Earth’s Greatest Magus

"Where are you taking me?" Klea asked in curiosity as she followed Julian's steps. Surprisingly, the Roman decided to take her out of his residence and bring her to walk across the busy street of Rome.

As the young Consul of Rome continued walking forward, a straight path was made amidst the hubbub as the sea of people in the area, thousands of them, paid their utmost respect to the young man.

Seeing such a spectacle, Klea had a cheeky smile on her face as she teased the Roman. "Are you trying to show off right now? You haven't forgotten that I am the Queen of Egypt, have you?"

Her words sparked a chuckle from Julian, "Hahaha, of course. How can I forget? And no, this is not what I want to show to you." Seeing the curious glint in her eyes, he just playfully shrugged and said, "Just follow me and you'll see."

A few moments later, it looked like they would arrive at their destination. Julian led her to a huge complex that appeared still under construction. However, there were already several buildings open for access and, to her surprise, there were lots of children around. Most of them were around ten years old.

"What is this place? What are you planning, Julian?"

Again, Julian just smiled and entered one of the buildings, which Klea promptly followed.

There, she was greeted by a view of several spacious rooms. Each one filled with about ten childrens paying attention to someone who looked like a scholar. The scene was very much the same as what they had experienced in the last six years.

Instantly, Klea knew what she was seeing. She turned to the Roman and exclaimed, "You created an academy?!"

Julian didn't have to confirm her words as the proof was right before their eyes. Instead, he just introduced her to what he had founded, while they toured the place. 𝑏𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙.𝘰𝑟𝑔

"This one teaches reading and writing, while that one teaches arithmetic. Over there on the left is where the children are taught about the military. Last but not least, and also my favorite, this class teaches children about poetry and philosophy. After all, we need to make people stop worshiping those false gods of Kronos."

Klea had a surprised look on her face when Julian explained what he had done. It was actually quite a simple idea. However, no one on Earth, not even in Egypt, had thought of doing so. The reason was because most preferred to have private tutors who taught children one-on-one. Something that was only affordable for the wealthy.

But in this place, as far as her eyes could see, these children weren't all wealthy. In fact, some of them didn't even appear to be of Roman descent.

"You guessed it right!" Julian exclaimed when he saw her expression. "They are the children of kings and tribal leaders from all over the continent: Gauls, Germanians, Darcians, even Thracians."

Klea fell silent when she realized what Julian was actually planning to do.

"You may be able to fool others, but not me… These kids… They are tributes from the places conquered by Rome, aren't they?" Staring at the Roman, she said, "You're not just trying to educate them. You want to indoctrinate them so they are loyal to Rome. You… you're trying to rule the whole continent."

A faint smile appeared on Julian's face, which looked as if Klea still didn't get his intention right. The surprised expression on her face grew even more as a thought popped into her mind. "You… don't tell me. The whole Earth?"

"Exactly." He spoke with a smile. "World domination."

Those were certainly words full of ambition.

To be honest, Klea used to think that Earth was too big to be controlled by a single kingdom. However, that thought of hers changed after everything she experienced in the Magus Academy. After she considered Julian's ability, she reasoned that such a feat was actually not impossible.

Then, the thoughts about their friends appeared in her mind. Wondering if they would be willing to unite into one kingdom. In fact, there was a high chance Thrax would be against this.

"I don't know about this, Julian… I'm not sure if the others will agree."

Julian exhaled a sigh before smiling once again. "To be honest with you, I've been thinking about this since my time with the Nephilim. I of course know the others won't accept it easily… but their absence right now might be fate trying to give us a way out."

"Way out? Way out of what?" Klea asked in a confused and shocked tone. "Taking over everyone's home while they are away?"

Hearing that, Julian showed a surprised expression before quickly saying, "No, no, no. You misunderstood my intentions. I never wanted to take everything for myself. Instead, we can rule this together, as the king and queen of the new Empire! Us, five against the whole universe"

Looking at her expression, it could be seen those words managed to soften Klea's heart about the idea. Julian even added another argument that made her consider even more.

"We shouldn't just focus on the upcoming battle in 20 years, but also afterwards. How are we going to rule this planet once we become the caretakers? What about the calamity that will occur in 50 years?!"

With a grave look, he continued, "We have to be prepared so we don't become like the Andora natives or Nexus people. In order to do that, we need to make sure all of the Earth's inhabitants are ready!"

It was a very convincing speech, which Julian was always good at. The truth was that Klea had been sold on by the idea, but she was held back from voicing her approval by the thought of the other three, who were currently absent.

She then realized it would take Julian several years before the Roman could reach their borders. That should have been enough time for the others to return and give their opinions on the plan.

As if knowing what she was thinking, Julian said, "Yeah, it's going to be a process that takes years. At least until all of these kids are ready."

Turning his head, Julian once again looked at Klea and asked, "How about you personally? You agree with this plan, right?"

Seeing how aggressive Julian was on this idea of his, Klea suddenly remembered his character.

"If you want my support, I need you to be completely honest." A glint appeared in her eyes as she said, "What do you get out of all this? The Julian I know would not do this troublesome thing and share it with the five of us without any real benefit to himself, so tell me your true objective!"

The Roman chuckled when he heard that. A wide smile hung on his lips as he said, "You are indeed the best, Klea. I really can't hide anything from you."