I am not burning them into nothingness like coal. Taking advantage of a True Mage might bring immense

everyone is happy working for

Whirlwind looked at

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

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

the end, it's up to your

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

matter the answer, two things will remain

anyone, and everyone working for me is doing so of their own free

resources I need to work towards

that answer your

thoughts went

method to becoming more powerful very

a bit

past life. They were friendly, helped him, and

when there was profit to be made,

smiling and asked Shang

feared that Duke Whirlwind might be

logical and

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

Karma.

a religious thing. They thought that Karma was

was simply the term to describe how

live, person B might directly be impacted in the future based on their

would most likely happen if person

be more inclined to help

Why?

in the past, and they would want

if person B threw person A away because they thought that associating with person A was of no more value to them since

later, person A would very

they? Person B hadn't

was all about likelihood, and it wasn't a

and there were also saints that were willing to help people that had scorned them

in general, this was how things

This was Karma.

cause and effect when it came to interacting with

weaker people so that they

enough, one could refer to this mindset with two contradicting