Chapter 136: Campaign

"Really? How much exactly must I pay?"

"He said you need to negotiate the price with him," Zane replied.

"That’s fine by me." As a Necromancer, Tom Nguyen was indeed interested in the premise of the journal. However, he always refrained from asking for too much information out of respect for Zane and the tower’s rules.

"Can I also purchase it?" Keesha asked.

"Why?"

"I remember you said you use it to find inspiration for your mental channeling?"

"That’s right."

"Well, maybe it can help me." She had never stopped trying to master mental channeling, and the journal might be an opportunity.

"Although I wouldn’t recommend it, you can exchange with my professor as long as you compensate him," Zane replied.

"You don’t? Why not?"

"Without enough understanding of mental energy and the brain, the journal’s content might actually be detrimental — if that is your priority," Zane explained.

"That makes sense. However, it will be a while before I have the money for the exchange. I can learn the basics before then."

Zane nodded. "That’s a good idea. Oh, Evans, you might want to check it out too. The current section I’m reading is about using different emotions through Dark Magic to stimulate the brain."

"I’ll check it out."

Today, Zane slept early. He didn’t sleep last night and was running on a one-hour nap in the afternoon. So, he decided to have a good five hours of sleep. After the morning class, he visited Madam Valeria, the librarian.

"What do you need?"

"Do you have any suggestions on how to learn [Nonverbal Casting]?" During yesterday’s class, Zane realized it wouldn’t be long before he completely mastered [Projection Casting], meaning there would be little difference between using it with and without the staff. As such, he wanted to plan early for the next magic skill to train for; since he was learning about mana frequency, he decided on nonverbal casting.

"A bit ambitious, aren’t we?"

"Maybe."

Valeria did not immediately answer. Instead, she summoned a screen and stared at it for a while. "Is she looking at my profile?" Zane thought. He had figured by now that the professors communicated with each other. More importantly, he knew the tower heavily surveyed everything happening in the academy. Many forum posts were about students caught right before they broke the rules or committed crimes.

"Nonverbal Casting is still too advanced for you, but you can try [One-Word Casting]."

"That’s not a bad idea," Zane uttered. Vibrating the spell diagram was challenging, let alone doing it at a specific frequency. Zane had tried it, and the entire magic circle collapsed before he could even vibrate it. However, if he could master mana vibration, then he would only need one or two words from the incantation to cast the spell.

"Go to the gravity room and train mana projection at 0.2 pressure and slowly increase the scale," Madam Valeria suggested. "Once you can cast a spell at 0.5 pressure, you’ll meet the requirements for vibration. Then, ask your professor or instructor for an FM Orb and train with it."

"A what?"

"A Frequency Modulator Orb: it will release different mana frequencies, and you must match it."

"Oh, I see," Zane said, nodding. "Can you recommend a few books? Maybe journals with mages of different experiences."

Madam Valeria said nothing and snapped her fingers; five journals flew from different shelves and slowly arranged themselves neatly on her desk. Zane looked at her enviously. [Silent Casting] is one of the hardest magic skills to learn. Powerful mages can read and counter their enemy’s spells, but such an ability is useless if the opponent doesn’t show any spell diagram.

"These five have personalities and experience close to you."

"Thank you."

For today’s training session, Zane followed the madam’s advice. He entered the gravity room, chose energy mode, set the pressure at 0.2, and then projected his mana. His body didn’t feel any changes, but his mana became sluggish, as if it were carrying a hundred-pound dumbbell. Even his mental energy was harder to condense or control. His mana kept collapsing after only a few seconds, but Zane persisted, trying over and over.

Sunday, Day 58:

"Commander, something seems to be on your mind," Zane asked as he wiped his hand.

"...Z, I’m thinking of running for elections."

"Oh? I remember you work for the Accra mayor’s office, right? What position are you running for?"

"No, I want to run for president."

"Stop joking around."

"I’m not."

Zane looked at him, his mouth slightly agape. "You’re serious?"

"I am."

"Isn’t the next election in December? You think you can run a presidential campaign in four months?"

"Technically speaking, with the tower, I have more time."

"That’s not much of a convincing argument," Zane asked. "But I want to ask again: you really want to do this?"

"I’ve been thinking about this since the tower appeared, but I want to hear your opinion."

Zane pondered briefly: "Which party are you running for?"

"I want to create my own party: the New Age Democratic Party. I also want to fund the election myself through hunting season."

"Are you mad?" It’s one thing to suddenly want to run for president in such a short period, but something else to run with a brand new party.

"There is too much corruption in the other parties. I can’t do what I want to if I associate myself with them."

Zane grunted softly. He wanted to convince his cousin to maybe wait for the next term, but as intuitive as he was, Zane could tell Ziyad had made up his mind, and very little could persuade him. "Well, it won’t hurt if he tries and fails," he thought.

"On what platform do you want to run?"

"I have many, but the priority is nationalizing our resources."

"Gold will soon become increasingly valuable, and we have one of the world’s largest reserves. If you can control all of it, you can probably create a booming economy in the upcoming new age."

Ziyad’s eyes lit up. "Exactly. So, you think I should do it?"

"Why not? But you should manage your expectations. Maybe use this opportunity to set up your party and establish yourself for the next election."

"By then, it will be too late."

Zane sighed; his cousin seemed to have unrealistic expectations. However, he wouldn’t dissuade him. "My advice is to hire a campaign manager who’s in the program; that way, you can use the extra time in the academy to plan."

"I was thinking the same."

"Secondly, you should fully utilize social media. One of the great contributions to Obama’s 2008 election was not just his message and communication skills, but also the widespread use of social media to reach as wide an audience as possible. Maybe even use the academy’s student board."

Ziyad nodded, taking notes of these words.

"Third, you should prepare for your status. As a recruit, our lives are always a question mark; your opponents will probably use that against you."

"That’s one of my worries."

Zane patted his shoulder. "Lastly, if you need anything — including donations — don’t hesitate to ask."

"I will."

After their weekly breakfast, Zane headed to the Arcane Guild. On his way, he couldn’t help thinking of the conversation. He didn’t think Ziyad had a chance — not even remotely. However, a part of him hoped he would succeed. The world was about to change, which meant an opportunity for many people and nations to change their fate. Ghana—and maybe even the entire African continent—might rise if it could seize the opportunity.

Zane’s last bit of joy was extinguished after he began his mission. Because of his previous injury and the guild lecture, he missed last Sunday, so he wanted to make it up. In the end, he worked for more than 18 hours before he succeeded. He left Ziyad’s room at 9 AM, but only returned to his dorm at 4 the next day. Zane struggled with just paying the guild fee, but after realizing he still owed Lysana 15 crystals, he didn’t dare be wasteful.